Bill Banasiewicz

[The Analog Grownup]

When I saw the thread I thought it was about a character Alex could have played in one of their skits. You know, like Bill Bananawicz

[Narps]

When I saw the thread I thought it was about a character Alex could have played in one of their skits. You know, like Bill Bananawicz

Just don't grab his sausage...

[Jaminbenb]

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:

 

Yup, never heard of this guy. I still don't really know why I should know him other than for the book.

 

The book is probably the reason any of us know his name. I think he may have been mentioned in the liner notes for an album or two.

 

Yeah, pretty much...when the book came out I was pretty excited since there was nothing sanctioned by the band out there at that point, and some of the early stuff was good to be able to hear about in a more official light...but when the book turned into a "I'm friends with Rush" kind of thing, it got old...

 

(oh, and I don't think his name was mentioned...possibly his nickname....)

Edited April 24, 2014 by Jaminbenb

[JARG]

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:

 

Yup, never heard of this guy. I still don't really know why I should know him other than for the book.

 

The book is probably the reason any of us know his name. I think he may have been mentioned in the liner notes for an album or two.

 

Yeah, pretty much...when the book came out I was pretty excited since there was nothing sanctioned by the band out there at that point, and some of the early stuff was good to be able to hear about in a more official light...but when the book turned into a "I'm friends with Rush" kind of thing, it got old...

 

(oh, and I don't think his name was mentioned...possibly his nickname....)

 

Right. I think there may be a reference to "B-Man" in the liner notes on an album or two. Or maybe it was a tour program?

[KennyLee]

I actually just met him on Saturday. He came out to see our show. I was VERY familiar with the B-man and that book was awesome for a young kid in high school wanting to learn more about his favorite band. I wore that book out looking at all of the pictures and re-reading passages. 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.

[apetersvt]

. 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.

[dtpoet]

1990 I think was the first publishing date. I was in college. Echoing what others have said, the internet wasn't born yet and there was very, very little information about the band behind the scenes. Remember, the music mags rarely wrote about them and if they did, it was usually negative or specific to an album/cd. I remember seeing this book on a shelf and gasping like I had just seen the Holy Grail or finding the Dead Sea Scrolls in a sand box.

 

Really - I don't care what kind ofperson he was. If he portrayed their trust, then shame on him and he deserved what he got. The book itself was the first glimpse any of us had about who Rush really was.

[analog guy]

Agree with everything I've read here.... I bought the book when I was 15 (1992) and at the absolute zenith of my fandom. As everyone said, the internet wouldn't be in my house for another couple of years, and there was NOTHING about the band anywhere. I remember buying a cassette single of "Ghost of a Chance" just because it had a five minute interview as a B-side.

 

It was the proverbial gold mine when it came out. But as I got older, I realized just how poorly written and egocentric it was from the writer's perspective. I guess I'm not at all surprised what became of the guy, considering. It's a fascinating juxtaposition of amazing nuggets of inside Rush info sandwiched around the puerile nonsense of a guy who won the lottery and wants to remind you of that fact on every page.

 

I'm not sure where my copy is now, but I remember vandalizing it with stupid, silly drawings and cutting some of the photos out for a homemade poster. I haven't seen it in at least 15 years.... my mother probably tossed it when I moved out.

 

And people wonder why Neil is uncomfortable around his fans.

[Bangster of Goats]

I found my copy a couple days ago and thumbed through it. The pics are still gold, but man, lots of cringeworthy moments in the narrative. Like where he describes how Geddy had a pre-release rough mix of Hold Your Fire on cassette for him to listen to... that was the beginning of the end right there I think. ;) The copyright date is 1988, right after Hold Your Fire, which is when the sh!t went down. Guess he got that book out just in time before he got on the band's bad side. ;)

[circumstantial tree]

I have the Rockline interview with the band on tape from 1990 when they were touring for Presto and someone called about Visions and the band explained that the book was not an official biography but more like a "fanzine" sort of thing. They never mentioned as I recall that they personally knew the author.

[Bangster of Goats]

I have the Rockline interview with the band on tape from 1990 when they were touring for Presto and someone called about Visions and the band explained that the book was not an official biography but more like a "fanzine" sort of thing. They never mentioned as I recall that they personally knew the author.

 

I remember that! It struck me at the time how it seemed something weird was up, how they were kinda cagey in talking about the book.

[LeaveMyThingAlone]

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"

[Snaked]

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.

[LeaveMyThingAlone]

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

[Snaked]

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.

[bathory]

snaked IS bill banasiewicz

[Snaked]

snaked IS bill banasiewicz

 

No. But I do play him on TV :P

[fs2112]

i've had the pleasure of running into b-man several times at rush shows, and he is always very warm, polite, and humble. regarding his book, i think i was in junior high when it came out, and it was the first time i ever read a book from cover to cover.

 

I'm sure b-man could have written 'visions' very articulately, he was a journalist after all. you have to remember that he was writing it for young rush fans (young for the time), not for shakespeare fans. i think he wrote it with grammar that young fans could easily follow. if i was 13 and tried to read martin popoff's 'contents under pressure' back in the 80's, i would be completely lost in understanding it, although i enjoyed it reading it in my adulthood.

 

next time you see this guy at a rush show, try talking to him, he is a great guy, i wish him the best of luck and thank him for writing 'visions'.

Edited May 2, 2014 by fs2112

[coventry]

i've had the pleasure of running into b-man several times at rush shows, and he is always very warm, polite, and humble. regarding his book, i think i was in junior high when it came out, and it was the first time i ever read a book from cover to cover.

 

I'm sure b-man could have written 'visions' very articulately, he was a journalist after all. you have to remember that he was writing it for young rush fans (young for the time), not for shakespeare fans. i think he wrote it with grammar that young fans could easily follow. if i was 13 and tried to read martin popoff's 'contents under pressure' back in the 80's, i would be completely lost in understanding it, although i enjoyed it reading it in my adulthood.

 

next time you see this guy at a rush show, try talking to him, he is a great guy, i wish him the best of luck and thank him for writing 'visions'.

 

Erm. If he were writing it for "young fans", he must have thought these young Rush fans were complete idiots and reading on a 4th grade level. Since many Rush fans tend to be intelligent and curious, he severely underestimated his audience -- if this was indeed the case. Which I doubt it was.

[ILSnwdog]

Bill Banasiewicz? That bastard owes me money!

[jnoble]

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.

[LeaveMyThingAlone]

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.

 

Yah he choked on that one. What he was thinking I have no idea....I guess he wrote the book after they kicked him out then? At least he didn't make it ugly. He treated Rush very well in that book...

[Snaked]

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.

 

Yah he choked on that one. What he was thinking I have no idea....I guess he wrote the book after they kicked him out then? At least he didn't make it ugly. He treated Rush very well in that book...

 

You seem to forget that he not only had permission to write the book but the band helped him out with photos, additional interviews and unique access.

 

I have no idea why you have it in your brain that the book is in any way, shape or form tied to his ouster from the inner circle.

[GeddyRulz]

. 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.

[apetersvt]

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.