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About This Track
“The Spirit of Radio” is a song released in 1980 by Canadian rock band Rush from their album Permanent Waves. The song’s name was inspired by Toronto radio station CFNY’s. The song was significant in the growing popularity of the band. The band had grazed the UK Top 40 two years earlier with “Closer to the Heart”, but when issued as a single in March 1980, “The Spirit of Radio” became their breakthrough hit at the time, and soon reached number 13 on the UK singles chart. “The Spirit of Radio” was named one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll, Rush’s only such entry.
UK Band St. Etienne sampled the opening riff on “Conchita Martinez”, a track on their 1993 album, So Tough
The song’s familiar synthesizer hook during the breaks was programmed using the Oberheim OB1 synthesizer. Today, the part is achieved through MIDI pedals.
The final lines of the song (“For the words of the profits were written on the studio wall…/Concert hall/And echoes with the sounds of salesmen”) are an allusion to the famous final lyrics from the Simon and Garfunkel classic “The Sound of Silence”: “…the words of the prophets/Are written on the subway walls/And tenement halls/And whispered in the sounds of silence.”
On performances during the 1981 tour, the line “one likes to believe in the freedom of music” was changed to “one likes to believe in the freedom of baseball” as a commentary on the 1981 Major League Baseball Players Association strike. Geddy Lee still occasionally drops this change into the song when performing live.
UK Band St. Etienne sampled the opening riff on “Conchita Martinez”, a track on their 1993 album, So Tough
The song’s familiar synthesizer hook during the breaks was programmed using the Oberheim OB1 synthesizer. Today, the part is achieved through MIDI pedals.
The final lines of the song (“For the words of the profits were written on the studio wall…/Concert hall/And echoes with the sounds of salesmen”) are an allusion to the famous final lyrics from the Simon and Garfunkel classic “The Sound of Silence”: “…the words of the prophets/Are written on the subway walls/And tenement halls/And whispered in the sounds of silence.”
On performances during the 1981 tour, the line “one likes to believe in the freedom of music” was changed to “one likes to believe in the freedom of baseball” as a commentary on the 1981 Major League Baseball Players Association strike. Geddy Lee still occasionally drops this change into the song when performing live.
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Albums featuring this track
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Permanent Waves
Rush
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The Spirit of Radio: Greatest Hits 1974-1987
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Old Skool Of Rock
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Old Skool Of Rock
Multi Interprètes Buy- Download Album
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Shouts
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scientist4u wrote:
The spirt live on ,on,on,on,on,on,on,on,on,on,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
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rockandrolljoe wrote:
OHHHHHHHH What a RUSH
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jonyac wrote:
the first time i saw rush was 1981 ,moving pictures tour i was on three hit"s of orange sun shine and when they played 2112 the waterfall blew my mind greatest show on earth !!!
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ericshep wrote:
NEIL PEART!
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dontmakemeatrgt wrote:
i'll admit it. this is a fucking jam.
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monokhrome_nite wrote:
that reggae part is terrible, but overall its not so bad
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fordelphus wrote:
power trio. there is magic in their fingers
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mustang11lver wrote:
i have every record ever made, every CD, every song,and every itunes song that is up. and they are still rockin, i have been to 48 of there concerts
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rockandrolljoe wrote:
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh What a Rush
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BMWPRETTY wrote:
Spank! Nice!
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DerpyKong wrote:
One hell of a break.
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Ernou93 wrote:
This song makes me happy every time!
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barium62 wrote:
...And the magic music makes your morning mood... :D
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lukasz_pulawski wrote:
spirit of the 80's
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hotmale39gvlfl wrote:
Amazing how long and great RUSH has ruled the airwaves
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cartman38 wrote:
bliss - pure bliss
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Standingonair66 wrote:
Nick Andopolis, I hope you're ok.
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Klopoff wrote:
freaks & geeks
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fabdango wrote:
Can't stop shivering as I remember the opening for last year concert.
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lisabemine wrote:
invisible airways crackle with life. It does'nt get any better. Weeeeeee!!!!!!
Track Stats
708,028 Scrobbles
136,219 Listeners
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Recent Activity
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musictwig and coocoo4949 loved Rush – The Spirit Of Radio. 1 hour ago
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SextonBlake wrote about The Spirit Of Radio in 2012 Juno Award Nominees Playlist (8tracks.com). 2 hours ago
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Soto928, zombie1962, NIUHOY and 4 other people loved Rush – The Spirit Of Radio. 10 hours ago
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Amishquilt added The Spirit Of Radio to the playlist Geburtstag 54. yesterday morning
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Amishquilt and aaronlash added Rush – The Spirit Of Radio to their libraries. yesterday morning
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andrew__wade, DavePadden and timmayrich loved Rush – The Spirit Of Radio. yesterday morning
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henrikwesterkam added The Spirit Of Radio to henrikwesterkam’s library. Thursday evening
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hiro107sk, elielgsn, silenttwitch and 1 other person loved Rush – The Spirit Of Radio. Thursday evening
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iwumbo_117 added The Spirit Of Radio to iwumbo_117’s library. Thursday morning
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TommySniper182, TheRobinator_28, gregtherhino and 4 other people loved Rush – The Spirit Of Radio. Wednesday evening
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