Rush Documentary

First off – RUSH FUCKING RULES – FUCK OFF!!

Ok, got that out there.

So yeh, I was a fan the second I heard the first Rush thing I ever heard, which was 2112, at Herman’s little place in Juneau, which was where a bunch of us heard a lot of things for the first time….(and a LOT of other stuff happened) I loved it, and although I’ve frequently kinda felt the lack of certain things that I value very much in terms of songwriting and arrangement etc nowadays, they’ll always be a band I like listening to…

Watching the documentary I was struck by something that has always haunted me throughout my life as a musician….I ALWAYS wanted to be in a great band, and I always wanted to do that as how I went through life, and although I’ve had a truly amazing life and wouldn’t give it up for any money, that’s always been a goal I never really attained, and I really wish I had.

I was in some great bands that never really took off for various reasons, The City with Billy Trudel (lead vocals – Elton John and MANY things as a singer), my way way back buddy Stuart Mathis (guitar vocals with so many HUGE things I’m not even gonna try, look him up), Jerry Speiser (drums – fresh from “Men at Work” at the time), and the band’s svengali/writer/producer Peter McIan (producer/writer/keys, had produced the first couple Men at Work records)…..Life by Nite with Tom Croucier (GREAT singer/writer who should be huge if the world was fair), Stuart again, Bryan Hitt (REO nowadays), Jeff Nadieu (now passed but spent a long time with Eric Burdon I think), Kevin Anderson (does a ton of work in production and has a studio), a really cool little band I had with Stuart, Bryan and Joellen Friedkin (keys, spent a long time with Keb’ Mo) that never really saw the light of day but had a ton of potential…and of course my own efforts with STILL, which has had a number of people in it (Erik Eldenius – Billy Idol, Micheal Martinsonn – Dilana, Mick Linden – Bad Haggis, Mike Owens – very talented drummer, Billy Steinway – tons of stuff, Dave Odegaard (monster shredder with a number of guitar CD’s out there that are fairly popular, and who interestingly just the other day said those famous words to me “Dude we should put the band back together and do some shows!”, and maybe we will) and a LOT of folks helping out along the way…but none of them ever really jelled and/or took off. There’s a bunch of other things but those are the ones that stick out right now as I write….

(Edit/Update) Fuck, can’t believe I didn’t mention “Different Size Gods” which was a group that kinda just fell together by weird chance and was really really cool…myself, Stuart, Tony Obrahta, Fred Eltringham, and Mike Webb (these guys have SOOO many credits I’m not even gonna try, just Google them), we did that record so quick and in my case literally on the fly, luckily Fred and I played together like we’d known each other for years instead of hardly met before tape rolled….that band shoulda def done more than it did….(/Update)

A lot of that has to do with the musical environment of LA, which is so money and success driven, and maybe less interested in just being great and let the pieces fall where they may…and a lot of it has to do with me being an aggressive opinionated dick for most of my life…and fact is, not many of us EVER get to be in that band, and certainly very few get to succeed at it, and maybe 10 or less like Rush has….

But yeh, I always wanted that…

Watching the documentary, you can see the enormous respect and affection they have for each other, and how much fun they still seem to have doing what they’ve done for like 40 years or so, and it’s striking to think about what a great life that is, and how they seem to “get it” as well….they know they have it going on….THAT’S what I wanted to do….

So yeh, more power to them, I love to see it…I’m a bit jealous, but I’m glad SOMEONE got to do it…it’s very rare that these things are all in the same place at the same time, many people get some of those pieces, but very few get all of them that right.