UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Permanent Change

[Pages:331]UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles

Permanent Change: Rush, Musicians' Rock, and the Progressive Post-Counterculture

A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Musicology by Durrell Scott Bowman

2003

? Copyright by Durrell Scott Bowman

2003

The dissertation of Durrell Scott Bowman is approved.

____________________________________ _ Susan McClary

____________________________________ Mitchell Morris

____________________________________ Christopher Waterman

____________________________________ Robert Walser, Committee Chair

University of California, Los Angeles 2003

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Figures and Tables (lists of) ......................................................................................... iv

Musical Examples (lists of).............................................................................................v

Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................... vi

Vita ............................................................................................................................... viii

Publications and Presentations.................................................................................... ix

Abstract of the Dissertation ......................................................................................... xi

Introduction ....................................................................................................................1

Chapter 1 Cast in This Unlikely Role: Song Interpretations and Cultural Musicology .......................................12

Chapter 2 Endlessly Rocking: Post-1960s' Rock Music and Socio-Musical Cultural Contexts.............57

Chapter 3 Keep on Looking Forward: Individualism and the Progressive/Hard/Metallic Alloy, 1975-78 .........95

Chapter 4 All This Machinery: Music Technology and Stylistic Ambivalence, 1980-87......................163

Chapter 5 Due Reflection: Human Nature and Other Horizons, 1989-2002........230

Appendixes

A Rush Albums, Billboard Chart Peaks, and RIAA (U.S.) Certifications .........279 B The Ten Main Rush Cities, 1977-2002 ...........................................................280 C Thirty Representative Secondary Rush Cities, 1977-2002 .............................282 D "Each Another's Audience:" a Rush Fan Survey, November 2000...............283 E Summary of Rush Fan Survey Responses (161 respondents) .........................285 F Rush Fan Surveys--Initiate Group Listening Contexts ..................................286 G Rush Fan Surveys--the Twelve Leading Top 3 Artists..................................287 H Professional Musicians Interested in Rush's Music, ca 1983-2002 ................288 J Neil Peart's Reading Lists...............................................................................289 K Album Track Listings, with Selected Song Charts .........................................291

Bibliography ................................................................................................................302

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FIGURES AND TABLES Figure 1.1: Rush in Concert, ca 1985-86................................................................35 Figure 2.1: Rush in Concert, ca 1974-75................................................................87 Figure 3.1: Rush Performing "Xanadu" (1977), ca 1978-79 ...............................122 Figure 4.1: Album Cover of Permanent Waves (1980)........................................163 Figure 4.2: Album Cover of Moving Pictures (1981) ..........................................177 Figure 4.3: Album Cover of Grace under Pressure (1984) .................................206 Figure 4.4: Album Cover of Power Windows (1985) ..........................................216 Figure 4.5: Geddy Lee on the video set of "The Big Money" (1985)..................218 Figure 5.1: Rush in Concert, ca 1996-97..............................................................271 Table 3.1: Overview of "2112" (2112, 1976) ......................................................111 Table 3.2: Overview of "Xanadu (A Farewell to Kings, 1977) ...........................125 Table 3.3: Overview of "Cygnus X-1" (A Farewell to Kings, 1977)...................131 Table 3.4: Overview of "Hemispheres" (Hemispheres, 1978).............................139 Table 3.5: Solutions to the "Hemispheres" Cadential Figure ..............................145 Table 3.6: Overview of "La Villa Strangiato" (Hemispheres, 1978) ...................155 Table 4.1: Lyrics and Form of "Limelight" (Moving Pictures, 1981) .................191

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MUSICAL EXAMPLES

Example 2.1: Main Riff of "Working Man" ..........................................................58 Example 2.2: Vocal Line Opening of "Working Man" (with Riff) .......................59 Example 2.3: "Working Man" Chorus ...................................................................60 Example 2.4: Instrumental Middle Pattern of "Working Man" .............................61

Example 3.1: 7/8 Introductory Riff of "Anthem" ..................................................98 Example 3.2: Instrumental Ending of "Anthem" .................................................101 Example 3.3: Introductory Riff of "Bastille Day" ...............................................103 Example 3.4: Main Riff of "Bastille Day" ...........................................................103 Example 3.5: First Half of Chorus 3 of "Bastille Day"........................................106 Example 3.6: Last Half of Chorus-Derived Ending of "Bastille Day" ................107 Example 3.7: Excerpt from "2112--Overture"....................................................110 Example 3.8: Excerpt from "2112--The Temples of Syrinx" .............................112 Example 3.9: 7-note/E major Guitar Gesture of "Xanadu"..................................124 Example 3.10: Verse 3 (i.e., vocal ending) of "Xanadu" .....................................128 Example 3.11: Excerpt 1 from "Cygnus X-1--Prologue"....................................133 Example 3.12: Excerpt 2 from "Cygnus X-1--Prologue" ...................................134 Example 3.13: Excerpt from "Cygnus X-1--Part I"............................................135 Example 3.14: Excerpt from "Cygnus X-1--Part III" .........................................137 Example 3.15: "Prelude"/Vocal Interlude excerpt, "Hemispheres".....................140 Example 3.16: "Cygnus--Bringer of Balance," "Hemispheres" .........................144 Example 3.17: Verse 1 of "The Trees" ................................................................150 Example 3.18: Verse 2 of "The Trees" (first half) ...............................................151 Example 3.19: Excerpt from "Powerhouse" (Raymond Scott) ............................158 Example 3.20: Rush's Versions of "Powerhouse" ("La Villa Strangiato") .........159

Example 4.1: Beginning of Verse 2 of "The Spirit of Radio" .............................168 Example 4.2: Energy Riff of "The Spirit of Radio".............................................170 Example 4.3: Opening Guitar Melody of "Freewill" ...........................................172 Example 4.4: Verse 1 of "Freewill" .....................................................................173 Example 4.5: Bass Guitar and Guitar Solo Excerpt from "Freewill" ..................175 Example 4.6: Introduction of "Tom Sawyer" ......................................................179 Example 4.7: Verses 1 and 2 of "Tom Sawyer"...................................................180 Example 4.8: 7/4 Instrumental Pattern of "Tom Sawyer"....................................182 Example 4.9: Excerpts from Unison/Contrapuntal Sections of "YYZ"...............189

Example 5.1: Main Riff of "Show Don't Tell" ....................................................236 Example 5.2: Verse 1 Opening of "Stick It Out" (with Riff)...............................255

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My time in graduate school--and my period of dissertation writing--covered a wide variety of activities, including teaching and research assistantships, part-time and full-time course instruction (undergraduate and graduate), presenting conference papers, computer-related work, semi-professional choral singing, running a choral music library, and administrative work for a summer music festival. Many of these things would have threatened to disrupt my degree-specific research and writing if I hadn't ended up working within the orbit of Robert Walser's exemplary multi-tasking. I have always known him to be active in areas such as administration, teaching, research, publishing, presenting papers, organizing conferences, co-editing a book series, editing one or another journal, and performing, and yet he always found it possible to communicate his expectations, feedback, and advice. The context of his role as my adviser persisted when I found myself "out of the loop" for about three years, during which time I lived in various places in Canada and also worked at various things other than this study.

I would also like to thank the other members of my committee: Susan McClary, Mitchell Morris, and Christopher Waterman, plus professors Raymond Knapp and Elizabeth Le Guin and various graduate school colleagues from my time at UCLA: David Ake, Kate Bartel, Steven Baur, Andrew Berish, Dale Chapman, Maria Cizmic, Stuart De Ocampo, Francesca Draughon, Charles Garrett, Daniel Goldmark, Gordon Haramaki, Maiko Kawabata, Erik Leidal, Mark Martin, Andrew Maz, Louis Niebur, Glenn Pillsbury, Cecilia Sun, Mel Surdin, Grace Tam, and Jacqueline Warwick.

Thanks to Mom and Dad for enabling my earliest experiences of music.

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With the exception of a brief example of music by Raymond Scott, all of the music discussed in this study was written by the members of Rush--Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and/or Neil Peart--with occasional participation on lyrics by Peter Talbot or Pye Dubois. From the late 1970s through the early 2000s, Lee and Lifeson wrote the vast majority of the band's music, and Neil Peart wrote the vast majority of its lyrics. Appendix K provides complete information concerning the band's discography.

The author prepared all of the musical transcriptions.

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