What Was the First US Top 40 Hit by Rush?

Not many bands can boast the hallowed reputation that Rush has amassed among its fans during its illustrious career. The Canadian trio’s catalog again and again provided songs that have become part of the classic rock firmament. Still, it took Rush almost a decade of recording before they finally made it to the US Top 40 with “New World Man”. And once they did, they never made it back there again.

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The Terrific Trio

Although their self-titled debut album arrived in 1974, you could argue that Rush’s career didn’t truly begin until the following year. That’s when Neil Peart took over as the band’s drummer from John Rutsey, who only played on that first album. Peart also became the guy who wrote all the band’s lyrics.

With Peart joining Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, Rush had installed their classic lineup. They quickly moved away from the more generic hard rock of their debut towards a more ambitious, progressive style on subsequent records. Elongated song suites soon became a big part of their repertoire.

Perhaps that’s why they weren’t the best fit for American radio. Their songs also tended more towards complex topics than the love ditties that dominated the pop charts. Even as Rush started to sell massive albums at the start of the 80s with albums like Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures, a US Top 40 hit eluded them.

“World” in Motion

When you think of some of the evergreens that the band spun out from 1975 to 1981 without getting that hit, it’s almost shocking. “Fly By Night”, “The Sprit of Radio”, “Freewill”, “Tom Sawyer”, and “Limelight” were all ubiquitous on rock stations, but none made that crossover.

Rush had helped its commercial prospects by building more synthesizers into their arrangements, which was very much in keeping with the 80s trends. They continued to do so on their 1982 album Signals, which solidified the success of its two predecessors.

When the trio had completed the basic tracks for the album, they realized that there was enough space for one more song. Neil Peart wanted to make sure that the lyrics were of a piece with the themes on the remainder of the record. But with so little space, the band kept the music straightforward and relatively unobtrusive. That put a spotlight on the melody and lyrics of the song, which was titled “New World Man”.

First and Last

“New World Man” by Rush tells the story of the type of person who owned a lot of power and responsibility in that time period, but often misused or squandered it.

“He’s old enough to know what’s right and young enough not to choose it / He’s noble enough to win the world but weak enough to lose it.”

The simplicity and directness of the approach certainly stood out from past Rush radio songs. It paid off in terms of chart success. For the first time, this terrific trio stood tall on the US Top 40, landing at a peak of no. 21 in 1982.

The first would turn out to be the last in this case. Rush could never again get back to that kind of American pop chart ranking. You probably won’t find too many diehard fans of the band to call “New World Man” a signature achievement for Rush. But it served its purpose by introducing many unsuspecting pop fans to the wonders of Rush’s music.

Photo by Fin Costello/Redferns