Geddy Lee on Rockline for Grace Under Pressure
Rockline with Bob Coburn, May 21, 1984, transcribed by Anonymotron42
Bob Coburn: Live via satellite from Hollywood and San Francisco, it's Rockline: the show where you ask the questions for the biggest stars in rock 'n' roll. Well, hello again, I'm Bob Coburn, your host for Rockline, brought to you in part by Budweiser, the King of Beers. Tonight, it's a special Rockline with a full ninety minutes devoted to Geddy Lee of Rush. Geddy is at "The Bay Area Rocker," KRQR in San Francisco. I'm in our Hollywood Rockline studio and, as always, we have plenty of phone lines, but just one number to remember nationwide, and that number is toll-free: 1-800-222-ROCK. Also, we'd like to welcome a new affiliate: 95.5 WMET, where Chicago rocks, with Rockline. Let's hear from you tonight, again the number, toll-free: 1-800-222-ROCK. They've seen both sides of the coin: tons of radio air play recently, and almost none not too long ago, but their audience has always been there. And Rockline welcomes, from one of the bands in rock 'n' roll, Geddy Lee of Rush. Welcome to the show, Geddy.
Geddy: Hi there, Bob, nice to be here.
BC: Nice to have you here this evening. This is a real treat. I understand that you did a concert in Tucson, and you got hit in the head on-stage. What happened down there?
Geddy: I guess somebody didn't like me too much [both laugh]. It was an unfortunate incident, you know? Sometimes people in the audience start throwing stuff around, with all the exuberance of what's going on, and I got smacked in the head by some foreign object that rendered me useless for about ten minutes, until they patched me up, and sent me back out.
BC: Now, what happened, did the concert stop at that point?
Geddy: Well, I couldn't really go on, 'cause I had all this blood pouring down my face, so...
BC: Oh, my.
Geddy: Yeah, I was a little bit of a shock. It felt a lot more severe than it actually turned out to be, fortunately for me. But, I just sort of patched myself up, cleaned myself off, and ran back out to finish up.
BC: Well, that's the good news that you're okay now. Again, your number is toll-free 1-800-222-ROCK, we'll put you on the air with Geddy Lee of Rush in just a moment on Rockline. For right now, a song from their latest LP, Grace Under Pressure, this is "Distant Early Warning."
["Distant Early Warning" plays]
BC: From the LP Grace Under Pressure, that's Rush with "Distant Early Warning" on Rockline. We're going to put you on the air with Geddy Lee in just a moment. For right now a brief time out. Your number to call, toll-free: 1-800-222-ROCK. More of Rockline coming up.
[Commercial break]
BC: I understand that people have been calling Rockline since early this afternoon. We have a ton of phone calls. Right to the telephone we go. From Hartford, listening to 106 HCN is Cathy, you're on the show.
[Caller]: Hi!
Geddy: Hi!
[Caller]: I'm here to tell you that Connecticut really loves you.
Geddy: Well, thank you very much.
[Caller]: We think that Rush is really number one, and we can't wait 'til you guys come out here.
Geddy: Well, thanks, Connecticut. Appreciate that. We'll hope we'll see you on this tour as soon as we can.
[Caller]: Yeah, we will. Why did it take you guys so long to get out Grace Under Pressure?
Geddy: Why? That's a very good question. Well, originally we were scheduled to start recording that album in September. I don't know if you're aware of it, but we made a producer change on this album, and we were all set to do the album with another producer, and sort of things broke down and didn't work out about six weeks before recording, and sort of threw a spanner in the works, so to speak. So, we had to start talking to different producers all over again. By the time we settled on someone that we wanted to use, we were already approaching Christmas, so it took a lot longer than we thought it would.
BC: So there's your answer, and thank you Cathy. We have a call from Burbank for you now Geddy. Listening to 95.5 KLOS, we have Debbie. Hi.
[Caller]: Hi, Geddy.
Geddy: Hi, Debbie, how are you doing?
[Caller]: Okay, how are you?
Geddy: I'm just fine.
[Caller]: Okay, first of all, I'd just like to say that you guys are the greatest, okay?
Geddy: Well, thanks.
[Caller]: My question was: okay, I was wondering how you guys came up with the title and the cover design for Grace Under Pressure, and if it has anything to do with any of the songs on the album?
Geddy: Well, it sort of has...the title...first, to explain the title, there's sort of a double reason for the title. "Grace Under Pressure" is sort of a state. To have grace under pressure is something that we sort of were aspiring to have while we were going through all these problems making this record. And it seemed apropos for the times, because a lot of the lyrics on the album, and a lot of the situations that were going on around us while we were writing the songs for the record seemed to be intensely stressful. You know, the Korean jetliner crisis...all kinds of things going on in current events that...and actually even in friends of ours' lives, everybody seemed to be going through real stressful period. It seemed like we needed a sort of a word to pull us all together at that point, and grace seemed to be what we were trying to achieve through all this pressure. And really the cover art was just an extension of that. Hugh Syme, who does all our album covers, we sort of put that concept to him and told him that we wanted sort of an abstract impression of that concept, and that's what he came up with.
BC: Now, does the title apply to any song in particular on the LP?
Geddy: Well, I think it sort of weaves its way through a lot of the songs. There's a lot of songs that deal with that kind of pressure. If you look at "Distant Early Warning," you know, it's talking about the pressure of the kind of world that we're living in right now, and the things that we all carry around inside our heads, and when we read current events, and when we look at the friends and our loved ones, and the stress that everyone's going through, you know? Many different songs on the record..."The Body Electric" is "grace under pressure" in a different way. We're talking about androids there, and having some compassion for machines that think they can feel and, you know, this machine knows his time is running out, so he's gotta deal with it in his own graceful way as well. So, I mean, there's probably a little bit in all the songs on the record if you care to look for it.
BC: Thank you, Debbie. We're gonna go to Atlanta now where there's a guy named John who would like to talk to you. He's listening to 96 Rock.
[Caller]: Hi, Geddy.
Geddy: Hi, John. How are you doing?
[Caller]: It's great listening to you on the radio tonight.
Geddy: Well, it's nice to talk to you from Georgia!
[Caller]: Yeah. Boy, you got a lot of Rush fans down here, and we're not among your new fans. We're...a lot of us are your old fans. We go all the way back to Fly by Night, and A Farewell to Kings, and Caress of Steel. We've been following you guys a long time down here.
Geddy: Well, I appreciate that very much.
[Caller]: You're welcome. I just had a couple questions I wanted to ask you. First of all, I noticed that on Moving Pictures, Part III of Fear, whatever that is, came up in the song "Witch Hunt," and then Part II of Fear came on Signals in the song "The Weapon," and then Part I of Fear came on your latest album with the song "The Enemy Within." Can you please explain what the meaning of that is, of Fear?
Geddy: Sure. Okay, a few years ago, Neil came up with this lyrical concept. He wanted to write sort of a trilogy dealing with the different types of fear that come in contact with our lives. And in order of the way he wrote the titles out, where sort of "The Enemy Within" being, you know, the fear of things that we have within us, and that we deal with. Two was "The Weapon," which is the fear of, you know, your basic authoritative type of situation, that kind of fear, and three was "Witch Hunt," which deals with vigilantism, book burning, that whole syndrome. So that was the order the titles were written out, and the concept was thought out, but the songs sort of came in the other order, sort of wrote them backwards. As they appeared, we put them on record, so that's why it sort of went three-two-one instead of one-two-three.
BC: Good call John, and we thank you for that. We're gonna go back to the LP Moving Pictures by Rush. A classic on Rockline: "Tom Sawyer."
["Tom Sawyer" plays]
BC: Still one of the most requested songs on rock radio, that's "Tom Sawyer" from Moving Pictures by Rush. We're with Geddy Lee for the full ninety minutes tonight on Rockline. I'm Bob Coburn. A call from Kingston, New York. PYX 106, in Albany, is what Terry is listening to, and Terry, you're on the show.
[Caller]: Hello! How are you doing?
Geddy: Not too bad. How are you doing today?
[Caller]: Oh, great. It's a privilege to talk to you.
Geddy: Well, it's nice to talk to you.
[Caller]: First, I always thought Rush was a great band. You guys are creative and all, and I think you're fantastic.
Geddy: Well, thank you very much.
[Caller]: Okay, my question was: on your last tour when I caught you at Radio City in September, I was really impressed with your video screen, and I was wondering if you plan on using it again in the future.
Geddy: Yeah, we do. We've got, actually, quite a lot of plans for that screen on this tour. There's various uses that we've been finding to come up with for it: more actual cinema stuff, some animation stuff, and a few other surprises. So yeah, we do intend on using that for quite a while, I think.
BC: Ooh, that sounds good. We have a call from Sacramento. KZAP is our station out there. Hi Kathy.
[Caller]: Hi, how are you doing?
Geddy: Pretty good, how are you?
[Caller]: Pretty good. First, I want to tell you: you're one of the most excellent bands in the world, and you definitely have grace under pressure.
Geddy: Well, thank you!
BC: All right.
Geddy: [Chuckles] Appreciate it.
[Caller]: Have you ever gotten frustrated performing live, with playing two instruments and singing, to where you've wanted, or needed to hire an extra bassist or keyboardist?
Geddy: Well, that's a good question because, you know, I consider myself, really, a bassist first, sort of a vocalist second, and a keyboardist at the very last. I don't really consider myself too proficient at keyboards, although I can play enough to play it. It is true: sometimes I do get a little frustrated because I have to...in order to get all the textures for the overall sound as a band, I have to sort of compromise some of the things that I'd like to do. Like, on a couple records sometimes it's better for the synths to carry the bass or what not, but...when I'd rather just play bass. You know, it's all in aid of a whole thing, a total thing. It's frustrating at times, but not enough to really bother me that much.
BC: In other words: you would not consider hiring a fourth member to go on the road?
Geddy: No. We've talked about it from time to time, but there's something about us being able to pull it off, just the three of us, you know, that's real challenging, and it keeps every night so interesting, you know? 'Cause there's so much to do, and so much to get down that, I mean, it's very hard to get complacent when you have that much going on. That's a good thing [chuckles].
BC: We got a good one going on, on Rockline right now. We'll put you on the air with Geddy Lee of Rush in just a few moments. Your number to call: 1-800-222-ROCK, that's toll-free.
[Commercial break]
BC: From the latest album by Rush, Grace Under Pressure, this is "Red Sector A" on Rockline.
["Red Sector A" plays]
BC: "Red Sector A" by Rush on Rockline on the Global Satellite Network. We have a call now from San Francisco, where Geddy is located, listening to 97 KRQR. We have Nessa on the line. Hi.
[Caller]: Hi.
Geddy: Hi, Nessa, how are you doing?
[Caller]: Some kind sentiments from here: you're the greatest.
Geddy: Oh, well thank you very much.
[Caller]: My questions are: how did you get to be involved with Bob and Doug McKenzie and the song "Take Off?" And, if you're not too busy in San Francisco, I'd like to invite you - all of you - to dinner and a tour of the city.
[Geddy and BC laugh]
Geddy: Well, I appreciate the invitation. That's very kind. As far as Bob and Doug go: I grew up with Rick Moranis, who is...I can't remember which one he is: Bob or Doug. [Transcriber's note: Rick Moranis portrays Bob McKenzie, and Dave Thomas plays Doug McKenzie.] We went to school together, and he was actually a disc jockey in Toronto for quite a while, and when they were taking on this project of Bob and Doug, he just called me up and said "look it, would you like to come down, and goof off with us, and make this record?" I thought it was a great idea. It was a really lot of fun to do. So, that's how it happened.
BC: So take off. Thanks for the call there, Nessa. We have John now; he's in Pittsburgh. He's listening to WDVE. John, you're on.
[Caller]: Hello, Geddy.
Geddy: Yes, hello.
[Caller]: How are you doing?
Geddy: Not too bad, how are you?
[Caller]: First... your Grace Under Pressure album is fantastic. It's great.
Geddy: Well, thank you.
[Caller]: You guys have a lot of creativity and imagination, and...oh, what else was I gonna say? Oh yeah...
Geddy: Well, I appreciate it [chuckles].
[Caller]: [Chuckles] Okay, and, well my question is: why did such an outstanding producer like Terry Brown leave Rush?
Geddy: Well, it was a situation of: we've done ten records with him, actually including live albums I guess about twelve. And, you know, when you work together for a long period of time, sometimes - even though you're getting great results - sometimes you feel that maybe you could get something different if you had somebody to work with that was a little more objective. And we felt that Terry was so close with us, and we were such good friends, that he was losing perspective on our sound and us as a band. He was almost, I mean, he was in the band for all intents and purposes, and we felt that that's a bit dangerous for a producer. A producer should be somebody that maintains an overview, and can stand back from the album, instead of being so close to the record. So we decided it was time, after ten albums, to go out on our own, basically, and see what it's like to work with somebody else.
BC: Thank you, John. We go to Jerry now. He's in Southfield, listening to WRIF in Detroit. Hi.
[Caller]: How are you doing, Geddy?
Geddy: Pretty good. How are you?
[Caller]: Hey, not bad.
Geddy: How's the Motor City?
[Caller]: Ah, pretty good, man.
Geddy: Right.
[Caller]: I got about a hundred questions, but I narrowed it down to three quick ones.
Geddy: Okay.
[Caller]: They go back a ways. Who did the narration in "The Necromancer" and the voice in the Grand Finale of "2112?"
Geddy: Ah, good question. Have you got a guess?
[Caller]: No.
Geddy: No clue?
[Caller]: Well, I thought maybe Neil did it, but I wasn't sure.
Geddy: You're absolutely right! Give the man a prize.
BC: Da da-na-na da-nah [to the tune of "Charge," the short sports fanfare]
[Geddy chuckles]
[Caller]: I got it. Alright, my second question.
Geddy: Uh-huh?
[Caller]: I'm going with "The Necromancer" again. Why is By-Tor the friend in "The Necromancer," and the foe in "By-Tor and the Snow Dog?"
Geddy: Well, it's an interesting twist, you see? When By-Tor first comes on the scene, he's this real vicious dog, you see? And, he was real upset, but he saw that he was a bad guy, and decided that "hey, I've had enough of this, and the Necromancer is such a bad guy that I gotta come back and show him something." So, he just sort of turned it around, you know? He saw the light.
BC: And number three, Jerry?
[Caller]: Okay, who in your opinion, other than yourself, is the best bassist, past or present?
Geddy: Who is the best bassist? Well, I like a lot. I like a guy named Percy Jones who plays with Brand X. I like Jeff Berlin a lot. He plays with various people. He's done some work with Allan Holdsworth and Bill Bruford, people like that. There's a lot of guys I like out there.
BC: Thanks for the call, Jerry. If you're a real fan of Rush, you're gonna enjoy this. This is the Overture and The Temples of Syrinx from "2112," on Rockline, on the Global Satellite Network.
["2112 Overture/The Temples of Syrinx" play]
BC: We would love to play the rest of "2112" for you, but then there would be no more time for Geddy on the phone, and we don't wanna do that. We have a ton of calls. We go to Merritt Island, Florida. WDIZ in Orlando is what John is listening to. John, it's your turn.
[Caller]: Greetings, Mr. Lee?
Geddy: Yes, hi John.
[Caller]: Hi, how are you doing?
Geddy: Pretty good, how are you?
[Caller]: Great. Listen, I got one question. I was wondering what the significance for the red star on the immortal album 2112 and A Farewell to Kings. Is it Cygnus, the God of Balance or the red star that the priests of Syrinx hailed?
Geddy: Well, the red star sort of represents the Solar Federation on 2112, and the man standing against it is supposed to represent the individual standing against this sort of authoritarian government. And it's sort of come to be our logo, I guess for want of a better word, and it basically stands for individual against the masses, I guess.
BC: Thank you, John. Another Florida call now, we have Rob listening to Rock 104. Hi.
[Caller]: Hello.
Geddy: Hello.
[Caller]: Geddy, I'd just like to say you guys are musicians in every sense of the word.
Geddy: Well, thank you, that's a sincere compliment. Appreciate that.
[Caller]: My question is: you've put out two live albums so far, and I understand that you guys really didn't enjoy doing it. I was wondering is there, by any chance, will there be a live album in the future?
Geddy: Well, let me explain. The first live album we did, I think we enjoyed doing it, but the result seemed so raw to us, that we didn't sort of enjoy listening back to it. It wasn't the doing of it that was very painful. And then, the reason for doing the second one was sort of wanting to justify our sound, figuring that our sound had grown over the years. We wanted to present, you know, a very good version of what we sound like in concert. So that's what Exit...Stage Left was, and it turned out to be almost, you know, too good. It almost didn't sound live enough to us, so I don't know if we make another one if we'll find the right combination, but I don't know if we will do another one.
BC: We have Doug on now. He's in Pittsburgh, listening to WDVE. Doug, you're on.
[Caller]: Uh, Geddy?
Geddy: Yes, Doug, hi. I'm okay, how are you?
[Caller]: Pretty good. I got a question about the Signals album.
Geddy: Okay.
[Caller]: After you guys list your names, you have positions of baseball.
Geddy: Yes!
[Caller]: I'd like to know what the relationship is.
Geddy: That represented our positions during...we had a baseball game while we were making that record. We sort of formed a softball team, and those were the positions that we played.
BC: I saw Cromartie on the back of the album there. Is that Warren from the Expos?
Geddy: Yeah, that's Warren Cromartie. He's a friend of ours, and he's a drummer as well, a very good drummer, actually.
BC: Oh, really? I didn't know that.
Geddy: Yeah.
BC: Multitalented Warren Cromartie, huh?
Geddy: Yes, he's quite a good drummer, and he's in Tokyo right now, playing for the Tokyo Giants.
BC: We're gonna take a brief time-out and return with Geddy Lee of Rush, on for the full ninety minutes tonight on Rockline. Your number is toll-free; it's 1-800-222-ROCK. We're live, so call us now.
[Commercial break]
BC: We're back, live on the satellite. It's Rockline; I'm Bob Coburn with Geddy Lee of Rush this evening. Anthony Arnault began a trip today, bicycling approximately four thousand five hundred miles across the US to promote cancer awareness, and he's gonna be going to about one hundred and fifty cities, including a lot of cities where we have Rockline affiliates. He left New York City today. Anthony will be checking in with our affiliates, and we're going to welcome him here in Los Angeles when he finishes. Anthony, if you're on the road and you have a radio, we're going to play this for you as you ride on: "Between the Wheels" by Rush.
["Between the Wheels" plays]
BC: From the album Grace Under Pressure, the latest by Rush, that one's called "Between the Wheels" on Rockline, I'm Bob Coburn with Geddy Lee. A call from Baltimore now, 98 Rock is our station there, and this is Mike. Hi.
[Caller]: Hi, how are you doing, Geddy?
Geddy: Pretty good, how are you, Mike?
[Caller]: Aw, man, I can't believe it. We're sitting with you.
Geddy: That's right.
[Caller]: My girlfriend Patty, she wants me to send all her love to ya.
Geddy: Well, [chuckles] I appreciate that.
[Caller]: I can't even talk.
BC: And your question, Mike.
Geddy: More than you'll ever know.
[Caller]: Alright, my question: How did the band ever decide to come up with the name Rush?
Geddy: Well, that's an old, old question. Well, actually, when the band was formed with the original members - it was Alex Lifeson and John Rutsey, who was the original drummer, like this is going back a long, long, long time - I wasn't even in the band yet. I joined the band like two weeks later and they already had the name. And, you know, it sort of came from the feeling you get when you're all charged up and you're having a rush. It's sort of a feeling of excitement, and that's what our music tried...that's what we tried to make our music.
BC: Thanks for the call there, Mike. We have one from Chatsworth, California, listening to KLOS. Mark, you're on the show.
[Caller]: Yeah, hi Geddy.
Geddy: Yes.
[Caller]: Yes. I'd just like to say that I've been a true Rush fan of yours since I was like a real small kid, and I really think that you guys are the best.
Geddy: Well, thank you.
[Caller]: And, well my question is: Are you and Alex gonna pursue solo careers and, if so, will Rush be together to make more albums in the future?
Geddy: Well, I think Alex and I, and maybe Neil as well, would like to - at some point - do some kind of solo work, but I don't think so much to be a solo artist as just to work with some other people, you know? Because the one drawback in working with the same people for so many years is that, you know, there's a lot of great musicians out there, and we have a lot of good friends who are good musicians that we would like to work with, to make a record with at some point. But, at this point, that would have to be fit into Rush's schedule, because Rush is still our priority and yeah, we do intend on making more records, so that's that.
BC: And we thank Mark for that call, and we...boy, Florida's cookin' tonight. We have one now from Lake City, listening to Rock 104 in Gainesville. Jeff, it's your turn now.
[Caller]: Hey, how's it going, Geddy?
Geddy: Pretty good, how's it going with you?
[Caller]: Hey, it's going alright. Just like to say North Florida loves Rush and we'd like to see you real soon.
Geddy: Well, appreciate it.
[Caller]: And I actually got a couple of questions. I was wondering: do you ever find it difficult to put emotions into songs that you don't write the lyrics to, and when you're on tour, does all that traveling ever take a toll on the music that you play?
Geddy: Well, okay, I'll answer the first one first. I don't find it difficult, because in order for me to sing those lyrics, a lot of discussion goes down beforehand, and I have to really believe in what I'm saying, and otherwise I couldn't. You know, you're right I couldn't sing them if they were just...if they didn't have any meaning for me. So, sometimes the meaning that I find in those lyrics are all my own, sometimes they're a meaning that's very obvious and, you know, very out in the open. But I have to feel something to sing them, or I couldn't sing them with any conviction. As for your second question: yep, it gets tiring on the road sometimes, and you do get burnt out. But we've been doing it for a long time now, and I think we've figured out how to do it so that we minimize the burnout, you know?
BC: We're gonna go back a couple of LPs for this next song, from the album Permanent Waves on Rockline, this is called "The Spirit of Radio."
["The Spirit of Radio" plays]
BC: "The Spirit of Radio," by Rush on Rockline. I'm Bob Coburn. We'll have more, coming up, with Geddy Lee of Rush in just a moment. Your number to call, and we're live so call now, toll-free: 1-800-222-ROCK.
[Commercial break]
BC: It's an all-Rush Rockline. I'm Bob Coburn with Geddy Lee. Our next phone call from Toledo, Ohio: FM 104 is our station. David, hi.
[Caller]: Hey, Geddy!
Geddy: Hey, man.
[Caller]: Hey, man, I'm your number one fan. I think you guys are the greatest in the world. Toledo loves you!
Geddy: Well, thanks very much.
[Caller]: And, I got a question here. Okay, do you plan to do any videos for Grace Under Pressure?
Geddy: Yes, we actually have done four of them, and the first one should be reaching your television screen probably sometime this week. The first one we did was for "Distant Early Warning."
BC: And what other three songs, out of curiosity?
Geddy: The other three songs are "Afterimage," "The Enemy Within," and "The Body Electric," and we hope to actually do every song if we get a chance to.
BC: Oh, fantastic. Thanks for the call, David. We go to...let's see, Newport News, Virginia. WNOR in Norfolk is our station, and this is Calli.
[Caller]: Hi.
Geddy: Hi, Calli.
[Caller]: Hi. I heard than when you, like, play some of your shows up in Canada, that you do some of your songs in French, and I think that's pretty neat. You know, that...
Geddy: It's not true.
[Caller]: Yeah, when you're...
Geddy: Sorry to disagree, but we don't do our songs in French in Canada.
[Caller]: Oh, well I heard, like, in Montreal that you sing some of your songs in French. I think that's really neat.
Geddy: Well, I think we introduce them in French. I speak to the audience in French, but we don't sing the songs in French.
BC: Rockline sets the record straight. Not true, Calli. What else is on your mind?
[Caller]: Well, I think it's, you know, like, on your Hemispheres album that you used the word Rocinante. The band I play in is really influenced by your music, and we've named our band Rocinante by your Canadian influence. I think that's really neat.
Geddy: Well, that actually came from John Steinbeck. It was the name of his van as he drove through the United States in Travels with Charley, and he actually got it from the name of the horse in...what novel was it now? Name escapes me now, but it's been passed down from generations [chuckles]. [Transcriber's note: before John Steinbeck named the camper Rocinante in his novel Travels with Charley: In Search of America (1962), Miguel de Cervantes used it as the name of Don Quixote's horse in The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha (1605).]
BC: [Chuckles] What a warm, friendly book that is: Travels with Charley. That's one of Steinbeck's best works.
Geddy: Oh yeah, it's great.
BC: Thanks, Calli. We have a call from Atlanta. It's Chris; he's listening to 96 Rock. Hi.
[Caller]: Hi Geddy.
Geddy: Hi there. How are you doing?
[Caller]: Pretty good. I noticed that on your first few albums that you had your basic vocals, bass, guitar, and drums, and then on Farewell to Kings, you brought in your keyboards, Neil started using different types of drum equipment like the orchestra bells, different types of cymbals, and Alex started going into a more adventurous guitar sound, you might say.
Geddy: Uh huh.
[Caller]: What made you decide to change so radically...well, that much, but...
Geddy: Boredom, really [chuckles]. We were getting bored with the format, and we needed more sound to play with; we needed more toys. We needed to have more texture in our music, really, we were just bored, just playing with the straight three-piece.
BC: Thanks for the call, Chris. We're gonna play some more music now, from the album Grace Under Pressure, one of the songs that has been done as a video, that Geddy just mentioned. This is my favorite from the album. This is called "Afterimage."
["Afterimage" plays]
BC: This is an album loaded with good songs, and that's one right there: "Afterimage," from Grace Under Pressure by Rush on Rockline. Back to the telephones, ton of calls tonight. Highland Park, Illinois: WMET in Chicago, our brand-new affiliate. Nice to hear from you at 95.5. Mark, you're on the program.
[Caller]: Hello Geddy.
Geddy: Hi Mark.
[Caller]: How are you?
Geddy: I'm great. How are you?
[Caller]: Oh, I'm very good, thank you. I've been a dedicated fan of yours for a long time, and it's a real honor for me to talk to you.
Geddy: I appreciate that.
[Caller]: I was wondering: since your musical style in general, and your voice, have changed so much over the past few years, I was wondering if you're gonna be doing any of your older music on your upcoming tour.
Geddy: Yeah, we are still doing songs that even go back to our first album. It's primarily concerned around, you know, the last four records, but there are still a few things that go way, way back. So, I can still get up there...sometimes [chuckles].
BC: [Laughing] Thank you Mark. Scott is on the line in Vancouver, Washington, listening to KRCK in Portland, Oregon. Hi, Scott.
[Caller]: Hi Geddy.
Geddy: Hi, there. What can I do for you?
[Caller]: I saw you in Portland, Oregon last Thursday. It was awesome.
Geddy: Uh huh. Great, glad you liked it.
BC: Scott, you gotta turn your radio down and you're on the air.
[Caller]: Okay. My question is a two-part question. On your album Moving Pictures, I was wondering: did you think of the album title, and then have the cover designed to the title, or did you have a cover design and then think of the title?
Geddy: No, the title came first, and the cover is a total play on the words "moving pictures" so, yeah, the title had to come first for that one.
BC: Very clever, too I might add. Is that both parts, Scott?
[Caller]: No. My second question is: at your concert, you had a video of them moving pictures just like on the cover.
Geddy: Mmm-hmm.
[Caller]: And I was wondering: where was that filmed, and secondly, why was the old lady so upset that you were moving the pictures?
Geddy: Because she was so moved by the scene of moving pictures. That was filmed as actually they were shooting the album cover. What we did was we set up the album cover shoot, and then we had another crew shoot the shoot, so it was sort of a picture within a picture. And the lady was very upset because, you know, those pictures were moving her.
BC: Thank you for the call, Scott.
[Geddy and BC both laugh]
BC: We'll take a brief time-out, and return with Geddy Lee of Rush on Rockline. Your number, toll-free: 1-800-222-ROCK. We'll be right back, so hang in there, okay?
[Commercial break]
BC: We'll return to the telephones with Geddy Lee of Rush, on Rockline, in just a moment. For right now, from the album Signals, "New World Man."
["New World Man" plays]
BC: From the album Signals, "New World Man" by Rush on Rockline. We've got "Omaha Bobby" who wants to talk to Geddy. He's listening to Z92, just gave you a nickname there, Bobby. How are you doing?
[Caller]: Hello?
Geddy: How are you doing, Bobby?
[Caller]: Just fine, how are you?
Geddy: I'm great thanks.
[Caller]: I just want to say: Grant and I are your biggest fans, okay?
Geddy: Okay.
[Caller]: This is my question: In the current Circus Magazine, in a picture you hit an "Oh no, it's Devo" button.
Geddy: Yeah.
[Caller]: Do you like Devo?
Geddy: Yes, I do like Devo. I like them very much.
BC: And is that the extent of your question, Bobby?
[Caller]: Yes.
BC: Okay, thanks for the call. When you went to the keyboard influence, Geddy, what bands influenced you? Were you listening to other rock 'n' roll bands and picking up little bits and pieces there, and saying "hey, this is a good sound here?"
Geddy: Well, I was starting to get into some sounds by people like Vangelis, and I was listening to a lot to Ultravox, and some of the newer music that was coming out of England around that time, around the time of the Vienna album, the Ultravox Vienna album.
BC: Yeah, yeah.
Geddy: That really got me fired up for it.
BC: And a final question for you this evening: with so much keyboard play coming into the band now, does Alex have to back off a little bit on the lead guitar work to accommodate the keyboards?
Geddy: Not really, and a lot of what Grace Under Pressure is, is Alex reasserting his role as a guitarist, because with Signals he felt a little frustrated because of the dominance of keyboards. And with this album, we tried to sort of correct that, and give him his fair share.
BC: And he cooks on this one, too.
Geddy: Yeah, well he really worked hard on this one to "win the job back."
[Both laugh]
BC: I want to thank everybody for the exceptionally good calls tonight. Next week it's the Moody Blues, and coming soon: Greg Kihn, Dan Ackroyd, David Gilmore, and a whole lot more as Rockline rocks into the summer. Also thank you to KRQR, "The Bay Area Rocker" in San Francisco, and especially to John Twig for production and, of course, to Geddy Lee for being on the program tonight. Good luck on your tour. Keep knocking 'em dead and thanks for the great, great music over the years, Geddy.
Geddy: Well, thanks very much. I enjoyed this very, very much.
BC: Come back again. I'm BC, and I'll be seeing you in a week.