Bill Banasiewicz

[KennyLee]

Reading through this thread and seeing the comments about seeing the B-Man at shows and how nice he is to talk to: I thought to myself, "I have no clue what he looks like so I wouldn't know if I had seen him or not." So... I did a google image search and lo and behold, google gave me an image of.....drum roll....Narpski.

 

Ya think? Here's a picture with some fans. I'm far left, B-Man is second from the right.

 

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/xx298/kengildea/MeampB-Man_zps198130aa.jpg

[ytserush]

. Remember young ones, this was before the internet so I learned everything about the band from that book at the time. There was nothing else out there.

 

I enjoyed the "friends with the band" angle. Good stuff.

 

Yes. As a young obsessed Rush fanatic back in the 80's, this book was a godsend. You got the most detailed history of the band and so many incredible pictures.

 

Before Visions, most things I knew about Rush were from word of mouth (which we all know how reliable that is), the tour book intros (thanks Neil for doing these for us), "The Brief History Of Rush" which was a few pages included in the beginning of the guitar sheet music books Rush Complete Vol's 1 and 2, and the Rush Backstage club newsletter.

 

Totally. I was an obsessed fan, way before the Internet. I got my information by buying, reading, and re-reading every magazine article I could find. I went to the library and found old issues of magazines, and a Geddy Lee entry in Current Biography, that sort of thing. (Another Rush author, Robert Telleria, has read posts of mine and presumed I got all my information from HIM. Not true; I got my info from the same sources he did is all.)

 

Young fans take Rush info for granted. Back then, you really had to DIG. Today, you just search Google and Wikipedia.

 

Somewhat relieved I'm not the only one to hit Current Biography. As I recall the information there wasn't new, but it was still pretty cool to see the listing.

 

Telleria...now there's a piece of work. Where did he disappear to?

[GeddyRulz]

Telleria...now there's a piece of work. Where did he disappear to?

 

I don't know. Very soon after his "Mereley [sic] Players" came out, he was tapped to provide information for the official Rush calendar - "this day in Rush history" kinds of things. I was surprised he and his demonstrably shoddy work was given that kind of imprimatur by Anthem. (They trusted HIM to do it?) Haven't heard a peep from him since, though.

 

I confess to being a nuisance and thorn in his side when his book came out. I posted not one, but THREE negative reviews of "Mereley [sic] Players" on Amazon, each using a different name. I fought on a message board with someone claiming to be his "friend" but whom I suspected was Telleria himself. Telleria/his friend was defensive of the book as I ripped it apart. So many errors! What ticked me off wasn't the grammatical mistakes, but the FACTUAL MISTAKES he made. I imagined a whole generation of fans spreading false information about the band on the Internet, each claiming their errors were true because "it says so in the Telleria book." I couldn't tolerate something like that happening.. Telleria/his friend also delighted in pushing my buttons, he took a "Rushier than thou" attitude with me, saying I was a "lesser fan" than he because I discovered Rush in '83 and he'd allegedly been a fan from the beginning (1974). I hate people with that attitude. (As soon as I became AWARE of Rush, I was obsessed; it's not my fault I was only 6-years-old in '74.) But I think I easily "won" the argument with him, and in front of everyone on the board. He had nothing.

Edited July 4, 2014 by GeddyRulz

[Lorraine]

Quite the necropost, Led!

 

I did a google search on his name and this was thread was the first hit!

Please tell me you had never heard of him either? I am not the only one?..... :codger:

 

No.

[Narps]

Quite the necropost, Led!

 

I did a google search on his name and this was thread was the first hit!

Please tell me you had never heard of him either? I am not the only one?..... :codger:

 

No.

Finally. I have been worried about this since April.....

[Lorraine]

...he took a "Rushier than thou" attitude with me, saying I was a "lesser fan" than he because I discovered Rush in '83 and he'd allegedly been a fan from the beginning (1974).

 

Oh, the horror. What are you even doing on this forum? :laughing guy:

[Lorraine]

Quite the necropost, Led!

 

I did a google search on his name and this was thread was the first hit!

Please tell me you had never heard of him either? I am not the only one?..... :codger:

 

No.

Finally. I have been worried about this since April.....

 

Billy better steer clear of us. You and I give new meaning to the phrase "lesser fan."

Edited July 5, 2014 by Lorraine

[ytserush]

Telleria...now there's a piece of work. Where did he disappear to?

 

I don't know. Very soon after his "Mereley [sic] Players" came out, he was tapped to provide information for the official Rush calendar - "this day in Rush history" kinds of things. I was surprised he and his demonstrably shoddy work was given that kind of imprimatur by Anthem. (They trusted HIM to do it?) Haven't heard a peep from him since, though.

 

I confess to being a nuisance and thorn in his side when his book came out. I posted not one, but THREE negative reviews of "Mereley [sic] Players" on Amazon, each using a different name. I fought on a message board with someone claiming to be his "friend" but whom I suspected was Telleria himself. Telleria/his friend was defensive of the book as I ripped it apart. So many errors! What ticked me off wasn't the grammatical mistakes, but the FACTUAL MISTAKES he made. I imagined a whole generation of fans spreading false information about the band on the Internet, each claiming their errors were true because "it says so in the Telleria book." I couldn't tolerate something like that happening.. Telleria/his friend also delighted in pushing my buttons, he took a "Rushier than thou" attitude with me, saying I was a "lesser fan" than he because I discovered Rush in '83 and he'd allegedly been a fan from the beginning (1974). I hate people with that attitude. (As soon as I became AWARE of Rush, I was obsessed; it's not my fault I was only 6-years-old in '74.) But I think I easily "won" the argument with him, and in front of everyone on the board. He had nothing.

 

Yeah, I don't know how he got that calendar gig either....I recall the claim there was to be a second edition that corrected the mistakes, but then he went Internet silent.

 

I kind of get anal myself with the factual errors and false information. Mistakes like that shouldn't be made in this day and age. It's much easier know to do proper research. Unfortunately, it's even easier than that get it wrong by mistake or intentionally. Of course there are those out there that as long as it is entertaining, it doesn't matter if it's wrong or right.

 

In my younger days, I'd go on a crusade about all this stuff. Now I usually just try provide as much evidence as I can and leave it at that.

 

Hopefully there's enough of us who have been at this long enough and can give back to the younger generations.

[GeddyRulz]

Yeah, I don't know how he got that calendar gig either....I recall the claim there was to be a second edition that corrected the mistakes, but then he went Internet silent.

 

I'd heard the same thing. A group of us (the writers of "The Camera Eye" webzine) were compiling factual errors we'd found, with the idea of sending them forward to him for a future edition. Nothing came of it.

 

In my younger days, I'd go on a crusade about all this stuff. Now I usually just try provide as much evidence as I can and leave it at that.

 

Oh, how I went on crusades! Up all night, arguing with people on the Internet, composing these perfectly well-worded diatribes. Check for a response in the morning, think about my response to their response while on the way to work, type it while at work, back and forth for nearly a week, at which point things would blow over but not before I felt exhausted and full of self-hatred for being such a prickly douche. I got smart; I don't do that shit any more. It's pointless, and just made me feel terrible. My wife couldn't understand why I bothered, and she was right. This cartoon hit a little too close to home:

 

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/duty_calls.png

[Lake Side Parking]

Yeah, I don't know how he got that calendar gig either....I recall the claim there was to be a second edition that corrected the mistakes, but then he went Internet silent.

 

I'd heard the same thing. A group of us (the writers of "The Camera Eye" webzine) were compiling factual errors we'd found, with the idea of sending them forward to him for a future edition. Nothing came of it.

 

In my younger days, I'd go on a crusade about all this stuff. Now I usually just try provide as much evidence as I can and leave it at that.

 

Oh, how I went on crusades! Up all night, arguing with people on the Internet, composing these perfectly well-worded diatribes. Check for a response in the morning, think about my response to their response while on the way to work, type it while at work, back and forth for nearly a week, at which point things would blow over but not before I felt exhausted and full of self-hatred for being such a prickly douche. I got smart; I don't do that shit any more. It's pointless, and just made me feel terrible. My wife couldn't understand why I bothered, and she was right. This cartoon hit a little too close to home:

 

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/duty_calls.png

 

:laughing guy:

[lerxt1990]

Yup, the guy was very "in" with the band. A close friend. Rush is very loyal. They trusted him and he screwed them over by writing that book. He was immediately kicked out of the circle of trust and he has not had any association with the band since...

 

Everyone nailed it. It was absolute gold for the Rush fans. But the book reads like it was written by a 10 year old. Very poor spelling and grammar. Embarrassingly so. I remember reading it and how shocked I was that it could be this bad and be released. I always think of Neil reading that book and how he must have reacted.

 

In terms of content, there was some stuff that was very cool to learn about the band. However, it was somewhat painful trying to find it amongst the "look at me" style he wrote it in. That really got old very fast.

"So, Alex says hey B-Man lets go grab some lunch! I wanted to do Chinese and Alex was cool with that as long as I was going"

"Geddy asked me what I thought of his mullet. I gave him a wink and thumbs up. We hugged"

"Neil asked me what I thought of Limelight. I told him to change the song title from I am Paranoid to Limelight. He gave me a high five and said I am the greatest guy ever"

 

 

The book had nothing to do with his falling out with the band.

 

I would say it had a lot to do with it. I assume you are referring to BB sharing some unreleased songs off Hold Your Fire with radio stations? Yah, that didn't help either

 

 

Again, the book had NOTHING to do with the falling out. Not even a little bit.

Yup, the guy was very "in" with the band. A close friend. Rush is very loyal. They trusted him and he screwed them over by writing that book. He was immediately kicked out of the circle of trust and he has not had any association with the band since...

 

Everyone nailed it. It was absolute gold for the Rush fans. But the book reads like it was written by a 10 year old. Very poor spelling and grammar. Embarrassingly so. I remember reading it and how shocked I was that it could be this bad and be released. I always think of Neil reading that book and how he must have reacted.

 

In terms of content, there was some stuff that was very cool to learn about the band. However, it was somewhat painful trying to find it amongst the "look at me" style he wrote it in. That really got old very fast.

"So, Alex says hey B-Man lets go grab some lunch! I wanted to do Chinese and Alex was cool with that as long as I was going"

"Geddy asked me what I thought of his mullet. I gave him a wink and thumbs up. We hugged"

"Neil asked me what I thought of Limelight. I told him to change the song title from I am Paranoid to Limelight. He gave me a high five and said I am the greatest guy ever"

 

 

The book had nothing to do with his falling out with the band.

 

I would say it had a lot to do with it. I assume you are referring to BB sharing some unreleased songs off Hold Your Fire with radio stations? Yah, that didn't help either

 

 

Again, the book had NOTHING to do with the falling out. Not even a little bit.

 

Yep. He provided a radio station with the pre-release tapes of HYF even after being asked by the band not to. End of relationship. I don't understand why a guy like him who seemed to worship at the alter of the band would ignore a direct request like that. If anything, you'd think he'd be the LAST one to backstab the band. Maybe he wanted the glory of being "The Guy" who got their new music out first albeit illegally.

 

Ill never understand that, if that is exactly what happened...

[ytserush]

Yeah, I don't know how he got that calendar gig either....I recall the claim there was to be a second edition that corrected the mistakes, but then he went Internet silent.

 

I'd heard the same thing. A group of us (the writers of "The Camera Eye" webzine) were compiling factual errors we'd found, with the idea of sending them forward to him for a future edition. Nothing came of it.

 

In my younger days, I'd go on a crusade about all this stuff. Now I usually just try provide as much evidence as I can and leave it at that.

 

Oh, how I went on crusades! Up all night, arguing with people on the Internet, composing these perfectly well-worded diatribes. Check for a response in the morning, think about my response to their response while on the way to work, type it while at work, back and forth for nearly a week, at which point things would blow over but not before I felt exhausted and full of self-hatred for being such a prickly douche. I got smart; I don't do that shit any more. It's pointless, and just made me feel terrible. My wife couldn't understand why I bothered, and she was right. This cartoon hit a little too close to home:

 

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/duty_calls.png

 

 

Ha! Ha! Well I was never quite that extreme about it but I was probably in the neighborhood.

 

Great cartoon though...