West Seneca East High School Concert Band Performs "All The World's A Stage" Rush Medley
Last night the West Seneca (New York) East High School concert band performed the world premiere of an eight minute symphonic medley titled All The World's A Stage. The medley includes "Tom Sawyer," "YYZ," "Closer To The Heart," and closes with "2112 Overture/Finale." And that's not all, we have learned that the musical score will apparently be published by Core Music Publishing (the music publishing division of Anthem Records, which was recently sold to Ole) and soon will be available to bands everywhere. - Thanks to Ken Hoffman for the headsup!
Ole Acquires Rush Catalog
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| L-R: Robert Ott (Chairman & CEO of Ole), Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson (Rush), Ray Danniels (Rush manager, SRO/ANTHEM and owner of Core) |
The Rush catalog was administered by Core Music, a division of Anthem Entertainment Group. Core has been the exclusive publisher and administrator for the band's entire career.
“With the changing times in the music business, the responsibilities of a publisher have become much more complex," said SRO/Anthem president Ray Daniels, who has been Rush's manager since the band's beginning back in the early-to-mid 1970's, said in a statement. "This deal will allow me to devote my time and energy to managing the live touring and recording aspects of Rush’s ongoing career."
As part of the ole-Core deal, Pegi Cecconi, who has overseen the administration of Core Music since inception, will continue to work at SRO/ANTHEM, but will also take on a consulting role to ole for the Rush catalogue.
Keram's "Come To Life" Featuring Alex Lifeson Now Available
Toronto artist Keram — who has an impressing acting resume — has been working on his new album for a whopping seven years, and now it's finally ready. Come to Life will be released on May 28 through Constant Change Music.For more info, including the full track "The Devil Knows Me Well" click here.
The collection was recorded in Toronto and Los Angeles, with Rush's Alex Lifeson serving as executive producer and playing guitar on three songs. Around 30 musicians played on the record in total, with some being involved in projects such as Coheed & Cambria, Zappa Plays Zappa, and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.
A press release describes the result as a "sprawling, otherworldly roots-rock adventure" that draws on a wide range of genres. There's apparently an emphasis on improvisation, something that's exemplified by the title cut, which is said to be a "20-minute improvisational ambient-jazz journey inspired by the Tibetan Book of the Dead.
This isn't the album's only lengthy tune, since an 11-minute track called "The Devil Knows Me Well" can be heard below. It begins as a bluesy rocker before giving way to extended periods of jamming and wailing guitar solos. The arrangement rises and falls a few times, with the last couple of minutes featuring atmospheric keyboard noodles and distant harmonica honking. This is one of the tracks that features Lifeson." - Exclaim.ca, May 9, 2014
Videos of Clockwork Angels Tour and Time Machine Tour certified Gold, Platinum by the RIAA
Earlier this month, on May 14th Rush's Time Machine 2011: Live in Cleveland concert video was certified Gold, Platinum and 2-X Platinum, while Clockwork Angels Tour received a Gold and Platinum certification.
According to the RIAA, a GOLD certification equates to 50,000 video unit sales while a PLATINUM certification equates to 100,000 video unit sales (both within the United States). The last Rush video to be recognized by the RIAA was when Beyond The Lighted Stage was certified Gold and Platinum in September of 2010.
- Thanks to Cygnus-X1.net for the headsup!
Geddy Lee's 3,000 Hit Club Baseball Waiting for Jeter's Signature
"A baseball that might be unlike any other in the world is visiting Busch Stadium this week in hopes to add to more signatures to the elite group already on its hide. The owner of the ball has asked Cardinals equipment manager Rip Rowan to get the signatures of Derek Jeter and Ichiro Suzuki* -- two more members of the 3,000-hit club. That's the prerequisite for getting on the ball...The ball is owned by Rush's lead singer and bassist Geddy Lee. A renowned collected of memorabilia and a huge baseball fan, Lee is also a Cardinals fan. He has come around the ballpark and spent time with the club before, and he has had long friendships with a few around the club. Lee purchased the ball to add to his collection, and has added signatures to it so that it may be the only baseball held by both Cobb and Clemente and ... if all goes well this week ... Jeter." For more visit StlToday.com. - Thanks to RushIsABand for the headsup!
Pop Culture References Update - May 2014
- First and most recently, just over a week ago on the American television series Supernatural, there has been yet another Rush sighting (this is the 5th time Rush has been referenced on the show); during the episode "Bloodlines" (season 9 episode 20, aired April 29, 2014), Sam and Dean identify themselves as FBI agents “Bonham and Peart”.
- On Cartoon Network's Regular Show, during the episode "Video 101" ((season 5, episode 25, aired May 5, 2014), Eileen adds up the time it will take to shot a music video and the total is shown on a calculator as 2112.
- Swedish hardcore group Grace Will Fall released their latest album No Rush on April 1st; tied into the album title, the album cover is a tribute to Rush's 1974 debut.
- In the video game South Park: The Stick of Truth released March 4th, after unlocking access to the "O Canada" level, a Rush poster can be seen on the wall of one of the houses.
- On Cartoon Network's Adventure Time, during the episode "Bad Timing" (season 5 episode 49, aired March 3, 2014), Princess Bubblegum unveils her new time machine, and explains how it is controlled by a pair of special gloves. The gloves display the time and it reads 21:12.
- In Marvel Comics' Deadpool issue #22, published January 9, 2014, Agent Gorman is on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier trying to guess the password for the person who has posters for Spider-Man and RUSH on his wall. He succeeds after guessing "SPIDEYLOVER2112".
- Author Joe Schreiber states in the acknowledgements to his Star Wars novel Maul: Lockdown published January 28, 2014: "Vigilant readers will also find the influence of Geddy Lee, Neil Peart and Alex Lifeson among these pages, three gentlemen whose music animates much of the action as I initially conceived it in my mind."
- On the Finish television series, Mun Ainoot 30 Minsaa (My Only 30 Minutes), during the episode "Korjaus" (episode 12, aired December 19, 2013), two characters wear 2112 t-shirts.
- On the American reality television show Flipping Vegas, the main character Scott Yancey has worn a Fly By Night tshirt on more than one episode, including "Frat House" (season 3 episode 2 aired November 9, 2013) and "Hoarder House" (season 3 episode 4 aired November 23, 2013).
- In the Vodafone Netherlands "workout" television commercial from September 2013, one of the framed photographs on the wall is of Rush taken at the Ahoy in Rotterdam in 1981.
- On the American realty television show Pawn Stars, during the episode "Colt To The Touch" (Season 7, Episode 15, aired August 1, 2013), a customer brings a collection of "Chu-bops" (small bubble gum record albums which came in miniature replica album covers circa 1980 [yours truly has both Permanent Waves and an unopened/sealed Moving Pictures]), and one of the albums was Permanent Waves; Rick asks Corey "do you know any songs by Rush? Tom Sawyer?" and Corey replies "that's funny, I almost said 'Huckleberry Finn'." Check out a video clip here.
- The plot of the horror-comedy film Knights of Badassdom which premiered at the ICon Festival on September 24, 2013, is about live action roll players whose final goal is to reach the Temple of Syrinx.
- Wayne Coyne, frontman for The Flaming Lips, released a comic book in July of last year titled The Sun is Sick which is complete with a fake ad page in the front mimicing real comic books. Nested into one of the ads to purchase the LP "Beetles at Shea" is the text "Rush rules!".
- Gods Of Night, Book 1 of the Star Trek: Destiny trilogy by David Mack was published September 30th, 2008, and is full of Rush references including: the conn officer of the Starship Enterprise is Lieutenant Gary Weinrib, an alien is named Lerxst, and when the Captain of the starship Columbia (possible "Countdown" reference) is speaking with members of an alien race, one of them states "while changes are never permanent, change is". Note, David Mack has included Rush references in previous works as well, including Wolverine: Road Of Bones published October 31, 2006, which includes a character named Alex Zivojinovich and a cab driver named Gary Lee. There likely are Rush references in more of his novels which we have yet encountered. Check out his homepage.
- In his new book I Wear The Black Hat: Grappling with Villains (Real and Imagined), Chuck Klosterman quotes from "Limelight" and "Tom Sawyer". He writes about Laker great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: "Kareem (being Kareem) loves jazz music - but even if he loved rock, he'd never relate to Pearl Jam (except for maybe 'Corduroy'). He would prefer mid-period Rush: 'I can't pretend a stranger is a long awaited friend.'" Additionally there's a chapter titled "What Do You Say About His Company Is What Do You Say About Society". Chuck Klosterman is another author who has refered to Rush frequently in past books: The Visible Man - the main character spies on a closet Rush fan as he air guitars passionately to 2112; in Chuck Klosterman IV: A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas, he says critics accurately described Triumph to Rush, only not as cool; and in Fargo Rock City he discusses interpretation in lyrics, and how one might mistake Rush for a Christian rock band.
"Rush - The Rise Of Kings" Documentary Coming May 6th - Now Available
"The most successful band to emerge from the Canadian rock explosion of the early 1970s, Rush would go on to become one of that nation's biggest entertainment exports. A trio of musical polymaths who cut a fiercely independent, sometimes controversial path through various musical styles to forge a distinctive, evolving sound that was incomparable to that of any of their contemporaries, this hugely influential group have flourished across a forty-plus year career. This film traces the history of Rush from the bar rooms of Toronto in the late 1960s to the world's largest arenas in the late 70s and early 1980s, by which time they were amongst the biggest bands on the planet. Through a stunning combination of rare and classic footage, the testimony of friends, colleagues and those who worked with the group across the years, plus exclusive and archive interviews and a host of other features, this programme makes the very unique history of Rush come alive in a manner previously undocumented."- Thanks to Ed Stenger for the headsup!
Rush On Jeopardy - May 5, 2014
“Clockwork Angels” Comic Book #2 of 6 now available
Geddy Lee one of Wine Enthusiasts' "Six Celebrity Wine Makers"
"During the late ’70s and early ’80s, while on tour, we would receive gifts from concert promoters of fine wine. Mostly Bordeaux, as our guitarist Alex Lifeson had a keen interest in wine and had a modest collection. I kept my share of the bottles in a wine fridge for years and then in the late ’80s I decided to do an inventory. I was amazed at what I was tasting and it quickly turned into an obsession."- Thanks to Ed at RushIsABand for the headsup!