February 15, 2021

1981 - February: Rush “Moving Pictures”

47 minutes

With the release of Moving Pictures, Canadian power trio Rush moved to their highest level of commercial success. Bassist and lead singer Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and percussionist extraordinaire Neil Peart were established at the top of the prog rock genre, and this eighth studio album would be their most successful studio release in their career, becoming so when it crossed the quadruple platinum level of sales.

The band had originally planned to release a live album at the conclusion of their tour for "Permanent Waves," but Neil Peart encouraged them to change direction towards a new studio release based upon interesting material they were creating during sound checks on tour. The album itself was more accessible than some of their early work. While most songs would clock in at over 4 minutes (and "The Camera Eye" was over 10 minutes long), the pieces were still more radio-friendly than longer pieces like Hemispheres and 2112. The music and lyrics cover topics like travel, individualism, and fame.

The album cover art consists of a group of movers transporting canvas art (moving pictures), onlookers who are crying at seeing the art (moving pictures), and a film crew recording the entire scene (making moving pictures).

There is simply no bad track on this album, and Bruce found it difficult to determine which songs to feature. We encourage you to purchase or download Moving Pictures for your repertoire if you don't already have it.

Red Barchetta

Although not released as a single, this is a fan favorite, and one of their most accomplished lyric stories. Neil Peart's lyrics were inspired from a short story by Richard S. Foster called "A Nice Morning Drive," written in the November 1973 issue of Road and Track magazine. It is about a country drive during a time in the future when cars had been outlawed by "The Motor Law."

Limelight

This piece reflects Peart's mixed feelings about fame, and is the second single from the album. Many times Lee and Lifeson would interact with the public while Peart would remain away from the crowds. Some of the lyrics reflect a line from Shakespeare's "As You Like It," as does the title of their first life album, "All the World's a Stage."

Vital Signs

The last track on side 2 takes a more reggae feel, similar to The Police. It also has more in common with more synth-heavy pieces which would appear on subsequent Rush albums like Signals and Grace Under Pressure. The music is about individuality and conformity, a theme often recurring in Rush's catalogue.

Tom Sawyer

Undoubtedly, this is the most famous Rush song. It was written by Rush in collaboration with lyricist Pye Dubois of the band Max Webster, and pays homage to the free-spirited individualist confidently striding through the world. Although the first single, the leading track to the album, and the most successful song, Tom Sawyer peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 44. Most concerts late in their career would open with this song.

ENTERTAINMENT TRACK:

Main Theme from the television series Diff'rent Strokes

This comedy series addressed many social issues, and would take a more serious tone with a 2-part episode addressing pedophilia in this month.

STAFF PICKS:

Turn Me Loose by Loverboy

Brian's staff pick stays with the Canadian bands, featuring the first breakout hit by Loverboy from their debut album. While the band appreciated the success, they were less pleased with the S&M community, who adopted it as a kind of "theme song" of their practitioners.

Miss Sun by Boz Scaggs

Rob brings us a song first recorded in 1977 by a group of session musicians who would become Toto, and those musicians worked on the Scaggs version as well. The Toto musicians participated in Scaggs' ciritical and commercial hit album "Silk Degrees" in 1976. Miss Sun peaked at number 14 in February. It has a jazzy chord progression.

People Who Died by The Jim Carroll Band

Wayne's staff pick features a punk-infused song from Jim Carroll, whose biography inspired the film "The Basketball Diaries." The movie deals with Carroll's heroin addiction. The song mentions the name of a number of Carroll's friends and acquaintances who had passed away. Jim Carroll himself died in 2009.

I Ain't Gonna Stand for It by Stevie Wonder

Bruce's staff pick highlights a country-oriented song by R&B legend Stevie Wonder. Wonder plays piano and drums on this song, and is joined by backing vocalists Charlie and Ronnie Wilson of The Gap Band. You may also be familiar with a cover of the song done by Eric Clapton in 2001.

INSTRUMENTAL TRACK:

YYZ by Rush

We sneak in one more from Moving Pictures with this instrumental homage to the Toronto airport. The initial percussion is Morse code for the letters YYZ - the three-letter code for Toronto.

Thanks for listening to “What the Riff?!?”

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**NOTE: What the Riff?!? does not own the rights to any of these songs and we neither sell, nor profit from them. We share them so you can learn about them and purchase them for your own collections.

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By Rob Marbury, Wayne Rowan, Bruce Fricks, John Lynch

4.9

4747 ratings