Rarebird's Rock and Roll Nest

I have long been an enthusiastic collector of rare recordings. Searching out a musical rarity has always been something I’ve enjoyed doing, although it can sometimes get frustrating when a song or record takes a long time to track down. But, so far, I can’t say it has ever taken me 37 years to track down an elusive song. It did, however, take some record collectors that long to find a mysterious song from 1979. That song was titled “Ready ‘N’ Steady”, by an unknown recording artist called D.A. One person who tried for decades to find this song was music historian Joel Whitburn, who has written numerous books compiling chart data from Billboard magazine. This song showed up on the Billboard singles chart for 3 weeks in 1979, peaking at #102, meaning that it was “Bubbling Under The Hot 100” in official terms. But there seemed to be no sign of this single’s actual existence on the planet. Whitburn and other collectors were unable to track down any copy of this record, even after the...

Neil Peart, the long-time drummer and lyricist of the Canadian rock band Rush, died in January 2020 after a long battle with brain cancer. Peart had announced his retirement due to health issues in late 2015, and Rush has since been declared defunct. Peart is widely regarded as one of rock’s greatest drummers, by his peers as well as his fans, and his lyrics had a literary intelligence that matched his musical virtuosity. All of the official albums from Rush’s catalogue are currently available, but their very first single from 1973 has remained in obscurity. This rare single was recorded before Peart joined Rush in 1974 in time to record their second album. The band’s original drummer was John Rutsey, who rounded out the 1973 lineup with usual singer/bassist Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson. Rutsey also played on Rush’s self-titled 1974 debut album before leaving the band due to health issues related to diabetes. Sadly, Rutsey died in 2008 from apparent diabetes complications. ...