Bob and Doug McKenzie (Rick Moranis & Dave Thomas) were two dolts from the Great White North featured on SCTV. Living on a diet of back-bacon and beer, Bob and Doug constantly argued. The ultimate put down line was "Take off, you hoser." So as Bob and Doug's momentary fame expanded beyond the confines of late night TV, it was decided the McKenzie Brothers should make an album. No problem. They had plenty of comedy material. But what they needed was a hit record. Again, no problem. "Take Off" was written to exploit their most famous catch phrase. But who would play on the record. Doug could play "Silent Night" by blowing into the neck of an empty beer bottle. For talent, that was about it. But lacking talent need not hold anyone back in the music biz. They sought outside help. As the tape rolled the brothers were engaged in their usual bickering. Then Bob, in reverential tones, uttered the name of the man who would make this project a success. "Geddy Lee. From Rush." Lee was a good choice since he was a singer, songwriter and bassist and certainly possessed the talent the project demanded. More importantly, he was Canadian.

"Take Off," with Lee's vocals breaking through Bob and Doug's comic altercations, hit the charts like a missile. Bob and Doug went on to make the funny movie "Strange Brew" and Lee went back to Rush, a notch more famous than he was before.

Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson and drummer John Rutsey formed Rush in '69 as a Hard Rock covers band (Cream, Hendrix, Led Zep, etc.). Four years later they recorded their first album and shopped it around. No one was interested so they started their own label, Moon Records. A copy of the album was sent to legendary Cleveland Rock station WMMS. A DJ, Donna Halper, brought the group to the attention of Mercury Records. Mercury re-released the "Rush" album. Along the way, Rutsey quit and was replaced by Neil Peart. Rush began touring and releasing an average of two albums a year. The records featured extended tracks and Lee's science fiction/fantasy lyrics. They did all right but nothing spectacular.

"Permanent Waves" with "Spirit of the Radio" was the breakthrough Rush had been looking for. The following year, '81, Rush released "Moving Pictures." It had the instrumental "XYZ" and the group's signature song "Tom Sawyer."

'82, the same year "Take Off" hit, saw the release of "Signals" and Rush's most popular single "New World Man." Rush continued to produce successful CDs through the remainder of the '80s ("Grace Under Pressure," "Power Windows" and "Hold Your Fire"). They also released "live" albums sometimes augmenting their sound with keyboards. At the end of the decade Rush left Mercury for Atlantic. Their first release for their new label was "Presto" which had a more straight-ahead, less Progressive Rock, approach. "Roll The Bones" with the rhythmic title track was next. The "Counterparts" CD had keyboards by John Webster and string arrangements. It was not one of their stronger efforts.

After taking three years off Rush returned in '96 with "Test For Echo." The CD momentarily tied them with Kiss as the group with the most U.S. gold records.

Rush has a tendency to go off the deep end. So, the best way to capture the group's essence is with "Retrospective I: 1974-1980" and Retrospective II: 1991-87." The best studio album is "Moving Picture" with the irrepressible "Tom Sawyer." "Permanent Waves" and "Presto" are close behind. Rush has produced three live albums. Not surprising, the first album, "All The World's A Stage" has the most going for it.