Neil Peart interview 'Off the Record' with Mary Turner 12/10/1984

Rush "Off The Record Special" Radioshow. Airs week of 12/10/1984.. Interview with Neil Peart, focus of the interview is "Grace Under Pressure". Hosted by Mary Turner.

[@wingrider687]

Neil Peart could describe talking on a payphone and you'd swear he was an astronaut 😁

[@mikearchibald744]

LOL, dude, astronauts are idiots. He's the engineer in the crew cut that knows aerodynamics from Da Vinco to OK, I don't know aeronautics.

[@James-xu3vc]

GUP : so intense and raw, it rips your heart out every time!!

[@drumsbymark]

Neil, we will miss you all so much. I used to stay up late back in these days to listen to these interviews with him or any of the guys in Rush

[@eddyf4426]

Always masterfully articulate and elrgant Neil talking about one of the best progressive rock albums ever IMHO.

[@gribblegreeble]

it's always a pleasure to listen to the Professor talk.

[@michaelsummers1521]

Love all rush albums however grace has always been my fav! Hardcore fan for 39 yrs. R.I.P. Neil...

[@fcamiola]

I miss this man so much. What a beautiful person. Thanks for this.

[@rogercardenas111]

It's unfortunate but radio stations today don't even have these kind of interviews anymore. Rush rocks!!!!!!🤓😎😷👍🎸🎸🎛️🎛️🥁🥁🥁📡📻🎙️📻🎙️📻

[@ghendar]

I can remember staying up with a cassette tape at the ready to record interviews off the radio.

[@johnandrews3568]

That's because music today sucks and 'musicians' are more programmers.

[@matthewferguson7084]

They still have radio stations?

[@rogercardenas111]

@@matthewferguson7084 apparently some still do ,but unfortunately they play the stuff over and over.

[@mwales2112]

RIP Neil..... You are missed....

[@derekbacharach]

So great to hear this interview again after more than 35 years when I got lucky having a blank cassette at hand to record this on my boom box. What still resonates with me is how Neil is in this interview: relaxed, eloquent, confident and authentic. Not one "you know" or "like" in his answers. As a teenager, his approach in interviews, his work ethic, humility and introspection shaped me at my core. I wanted to be like him - not as a musician - but as a person. He and his "work buddies" were a refreshing second set of blue prints to build my identity (1st set my parents) to make me who I am now: hungry and curious about the world without taking myself seriously but taking what I do seriously. Thank you for posting this.

[@Joey-pt6nf]

Fuck. Well said dude!

[@derekbacharach]

@@Joey-pt6nf Thank you

[@christophereveritt571]

@Derek, yes, he was a role model on multiple levels.

[@dusty3913]

Where in the world are these terrific interviewers like Mary Turner anymore??? I mean, she’s connecting to Neil, asking intelligent questions, listening to his answers, even pushing back a little and having a real conversation.

[@ykmgeedee]

And a month after your comment, she too passed away. Not that he's the hardest person to get informative answers from, but yeah totally agree. Well done Mary and Neil! R.I.P to you both!

[@jodymills3138]

What a great interview Neil what a great human and understanding of life and him sharing these thoughts with us. He will always be missed and remembered.

[@picebarius8394]

Growing up in the eighties in the "American Sector" of Germany, I recorded that interview one night on "AFN-FM", the American Forces Network Radio, broadcasted from a nearby US military base. This interview has gotten into my DNA since. It was the first time I ever heard of T.S. Eliot and John DosPassos and was probably one of the reasons I later went on to study English literature. The cassette tape recording has long since vanished god knows where to and I am very grateful to you, Manuel, that you reloaded it here. Thank you!

[@bernardboudreau9534]

Loved this interview; Neil Peart and certainly Mary Turner.

[@markravitz1684]

Neil was a literary genius. It's incredible to hear him speak with such precision and intelligence

[@hanglee5586]

I heard this way back then and it was outstanding.

[@James-xu3vc]

Thank God for these recordings. Our only connection left to hear Neil's voice!! ❤❤😢

[@stevenoliviero3652]

Just the way Neil talks he was absolutely the most talented musician ever, his hand was on near every Rush song in there catalog...

[@garylagstrom3864]

RUSH is THE PERFECT EXAMPLE of the fluidity of MASTERING TIME SIGNATURES! I play drums and there are a few things that you need to know about Neil Peart’s ( pronounced PEER-T) character: First he writes the lyrics so he knows in advance what TYPE of song it’s meant to be ie ballad, driver, etc. Second he COMPOSES on the drums… like a carpenter who looks at a set of blueprints before building the object. Neil lays out a SKETCH in his mind of the VOICES of the drumset and builds the song from there. He is also a great LISTENER knowing when NOT to step over Geddy’s singing or Alex’s solos! Finally, he had perfect timing and fluidity of time changes. He said himself that it’s not about COUNTING the time signatures as much as fluid motion to change the tempo without counting: in other words it should FLOW! He hates repeating the same drum patterns in the same song meaning if he plays a fill one way the first time around he will play it differently the second time around. IE. Rolls down the toms the first time around and triplets or quads (all four limbs) the second time around. In short there will NEVER be another like him on planet earth 🌍 🌏 🌎! REST IN PEACE PROFESSOR! With heart felt admiration and sincerity! Gary

[@mikearchibald744]

I always thought of him as 'the philosopher' because I've known too many professors to insult him like that. But yeah, like bruford and baker, he's one of the few percussion composers.

[@christophereveritt571]

Very eloquently said

[@matthewferguson7084]

This was posted in another interview but thats ok well said

[@garylagstrom3864]

I just thought of something in examining the Professor’s last name: the first that caught my eye 👁 was ART- artist, artistic expression in both music and lyrical content. Second: PE as in physical education as in the Stamina it takes to play drums and in particular at a EXCEEDINGLY HIGH LEVEL!!! So we can deduce through his last name that we have an ARTIST in every sense of the word and Physical Education in terms of stamina and physicality to play at level that boggles the mind and soothes the Heart! Rest In Peace Professor there will never be another like you! Sincerely, Gary

[@matthewferguson7084]

And he put those things above his own ego, or would "Neil" to them

[@louiscarrillo5873]

fantastic interview.

[@ghendar]

8:15 Neil talks about not listening to old music. I've heard him say similar things in other interviews. It's an attitude that's completely foreign and alien to me. I can't imagine not going back to some of the old stuff. Don't get me wrong, I love discovering new music but I also love revisiting the "old friends" in my music collection.

[@ZIG4ZAG20]

😷The first tour I saw from them-Oct 26, 1984 Saturday night in Biloxi Mississippi🤘🖖✌️🥁🎸🎤🎹

[@cbbates11]

That was actually a Friday. They played Saturday(the next day) in New Orleans! (I’m a geek. I know)

[@AnubisXII]

Man when this album came out, I thought it was gonna be their last. I was only 15 or so, but I was already a die hard Rush fan. Die hard. Big time. I would get high with friends and just stare at Hugh Symes awesome album art and listen to songs like The Necromancer and CygnusXI with the headphones... Listen to Geddy and Neil match up their riffs and fills on Hemispheres and Permanent Waves... Signals was a little different, but it still had that warmth of Moving Pictures, but Grace Under Pressure seemed like a last call to me. I was excited about it before it's release but I was expecting something completely different. Especially from Alex. You gotta think about bands like Iron Maiden and what was going on in the world of guitar. I knew Alex could jam like nobody else, so I knew he would put all these pretty glam boys in their place. And then I ran out and got the album. Later I understood just how awesome Alex was on this album. But at the time, I started putting things together. No more Terry Brown, no more By-Tor, no more Hemisphere style bass licks. And it was pretty much unheard of for a band to last for ten years. So I just knew they were done. I KNEW IT! Thank the god of sweet sweet music I was wrong. And the funny thing is... I still refer to this album as "New Rush" and this was, what... 35 years ago? Holy crap. Who would have thought that I latched on to a band that would stay together this long. But then again, I was a Kiss fan just as I was getting into Rush, Metallica was starting to bud shortly thereafter, and Slayer came flying around the corner and punched me right in the friggen throat. It's now safe to say that I know how to pick a band that'll be around for a while. Too bad they're all heading towards the sunset.

[@joe5182]

I was 15 years of age too when GRP came out. I was also a die hard fan since Signals. I would read 1980's Rock periodicals with Rush member interviews. What I rermember vividly was that Alex was into The Police's Ian Summmers, and Geddy was into the bassist Jeff Berlin on Bill Bruford's solo work. The music at that time reflects this. They were so eclectic, experimental, and grew unlike the dinosaur hair bands of the 1980's.

[@drifter23337]

Hey, appreciate your reply, but I wouldn't lump Iron Maiden into the "pretty glam boys" category. They're a great band too. They're still around, and do their best to pay tribute to prog bands like Rush in their own right. Maybe a better example of "pretty glam boys" would be like Poison or Motley Crue or something. I wouldn't put Iron Maiden in their category, though. Cheers.

[@AnubisXII]

@@drifter23337 Oh. Wow. I did not catch that. Didn't mean to word it that way, I'm sure. As soon as I'm finished with this comment I will punch myself in the face and think about what I have done. But yeah. No. I didn't mean to lump Maiden in with the pretty boys. I believe I was using Maiden as an example of the badassness I was hoping to get from Rush. Wicked guitarists were running rampant, even in the generic copy and paste world of glam. And Alex was a wicked guitarist. But way back in 1988 I got a call from a friend of mine that went kinda like this: "Hullo?" "Hey you wanna go see Maiden tonight?" "Man, me and Jennifer are hanging out tonight" "Second row, center stage". Needless to say I saw Maiden that night. My second time seeing them at the Summit in Houston. Second row center stage. I still have the tour shirt and the $16.50 ticket stub.

[@drifter23337]

@@AnubisXII Lol jeez no need to punch yourself in the face. Your original comment was great. Just I thought I should let it be known that Maiden is solid stuff just like Rush. Anyway, that's awesome man. I was still a child back in '88, so I could not have seen them lol. Jealous of the price tag of $16.50 for sure. I've seen them I think 5 times since 2008. I guess the 2012 tour brought back the 1988 style of Maiden England. I'll be seeing them on Oct. 21st again. 6th time I believe. Should be good. They'll play some songs from the new album Senjutsu. OTOH, I've only seen Rush twice. Once on the Time Machine tour when they played MP in its entirety, and then the Clockwork Angels tour with the string ensemble, which my brother said wasn't loud enough and got drowned out. Whatever. I thought they were both fine shows. Miss Neil. Peace, brother. No self-violence please. Lol.

[@robertmills6772]

It's interesting to hear Mary Turner mention that Rush has been together for more than a decade.

[@BlackStratCat]

Most Excellent!

[@zwiastunburzy7188]

I see on the thumbnail that Geddy is sporting his "dead raccoon on the head" look. His words, not mine.

[@djlaino]

Interesting to hear Neil mention playing 3 days at Radio CIty Music Hall and introducing p/g songs. I was there one of those nights seeing Rush for the first of many times. Definitely the best venue to see a concert - in an actual concert hall. I still remember Geddy singing "One likes to believe in the freedom of baseball". Thanks for the great memories.

[@necromancer6897]

He was such a special Pearson!!

[@JamesSmith-mz9ec]

Mary the burner Turner! 94.7 KMET, Los Angeles, those were good days back then!

[@timothyslaughter476]

Always recreated the rush formula every release which was to feel like you were actually getting a rush listening to their music. Because you were!!!! I am a fan obviously but there was never a more appropriate and fitting name for a band in rock history.

[@johnhickman106]

One area that I don't share with the Professor is that I do listen to music beyond the year mark. Hell, Rush, from the early days on, is what I listen to most when I drive to and from work. I listen to other music of course, but not as much as I listen to Rush. RIP Neil.

[@ajones957]

One area of this interview is very revealing - it had to do with the idea that music has a shelf-life. Neil indicated the relatively short shelf life he perceived with the conception and validity of the music. His answer was very telling.

[@foxriverpwc4723]

True, but Neil's statement was about "pop" music. No doubt that Neil was aware that Rush wasn't and would never be a pop band. But it would have been fun to have asked him in 1984 if he could imagine his current fans (like I was in 1984) eventually bringing their children (like I did) to many Rush shows 20 years later. Somehow I think he'd have been too humble to predict the generational following that Rush eventually cultivated, and frankly, very much earned.

[@ajones957]

​@@foxriverpwc4723 - I think he was referring to "pop" music as music in general - especially when he talks about going backwards and going into his own record collection and not wanting to listen to stuff he's owned for 10 years because he knows it by heart. "Music is a part of the background of their lives." That was a quote of his. I think the part he didn't account for is that the music of bands like RUSH or YES or KING CRIMSON represent a FOREGROUND in their lives of their fans. And the music doesn't have a limited "validity" or "shelf life". Neil's lyrics are just as applicable in life today as they were when they were written. Musically, I can pull most any RUSH or YES or KC album and get something new from the lyrics, or the musicianship every time I listen to it. It is still fresh. So I think in the end we agree, but I think he was just being humble and not accounting for how great of a lyricist he is and how great they were as a band. That was the part I found very telling.

[@kennyplay5982]

I want more !!!

[@dominicdoyle2895]

🤯awesome!!! Thank you

[@lukepate8060]

Please post another radio interview of Rush, PLEASE!

[@pcs56]

I remember hearing this back in 1985 and thinking, "How can this woman not know how to pronounce his last name?!" 😁

[@zadtrax]

I am interested in surprise to see that this is listed as an interview from 1984. The first time I heard it it was broadcast on the radio I guess roughly 10 years later around 1991 or 92 and I was under the assumption that that was your current interview. I guess what I originally heard broadcast on the radio was actually close to 10 years old. But I was pretty sure it was mentioned specifically during the roll the bones tour in the early 90s.

[@ykmgeedee]

R.I.P. Neil and 3 weeks ago Mary. She was with Tom Donahue's KSAN in San Francisco, he basically developed the deeper album cuts format. Then down to Los Angeles and KMET. One of the earlier female DJs who would go on to interview many stars- perhaps none more interesting than Neil.

[@matthewferguson7084]

Yeah this interview and those albums lasted longer than a year

[@anthonysilva5312]

RIP Professor

[@rarby00]

I just learned that Mary Turner died last week.

[@matthewferguson7084]

I listen to music that I feel is good, just happens most of it was created long ago

[@mineralsoldcoinscoppersilv7627]

good

[@daveyt4802]

RIP

[@Stevedrums741]

wow! She got his last name right!!!

[@a2ndopynyn]

She says it's an hour long. Where's the rest of it?

[@foxriverpwc4723]

These interviews were made for FM radio. Note the obvious spots for commercial breaks...probably 7 or 8 of them in this interview. Add in the commercials, and you get to an hour. "And echoes with the sound of salesman. Of salesmen. Of salesmen!!"

[@karlbaird2672]

Geddy said it was the hardest album they ever made....Grace under pressure

[@stephenjackson4392]

I didnt care much after Moving pictures They are truly gods though right threw to the end

[@kennyplay5982]

Funny how she talks surface about Grace, and Neil goes way deep

[@pistis6625]

One of their best works due to Alex sacrificing his expression so geddy can look cool with one hand on the fake instrument and the other on the bass. Thanks big Al.

[@scottshields113]

But his solos on this album are lit. And on an album as a whole these are his best to me.

[@pistis6625]

@@scottshields113 they are phenom, along with Signals solos imo as well.

[@kennyplay5982]

Disagree, Alexs sounds and guitar textures are amazing

[@bobgomez9481]

Nothing fake about keyboards when used properly, like Geddy Lee did use them. Moron.

[@harrylupo9489]

Kissed n even typos

[@Augfordpdoggie]

8 or 9 dollars :)

[@Tiberius_Productions]

“Who is Grace in Grace Under Pressure” 😂😂😂😂!?!??!? Does she not know common phrases????

[@claverhouse1]

Do you not recognise jokes?

[@Tiberius_Productions]

I do, but if you notice, Neil has to literally explain to her what the phrase “Grace Under Pressure” means, which suggests that she had no idea it was a commonly known phrase. So in this case, I didn’t see it as a joke as much as just a stupid question lol.

[@stevet7487]

@@Tiberius_Productions Mary Turner was hip. She was a DJ for the Mighty Met, KMET in Los Angeles. Her question at the beginning, "Who is Grace", was an obvious jest to lighten the mood to begin the interview. She hosted this nationally syndicated for years before Joe Benson took it over.

[@ajones957]

@@Tiberius_Productions - She understood. She was simply being ironic. I think Neil appreciated it.

[@Grommet_]

nerd

[@mitchkahle314]

RIP