The first band I ever really got into was Rush. I was 12 or so and bought the album Moving Pictures. In one of my first bits of record collecting, I delved into their back catalog. As a kid already reading Lord of the Rings and playing AD&D;, I was easily sold on songs like The Necromancer and By-Tor and the Snow Dog. My first rock concert was Rush on the Signals tour at the Worcester Centrum. They started to lose me with their more synth-oriented direction and a few years later I got into punk rock and that phase pretty much ended for me. Every once in a while I will bust out some old Rush stuff, but I haven’t really kept up with them for ages.

I bring this up because my brother has been in touch with Donna Halper, the woman apparently credited with “discovering” Rush. She was telling him that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame won’t even consider honoring Rush, which pretty much follows the way the rock establishment has treated them for 30+ years. Some friends of hers are trying to get Rush a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as a way of drawing more attention to them so they might eventually get into the Hall of Fame. They are looking to get testimonials from fans about why Rush deserves a star. While there are few things less punk rock than the Walk of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I do find the idea of making the rock establishment recognize a band that has made a career of doing their own thing appealing. I know there are some Rush fans amongst my readeers (I’m looking at you, Wick). If you want to help out, send a testimonial to Kevin Purdy at kevin.d.purdy@boeing.com.

“Square for battle. Let the fray begin!”