The first Rush album I ever bought is still my favorite.
I know its most unusual
To come before you so
But Ive found an ancient miracle
I thought that you should know
Economics played a part in my love of bands like Rush, Yes, Emerson Lake & Palmer and Genesis. The tapes were cheap! As a youngster I received $10 a week in “allowance” from my father. This was under the rubric that I would occasionally “do stuff” around the house. I did not have an organized or ordained list of “chores” that I could tick off throughout the week. It would be random and haphazard. “Jordan! Set the table!” or “Jordan! Come outside and pick some weeds!” Now, as a middle-school kid, sometimes I just didn’t want to be bothered that moment. Maybe if I knew in advance that at some point before Sunday it would be my responsibility to pick weeds out of the slate patio in the back I wouldn’t be so quick to rebel against the task. I mean, here I am, happily watching a rerun of “M*A*S*H” or “The Jeffersons” and out of nowhere I am summoned to do manual labor. Occasionally I would protest — and if I did I was reminded — “You don’t want to do it? Fine. But don’t expect your allowance this week.”
And that always got me going. Because with the $10 I could buy a cassette tape of my choice. (I hailed from a Rhode Island-size sliver of adolescent zeitgeist wherein records were out but CDs were not yet in.) A cassette at the local Music Den (later to be bought out by Sam Goody) was $8.99, so, with tax, this came to just under a ten spot. But my point is this: tapes by Rush cost $3.99. $3.99! For that low fee I could by TWO a week! And I did. Lucky for me the music kicked ass, too.
