Rush Compact Disc-ography: Permanent Waves
(Part of the Rush Collector Resources)
© Dave Weller, 2005 - last updated 8th March
The tension between the commercial success of a record label and the musical integrity of their artists is a familiar dynamic in the modern music business. As with any art, rock music takes a considerable time to perfect and even then may not be a sufficiently compelling proposition to enough people to make it viable. By the time Rush came to write their seventh album they had been fortunate enough to resist the pressure to be ‘more commercial’ and the long tours across North America and Europe had given them enough of an economic cushion that the writing and recording process could be more relaxed than previous sessions. The resultant album, “Permanent Waves”, broke the mould from their previous releases in that it was not overtly conceptual, yet it maintains a consistent theme throughout; that of integrity.
The title itself is a dig at the (British) music press, constantly chasing and hyping the next new wave whilst at the same time ditching the old one they had just created. The opening track, “The Spirit Of Radio”, is a celebration of the dwindling number of radio stations that have the integrity to play the music their DJs think is good and that their listeners will enjoy, as opposed to the play-list dominated stations driven by demographics and pluggers. The closing track, “Natural Science”, is concerned with the delicate balance between science and nature; a balance that indicates the integrity of mankind. And “Different Strings” and “Entre Nous”, remind us of the need to maintain a level of personal integrity in our relationships with others.
“Permanent Waves” also signifies a major change in musical direction; away from the more progressive orientation of the previous two albums, “A Farewell To Kings” and “Hemispheres”. The influence of keyboard driven bands such as Ultravox, as opposed to Yes, is apparent, as is the influence of other musical styles such as reggae and new wave – in interviews Neil Peart name checked bands such as Talking Heads and Elvis Costello (who shared the billing with Rush at the Pink Pop festival in Holland in June 1979).
The album was recorded during October 1979 at Le Studio in Canada – a break from Rockfield Studios in Wales where the previous two albums were recorded. A relatively short tour of the US (18 shows during August and September) plus two shows in Canada and two sell-out shows at the 10,000 capacity Bingley Hall in Stafford in the UK, had given the band a chance to hone two of the new songs (“The Spirit Of Radio” and “Freewill”) in front of a live audience, as well as perfect a third, “Jacob’s Ladder” during the soundchecks. Once in the studio, two other songs, “Different Strings” and “Entre Nous”, were also quickly finished. This left “Natural Science”, the most ambitious and longest track on the album, which was created out of parts of a larger epic, tentatively tiled “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”, but never fully completed.
“Permanent Waves” was released in January 1980. In part due to a heavy promotional push by Mercury and Phonogram in the UK, in part due to some uncharacteristically positive reviews in the music press - even from the likes of Rolling Stone and N.M.E. who had traditionally maintained a hostile stance - but primarily because the album was one of Rush’s strongest and most accessible to date, the album quickly climbed up the charts. It entered at number 14 in the UK chart, peaking at number 3 – the highest placing Rush had enjoyed before and since. In the US the album eventually rose to number 4, and stayed in the Billboard 100 for 36 weeks. Within 2 weeks “Permanent Waves” had sold more than 500,00 copies in the US and was certified gold on 17th March, eventually being certified platinum (1 million sales) on 9th November 1987. In the UK “Permanent Waves” was certified silver (60,000 sales) on 19th February and gold (100,000 sales) on July 22nd 1981. In Canada it was certified platinum (100,000 sales) on 1st May 1980.
Perhaps even more remarkable than the success of the album was that it spawned Rush’s first and only UK top 20 hit single; somewhat ironically, “The Spirit Of Radio”. It was released as a 12” single in a limited edition of 15,000 copies in a picture sleeve with “The Trees” and “Working Man” on the b-side, and as a 7” single with the first 25,000 copies in picture sleeve. The single entered the chart at number 23 and hit number 13 two weeks later. If Rush fans weren’t surprised to see their band have a hit single they certainly were surprised when an appearance on Top Of The Pops turned out to be female dance troupe Pan’s People interpreting “The Spirit Of Radio” for the weekly dance routine. A US single (catalogue number 76044), with “Circumstances” on the b-side entered the US chart at number 88, eventually climbing to number 51. There was also a 12” promo that had the same b-sides as the UK 12” single (catalogue number MK-125) with a picture sleeve. The subsequent US release was “Entre Nous” coupled with “Different Strings” (catalogue number 76060), but it failed to make any impression on the charts whatsoever when it was released in April. There was also a 12” promo of “Entre Nous” (catalogue number MK-137), again in a picture sleeve. In Canada “The Spirit Of Radio” was similarly coupled with “Circumstances” (catalogue number ANS-017) and it reached number 33 in the charts. A promo version had an edited version of a-side on the b-side (catalogue number ANS-017 PRO). “Entre Nous” was also released, again with “Different Strings” (catalogue number ANS-021).
“The Spirit Of Radio” was released by Mercury as a 7” single in a further 5 countries, in a variety of unique picture sleeves. The most common b-side was “Circumstances”, and this format was released with a catalogue number of 6167-895 in Holland, Germany, Australia (no picture sleeve), and New Zealand (no picture sleeve). The Spanish release had “Different Strings” as the b-side, and carried the catalogue number 6832-196. Finally, “The Spirit OF Radio” was re-issued as a single in the UK on the Old Gold label (catalogue number OG 9767) in January 1988. This time the b-side was “Closer To The Heart”.
The album cover features a model walking away from the scene of disaster, her skirt blown to one side. According to Neil Peart, “The woman on the cover is really a symbol of us… The idea is her perfect imperturbability in the face of all this chaos. In that she represents us”. To her left is a newspaper with the headline “Dewey Defeats Truman”. In fact the headline doesn’t appear on the US version of the sleeve. The reference was to an actual headline from the Chicago Tribune who wrongly, and with much embarrassment, published the result of the 1948 US presidential election. The threat of legal action meant that it was either blanked out on the sleeve or, in some countries, ‘Dewey’ was replaced with ‘Dewei’. The appearance of the model wasn’t without controversy either, attracting charges of sexism and also resulting in the removal of the words ‘Coca Cola’ from a billboard behind her. This means that there are a wide variety of subtly different versions of the sleeve on both vinyl and CD. One further anomaly is that the first pressing of the album in the UK has the second track on side 2 incorrectly labelled as “Between Us” rather than “Different Strings”. The original title of “Different Strings” was indeed “Between Us” but was changed at the last minute as it was thought it would be too confusing with “Entre Nous” which can be loosely translated from French to ‘between us’.
The “Permanent Waves World Tour” began in January, with the band playing over 70 shows in North America before coming to the UK at the beginning of June for a further 19 shows including 5 sold out nights at the Hammersmith Odeon. Three shows from the 12th to 14th February at the Kiel Auditorium in St Louis - which were also sold out with 15,000 fans attending each night - were recorded and ‘rush released’ by Anthem Records to radio stations in Canada to be broadcast the week of 29th March. (This show was also syndicated to US radio stations by NBC as part of “The Source”). A number of other shows were also recorded, including those at the Hammersmith Odeon, with a view to releasing a live album. But the band were on a creative roll and were advised to put the live album on hold and go back into the studio to record what would become their biggest selling album, “Moving Pictures”. A live album, “Exit… Stage Left”, was eventually released but the fixing in the studio and the fact that audience were kept deliberately low in the mix means it is sounds somewhat anodyne and artificial. However, the double LP, “Live In St Louis” (catalogue number SPE-003), issued by Anthem Records to radio stations, is an excellent recording of the band’s performance from the Permanent Waves tour.
Permanent Waves - Albums
Permanent Waves
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Tracks: The Spirit Of Radio, Freewill, Jacob’s Ladder, Entre Nous, Different Strings, Natural Science CD, Anthem, ANC-1-1021, ?, Canada CD, Anthem, ANK-1021, ?, Canada CD, Anthem, VANK-1021, ?, Canada CD, Anthem, ANMD-1021, ?, Canada CD, Anthem, ANMD-1081, July 1997, Canada – Rush Remasters series CD, Mercury, 822 548-2, March 1987, US CD, Mercury, D-102059, ?, US – BMG mail order CD, Mercury, P2-22548, ?, US – CRC mail order CD, Mercury, 314 534 627-2, May 1997, US – Rush Remasters series CD, Mercury, D-118701, ?, US – Rush Remasters series, BMG mail order CD, Mercury, P2-34630, ?, US – Rush Remasters series, CRC mail order CD, Mercury, 822 548-2, ?, Brazil CD, Mercury, 534 630-2, ?, Brazil – Rush Remasters series CD, Mercury, 534 630-2, ?, Argentina – Rush Remasters series CD, Mercury, 822 548-2, March 1987, Germany CD, Mercury, 534 630-2, May 1997, Germany – Rush Remasters series CD, Epic/Sony, 25-8P-5075, ?, Japan' CD, Atlantic, AMCY-288, ?, Japan CD, Atlantic, AMCY-2295, July 1997, Japan – Rush Remasters series Notes:. The original US versions of the CD have been released in a variety of subtly different formats, some of which were housed in a blister pack with long insert:
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Sources
The following articles and books were consulted during the preparation for this feature.
[1] ‘Phonogram Planning Rush Campaign” in Music Week 12th January 1980
[2] ‘Logical Positivism For Astral Minds’, review of “Permanent Waves” by John Gill in Sounds 26th January 1980
[3] Review of “Permanent Waves” by Steve Gett in Melody Maker 2nd February 1980
[4] Review of “Permanent Waves” by Paul du Noyer in N.M.E. 9th February 1980
[5] ‘Intense Early Reaction to Rush’s Permanent Waves’ in RPM Weekly 9th February 1980
[6] ‘Rush: Something Special For Everyone’ by Jim Chlebo in Scene 14-20th February 1980
[7] ‘Rush Hour’ by John Gill in Sounds 1st March 1980
[8] ‘Rush Won’t Rush Into Style Fads Of Moment” by Cary Darling in Billboard 1st March 1980
[9] ‘Bucking The Trends, Rush Rides The Crest Of ‘Permanent Waves’ by Lynn van Matre in Chicago Tribune 30th March 1980
[10] ‘Battered By Old & New Waves, Rush Keeps Their Boat Afloat By Rocking It” by David Fricke in Circus 1st April 1980
[11] ‘The Moustache That Conquered The World’ by Sylvie Simmons in Sounds 5th April 1980
[12] Review of “Permanent Waves” by David Fricke in Rolling Stone 1st May 1980
[13] ‘Rush’s Heavy-Metal Sludge’ review of concert at Los Angeles Forum, March 10th, by Steve Pond in Rolling Stone 15th May 1980
[14] Review of concert at Hammersmith Odeon by John Gill in Sounds 14th June 1980
[15] ‘Rush In A Hurry’ review of concert at Hammersmith Odeon by Steve Gett in Melody Maker 14th June 1980
[16] ‘Rush’s Heavy-Metal Message Hits The Radio’ by John Swenson in Rolling Stone 26th June 1980
[17] ‘The Rush Question’ by Brian Harrigan in New Music News 28th June 1980
[18] ‘A Canadian Chart Rush’ by Jon Sutherland in Record Review June 1980
[19] ‘Personal Waves – The Story Of An Album’ by Neil Peart in Permanent Waves Tourbook
[20] Visions: The Official Biography by Bill Banasiewicz
[21] Rush by Brian Harrigan
[22] Success Under Pressure by Steve Gett
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