Getting To Know You

The incessant rain in the UK has been quite annoying this past couple of weeks but when I looked out of the window this morning, I saw a clear blue sky with a couple of fluffy white clouds and the winter sunshine brightening up a crisp clod day.

So I went for a nice walk and have just arrived back feeling nicely refreshed and in the mood to write a quick blog post, answering some silly questions from Sunday Stealing just before England take on Ireland in the Six Nations Rugby Union.

Let’s dive in, shall we?

1. What is your favourite colour?

I would say blue but I am guessing that something more specific is required. I guess really when I analyse it, my favourite is a kind of bluey green (more on the blue side) – like teal.

2. If you could get on a plane tomorrow and travel anywhere, where would you go?

I would go to Hong Kong I think – subject to being allowed to with the risk of the Corona Virus. If I wasn’t allowed to go, I would probably choose the south coast of Spain.

3. Were you closer to your mother or to your father

My mum was a little overprotective when I was a child and sometimes this annoyed me.

My dad, on the other hand, was more like me, quite laid back and keen to do whatever he wanted so he gave me more opportunity to escape my mum’s leash.

For that reason I will say my father.

4. What is your favourite meal (savoury and dessert)

Choosing a favourite savoury meal is a difficult because I love a lot of dishes such as steak and chips, fish and chips, bangers and mash, lasagne, spaghetti Bolognese, most mild to medium hot Indian curries, most Chinese food etc.

It’s probably easier to tell you what I DON’T like – Thai food, I think.

Desserts? I don’t really eat them, but I am sometimes tempted by a Black Forest Gateau.

5. Can you wink with each eye?  (How about curl your tongue)

Yes. I can wink with both eyes and I can curl my tongue. I look a bit strange when I try to do all three at once though.

6. Beach or forest?

That’s a difficult one but I would probably say a beach, simply because I feel most relaxed when walking along the sand with the waves of a calm sea lapping against the shore.

7. City or farm?

Oh – definitely a city. There is so much to do.

Farms are pretty good too, I have to say.

I’m quite lucky in Manchester in that I can drive for about thirty minutes and be in the Cheshire countryside, taking a nice walk past and across farmland.

8. Would you rather be blind from birth or turn blind as a teenager?

Probably blind as a teenager because I would at least want to know what it was like to see human faces.

9. Would you rather always be overdressed or underdressed?

I feel more comfortable when underdressed. Occasionally, I have had to wear a penguin suit (not for a while now) and it doesn’t take long for the jacket, tie and cummabund to come off.

10. If you could pass alone one of your attributes to your children, which would it be?

I think I have already passed them on to be honest. They both share my intelligence, outlook on life and sense of humour.

11. What are you most insecure about?

Probably being alone.

If I analyse myself, I am probably more of an introvert than an extrovert (I can be both) and while I love the feeling of being on my own (as I am now) I don’t want it all the time and sometimes, when Mrs PM is away for whatever reason, I start to crave company.

12. What are you afraid people see when they look at you?

Nothing really. I’m a slightly overweight weirdo with mad hair and a skin thick enough to take most insults and jibes. I used to be very self-conscious about wearing glasses but now I am totally used to them. Besides, wearing spectacles is cool these days and I like that.

I don’t consider myself to be good looking either but I don't really care about that if I'm honest.

13. What is the saddest you’ve ever felt?

When my parents died. It still hurts.

14. Would you rather have your own private island, or your own private jet?

What an interesting question. Having both would be considered greedy I guess so if I have to choose one, it would be my own private jet so that I can travel anywhere I want to.

15. How do you think you will die?

I won’t. I plan to live forever.

Birthday Meme

We have been hit by another storm that has brought chaos, wind damage and floods to various parts of the UK and we chose this weekend to go for a little break, away with friends in Cheshire at a set of country lodges. Sadly we were stuck inside because of the weather but we had fun anyway.

Back now so I think I just have time to answer some silly questions from Sunday Stealing.

It’s called “Birthday Meme” and I wonder whose birthday it actually is.

Have you ever

1. Broken a bone?

No. I was talking about this yesterday with one of my friends on our weekend away. He was knocked off a bike as a kid and broke his leg, wrist and arm. And when he was five he had a compound fracture of his arm too.

I have been lucky. I just hope fate isn’t waiting to deal me a blow now because I have written this.

2. Broken a window?

Yes – several times. I once threw a cricket ball through my parent’s bathroom window by accident but the most embarrassing was when I was about fifteen. Back then I used to do a paper round and then collect money from the same houses for those who couldn’t be bothered to pay at the newsagent. On Friday night, I arrived at a house and knocked on the glass door as they didn’t have a bell or door knocker. I could tell they were in because I could see shadows and hear the TV but they failed to answer the door. So I hit the door really hard with my knuckles – and punched a hole straight through the glass, which then cracked and fell from the window frame and shattered noisily on the floor.

I stood there frozen in terror – but they still hadn’t heard it.

So I just ran.

The next day, I was so ashamed that I was going to go back, collect the money and then maybe confess. When I got to the door, the owner was talking to his neighbour and as I approached he said “If I get my hands on the thugs that did this, I’ll bloody kill them.”

Forcing myself to smile, I said, “Hiya! I’ve come to collect the newspaper money.” He paid me as I waited and carried on moaning about what he was going to do to the culprit that had shattered his window.

As you can imagine, I didn’t confess.

3. Been on TV?

Only a couple of times as a member of the crowd watching a sporting event. The last time was when England were playing New Zealand in a 20-20 match as cricket. The batsman hit a six and the ball flew into the crowd. As I watched, I thought it would hit me so I did what any self-respecting idiot would do and spilled my beer down the front of my shirt. And the event was captured on TV by an alert camera team tracking the path of the ball as it headed towards me.

And no – the ball landed nowhere near to me.

4. Had a friend who shared the same birthday as you?

Yes. At school, one mate was exactly the same age as me. Also, my son’s girlfriend’s sister shares my birthday.

5. Locked your keys in the car?

Yes. I was still married to my ex-wife at the time and I had to call her and get her to leave school (she was a teacher) and drive to rescue me via our house to pick up the spare keys. She wasn’t very happy.

6. Accidentally sent a text or email to the wrong person?

Oh yes. And it was a work one too. The last few lines will tell you why I could have been in serious trouble.

“Yes – it is a problem and really we should tell the customer. But I think we can get away with it for now. We just need to be economical with the truth when we send the report.”

I got away with it, by sending the same message a further two times to the same customer but without the offending lines. I basically told them the truth and hoped that they would think I had gone mad sending them three identical emails and only read the last one. It worked – thank goodness.

7. Sat in the back of a police car?

Yes. My car broke down at a traffic light on a very busy road during the rush hour. A police van appeared and towed me across the road to wait for a breakdown truck but because I had never been towed, one of the policemen sat in my car while the other towed it. “I’ve never been in a police car before,” I said with a smile. “Make sure this is the only time,” he laughed.

8. Fallen asleep at work?

Yes. I flew to South Africa overnight (a ten hour flight with little or no sleep) and had to go to a meeting almost as soon as I arrived. The meeting lasted two hours and then I could go to the hotel – but sadly, it was so long and tedious that I quite literally couldn’t keep my eyes open. I was asleep for about ten minutes, according to one of my work colleagues. Thankfully, only he noticed.

9. Made a snow angel?

No. I hate snow. Why would I lie down in it?

10. Ridden in an ambulance

No – no neither as a patient or a friend.

11. Worst household chore

It’s a toss up between cleaning the toilet and ironing.

12 .Worst colour

Pink. I really do not like pink.

13. Worst pizza topping

I like most pizza toppings to be honest but I struggle with black olives.

14. Worst weather

A winter snowstorm.

15. Worst self-care job (e.g. dressing, washing, shaving, teeth, toe nails)

I don’t like having a wet shave. I usually use my shaver but if I get lazy and let my “beard” grow for a while, I have to wet shave – and I hate it.

16. Worst game

Golf is utterly tedious to watch. I’ve never played it.

17. Worst school subject

I was terrible at Geography. I didn’t mind the map-reading aspect of it, but everything else was utterly tedious. I had no interest in learning it so I simply didn’t try.

18. Worst animal

Do insects and spiders count as animals? If they do then any insect or spider. If not, then probably a skunk.

19. Worst season

Winter – by a long, long way. Come on Spring – let’s be having you.

20. Worst TV show

Any reality show at all, apart from The Apprentice (UK version not the US one that was run by the Orange Goblin in the White House).

Thought Provoking Questions - Part 2

This weekend the UK has been battered by a storm given the name Ciara – a nice name for something so bloody awful. As I look out of the window I see very strong winds and rampant rain that is so bad it has disrupted travel and resulted in sports events being called off.

I’m glad I’m inside in a nice warm and cosy house. And because it is Sunday, let’s answer a few questions from Sunday Stealing - some more thought provoking questions.

1. Is it more important to love or be loved?

I think both are important but probably loving is slightly more important in my view, simply because you will never truly know whether you are actually loved or not.

People say “I love you” all the time but do they really mean it? You will never actually know unless you are a mind reader, though I guess their behaviour towards you can sometimes give the game away. If you love somebody it is all in your hands, heart and mind and you know without a shadow of a doubt that the feelings you have are utterly genuine and authentic.

Loving somebody is an incredible feeling.

Actually, thinking about it, I would love to be able to read minds. Imagine how brilliant that would be. I could expose people like Boris Johnson when I knew their true motivations.

2. If you had the chance to go back in time and change one thing would you do it?

I’ve watched movies like “The Butterfly Effect” and decided that changing history would be a dangerous thing to do. Certainly in my life, if I could go back to rectify the mistakes I have made, it would affect my life as it is now and although there have been some ups and downs, I am in a very good place at the moment and I wouldn’t want to risk it.

Give me a time machine, though, and I would set the controls for the future rather than the past. That would be far more interesting.

3. If a doctor gave you five years to live, what would you try to accomplish?

I would try to write a novel, travel the entire world and then write about my experiences and then quite happily march towards my maker with my head held high and my hand held out ready to shake it with him or her and then move onto the next place, if such a place exists.

4. What is the difference between innocence and ignorance?

If you are innocent, you try to learn the things you don’t know.

If you are ignorant you choose to ignore things you don’t know and not to learn even though, deep down, you know you should – like Brexit and the chaos and carnage that will ensue because of it.

5. What is the simplest truth you can express in words?

I am alive and happy.

6. What gives your life meaning?

Mrs PM, my two boys, my one remaining cat, my brain, my music, travelling and writing garbage like the stuff you are reading at the moment.

7. Can there be happiness without sadness?  Pleasure without pain?  Peace without war?

No. The things that make you happy can be taken away and make you sad for example.

8. What’s the one thing you’d like others to remember about you at the end of your life?

I would like to be remembered as a funny, happy and slightly weird guy who was easy to talk to and there for people when required.

9. Is there such a thing as perfect?

Yes – me. Next.

I’m just kidding.

Nobody and nothing is perfect – certainly not me.

10. What do you love most about yourself?

I love the fact that I am quite a clever chap really and that I can make people laugh by being a little strange on occasion. Also, I love the fact that I have a thick skin and enjoy my own self-deprecation.

11. Is it more important to do what you love or to love what you are doing?

It is very important to love what you are doing and, sadly, I am in a position now where I no longer love my career of choice. I used to but after decades of doing battle with complex computer systems, I no longer get the buzz that I used to right at the start.

I think it is equally important to do what you love and I am looking for new directions – not in my career because that will be over in a couple of years when I finally retire. I will find something, of that I am certain.

12. What do you imagine yourself doing ten years from now?

I know for a fact that I will have retired. I would like to have written a couple of books (nor necessarily publishing them), I would like to have travelled to more countries and be fluent in Spanish with a view to improving my French and German too.

13. What small act of kindness were you once shown that you will never forget?

There have been many. For example, my best mate as a kid who drove me around to arrange my dad’s funeral because my mum was in too bad a state to do anything. I was 18 and he patiently sat with me, talked to me and helped me to sort things out with absolutely no questions or complaints.

Mrs PM, of course, shows multiple acts of kindness – too many to mention.

14. To what degree have you controlled the course your life has taken?

I have always been in control. I am a very careful person who will not make rash decisions. I am now deep into planning the next chapter when I retire (in approximately five years depending on circumstances).

15. If you looked into the heart of your enemy, what do you think you would find that is different from what is in your own heart?

I don’t think I have any enemies. If I encounter a toxic person I will generally walk away from them rather than trying to psychoanalyse them and peer into their hearts.

Another Food Meme

There are things I want to rant about – I’m sure you can guess what they are. However, I am trying to be more positive this year and as such I will not be ranting. Instead I will answer a few questions from Sunday Stealing about a subject close to my heart – food.

Let’s dive in shall we?

1. How do you like your eggs?

I am quite happy to eat my eggs any way – apart from raw of course. It depends what kind of mood I am in and what I am having with them. With a full English breakfast, I usually go for fried eggs. I also like them poached or scrambled too but If I am feeling adventurous I will go for an omelette with ham, cheese, mushrooms or any combination of the three.

2. How do you take your coffee/tea:

I drink black coffee with no sugar and strong tea with just a dash of milk. 

3. Favourite breakfast foods:

On Monday to Friday (work days) I usually only have a banana with a cup of tea. However at the weekend I will go for something a little more elaborate like a good old English breakfast, with sausage, bacon, egg, beans and toast.

4. Peanut butter: smooth or crunchy?

I don’t usually eat peanut butter – it is just odd to me. When I have had it, though, I usually choose smooth.

5. What kind of dressing on your salad?

I love French dressing on my salad but most of them are fine if that’s unavailable.

6. Coke or Pepsi?

Am I allowed to say neither? I am not a fan of coke at all.

7. You feel like cooking. What do you make?

I rarely feel like cooking but I take my turn to keep Mrs PM sweet. On those rare occasions when I really feel like it, I will go for something like a stir fry.

8. You’re feeling lazy. What do you make?

When it comes to cooking I always feel lazy. The easiest thing for me to cook is some kind of pasta dish.

9. You’re feeling really lazy. What kind of pizza do you order?

This is a little bit of déjà vu (as I answered this last week). A cheesy meat feast would hit the spot.

10. Is there a food you refuse to eat?

Oh yes. I loathe rhubarb – it makes me physically ill when I taste it. Also, I have travelled quite a lot and in China I have been exposed to some really vile foods which I refused to eat such as: any kind of insect or pig’s brain. I’m also not keen on Thai food.

11. Favourite fruit & vegetable:

I would say that my favourite fruit is a nice crisp Granny Smith apple. I like most vegetables and I think I probably eat carrots the most.

12. Favourite junk food:

Fish and chips.

13. Favourite between meal snack:

Déjà vu again. I usually got for a piece of cheese or flame raisins. Occasionally I will have cheese and onion crisps or sour cream and onion Pringles.

14. Do you have any weird food habits:

Yes – I smear food into my hair just before eating it.

Of course, I don’t do that. I’m not sure what you mean by weird food habits. I guess some people might say that eating Marmite is weird so I shall say that.

15. You’re on a diet. What food(s) do you fill up on?

I would probably eat fruit.

16. How spicy do you order Indian/Thai?

As I said above, I don’t like Thai food. However, I love Indian food and I usually have a medium curry like a Rogan Josh or a Balti.

17. The perfect nightcap?

I don’t normally drink nightcaps but I guess if I were offered one it would probably be a small glass of red wine.

CHEERS!

Winter Questions

January is the worst month of the year and it is almost over, thank goodness. I guess it is apt that this week’s Sunday Stealing questions are about winter.

Let’s dive in shall we?

1. How do you get past the grey skies during winter?

I am looking out of the window as I type this and can see typical British grey skies hovering above a sodden garden with drizzle in the air to keep the moisture to a maximum. I went for a walk earlier this morning and the drizzle settled on my glasses, hindering my vision somewhat, in what is a seen as a stereotypical grey day for Britain. How do I get past it? I try to be positive by thinking about how I am going to escape it in the coming months. Very soon, I shall be jetting off to a much sunnier climate – I don’t know where yet but I know it will be much better than the miserable views I have had for the past few weeks.

2. Do you like snow? Why or why not?

I’ve answered this recently. No – I don’t like snow at all. In the UK we are usually totally unprepared for it, despite the fact  that it will probably appear soon. Usually it snows sometime in the winter, as early as December but more often than not in January or February. The good news is that so far we have not had any this winter in England at least. The further north you go, the more likely it will be so poor Scotland can always guarantee some snowfall every year.

I don’t like it because usually it is accompanied by cold weather that ends up freezing it underfoot leaving treacherous conditions both for walking and driving. We are so unprepared for it that traffic comes to a standstill, people in remote towns and villages are snowed in and when I walk outside I have to quite literally get my skates on. Horrendous stuff.

3. What are your favourite activities to do during the winter?

My favourite activities are staying inside a cosy house with a roaring fire and winter food or sitting in a cosy pub with a fine winter ale. Why? Because outside it is usually cold, wet and miserable. However, see the next question.

4. What does a perfect winter day look like to you?

Sometimes in the winter the weather is governed by a ridge of high pressure that clears away the grey skies and rain and allows the sun to shine in a bright blue sky. Usually it is absolutely freezing too. Nevertheless, the conditions are usually perfect for a decent walk, wrapped up with a big warm coat, gloves, a hat and smile.

5. What are your favourite meals/food you enjoy eating during the winter?

My diet doesn’t change that much during winter – apart from Christmas of course. Usually we are more likely to cook a stew or a casserole at this time of year. I usually eat more soup too.

6. What is your favourite winter holiday and why?

I don’t tend to go on holiday in winter. I have done in the past but usually to somewhere far warmer and sunnier than the UK. I once went to Oman in December – sadly it was with work – but we managed to sit outside in the morning for breakfast, which was very pleasant. I think if I could afford multiple holidays per year, I would jet off to somewhere hot at this time of year.

If you are talking about Bank Holidays, I guess the only one we have is Christmas – so it will be that.

7. What is your favourite pizza flavour and toppings.

We were talking about winter and we now fly off at a tangent to talk about pizza. How strange. Okay – I’ll go with it. I would say anything meaty and cheesy – a meat feast or cheese feast. Or possibly even a meat and cheese feast if such a thing exists.

8. What are some items in your daily bag/ backpack.

Looks like we are definitely moving away from winter now. The only bag I take anywhere with me is my work rucksack. It contains a laptop (plus accessories), a phone charger, an Ipod and its charger, my spare spectacles, a notebook, several pens, business cards, tissues and, sometimes, my Kindle.

9. Your favourite snacks.

Apples, bananas, flame raisins, plums, nectarines and, less often, sour cream and onion Pringles.

10. Some foreign countries that you would like to visit.

I have been to lots of foreign countries and, believe it or not, there are one or two that I would love to visit. These include: South Korea, New Zealand, Egypt, Poland, Mexico, Sweden, Norway and Finland.

11. What things that remind you of home.

Rain, football, pubs, English countryside, green fields, cricket, Northern hospitality, music, tea, bangers and mash, Sunday lunch and our sense of humour.

12. If you have one, some items from your Amazon Wishlist.

I have a couple of Amazon vouchers to spend in the coming weeks and I plan to spend it on music and books.

13. What was your favourite Christmas gift?

Probably the Amazon vouchers because I can use them to buy what I want rather than things that people think I want.

High School - or Grammar School Really

Good news – my foot has fully recovered and I am now able to resume my walks. All it needed was a little rest and a bit of ice.

It’s Sunday so let’s answer some more silly questions from Sunday Stealing.

Let’s dive in.

Your high school graduation class of: 1981

1. Did you marry your high school sweetheart?

I went to a Grammar School for boys so, sadly, I didn’t have a “high school” sweetheart. I did have a girlfriend about that time but, no, I didn’t marry her.

2. Type of car?

I didn’t learn to drive until I was 23 so I didn’t have a car at school. Besides, they cost money to run and I had better things to spend my cash on.

3. What kind of job?

I worked in a newsagent at the time, doing odd jobs for the owner of the shop like serving customers, stock taking, sorting out newspapers for delivery, delivering the newspapers, collecting payments for the delivered newspapers and other menial tasks. The owner actually tried to persuade me to give up school and work for him full time. As you can guess, I didn’t take him up on his generous offer.

4. Where did you live?

I lived in Walsall, a town about ten miles north of Birmingham.

5. Were you popular in school?

Not really. Most of my mates were from outside school because I wasn’t really keen on the overall feel of the school. I had friends at school but I didn’t hang around with the so-called “popular” kids – they were arses.

6. Were you in choir/band?

I was in the school orchestra and brass band. I played a trombone.

7. Ever get suspended? 

No – but I had a lot of detentions for being an arrogant little git.

8. If you could would you go back? 

Absolutely not. I would probably return to the school to have a wander around the buildings but going back would be a bloody nightmare.

9. Still talk to the person that you went to prom with?

We didn’t have proms, although this American tradition has started happening in the UK now.

10. Did you skip School ?

Actually, I don’t think I did. Although I hated school I recognised its importance and I embraced the academic requirements with reluctant enthusiasm.

11. Go to all the football games?

I didn’t go to any of them. My school was seen as a place for academic excellence and we had to pass an exam to be admitted to it. Consequently, the sports that we played were different from other local schools, so for example, instead of playing football (that’s soccer for Americans), we played Rugby Union and cricket.

12. Favourite subjects?

I enjoyed a lot of subjects actually because, although I was a bit of a rebel, I was actually quite good at most of them. I loved Maths, Physics and Chemistry and I quite enjoyed French and German too.

13. Do you still have your yearbook?

We didn’t have a yearbook. What I did have was something we called “The Green Book” which appeared once a year and contained lots of information about the school, including a list of names of the teachers and their subjects, the kids and what classes they were in and various other bits of totally useless information. I kept the very last one I had.

14. Did you follow the "original" career path?

I think I did – sort of. I had no idea what I wanted to do when I was in sixth form and preparing for university and decided that really I should do something that involved my best subject – maths. So I opted to be a computer programmer because I thought there was a future in it. I was correct and I am still working in the industry today. If I could go back, I would have chosen something else though.

15. Do you still have your class ring?

We never had a class ring. I don’t know what such a thing is.

16. Favourite teacher? 

My favourite teacher was a maths teacher who taught me throughout my school life. He even used to call me by my nickname (which was Snowy). A very pleasant man.

17. What was your style?

We all had to wear the same uniform. It was quite strict and if you failed to adhere to it, you were in big trouble.

We wore a dark grey blazer with the school badge on the pocket, with a white shirt and a horrific red, white and green tie. A grey jumper was optional (depending on the weather). We also had grey trousers and black shoes. First and second year students had to wear a terrible green, red and yellow cap when walking to and from school. Why? I have no idea and it used to get me in a lot of trouble because I refused to wear the bloody thing.

In the sixth form the dress code was relaxed ever so slightly. Instead of the horrific tie of the first five years, we wore a green tie with the school badge at the bottom. I still have my sixth form tie. We could also wear different coloured shirts as long as they were light in colour.

So basically I looked terrible and had no style whatsoever.

18. Favourite Shoes?

We just had black shoes as I said earlier. Boring black shoes.

19. Favourite thing to eat for lunch?

We had the option of eating the pig swill they served for lunch but we were also allowed to bring sandwiches too. I chose the latter because my mum always made brilliant ones.

20. Favourite band?

I listened to a lot of music during my time at school. I would say it was probably Rainbow, Nazareth, Rush, UFO, Black Sabbath or Whitesnake.

21. High School Hair?

My chemistry teacher called me “the boy with the chrysanthemum head” in front of the whole class when I was 16. Can you imagine the uproar and the humiliation I had to endure after that?

Regular readers will know that I hate my hair and between the ages of 16 and 18 it was probably the worst it has ever been. My hair is very thick and it was long. Here is a photo of me when I was about 12 – and it grew and grew after that into a bushy mess – a bit like a chrysanthemum.

The Boy with the Chrysanthemum Head

Spot the difference

22. How old when you graduated?

I was one of the oldest kids in the year so I was 18 years old, which meant that I could celebrate in the pub.

Neil Peart

Another one of my musical heroes has gone and this is one of the saddest of them all. Neil Peart died on January 7th 2020 at the age of 67 from brain cancer.

Neil was the drummer of my favourite rock band, Rush, who retired a few years ago after a wonderful career spanning 40 years. While a lot of people may have heard of the band, their songs rarely received the airplay they deserved. Yet this magnificent trio of legends, Neil Peart, Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee had a huge cult following and regularly embarked on stadium tours all over the world to huge audiences of fans just like me.

I was lucky enough to witness their legendary stage performances four times, from the first time in 1983 in Birmingham at the National Exhibition Centre to their final British tour supporting their last album, Clockwork Angels, in 2013 at the Manchester Arena.

The band have been part of my life since the late 1970’s with their unique and influential style of progressive rock and for almost all significant life events, there is a Rush song or Rush album that can take me back to those moments in time.

Neil Peart was the drummer of the band and also the lyricist, producing poignant and profound words for songs with subjects that people wouldn’t necessarily write about normally. From the age of around 18 I would always get really excited whenever Rush announced a new album. Their discography includes 19 albums and they all raced into the album charts in many countries.

According to Wikipedia, they are an impressive third behind only the Beatles and the Rolling Stones for the most consecutive gold or platinum records by a rock band. Yet, sadly, many people have never been exposed to their music. They were almost the most famous band that people didn’t really know.

Rolling Stone magazine placed Neil Peart as the 4th greatest drummer of all time behind only Ginger Baker, Keith Moon and John Bonham and as well as being a virtuoso with one of the biggest drum kits I have ever seen he was also a part time writer, producing three books later on in his life about his travels.

All of this gives me an opportunity to show off just how brilliant Rush were. I present to you below a song from each of the last five decades showing how the band evolved and what they meant to me at that time.

1970’s – Closer To The Heart from A Farewell To Kings (1977)

This was the very first song by Rush that I heard. At the time I was just getting into heavy metal and rock music, as were a lot of my old pals from school, and the albums A Farewell To Kings and the magnificent 2112 used to do the rounds as people bought the albums and lent them to their mates to record onto tape. I borrowed A Farewell To Kings and recorded it onto a battered old tape but eventually I actually bought the album because I enjoyed it so much. The song itself was a fan favourite and also actually made it into the UK singles charts.

1980’s – Mystic Rhythms from Power Windows (1985)

Rush became my favourite band in the early 1980’s when I saw them live for the first time. They were prolific releasing seven albums in the decade. I could have chosen any one of the songs from the albums of that decade because I love them all – no exceptions. I chose Mystic Rhythms for two reasons. First of all, it showcases what a great drummer Neil Peart was. Second, I was commuting down to London from Manchester every other week, because of a long distance relationship with my ex-wife and the album Power Windows was my constant companion on my old Sony Walkman, keeping me sane on the journey there and back and across the mayhem that was the London Underground. I hated that commute but the music kept me sane and allowed me drift of into my own little world as I endured the tedious two and a half hour journey there and back and the chaos of London on a Friday evening.

1990’s – Nobody’s Hero from Counterparts (1993)

Counterparts is the album that coincides with the first of my two lads being born. I used to play the album at a low volume in the middle of the night as I took my turn trying to get my baby to sleep and Nobody’s Hero was particularly good for relaxing and rocking him to sleep. There are a couple of more heavy songs on the album and my main goal was to get him to drift off to this particular song. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn’t but I didn’t mind too much because it meant that I could listen to the entire album. It sounded as good at 3am as it did at any other time of the day. Coincidentally, the follow up to Counterparts was called Test for Echo and that was released in1996, the year that my second lad was born. That, too sounded pretty good at 3am.

2000’s – Secret Touch from Vapor Trails (2002)

Neil Peart had a double tragedy in the late 1990’s, losing his daughter in 1997 in a car crash and his wife 10 months later from cancer. The way he dealt with the pain was to take a huge sabbatical and travel 55,000 miles on a motorcycle, writing about his experience and the healing process in his book Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road. At the time, I thought that the band was finished and I would never see another Rush album again. However, after a period of about four years, Neil announced to Geddy and Alex that he would return to the band and the result was the 2002 album Vapor Trails.

I have chosen the song Secret Touch because it is possibly the only song by Rush that Mrs PM has admitted to liking. I was listening to it a few years ago, and she came up behind me and said “Who’s this? I quite like this one.” I almost fell off my chair because Mrs PM has been very vocal in expressing her displeasure for the music I listen to. Of course, it has given me an excuse to play the song more often when she is around.

2010’s – Headlong Flight from Clockwork Angels (2012)

Clockwork Angels is the final album by Rush and is also one of my favourite albums by the band. It also coincides with the last time I saw them live. Headlong Flight is a monster of a song and when I look at my iTunes application on my laptop, this song is my second most played song since I first installed it. I think the album is magnificent and for me, it is like stepping back in time to the late 1970’s and 1980’s when I played their music all the time. I’m glad that I can play it on my laptop because I would have worn the CD out by now. I have to admit to trying to persuade Mrs PM that this song is worth a listen to but she is not impressed.

I am glad that Rush finished on a high but I am sad they retired soon after, due to Neil Peart suffering from arthritis after decades of pounding the drums.

A Drum Solo and a Speech

I’ll leave you with a drum solo from the master himself just to show how utterly brilliant he was. Also, the Rush acceptance speech, including Neil,, when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Rest in peace Neil and thank you for the music.