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Are RUSH actually Prog?
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cstack3 View Drop Down
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Originally posted by verslibre verslibre wrote:

Originally posted by cstack3 cstack3 wrote:

Originally posted by verslibre verslibre wrote:

Originally posted by cstack3 cstack3 wrote:

When Tony Levin filled in for Squire in the ABWH project, he had to invent a way to duplicate Squire's staccato attack, so he invented what he called "funk fingers" - short drum-sticks that he held onto his fingertips with rubber bands, allow him to hammer onto the round-wound strings as rapidly as Squire could play with a pick! It was brilliant to watch him onstage with ABWH!

Not to be that guy, but Tony Levin was already using the Funk Fingers with Peter Gabriel. It was Jerry Marotta who suggested Tony tie the sticks to his fingers because Tony was trying to replicate Marotta's percussive phrase (the one he played on bass strings for "Big Time") on tour. Tony credits his bass tech for making the first Funk Fingers for him.

The funny thing about ABWH: When I saw them, Tony was ill and none other than Jeff Berlin was filling in! What a trip!

Actually, it was GABRIEL who invented the concept, by fooling around and playing Levin's bass strings with drumsticks in the studio once! 

I was actually paraphrasing Levin's own words from an old interview, i.e. Funk Fingers allowed him to emulate Squire's attack.  Thanks for the additional information!

You're right, it was Peter's suggestion that he "attach the sticks to his fingers," but Tony said it was Jerry, not Peter. Then again, it happened a long time ago. Those guys probably don't remember or care. LOL (But it was definitely a few years before ABWH.)

"It started when, on Peter Gabriel's SO  album, Jerry Marotta drummed on the bass strings for Big Time. Later, on tour, I was trying to simulate the riff with one stick - one day Peter looked at me doing it and said 'Why don't you attach the sticks to your fingers?' I turned to Andy Moore, my tech at the time, and asked him, 'Can we do that, Andy?' (Of course, I said 'WE' but HE's the one who designed a way to do it - first with a strap, then with a cutout and elastic loops for fingers.) We modified them a lot, and came up with a comfortable shape and different lengths for the two fingers."


Well done, mate! Clap
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cstack3 View Drop Down
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More on Levin & funk fingers:

Jeb:  My last two talk about two of your outside projects over the years.  The first one is: tell me about your time with the band Yes.

Tony: It was with ABWH (Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe) that I did recording and touring, and I had a great time with that. My Crimson pal, Bill Bruford, had brought me into the group. It was a nice challenge learning many of those great Chris Squire bass parts, and I had fun trying to use the Funk Fingers to make them sound a bit like me. 

What ended up as the Yes Union album was, for my part, another album with ABWH–the reunion with the other band members came after we'd recorded.  And after that, when Yes re-formed, I went out to catch the show, just like all the fans, and much as I'd liked playing the music, I was relieved to hear Chris himself doing those parts, as it should be.
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We need to have a scale that quantifies prog! Then we can at least pretend there's a standard of measure LOL.

"I am so prog, I listen to concept albums on shuffle." -KMac2021
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The only way to be absolutely sure is of course by building a bridge out of them. If that doesn’t help then merely put them on a scale and find out if they weigh the same as a duck = prog

Edited by Guldbamsen - May 24 2021 at 03:47
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Originally posted by Guldbamsen Guldbamsen wrote:

The only way to be absolutely sure is of course by building a bridge out of them. If that doesn’t help then merely put them on a scale and find out if they weigh the same as a duck = prog

"As you can see as illustrated by the Van Der Graaf here, RUSH are 3 ducks, which equates to 1.25 Prog."

"I am so prog, I listen to concept albums on shuffle." -KMac2021
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Originally posted by verslibre verslibre wrote:

Originally posted by SteveG SteveG wrote:

Yes, but was Geddy's mullet prog?

At its proggiest for Power Windows. Clap


See the source image
I guess they were emulating their prog heroes, ELP. Confused
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^ except that Rush never put a photo of theirs as an album cover. 
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^ Of course not. They were too ugly for that.
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Originally posted by SteveG SteveG wrote:

^ Of course not. They were too ugly for that.

Like that stopped bands to put their faces on album covers.

Also, I can't believed you said that... LOL
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Originally posted by Cristi Cristi wrote:

Originally posted by SteveG SteveG wrote:

^ Of course not. They were too ugly for that.

Like that stopped bands to put their faces on album covers.

Also, I can't believed you said that... LOL
True, but Rush had good taste.
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NO...They're Canadian ! LOL
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It is only proper that when doing a band photo for a cover, the members must show their bellybuttons and they get bonus points when they're actually pointing at them. Hence, this amazing cover...
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Originally posted by JD JD wrote:

NO...They're Canadian ! LOL


At last, something we can all agree on!
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Originally posted by progaardvark progaardvark wrote:

It is only proper that when doing a band photo for a cover, the members must show their bellybuttons and they get bonus points when they're actually pointing at them. Hence, this amazing cover...



LOL I would never have noticedShockedLOLLOLLOL
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^ That's the result of staring at album covers for hours on end, I dare say.

Edited by SteveG - May 24 2021 at 09:11
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Originally posted by verslibre verslibre wrote:

Originally posted by BrufordFreak BrufordFreak wrote:

Rush are not as proggy as fellow country mates Saga, Mystery, Pollen, Maneige, Sloche, Opus-5, Hamdryad, Harmonium, The D Project, Conventum, or even Ptarmigan.

Saga's nowhere near as proggy as those other bands, though. Saga's first three albums are wonderful, like a hybrid of Yes and early Styx with a dual keyboardist format and an almost exclusive reliance on Moog synths. I mean they used just about every Moog that was available at the time: MiniMoog, MicroMoog, PolyMoog, MemoryMoog, Liberation, you name it. You can see them in the Silhouette concert footage. So if you're a Moog freak and you haven't heard Saga's first few albums (Saga, Images at Twilight, Silent Knight, Worlds Apart), give them a listen.

Saga transitioned away from complex arrangements during the recording of 1983's Heads or Tales. Behaviour and Wildest Dreams (which saw the exit of two key members) sound, er, worlds apart from what they'd done before — very FM friendly. But they never regained the momentum they had with Worlds Apart and they've never toured the US. After a few duds, they were back in form with 1999's Full Circle, an album I regard as one of their best. They resumed the "Chapters" and an approach closer to Silent Knight and Worlds Apart for the first time in years. The next few albums are really good!

A friend of mine went to bassist Jim Crichton's Van Nuys studio (before he moved back to Canada) and met the line-up that recorded Trust. They were all there, in the midst of recording! They let a few select fans stop by one afternoon. I was stuck far away at work and couldn't make it.
I really did not get BrufordFreak's post, that was a lot of mixed bands......I'm a decent Saga fan, mainly from the period before Behaviour, although I like Behaviour. Not sure what you meant about them not touring the US, I saw them in Baton Rouge, La in 1984-85 I think they opened for The Police or could have been Quiet Riot, I don't remember.
Saga is clearly a band that was very proggy and then went very AOR, but always had a small dose of prog in their music.
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Originally posted by progaardvark progaardvark wrote:

It is only proper that when doing a band photo for a cover, the members must show their bellybuttons and they get bonus points when they're actually pointing at them. Hence, this amazing cover...



Already a proud NON-fan of those guys. Now I'm really glad. LOL
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Originally posted by SteveG SteveG wrote:

^ Of course not. They were too ugly for that.

That didn't stop Pink Floyd. LOL
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Originally posted by verslibre verslibre wrote:

Originally posted by SteveG SteveG wrote:

^ Of course not. They were too ugly for that.

That didn't stop Pink Floyd. LOL
True. LOL
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verslibre View Drop Down
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Originally posted by Catcher10 Catcher10 wrote:

I really did not get BrufordFreak's post, that was a lot of mixed bands......I'm a decent Saga fan, mainly from the period before Behaviour, although I like Behaviour. Not sure what you meant about them not touring the US, I saw them in Baton Rouge, La in 1984-85 I think they opened for The Police or could have been Quiet Riot, I don't remember.

Saga supported many bands but never toured as a headliner. They never broke through in the US, nor did they really net the enthusiasm of many Canadians. They did better in Quebec than Ontario! Their old manager was from England and didn't care about Canada. He wanted them to make it in the States. Meanwhile, they gained a rabid following in Germany, where they're loved to this day. (Michael Sadler has also performed solo shows in Germany.) Saga played stadiums in Puerto Rico and Venezuela. Here, they can't even mount a tour of small venues like Blue Oyster Cult.

Originally posted by Catcher10 Catcher10 wrote:

Saga is clearly a band that was very proggy and then went very AOR, but always had a small dose of prog in their music.

Did you hear Full Circle, House of Cards, Network, Trust or 10,000 Days? If not, I think you'll like them.
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