RushFanForever

From the following article posted in Sept 2011 below: Gordon Lightfoot brings legendary sounds of the open seas http://www.heraldnews.com/article/20110909/NEWS/309099963 Since then, it seems it has become easier for Canadian artists to get a toehold; Rush maybe is the most notable example. I love them. They’re great. I know Geddy [Geddy Lee, Rush lead vocalist and bassist] very well. In terms of acceptance, I think that the American side has kind of an appetite for Canadian talent. We are cousins in a certain kind of way. Here's an older photo of Gedd Lee and Gordon Lightfoot below, which took place at the Toronto Music Awards in December 1989 when Lightfoot was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award according to photographer Algis Kemezys that i contacted about it. http://www.pbase.com/alkeme/image/6603044/original

I vote for Ben. I met Ben on the Time Machine Tour in Vancouver back in June 2011. I've been a fan of all of his musical output after that encounter that I checked out. I got to meet Geddy and Alex this year as well and bumped into Ben again and had a brief chat with him which was great. Ben did 'Losing It' with the guys in Vancouver which was excellent to see live.

I think RUSH fans should check out these other Canadian musical acts listed below that influenced the band from interviews read or viewed from Geddy, Alex, and Neil. http://jam.canoe.com...pedia/F/FM.html http://jam.canoe.com...ton_Market.html http://jam.canoe.com.../M/Mandala.html http://jam.canoe.com.../P/Paupers.html http://jam.canoe.com..._Ducklings.html Even though these acts put out two to three albums, it's cool to hear other lesser known Canadian bands besides the obvious. I mention FM because even though they opened for RUSH in the late 70's and early to mid 80's - their four albums 'Black Noise', 'Headroom: Direct To Disc', 'Surveillance' and 'City Of Fear' were a musical influence on 'Permanent Waves', 'Moving Pictures' and 'Signals'.

Heart with Ben Mink on violin live.

Look who's touring Canada together in 2016. Heart with Joan Jett as opening act. http://bravewords.co...6-canadian-tour One musical act featuring women who're a fan of RUSH and the other who was founder of a former musical act which opened for RUSH in the late 70's that cannot stand them. http://news.2112.net...-out-about.html http://news.2112.net...s-love-for.html

Here's a couple of other live clips with Ben with other acts. k.d. lang - Turn Me Round

Neil Peart is wearing an FM t-shirt in this 1980 interview with the band . The above interview is originally available on the bonus disc of the R30 Deluxe Edition 2 DVD set. Former FM drummer Martin Deller interviewed Neil in the October 1981 edition of Canadian Musician magazine here. Neil has cited Martin Deller as one of his favorite Canadian drummers in the 2007 book 'The Top 100 Canadian Albums' by Bob Mersereau here.

Extremely rare super 8 video of Canadian trio FM performing live (opening for RUSH) at the Spectrum in Philadelphia on May 22, 1981 which can viewed . There's snippets of the songs 'Up To You' from 'City Of Fear' (1980) and 'Journey' from 'Black Noise' (1977).

From the Examiner.com Posted on June 9, 2013 Black Noise proves that sophisticated 70s progressive music can be accessible

"I love this album, so happy it is being remastered" - Geddy Lee This is from a January 2015 posting on the official RUSH Facebook page. I also found a cool interview with Ben Mink that can be viewed here.

Early on, Ben Mink was in a group called 'Mary-Lou Horner'. They were a house band for a venue in Toronto called 'The Rockpile' which opened for Led Zeppelin according to this article here and this archived Led Zeppelin tour date here. John Rutsey was in the audience at the concert according to an interview with Geddy here, along with 'Nash The Slash' from FM that Ben would later replace. John would tell Geddy and Alex about the Feb 2nd 1969 Led Zeppelin concert, in which they would later attend the band's concert on August 18, 1969 here. Geddy was incorrect about a month in the above 2009 Mojo interview. 'Nash The Slash' attended both Led Zeppelin concerts according to here.

Ben Mink's 1981 out of print solo album 'Foreign Exchange' has been reissued for digital download according to a news posting here. I downloaded the album from iTunes and have heard it on Spotify. The album is great. Some of the songs have a sound that's similar to 'Permanent Waves' era RUSH and Jeff Beck 'Blow By Blow' etc.

Another lesser known Canadian progressive rock named 'FM' has their classic album 'Black Noise' listed at # 48 in the Top 50 Greatest Prog Rock Albums of All Time. FM opened for RUSH on the Permanent Waves Warm Up Tour, Moving Pictures Tour, and the Power Windows Tour. Ben Mink was a member of FM from late 1977 to 1983. He replaced founding member 'Nash The Slash'. A second FM founding member Cameron Hawkins reformed the band and released 'Transformation' which was released in May 2015. The album has been receiving rave reviews and is produced by Terry Brown. Terry Brown comments on FM here. FM's back catalogue has also been re-released. Here's a couple of reviews of 'Transformation' below: Review: FM: Transformation Science Fiction Double Feature: “Black Noise” (reissue) and “Transformation” by FM (2014, 2015; Convexe) Here's an interview with Cameron Hawkins below: I'm surprised Rolling Stone is aware of who FM is. They probably would be more aware of the 'FM' soundtrack and the Steely Dan song of the same title. Rolling Stone quoted a 2014 interview that Cameron Hawkins did with Music Express Canada magazine here when commenting on the timeless of the 'Black Noise' album.

From the comments section on Rushisaband.com on the Friday, June 13, 2014 - Updates and other random Rush stuff. From Donna Halper: Happy Father's Day to all Rush dads, grand-dads, step-dads, mentors, and Big Brothers. Btw, according to Geddy's sister (with whom I spoke earlier today), it is true that Geddy has become a grand-dad. Pretty amazing.

I viewed a close up clip of the live on opening night which featured the string section. Many assumed that if 'Losing It' was performed live and the other songs featuring strings would include Ben Mink, but that isn't the case. As I mentioned before, it's highly unlikely that RUSH would ask Ben to tour with them. He has his own career where he just finished writing and producing Heart's latest album 'Fanatic', which I'm sure he will be busy with more than anything.

This part further elaborates on my previous post: JETHRO TULL Geddy Lee mentioned in the Queitus.com interview about seeing Jethro Tull live. This event took place on June 4, 1972 at the Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto according to here. A set list from the concert here. This concert was also mentioned by Geddy Lee in an interview on page 56 of the Classic Rock Presents Rush: "Clockwork Angels" Fan Pack.

Here are the concerts Geddy saw live that he referenced in the Quietus interview here below: LED ZEPPELIN Geddy also discussed the impact of the first Led Zeppelin album and the Toronto gig the band played at in this Mojo magazine interview from 2009 here. Here's some interesting trivia: Ben Mink (who did the violin solo on 'Losing It' , string arrangement on 'Faithless' and collaborated on 'My Favorite Headache') was a member of the house band called 'Mary-Lou Horner' at the Rock Pile club in Toronto that Led Zeppelin played at according to here. John Rutsey was at the first Led Zeppelin gig in Toronto here (Mary-Lou Horner was the opening act) and Geddy and Alex were at the second gig (Edward Bear was the opening act) here from the Mojo magazine article and the archived Led Zeppelin dates. Nash The Slash, who was the violinist/guitarist for the former Canadian band FM (who would later be replaced by Ben Mink) that toured with RUSH, was also in the audience at the concert from photos he took here. Geddy and Alex are somewhere in the audience. Also, Geddy and Alex are standing in line somewhere at the concert here. I asked Ben in an email if Geddy ever spoke of the Led Zeppelin gigs to him and couldn't recall if they did. That would've been an interesting coincidence if Geddy and Alex were at the first one and met Ben at the time, which didn't occur until FM opened for RUSH in the late 70's. CREAM Geddy Lee mentioned seeing Cream live in concert from the 'City Sonic: Geddy Lee (Rush) at Massey Hall' documentary . This event was to have taken place on April 22, 1968 at Massey Hall in Toronto. However the show was rescheduled for June 5, 1968. Nash The Slash, was also in the audience at the Cream concert from photos he took here. A set list from the concert: 1. Tales of Brave Ulysses 2. Sunshine of Your Love 3. Sitting on Top of the World 4. N.S.U. 5. Traintime 6. Stepping Out 7. Toad GENESIS Geddy Lee mentioned in the June 2012 video interview with Classic Rock Magazine about seeing Genesis with Lou Reed . This event took place on November 8th of 1973 at Massey Hall in Toronto according to here. A set list from the concert here. Guitarist Steve Hackett, formally of Genesis also discusses that 1973 gig with Lou Reed at Massey Hall in Toronto which wasn't their best either according to here. JETHRO TULL Geddy Lee mentioned in the Queitus.com interview about seeing Jethro Tull live. This event took place on June 4, 1972 at the Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto according to here. A set list from the concert here. PINK FLOYD Geddy Lee mentioned in the Queitus.com interview about seeing Pink Floyd live. This event took place on March 11, 1973 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto according to here. A set list from the concert here.

Posted in its entirety: Come on Children Film 1973

Jason Sniderman who played the piano on 'The Garden' is also featured on 'Available Light'. He was in a band called 'Blue Peter' back in the 80's. Blue Peter - Radio Silence

From the track 'Seven Cities Of Gold'. "And then we had what we call our 'good six minutes.' That's all you need, a good six minutes a day. From there, the song took off. We started with the whole feedback thing, which is pretty cool. The idea was to do something from the hip and get real snarky and strident. Geddy Lee mentioned in 'The Game Of Snakes & Arrows Video Documentary' extra on the 'Snakes & Arrows' Musical Video Interactive CD/DVD album that "Far Cry" was also written in an inspirational moment within a 'good six minutes'. Ben Mink coined the phrase according to Geddy. I emailed Ben Mink in regards to this and he replied with the following: "Yeah I think the phrase was a joke comment I made while writing "Runaway Train" with Geddy...it pretty much wrote itself in six minutes and then it became a phrase for a creative moment...everyone needs a good six minutes..."

The band Wireless (Anthem Records act back in the late 70's) is having their second and third albums reissued on Rock Candy Records. Positively Human Relatively Sane 1978 No Static 1980 - produced by Geddy Lee. You can check out more about the band on their wikipedia page. Also other musical acts on the Anthem Records label during the 70's and 80's are also getting their albums reissued on Rock Candy Records as well, which include Max Webster and Coney Hatch.

Rush and Pete Townshend

From MusicRadar.com: Rush: Clockwork Angels full album reviewed track by track

The song has been posted on YouTube here.