From: Mindi Abair

Subject: Re: OnlyFans

This was a super thoughtful approach to modern marketing. The old school ways are not working. I haven’t hired a publicist for my last 3 albums. It doesn’t make any sense to. It all happens online and on stage. Your email today sparked multiple conversations throughout the last few days of how we learn from the people who are doing it well. I’ve kept my super fans close, and they’re powerful. I keep a direct connection with them, while reaching outside of my normal zone for more to keep building with my shows, our Wine and Jazz Adventures, our NYE concert events. What you said rang true. I put myself out there everywhere… on stage, on instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Threads, etc. And hopefully people funnel into my world and find me and stay there. No Only Fans for me. Ha! Not my scene. But I understand how they’re building the lore of it. Great comparison with our world. Kept me talking about it for days!

Respect!

Mindi Abair

Like jazz?

www.mindiabair.com

Like wine and jazz?

www.wineandjazz.com

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Subject: Re: The New Music Business

Hi Bob —

The music business is unrecognizable from the days of massive music retail and powerhouse radio.  But I do not have much sympathy for talent complaining about paltry streaming payments.  In the good old days (my good old days, anyway), one spin of one record on one radio station, WLS, for example, could be heard by upwards of 500,000 people.  Once you made the playlist, the record was played up to 10 times a day or more.  That’s a lot of impressions.

Now, one stream is heard by one person.  How much is that worth?

Back when, record companies were in the career building business of selling hard goods.  These days, they are in the business of exposure of music.  The financial footings of the industry are not so solid.  That affects considerations of what labels look for in talent and what kind of music is selected for release.

It is truly a different business.  For me, I’m glad I was in it then, not now.

Jim Charne

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Re: The Geddy Lee Book

Thanks Bob for reviewing this! I was never a big Rush fan but I loved reading Geddy’s book. I’ve read a lot of rock biographies and the same old story of drugs and sex and endless fighting in the band gets old. I found it to be a really interesting and personal story. I never realized how smart those guys were either, in addition to being virtuoso musicians.

As an expatriate American who has been in Canada for nearly 40 years I did find it to be almost a stereotypical Canadian story. These guys didn’t seek out fame and fortune, they all got along with each other and seem to be very down to earth “nice guys”. Albeit maybe a bit boring at times.

This book made me want to listen to all their albums, at least once. My favorites are still the ones with the radio hits but I was able to appreciate the other albums as well.

Ian Wilson

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Re: The Geddy Lee Book

Yes, My Effin’ Life is long and cyclical, but it is humble and honest. Geddy Lee is a regular guy – a mensch.

When we lived in the Yonge / St. Claire neighbourhood in Toronto it was not usual to bump into him at Bregman’s buying bagels. No big whoop, just a customer buying the goods.

BTW Daniel Richler – a former colleague in our Montreal Rock Radio days co-wrote the book. Daniel is the son of one of Canada’s greatest writers Mordecai Richler. I hear some of Daniel’s influence in this down to earth story of one man’s Effin’ life. Worth the read!

 

Best regards

Andrew Forsyth

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Re: The Geddy Lee Book

So good. I “read” the audiobook and listening to Geddy tell the stories was, well, effin’ fantastic! I love that he covered his parents’ holocaust story. It’s needed these days, unfortunately.

I’m a semi-fan and I was riveted throughout, even without any tales of debauchery, and wanted more when it ended. Debauchery’s overrated. Honesty and humility made this a great book.

Mike Newman

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Re: The Geddy Lee Book

Bob, Geddy Lee is a terrific person to be a rock star.

I’m a Canadian, and a bassist; of course I’ve heard of him. I also do sound locally, and did audio for his previous book-launch event in Ottawa. He was polite, cheerful, to the point, and very together. He knew what he wanted and what was likely to be available.

He’s also very comfortable on-stage, knows how to use a microphone, and can be sharply funny. I’ve got to get a copy of this book too, and go to the book launch in town, if there is one.

Dave O’Heare

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Re: The Geddy Lee Book

I’m a big fan. Definitely enjoyed the book. Was blown away about how his parents made it back together after each going to camps (along with other family members, if I remember right).

And sure curious also about financials too but was a bit surprised that it seems like the band was not living the high life after the success of Moving Pictures (or is it just me?)…

And so hard to read when Neil had his personal tour case going back home and not to the “shop” like with the other Rush gear after the final show.

I could go on and on but I’ll stop there…

Steve Anderko in Fayetteville NY

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Re: The Geddy Lee Book

Seeing Geddy several months ago at the Orpheum in LA on his book tour was magical. Jack Black moderated. Definitely a once in a lifetime experience. We all got a copy of the book included with the ticket.

Thanks,
Dave Howard

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Re: The Geddy Lee Book

I’m a die hard Rush fan. That term is not used lightly. I have a savings account that I tithe, from money I earn, to put into this account just for Rush – tickets, merch, airfares, car rentals, lodging etc. I’ve seen Rush in cities all over the continent. I’m a lifer. There was a lot in this book that even we, the die hards, weren’t aware of and Geddy shared so much with us.

You’ve always talked about the success and longevity of a band is their relationship with the fans. You’ve emphasized that bands/artists need to curate and maintain a solid relationship with their fans. Rush did that. They evolved. They did not sell out. They took risks. They experimented. And we love them so deeply for it. The music. Their professionalism. Their journey. Their trials and tribulations. Oh and did I mention the music. It’s sophistication. It’s complexity both lyrically and musically. And they were ours. While the world was immersed in Michael Jackson and Madonna we had our own little special treat called Rush. They were ours. None of my friends grasped why I loved Rush so much.

Then came the internet and met others who shared my psychosis. The many friends I’ve met along the way because of Rush. The sharing of stories that were because of Rush. There’s nothing greater than having music bring people from all walks of life together. Rush provided that and more. Their humor. Their camaraderie. We took it all in and we march forward.

This was great, emotional and personal book that moved us, the fans. Sometimes with laughter. Sometimes with tears. But all throughout maintaining that connection with the fans.

This is how it’s done and no one did it better.

Etan G

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Re: The Geddy Lee Book

Terrific review. Geddy’s family lived in Downsview, at the time an almost entirely Jewish neighbourhood of North York, one of the many municipalities that was later amalgamated into Metro Toronto. I lived there, too, more or less at the same time as Geddy. We even went to the same public school (I believe he was a year behind me).

As the book recounts, Geddy was an indifferent student at best and school didn’t interest him, save for one event that stood out: a school show in which he got to work the spotlight. I was in that show and remember it well but, if I ever met Geddy, I don’t recall having done so. My loss.

Geddy and Alex later attended Newtonbrook High School, which many of my friends also attended, but, as you know, they had other things on their mind, much to the benefit of so many music lovers.

I mention these factoids only in the context of your remark that Canada is like a big high school where everyone knows each other. It’s not quite that chummy, but there are times, especially within some communities, where the lines do cross. You’ve experienced, and noted earlier, that Canada is a lot like the United States, but not exactly. There are differences, large and small, but to have grown up Jewish in the Toronto suburbs of the 1960s certainly gives one a great deal in common with one’s present and former neighbours.

David Basskin

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Re: The Geddy Lee Book

It’s SUCH a great read.  I tried to hold off in terms of finishing it too quickly because I was enjoying it so much (or as my friend Jason said – savour as much as possible).

 

Sure – as a Canadian – this book hits those emotional levels a little more quickly.  But the insight – in fact – the amount of drugs the band did alone – I would have lost that bet!

 

And Chapter 3: would be an INCREDIBLE movie.

 

Thanks for bringing attention to your readers – for those who may not have taken the time to read it yet – will love it!

Dale Robertson

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Re: The Geddy Lee Book

The audio book is even more enjoyable with Geddy narrating. He’s such an interesting and inspiring guy to somebody like me (born in 1970 who grew up in the NY suburbs where as a musician it was a rite of passage of for me and all of my musician friends to learn to play RUSH songs. They were Gods to us …and continued being so for many years. In many ways they were our Beatles.

Their inspiration was so lasting that when my old band Sound of URCHIN toured opening for Tenacious D, Jack Black would join us on stage each night to play The Spirit of Radio which was always the highlight of the night. (There’s a YouTube clip out there showing one of these gigs).

RUSH are absolute legends to so many of us and this book (print or audiobook) for any fan or anybody curious about how very 3 normal (yet extraordinary) Canadians made their permanent mark on many of us Gen Xers.

Scott Heydt

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Re: The Geddy Lee Book

hi bob ~

just finished geddy’s book on audible , my first audio book ever .

what in the world took me so long?

to hear geddy’s voice…doing his mom’s accent and the poignant ebbs & flows of his voice remembering all the tragedies …just brilliant.

can’t wait for andre to return from current pat metheny ‘dream box’ tour (guitar tech) and listen all over again.

i was never a rabid Rush fan…of course heard tom sawyer on the radio, growing up in the 70s.

have seen them once less than a decade ago.

i am, however; a rabid music fan.

i highly recommend the audio version, read by geddy.

it’s that good.

Robin Gelberg
Production Assistant/Merch
GuitarTour Productions

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Re: The Geddy Lee Book

Bob, most critics won’t agree but the top three are the Beatles , The Rolling Stones, and Rush.
The critics would be wrong. Rush was one of the best in the world. And influenced tens of thousands to up their playing game. Including me.

Bob Maggio

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Subject: Re: The Geddy Lee Book

Hey Bob,

Working for few years at Atlantic in the A&R Dept, there would be certain days on the company calendar of artists/”stars” visiting the building for departmental meetings. A working “behind the curtain” peek. Kid Rock on the elevator, members of Sugar Ray saying hello, Fat Joe strutting down hall, Rob Thomas banging on door, blowing kiss to A&R Senior Nick C & Mr Ertegun askin “what department are you with?” – you name it, just goes and goes.

When the inter office bulletin posted the Rush visit (Vapor Trails on Atlantic). The weight of it was a bit different. Other artists, executives, bean counters, interns, anyone, would also sense it. Almost a royalty like vibe. The exact times for each of their meetings, unlike all other visiting artists, were kept secret. And there was no Neil – didn’t do them. I was able to finagle through an assistant to find out what day, time, floor they would be on, and calculated the info, and that AM, rode the train with my 2112 vinyl in the hopes of getting it signed. Working with assistants to the main department brass to try and track down what office they would land, AND, if a window of time I can slip in. This had to be stealth like, since I was a grunt, and they followed a strict time schedule to each department. Got a tip on when they would have about 4 minutes of downtime waiting for next meeting so I hung up the phone, grabbed the record, got in elevator to then what probably looked like a 12 year old kid to the gal gatekeeper who was like “hurry-just go in and keep it together!!!!” ….and man…there’s Geddy and Alex….both get up from couch to shake my hand, and I went blank for a moment. Said “PLEASE SIT” but when they saw the record, they were like “Whoa, haven’t seen those in a while…” “it’s like a giant CD”….

Just a wholesome three minute conversation of music, and baseball!!!…they then signed my record, shook hands, and I was out of  there, and off the 23rd floor before the main people walked in.

What a road they, Geddy, traveled to get to their place in history.

Someone said to never meet your music heroes, but that phrase couldn’t have been more wrong here.

Nick Spro

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From: Barry Mc Cabe

Subject: Re: Paul Brady-This Week’s Podcast

Hi Bob,

I enjoyed the Paul Brady interview. Thank you for that. When trying to answer what it was like growing up in Ireland, especially during the Troubles, he could have pointed you to his own song “The Island”, in which he so eloquently describes what it was like to be living on ‘the island’ during that period.

Paul’s wife is from my hometown (Virginia, Co. Cavan). Back in the early ’70s you’d see him around town from time to time. He was already well-known, which is probably why he was asked to judge a local talent competition. It was held on the town square on the back of a truck. He already had a reputation for saying what was on his mind and not suffering fools lightly, so I don’t think some of the mothers were prepared for his comments on their little darlings. He wasn’t even being hard on them, just truthful. I have to say I agreed with everything he had to say.

Later that summer I walked into one of the pubs in town only to see Paul and his (future) brother-in-law playing guitars over in the corner. They were playing songs from Simon & Garfunkel, James Taylor and stuff like that and I was mesmerised. I was only 14/15-years old at the time and in the process of discovering that music. Everything was going fine until someone said – “Hey Paul, Mc Cabe here plays guitar too, you know.” As I was not only young but also shy I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me at that moment.

Perhaps they needed a bathroom break because he said – “go ahead and play something then.” I had just written my first song so I thought if I play it they won’t know it and so won’t know if I’m any good or not. Ha ha, it doesn’t work that way obviously and it shows you how naive I was. When I finished I fully expected Paul to go all Simon Cowell on me but in fact he was quite kind and complimentary. As you can imagine at that age, it meant the world to me. In fact to this day, every time I hear the name Paul Brady my mind takes me back instantly to that evening in McQuaid’s pub.

Barry

P.S. I recorded that song many years later. I’d written it for my best friend who’d had a short summer romance with a girl from Canada (her family were staying at the local hotel).

… and if you want to know what Virginia looks like, you can catch glimpses of it here.

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Subject: Re: Paul Brady-This Week’s Podcast

Hey Bob,

I played guitar on Tina Turner’s “Steel Claw”

Jeff Beck played the Solo!!

Best,

Richie Zito

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Re: OnlyFans

The adult industry has always been on the leading edge of technology because they know that’s how to gain an advantage. Labels always resist. The TikTok standoff is more evidence of narrow thinking and continues to baffle me. This scene from Boogie Nights is a perfect metaphor for some of our resistance to innovation and change. Floyd Gondolli got it right: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cH0kOWNtLFo

Niels Schroeter

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Re: OnlyFans

You left out that only fans is slowly destroying the strip clubs. All the hottest girls don’t need to dance anymore

Scott Vener

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Re: The Geddy Lee Book

Where I worked in Toronto we had 65 employees.  One day they decided to figure out how many languages we could speak.  42.

Peter Burnside

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Subject: Re: “Private Equity: A Memoir”

Got a good laugh from your observation that “the most passionate music fans I know are MD’s”…as a child and grandchild of skilled musicians, so glad that my kid brother Frank London followed his dream to become a Grammy-winning Klezmer artist. 

While I love my work, I’ve always joked that in a family of musicians, I f*cked up and went to medical school!

Aloha

Steve London MD

Are you excited about the eclipse?

I’m not. Furthermore, wasn’t there a once in a lifetime eclipse just a few years back?

But the media industrial complex hype has been building and building and… Who knows, the weather might not even be good. And if you look at the sun unaided/unfiltered you’ll go blind, or damage your eyes irreparably. Furthermore, as the techies say, there is friction, you’ve got to buy these eclipse glasses in order to view the phenomenon, or else build some refractory hodgepodge device from a cereal box… Does any adult other than Seinfeld even eat cereal? I certainly don’t have a box in my cupboard.

And if for some reason you’re not interested in the eclipse, or just hunger to be part of something when there is nothing, when no center truly exists, you can glom on to the “Cowboy Carter” hype. It’s endless. Story after story. Makes you not want to listen to the damn Beyoncé album. And who’s got time to do that anyway?

Meanwhile, if you want to talk about a true superstar, with longevity, we can discuss Emma Chamberlain.

WHO?

I didn’t know either, until I read this story in yesterday’s “Wall Street Journal”:

“Emma Chamberlain Won’t Be Putting Her Kids Online – The YouTube star talks about combating perfectionism, being a boss and the food that frightens her”

Free link: https://shorturl.at/dlrDM

Let me remind you, we live in a pull economy, not a push economy. You can continue to push it on us, but we can very easily ignore it. This is one reason the mainstream media has such a bad rep, it seems to be playing to people that don’t exist, or that we don’t want to be associated with. I mean I’m gonna travel to see some natural event that will be better in photos anyway? That I might not even be able to see because of clouds?

As for “Cowboy Carter”… It’s like we’re living in the last century, in the physical world. There’s no longer a Grammy bounce, and that’s what all this “Cowboy Carter” hype is about, well, partially. Hoping looky-loos will… Exactly what? In the old days the goal was to get someone to buy the CD. After that, who cared what they did with it, even if they listened at all. Today, you go to your streaming platform of choice and you stream the entire album one time, which you won’t do, because it’s so long, and that counts as…twenty seven streams? Talk about a pebble in the ocean. Today’s music business is all about consumption, CONTINUED CONSUMPTION! Do you know what I’m interested in? What the numbers for “Cowboy Carter” are a year from now!

Like the inane Luminate charts published every week in old school media. Number one is an album that most people have never heard of. And are not interested in hearing. And they get there through an arcane system of counting that the labels manipulate. Did you see that Billie Eilish complained about the multiple versions of physical albums used to game the chart? She said it was waste, even though she did it too. You’ve got to go to number one to appear to be a star… But that’s a big issue amongst the younger generation, waste, the climate, the environment. And the music business is on the wrong side here. Eilish believes the acts/labels are preying on the fans and the byproduct is physical waste. I mean how many copies of an album do you even need?

So I started asking around, was anybody else obsessed with the eclipse?

So far I haven’t found anyone. Sure, that’s just the people I know, but that’s the point, it’s the people I know, and those are the ones I care about.

I mean who are these doofuses pushing these stories we’re not interested upon us. Ever hear of backlash? We’ve got a whole political party running on it. They’re angry about what the other party is doing, and the anger is oftentimes stoked in media that is far from mainstream. Even the “Wall Street Journal,” the right wing paper of record, is not fully onboard the Trump train, blowing the locomotive whistle.

So I pull the news. And if you don’t…you’re victimized by what is pushed to you, which can be inaccurate. But the reason I mention I pull the news is because after reading about Emma Chamberlain, I researched her, I went to Wikipedia, I watched some of her videos. And I can see why she’s a big star, she’s relatable. In a world where songs are written by committee, fodder for AI scrapers, Ms. Chamberlain is an individual. She evidences her personality, her quirks. And her brand extension is into coffee, which for years she has testified about, it’s a core interest of hers. Far different from the “musicians” going into any vertical that will pay. One of the most successful brand extensions ever was Beats headphones. The sound sucked, with overemphasized bass, you couldn’t find a single good review, but the story was great, that this was the right thing for Dr. Dre to put his money, time and attention into.

So the news makes me feel like an alien, or at least alienated. It is written for someone… Who exactly is that someone? A person who only gets information from approved news sources, the last century behemoths, who buys what they anoint hook, line and sinker?

And the mainstream media is anti-smartphone and anti-social media. They want it stopped. They want kids off their devices. Instead, they should look at why kids, adults, everybody is on their devices. Their feed is personalized to THEM! That’s the future, getting the news you want. Isn’t that the essence of TikTok, the algorithm, which even Instagram/Facebook hasn’t been able to replicate? And not only are we all interested in different stuff, we love the humanity of social media, we love seeing what other people are doing. Meanwhile, in the “New York Times” we see wealthy wankers at charity events. The hoi polloi are never invited and believe these no-name rich people are empty vessels.

Our world has been decentralized. And the mainstream media acts like it is not. And that is confounding.

The luxury of the present era is you don’t have to experience anything you don’t want to. No Drake, no Taylor Swift, no Beyoncé. This is not Top Forty of the sixties or MTV of the eighties, never mind the three TV networks of yore. But legacy media keeps believing that this is the era we live in, the past, when we positively live in the future.

Meanwhile, we keep being told to be scared of AI, when we’re already using it. That predictive text on your iPhone? That’s AI. As is the info telling you how long your return drive will be, even though you didn’t ask. As for musicians… Sure, we can talk about the scraping of your wares the AI companies are employing, that’s a legitimate issue. But AI will end up just being another tool, like the drum machine before it. They keep telling us the sky is falling, but it doesn’t. Meanwhile, how am I supposed to pay my bills? This is another disconnect, Biden and the news keep telling us the economy is roaring, the stock market is soaring, but grocery bills are out of sight. Don’t tell me it’s not Biden’s fault, don’t tell me by almost all metrics the economy truly is good, what has that got to do with me? Once again, the people parading in power are disconnected from what is happening on the street.

So if you want to watch the eclipse, be my guest. That’s another feature of the new century, do what you want, as long as it doesn’t affect me, cool. And I’m going to do what I want. All this hogwash about the Democrats taking away our freedom… We do have to manage misinformation, otherwise…we’re in the world we’re in right now. But in truth, you’ve never had so much freedom, so much access at your fingertips.

So I ain’t gonna make an effort. I might notice some darkness if I go outside, but this is not my first rodeo. During that massive eclipse of just a few years back I peeked out the window, saw it was kind of dark for the time of day, and went back to sleep. Back in 1970 I skied through an eclipse. Got a bit dark, but it didn’t bother me. And people have been telling me my entire life not to stare at the sun, why would I do so now?

And the eclipse isn’t the only thing I can miss. I can miss movies and TV shows and records… They don’t appeal to me, I don’t want to spend the time. And no one I know is making a valid case that I need to spend the time. There are very few people I trust. Hell, every week I read Ron Charles’s e-mail on books from the “Washington Post.” And then I research the books and reserve at the library those that appeal to me. I changed the email for my WaPo subscription and somehow the Charles e-mail disappeared, and I missed it. But so much I don’t miss. They could stop writing about “Cowboy Carter” and the damn eclipse right now.

But I will look at the pics after the fact. For a second or two.

And then I’m going back to my own life, with a zillion choices, personalized to me and me only.

This is too big a paradigm, too big a change for traditional news outlets to get their grip on. So what do they do? NOTHING! Just repeat the old formula and push back against change. Meanwhile, in most cases their audience keeps shrinking.

As Jim Carroll once sang, “I’m just a constant warning to take the other direction.”

Although in truth, you already are.

Eclipse, schmiclipse. NEXT!

“My Effin’ Life”: https://shorturl.at/etLW5

I don’t think I want to be a rock star anymore.

This is not the typical rock autobiography. Yes, Geddy does delve into cocaine, but he’s married to his childhood sweetheart and if you’re looking for tales of debauchery, this is not the place.

Then again, Geddy is Canadian. Most Americans have never been north of the border. But if they go, they’ll find out it’s the same, but different. Canadians tend to be very verbal, and the country is like a giant high school, everybody knows everybody and if you think you’re better than everybody else, you’re going to be torn right down.

In other words, Geddy is a regular person, just like you and me. Which is both amazing and refreshing in a world where our musical heroes live a fantasy life on private jets, yachts and private islands and in general live a much better life than you, because they’re special.

Geddy is special. Because he’s the son of Holocaust survivors.

In a world where too many deny their Jewishness, Geddy, i.e. Gary, does not. He owns it, and continues to own it. Which is refreshing in a world where too many try to pass.

That’s a feature you won’t find in the typical rock book, Geddy’s roots. He goes back to the old country, to the concentration camp, with his mother. It’s very vivid and very memorable. Geddy may give elements of growing up short shrift, but not his heritage, it made him who he is. And when his father dies long before his time, Geddy spends a year mourning according to Jewish law.

This is not your average rock star.

So, once his dad is gone (Geddy believes he died from the strenuous work and poor food in the camps), his mother doesn’t have quite the power over him that was exercised previously by the parental team. In other words, Geddy is on his own. And ultimately he drops out of high school, to play music, to make it.

But he doesn’t make it right away. It takes long enough that the average person would give up. Actually, Neil Peart had. He went to London, gave it a good run, and then came back to the Great White North to get into his father’s business. If Rush hadn’t needed a new drummer, you never would have heard of Peart, considered one of the best behind the kit ever.

As for Alex Lifeson… Like Geddy, that’s not the guitarist’s real last name. It’s the English meaning of his Serbian moniker. That’s another thing about Canada, it’s a melting pot of immigrants. They say more languages are spoken in Toronto than anywhere else on the planet. I’ve never verified this, but my experiences in T.O. seem to indicate this.

So it’s the story of boomers who experienced the Beatles, and then Cream… I went out with a Gen-X lawyer who said it’s the same as it’s ever been. That if you don’t get it, you’re too old, that today’s youngsters are just as passionate about music as their forebears. That’s hogwash. Unless you were there, you’ve got no idea of the impact of the Beatles. Guys grew their hair, they picked up guitars, the music was EVERYTHING!

So the goal is to play original music, and then you hit the road.

Geddy gives a lot of credit to his manager Ray Danniels. Then again, he disses Ray later in the book, for cutting financial corners (not screwing the band, just saving money) and not booking them in exotic places like Brazil earlier. Geddy is stunned at the passion of the fans in South America. Who knew? But music travels everywhere.

So ultimately Cliff Burnstein gives a thumbs-up and the band gets signed to Mercury and…

This is when it starts to get repetitive. The band plays night after night, but since they’re openers, not that long. And then they get into a station wagon and drive hours to the next gig.

Turns out Neil Peart is a reader, and he gets Geddy hooked on books. And when they finally graduate to a bus, they watch the same movies over and over and over, quoting lines to each other.

In other words, it sounds incredibly BORING!

There are so many hours to kill. And they end up with nicknames for each other and inside jokes, it’s positively adolescent, but they’re grown men on a grind.

Yes, every year is the same. Make an album, tour incessantly, make another album, it goes on for more than a decade exactly like this. As for the rest of life…

Well, Geddy’s girlfriend now wife starts a fashion business and those in the industry have no idea she’s even married to Geddy. And when it gets really bad, they go to counseling, but Geddy says first and foremost he likes to work, and his wife is a saint, she did the child-rearing, kept the household alive and intact. And if work called, Geddy went. Work came first.

Then again, this is something that amateurs, wannabes, don’t understand. That it’s nearly impossible to make it, and if you want to you have to work around the clock, sacrificing so much. A lot of which most people refuse to give up.

Now as the years wear on and success grows, there are buses, and occasionally private jets, but it never really sounds luxurious. It sounds like work, and a few creature comforts to make the work just a bit more comfortable.

As for the work…

Every album is covered. The most interesting part of making the albums is choosing a producer. The band wants the feedback, which you don’t get if you produce yourself. They want enthusiasm, direction, and…

Geddy’s fully aware that Rush is not a traditional, mainstream act. The band expects no radio airplay, when that was everything, and for a long time gets none. They’re building the band on the road, like I said above, night after night. And the bigger they get, the less respect they receive. And Geddy is not magnanimous, he says: “Fact is, to this day I have a long f*cking memory for people who treat me badly.” Like Billy Preston, who parties with them all night and then never seems to remember that they’ve met. Then again, Robert Plant goes out of his way to be nice.

And then come the disasters.

If you’re a Rush fan, you know them. If you’re not, I won’t mention them because I don’t want to kill the element of surprise.

Yes, you can read and enjoy “My Effin’ Life” even if you’re not a Rush fan, even if you’ve never heard a Rush song. Read the Acknowledgements and you’ll find out that Geddy had help, but the book reads like Geddy wrote it.

As for Geddy… I was constantly trying to put him in a slot. On one hand, he was like a kid I went to high school with. But in other ways, he’s a musician, which is its own breed, which most people who want to be stars never realize. It’s not exactly that Geddy has airs, then again, he goes on about how bossy he can be, how he micromanages things. He oversees mixing and mastering and the albums are finished because they have to be released so the band can go on the road, otherwise he’d tinker with them forever.

And all this goes on for decades, but then the bodies of Neil and Alex start to wear out. You may think you want to play forever, but there’s attrition and aging and Neil says he wants to retire.

Geddy still hasn’t metabolized this, never mind Peart’s passing. It was the three of them, playing off each other, how can it be Rush with only two?

Which of course is fascinating when the Stones are on the road with only two. And other bands ply the boards with only one original member. It’s hard to give up. That roar, that adulation you get back from the crowd, you can’t get it anywhere else.

So Geddy now goes on walking tours with his wife. And plays with his grandkid. But he’s still hankering to play music. But not exactly sure how to move forward, now that the tragedies and pandemic are in the rearview mirror.

Now if you’re a dedicated rock fan, you know Rush. You heard “Tom Sawyer” on the radio, more. This is not foreign territory. Rush was a hit act before, during and after the MTV era. They have a place in the firmament. And probably, unless you’re a hard core fan, “My Effin’ Life” is just another book you’re not going to read.

I only picked it up because of the good reviews. And in truth, it’s long. I don’t mean that it’s hard to read, it’s just that you’re going along, deeply involved, and then at some point you realize it’s the same cycle over and over again and then…

Well, then the changes begin.

But before that…

I’m glad that Rush dedicated themselves and made this music. But if you think you want to be in a rock and roll band, you should read this. At Berklee and Belmont too. Because the flash, the partying, the money, is only a tiny bit of the overall picture. Rush has to create this music out of thin air. They don’t go to the publisher for songs, they don’t employ co-writers, they build it fragment by fragment. And although the band tends to agree, there are moments of dissension, like when Alex protests about the inclusion of keyboards.

And Geddy talks about having to learn all this music and play it all on stage. It’s one thing to make the record, but to perform it live?

Eventually Rush is so successful that they can do An Evening With… In other words, play for hours with no opening act. And this is extremely satisfying. But it’s still only three hours out of the day. The other twenty one you’re coming down from the show, you’re traveling, you’re killing time until the next gig. Meanwhile, your kid is growing up without you, your marriage is strained. You’re part of a self-contained unit, it’s not like you’re putting down roots in your hometown, joining clubs and cementing relationships. In truth, it’s an endless circus wherein promoters and other musicians become your buddies, and if this is your chosen line of work, kudos.

But we’ve become inured to the flash. We think it’s all fun and games.

Not that Geddy is complaining, it’s just that reading along I said to myself that this is not how I would have chosen to live my life.

Then again, I am not a musician.

Geddy Lee is. This is his story, complete. No punches are pulled, he’s not trying to impress you, he’s just telling you how it all went down. How he was bitten by the bug and had to follow the music, the rest of life be damned.

Honestly, I rarely read these rock books. It’s hagiography, they leave the good stuff out. But I found “My Effin’ Life” satisfying. I’d still like to know more about the money, how much was made, how much was spent and where it is now. Geddy does say the band sold its publishing. Then again, that was back in 2014, I wonder if they’re kicking themselves that they didn’t hold out a little longer for the Merck money.

Then again, Geddy can always make more music. What else is he going to do?

Tune in Saturday April 6th to Faction Talk, channel 103, at 4 PM East, 1 PM West.

If you miss the episode, you can hear it on demand on the SiriusXM app. Search: Lefsetz