"The T.A.M.I. Show" Now On DVD

Many Rush fans have brought to my attention the fact that the 1964 concert film The T.A.M.I. Show, has been remastered and reissued on DVD. This concert film includes Marvin Gaye, Chuck Berry, The Beach Boys, Jan and Dean, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, The Supremes, Gerry and the Pacemakers, and more. In his book Traveling Music, Neil Peart wrote at length regarding the show's impact, beginning on page 130 "Another movie around the same time was a much stronger musical influence on me - in fact, in retrospect, it was the influence. The T.A.M.I. Show, or "Teen Age Music International"... The DVD is now available.

Rush Songwriter's Hall Of Fame Induction

Rush were inducted into the Canadian Songwriter's Hall Of Fame Sunday, March 28th, at the Toronto Centre For The Arts' George Weston Recital Hall. All three members of Rush were in attendance for the induction ceremony and were recognized for Limelight, Closer to the Heart, The Spirit of Radio, Tom Sawyer and Subdivisions. Performing at the induction ceremony were Canadian hardcore rockers Alexisonfire performing Tom Sawyer; Primus frontman Les Claypool playing a version of The Spirit of Radio; and Canadian folk singer/songwriter Jacob Moon doing his rendition of Subdivisions. Neil Peart gave the acceptance speech for the band.

Click Here For Additional Hall of Fame Induction News

"Rush has typically been more associated with their unrivaled musicianship and their restless ambition to conquer every musical genre, sometimes in the span of one song. The band acknowledged that immediately in their speech, which was delivered entirely by drummer Neil Peart. 'First of all, songwriting award? Rush? There must be some mistake,' Peart said to laughter from a crowd that had just serenaded the group with a standing ovation. 'We continue to inspire each other and create music that inspires us all.'" - Rush, Robert Charlebois join songwriters' hall of fame, March 29, 2010

"Millions of record sales notwithstanding, Rush's songwriters have rarely earned income from other artists' covers of their famous songs. The complexity of the arrangements built into Rush's work — sudden time, tempo and key changes — are beyond the grasp of less ambitious or practised musicians, and the soaring melodies and vivid narratives are forsaken...'I understand why no one covers our songs,' Lee said. 'They sound daunting. But, as Moon proved in his ‘Subdivisions' video, most of the songs can be stripped back to their simplest form, and find a new life. When we tried to write songs that are simple and uncomplicated, it didn't work. One of our producers used to tell us, 'You'd have a lot of hits if only someone else recorded them.''" Toronto Star, March 28, 2010

"Peart, who says he would have been an English high school teacher if he hadn’t become a rock drummer, is pleased at the Rush songs chosen for induction, particularly Subdivisions. 'It's a very unusual song construction lyrically and musically that we managed to make work,” he said. “It was written at a time when we weren’t working, so to speak. We were mixing a live album and we just started playing around and wrote a song for fun. Although it’s very serious in it’s musical structure, one of the most complicated actually that we’ve had in terms of arrangement drum part alone, it’s a really intricate drum part to play and consequently I still love playing it almost 30 years later and that’s a good testament.'" Jam!Music, March 26, 2010

• Audio of the complete induction ceremony - CBC.ca
• Jacob Moon talks about his experience with backstage photos. - March 28-29, 2010
• A Rush To The Hall Of Fame - March 29, 2010
• Rush Inducted Into Hall Of Fame - March 28, 2010
• A Conversation With Rush - March 19, 2010

Administrative Update

Just a quick administrative update... For the past 8 years, the Power Windows website has promoted Rush related products through Amazon.com. Earlier this month, Amazon.com summarily severed all ties with Colorado based accounts (including your's truly, email saved for posterity), rather than give in to restrictions imposed by the Colorado State legislature requiring Amazon to collect Colorado State sales tax for all orders placed from Colorado based websites. This story made headlines here in Colorado, and still is the source of many online debates. While I don't blame Amazon, I've been forced to find alternative solutions.

After scouring the various online retailers, I've replaced all my CD and DVD links with links to CDUniverse.com (CDUniverse has a huge selection including those Rush related rarities I detail in my pages), and all book purchases now link to Barnes & Noble (bn.com). I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, and thank you in advance for making your online purchases through Power Windows. And now back to your regularly scheduled program...

Rush Tourbooks Remasters Series

The "Rush Tourbooks Remasters Series" is now available in the Rush Backstage Club online store! Tourbooks dating back to 2112 have been brought back to all their glory (and then some) by modern printing technology and are all beautifully crafted with high-end laminated covers. Check 'em out at The Rush Backstage Club.

Drum Playalong Songs From Drum Discounters

DrumDiscounters.com offers downloadable play-a-long songs for drummers. The songs are available in mp3 format with either the music and drums on both channels, just the music on both channels (drumless), or a "split" track where the drums are on the left channel and the music on the right channel. Included in their selection are "Fly By Night", "Limelight", "A Passage To Bangkok", "Subdivisions", "Tom Sawyer", "The Trees", and "YYZ". - Thanks to David DeSantis for the headsup!

Website Updates: Windows 7 Themes and Smartphone Wallpapers

The impetus for this website when it was first launched 12 years ago was the Desktop Wallpaper and "Windows Plus!" Desktop Themes pages. While I still offer Themes for Windows XP/ME/NT, I have updated the Windows Themes page to now include a complete set of Windows 7 Themes. These Windows 7 Themes include Desktop Background Slide Shows along with the same sounds, icons and cursors used in the older Windows Plus themes. The Desktop Background Slide Shows include ALL the linernotes images for any given album, as well as additional live photos taken during that album's tour sourced from the tourbooks. Some of the Windows 7 Themes for more recent releases have HUGE Slide Shows included - the Snakes & Arrows Live theme has 36! In addition, these themes are user customizable, meaning, if you don't want to use the sounds and icons, you don't have to. Visit our Windows Themes page for details.

Next, more and more frequently I've been asked about wallpapers for Smartphones; after all, I offer PSP wallpapers, why not then include Smartphone wallpapers? As I'm a Blackberry user, however, I have been slow to get around to it. But thanks to the urging and guidance of Smartphone user John Patuto at Cygnus-X1.net, I've finally added a complete "Smartphone Wallpaper" page of 360x480 pixel RUSH wallpapers for SmartPhone, Palm, Blackberry Storm, Pocket PC, Apple iPhone and iPod Touch devices. Enjoy!

RUSH Makes Planet Rock's "Top 40 Live Albums"

Listeners of the UK's Planet Rock radio voted in their thousands in a poll to determine the Top 40 Live Albums of All Time. - Thanks to Scot McBean and Matt Kelly for the headsup!

"Thousands of you voted and now we know once and for all that Thin Lizzy's Live And Dangerous is the Greatest Live Album of All Time. The 1978 album has been repeatedly accused of containing more overdubs than live material, but that doesn't hide the fact that this is a definitive "live" record - it captured the band's stunning live energy and sound absolutely perfectly across a tracklist that probably couldn't have been bettered, and that, after all, is everything we could ask for. Deep Purple were so close to stealing this one at the last minute with their classic Made In Japan, and UFO's Strangers In The Night wasn't too far behind either. Rush deserve a notable mention for being the one band who's fans successfully sabotaged their chances for the Top Ten by splitting the vote rather spectacularly across three albums in the Top 40." - Planet Rock.com