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Showing posts from July, 2014

GL61 - Happy Birthday Geddy Lee!

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Geddy Lee (born Gary Lee Weinrib) is celebrating his 61st birthday today! Happy Birthday, Geddy -- and many happy returns! "Gary" was born in the small Toronto village of Willowdale. As many fans know, his given first name "Gary" transformed into "Geddy" during his high school days thanks to his mother's heavily-accented pronunciation of his name. In addition to his musical aspirations, some of Geddy's other interests include collecting fine wines and, of course, baseball. His wine collection is rumored to include some 5,000 bottles and his love of baseball is well documented. In fact last year, Geddy threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the home opener for the Toronto Blue Jays - something he admittedly dreamed of doing for years. In addition to today being Geddy's birthday, it is also the 40th anniversary of when Neil Peart joined Rush - cementing the rock trio that would continue through today. Please join me in congrat

The History of John Rutsey and Rush

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Ultimate Classic Rock has just posted an article on John Rutsey titled, appropriately, The History of John Rutsey and Rush . From the article: Rush have survived 40 years in the music industry, persisting through critical hatred and shifting musical trends, and they owe much of that longevity to the consistently inventive drumming of Neil Peart. Within that view, it’s easy to miss the band’s important first chapter with John Rutsey, the band’s founding drummer. While Rutsey may be remembered as sort of Rush’s version of Pete Best, it’s a story worth revisiting. The first seeds of Rush were sewn in 1963: Hockey buddies Rutsey and Alex Lifeson met while attending the St. Paschal’s School and eventually formed a band dubbed the Projection. Then in 1968, in the Willowdale area of Toronto, the teenagers joined forces with bassist Jeff Jones, who was soon replaced by Geddy Lee, a somewhat witchy-looking dude with a high-pitched shriek of a voice and an enviable fluency on his instrument.

Geddy Lee Featured in Terroni Magazine - 41st Anniversary Tour Mentioned

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Geddy Lee is featured on the cover of Terroni (#6, July 2014), a magazine published by the Terroni Italian restaurant chain based in Toronto and Los Angeles. The accompanying interview, titled In Conversation with Geddy Lee discusses Geddy's love of wine. Though there is very little talk of Rush, the opening tagline of the article reflects some confirmation of the band's plan to tour next year: The Canadian icon, whose band Rush is in the midst of planning a 41st Anniversary Tour , spoke with Jessica Allen on how he came to collect (and drink) wine, underappreciated varietals, other rock star oenophiles and improving with age. After several questions focusing purely on wine, the interview closes with a Rush-centric query: Is there a Rush album that you feel was critically overlooked? It's hard for me to have perspective on that. Most of our work is critically overlooked. Our fans have sustained us all these years and as time goes on we've become more critically a

Win a Copy of the SACD Version of Rush's PRESTO

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Back in May, we announced that Audio Fidelity was preparing the release of Rush's Presto album using their audiophile-approved SACD (Super Audio CD) treatment. Hemispheres and Counterparts had also received the SACD treatment in the past. In celebration of the release of Presto , the folks at Audio Fidelity have graciously offered to give away FREE copies of the SACD version of the album to three lucky visitors of Cygnus-X1.Net. To enter the contest, please click HERE . The contest will run throughout July and is open to anyone across the globe. Presto is now available and can be ordered directly at the Audio Fidelity website . Use the promo code SCARS20 at checkout for 20% off the MSRP price. Many thanks to Ernie C. and Marshall B. from Audio Fidelity for allowing Cygnus-X1.Net to offer up this great give-away. Good luck, everyone! Related News Stories [ SACD Version of Rush's Presto Coming Soon - May 31st, 2014] [ SACD Version of Rush's Hemispher

Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson May Have Toronto Park Named After Them

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Could a new arts-themed park located in the Toronto neighborhood of Willowdale be named after two of the area's most famous residents? If Councillor John Fillon, who represents the area, gets his way, then the new park set for construction in 2015 will be named after both Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson. From Fillon's written proposal : "The new park will have an Arts theme, specifically related to music and sound," Filion wrote in a June 16 to the North York Community Council's City Clerk's Office. "It is appropriate to consider naming the park after musicians with a connection to the Willowdale area. Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson are founding members of the band Rush, which has a highly successful career spanning decades." The Councillor adds both musicians have agreed to put their names forward for the honor. The park, located on land purchased by the city, is bounded by Princess Avenue to the north, Hillcrest Avenue to the south, Glady Allison Place t

Rush Backstage Club Offers Up More Than Just T-Shirts

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For years, Rush fans the world over have been able to purchase a wide variety of Rush merchandise from the Rush Backstage Club . From tour t-shirts and baseball caps to tourbooks and videos, the Rush Backstage Club was truly your one-stop-shopping location for all things Rush. Recently, the online store has expanded their items to include some high-end limited edition signed and framed portraits of Rush, including a set called Live Kings Photo Set : Limited to only 50 sets, the Live Kings Photo Set contains three iconic photographs taken during the A Farewell to Kings Tour by renowned rock photographer Fin Costello. Printed on high-quality photographic paper, each photo has been hand numbered and then signed by the respective band member, and every frame comes with a designated Certificate of Authenticity indicating both the photo and its number in the collection. Note that each piece will have a matching number (e.g. 3/50) to the other two in the set. Frames are 18" x 1

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