Now we know why Rush never returned to Japan

[Traxan]

The revelations keep coming from Geddy Lee's book. It turns out Neil had a significant fear of flying and simply hid it from his bandmates on their many trips to Europe.

He managed to get over it in 1984 for a trip to Japan that would prove the last time the band played there. For the longest time, I couldn't figure out why and couldn't get an answer.

On page 336 of Geddy's book, we get it. While in Osaka at their hotel, Neil saw a yakuza having a violent argument with a woman, presumably his wife, and was incensed that the hotel staff ignored the whole thing and didn't try to stop it. Someone from the tour frantically called up to the rest of the band to come down because the notoriously non-confrontational Neil was getting in the middle of a domestic fight. Turns out the rest of Rush sided with Neil and were furious at the hotel staff for doing nothing.

Not only that, the hotel staff basically grabbed him and pushed him out of the scene and into an elevator, but not before the yakuza punched his wife in the gut and she collapsed to the floor. The band were furious and disgusted, and Neil swore he would never return to Japan again. He kept that promise.

Has anyone heard of similar culture clashes between bands and foreigners that went something like this?

[Turner Coates]

Has anyone heard of similar culture clashes between bands and foreigners that went something like this?

I heard that Ace wouldn't go to Europe because a Dutch lady once told him he needed a bath.

[GreatWhiteSnake]

Has anyone heard of similar culture clashes between bands and foreigners that went something like this?

I heard that Ace wouldn't go to Europe because a Dutch lady once told him he needed a bath.

Story checks out ...

[FreddyFender]

Yet he lived in the USA? What a clown.

Sounds like he used that experience as an excuse to not have to fly from LA to Tokyo. It's a long flight.

[Chip Z'Hoy]

I've only just started Chapter 4 (maybe 5) and I gotta say, I fucking hate Poland.

[Sleek]

Has anyone heard of similar culture clashes between bands and foreigners that went something like this?

I heard that Ace wouldn't go to Europe because a Dutch lady once told him he needed a bath.

Story checks out ...

It was actually Alex Van Halen....

[Turner Coates]

It was actually Alex Van Halen....

I see what you did there.

[GoodJudge]

Not the band, but there was the little matter of Elvis never touring outside the US because his foreign, illegal immigrant, possible murderer, manager was terrified of one or both of those being found out, in which case he'd have been promptly deported, never to return. As it was, he hid both for life.

[El Vampiro Blanco]

Not the band, but there was the little matter of Elvis never touring outside the US because his foreign, illegal immigrant, possible murderer, manager was terrified of one or both of those being found out, in which case he'd have been promptly deported, never to return. As it was, he hid both for life.

They wouldn't have needed to deport Tom Parker: once he left, he wouldn't have been able to get into the US, being he was an illegal alien without a passport.

[El Vampiro Blanco]

Has anyone heard of similar culture clashes between bands and foreigners that went something like this?

On the Bark at the Moon tour Carmine Appice wanted to intervene when Ozzy was knocking Sharon around at a roadside restaurant.
Bob Daisley told him to let them be and that if anyone needed help in this fight it would be Ozzy...

[CrankerBait]

Yet he lived in the USA? What a clown.

Sounds like he used that experience as an excuse to not have to fly from LA to Tokyo. It's a long flight.

Agree with you. He loved motorcycles and cars, but I suspect that he wasn't too big on flying.

Hard to believe he had to travel all the way to Japan to see a husband assault his wife and get away with it. It is unthinkable that Neil wouldn't have witnessed something similar, probably multiple times, during decades of living in and traveling throughout Canada and the United States. Spousal abuse isn't exactly unique to Japan.

I wonder what Neil's excuse would have been for never playing in Australia and New Zealand? Can't think of very many bands at the level of Rush who never did so much as promo or festival dates in Oceania.

[Traxan]

I wonder what Neil's excuse would have been for never playing in Australia and New Zealand? Can't think of very many bands at the level of Rush who never did so much as promo or festival dates in Oceania.

18 hours of white knuckle flight there and back.

He's not unique. The leader of Breaking Benjamin is in the same boat. He's never even been to Europe. US and Canada only.

[maninblack]

This is a great thread. I am enjoying these stories. I am sad about the Peart one.

[aznsquirt]

Has anyone heard of similar culture clashes between bands and foreigners that went something like this?

On the Bark at the Moon tour Carmine Appice wanted to intervene when Ozzy was knocking Sharon around at a roadside restaurant.
Bob Daisley told him to let them be and that if anyone needed help in this fight it would be Ozzy...

That's hilarious. And how did I not know that Carmine Appice played with Ozzy. According to Wikipedia:

"Though Osbourne had a good relationship with him, the singer's wife and manager Sharon detested Appice, and the decision to fire him was strictly hers."

The crazy thing is that there are 6 cancelled shows between Carmine's last show and Tommy's first show.

Was Sharon really willing to cancel six shows to fire Carmine? If so, she must've REALLY hated his ass.

Edit: Found an article. According to this article Tommy showed up and Carmine was "fired the next day". Doesn't seem to jive with the cancelled shows, shrug. Maybe they were cancelled for another reason and made it a convenient time to fire him.

https://www.1077thebone.com/2021/01/14/ ... zzys-tour/

[maninblack]

Has anyone heard of similar culture clashes between bands and foreigners that went something like this?

On the Bark at the Moon tour Carmine Appice wanted to intervene when Ozzy was knocking Sharon around at a roadside restaurant.
Bob Daisley told him to let them be and that if anyone needed help in this fight it would be Ozzy...

That's hilarious. And how did I not know that Carmine Appice played with Ozzy. According to Wikipedia:

"Though Osbourne had a good relationship with him, the singer's wife and manager Sharon detested Appice, and the decision to fire him was strictly hers."

The crazy thing is that there are 6 cancelled shows between Carmine's last show and Tommy's first show.

Was Sharon really willing to cancel six shows to fire Carmine? If so, she must've REALLY hated his ass.

Edit: Found an article. According to this article Tommy showed up and Carmine was "fired the next day". Doesn't seem to jive with the cancelled shows, shrug. Maybe they were cancelled for another reason and made it a convenient time to fire him.

https://www.1077thebone.com/2021/01/14/ ... zzys-tour/

I had tickets and set off to an Ozzy show in that era, and after arriving in the city, we were walking down the main road to the concert hall, and everyone was walking back in the opposite way. We found out, all the concert goers, found out about an hour or so before the show that it was cancelled ( and was never rescheduled ). Apparently, though it wasnt ever officially stated, it was because " OZZY is on drugs ".

[eddie lee roth]

Has anyone heard of similar culture clashes between bands and foreigners that went something like this?

On the Bark at the Moon tour Carmine Appice wanted to intervene when Ozzy was knocking Sharon around at a roadside restaurant.
Bob Daisley told him to let them be and that if anyone needed help in this fight it would be Ozzy...

That's hilarious. And how did I not know that Carmine Appice played with Ozzy. According to Wikipedia:

"Though Osbourne had a good relationship with him, the singer's wife and manager Sharon detested Appice, and the decision to fire him was strictly hers."

The crazy thing is that there are 6 cancelled shows between Carmine's last show and Tommy's first show.

Was Sharon really willing to cancel six shows to fire Carmine? If so, she must've REALLY hated his ass.

Edit: Found an article. According to this article Tommy showed up and Carmine was "fired the next day". Doesn't seem to jive with the cancelled shows, shrug. Maybe they were cancelled for another reason and made it a convenient time to fire him.

https://www.1077thebone.com/2021/01/14/ ... zzys-tour/

If you watch the original video for BATM he’s playing drums in it.

[Danzig in the Dark]

Yet he lived in the USA? What a clown.

Sounds like he used that experience as an excuse to not have to fly from LA to Tokyo. It's a long flight.

Agree with you. He loved motorcycles and cars, but I suspect that he wasn't too big on flying.

Hard to believe he had to travel all the way to Japan to see a husband assault his wife and get away with it. It is unthinkable that Neil wouldn't have witnessed something similar, probably multiple times, during decades of living in and traveling throughout Canada and the United States. Spousal abuse isn't exactly unique to Japan.

I wonder what Neil's excuse would have been for never playing in Australia and New Zealand? Can't think of very many bands at the level of Rush who never did so much as promo or festival dates in Oceania.

I bet it was the idea that the hotel staff were OK with it.

I don't know about you, but I have never seen some guy beat the shit out of his wife in public anywhere, let alone anyone just ignoring it.

[Love_Industry]

I've only just started Chapter 4 (maybe 5) and I gotta say, I fucking hate Poland.

What did Chris ever do to you, mr. Mustaine?

[Sleek]

I bet it was the idea that the hotel staff were OK with it.

I don't know about you, but I have never seen some guy beat the shit out of his wife in public anywhere, let alone anyone just ignoring it.

I haven't seen that, but the hotel security used to really knock around the girls who showed up or tried to sneak in to meet the bands, and I saw a protest outside my hotel once (the Tokyo Prince) and watched in horror as the cops just waded into the crowd beating people with truncheons like it was no big deal.

First time I was there, it was pretty mind-blowing. I was like: "These people give zero shits about each other!"

[El Vampiro Blanco]

On the Bark at the Moon tour Carmine Appice wanted to intervene when Ozzy was knocking Sharon around at a roadside restaurant.
Bob Daisley told him to let them be and that if anyone needed help in this fight it would be Ozzy...

That's hilarious. And how did I not know that Carmine Appice played with Ozzy. According to Wikipedia:

"Though Osbourne had a good relationship with him, the singer's wife and manager Sharon detested Appice, and the decision to fire him was strictly hers."

The crazy thing is that there are 6 cancelled shows between Carmine's last show and Tommy's first show.

Was Sharon really willing to cancel six shows to fire Carmine? If so, she must've REALLY hated his ass.

Edit: Found an article. According to this article Tommy showed up and Carmine was "fired the next day". Doesn't seem to jive with the cancelled shows, shrug. Maybe they were cancelled for another reason and made it a convenient time to fire him.

https://www.1077thebone.com/2021/01/14/ ... zzys-tour/

If you watch the original video for BATM he’s playing drums in it.

There's also the video of the German RockPop 83 festival which has most of Ozzy s performance with Carmine on drums.

[CrankerBait]

Yet he lived in the USA? What a clown.

Sounds like he used that experience as an excuse to not have to fly from LA to Tokyo. It's a long flight.

Agree with you. He loved motorcycles and cars, but I suspect that he wasn't too big on flying.

Hard to believe he had to travel all the way to Japan to see a husband assault his wife and get away with it. It is unthinkable that Neil wouldn't have witnessed something similar, probably multiple times, during decades of living in and traveling throughout Canada and the United States. Spousal abuse isn't exactly unique to Japan.

I wonder what Neil's excuse would have been for never playing in Australia and New Zealand? Can't think of very many bands at the level of Rush who never did so much as promo or festival dates in Oceania.

I bet it was the idea that the hotel staff were OK with it.

I don't know about you, but I have never seen some guy beat the shit out of his wife in public anywhere, let alone anyone just ignoring it.

I've never seen a guy punching or kicking his wife, but I've seen husbands threaten and/or push their wives a few times. The more serious violence usually happens behind closed doors.

[GoodJudge]

I don't know about you, but I have never seen some guy beat the shit out of his wife in public anywhere, let alone anyone just ignoring it.

Hr was Yakuza. Those guys who cut their own little finger off as a proof of loyalty to the clan. He wouldn't have given a shit about what anyone else thought and any Japanese people there knew that if they'd tried to interfere they'd get pummelled too. Or worse. And if Peart had done so, Rush would have probably have had to cut the tour short as you can't drum very well with broken fingers.

[Danzig in the Dark]

Agree with you. He loved motorcycles and cars, but I suspect that he wasn't too big on flying.

Hard to believe he had to travel all the way to Japan to see a husband assault his wife and get away with it. It is unthinkable that Neil wouldn't have witnessed something similar, probably multiple times, during decades of living in and traveling throughout Canada and the United States. Spousal abuse isn't exactly unique to Japan.

I wonder what Neil's excuse would have been for never playing in Australia and New Zealand? Can't think of very many bands at the level of Rush who never did so much as promo or festival dates in Oceania.

I bet it was the idea that the hotel staff were OK with it.

I don't know about you, but I have never seen some guy beat the shit out of his wife in public anywhere, let alone anyone just ignoring it.

I've never seen a guy punching or kicking his wife, but I've seen husbands threaten and/or push their wives a few times. The more serious violence usually happens behind closed doors.

Your point? I'm not under the impression spousal abuse is nonexistent in the US or Canada as you assclowns seem to think, but we both know that shit like beating your spouse in public wouldn't fly here. Even the MCs like Hells Angels, who consider their SOs personal property, keep that on the down low.

I don't know about you, but I have never seen some guy beat the shit out of his wife in public anywhere, let alone anyone just ignoring it.

Hr was Yakuza. Those guys who cut their own little finger off as a proof of loyalty to the clan. He wouldn't have given a shit about what anyone else thought and any Japanese people there knew that if they'd tried to interfere they'd get pummelled too. Or worse. And if Peart had done so, Rush would have probably have had to cut the tour short as you can't drum very well with broken fingers.

I doubt that. The Yakuza are a just bit publicity shy. Fucking up a tourist would bring unwelcome attention, let alone a celebrity.

This whole "Neil Peart shouldn't get so uppity about wife beating" is ridiculous as fuck.

[Traxan]

I don't know about you, but I have never seen some guy beat the shit out of his wife in public anywhere, let alone anyone just ignoring it.

Hr was Yakuza. Those guys who cut their own little finger off as a proof of loyalty to the clan. He wouldn't have given a shit about what anyone else thought and any Japanese people there knew that if they'd tried to interfere they'd get pummelled too. Or worse. And if Peart had done so, Rush would have probably have had to cut the tour short as you can't drum very well with broken fingers.

Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if Rush were advised to stay away following that. Yakuza will fuck you up, revered celebrity or no, especially a gaijin.

[Wednesday 13 Fan]

I bet it was the idea that the hotel staff were OK with it.

I don't know about you, but I have never seen some guy beat the shit out of his wife in public anywhere, let alone anyone just ignoring it.

I've never seen a guy punching or kicking his wife, but I've seen husbands threaten and/or push their wives a few times. The more serious violence usually happens behind closed doors.

Your point? I'm not under the impression spousal abuse is nonexistent in the US or Canada as you assclowns seem to think, but we both know that shit like beating your spouse in public wouldn't fly here. Even the MCs like Hells Angels, who consider their SOs personal property, keep that on the down low.

I don't know about you, but I have never seen some guy beat the shit out of his wife in public anywhere, let alone anyone just ignoring it.

Hr was Yakuza. Those guys who cut their own little finger off as a proof of loyalty to the clan. He wouldn't have given a shit about what anyone else thought and any Japanese people there knew that if they'd tried to interfere they'd get pummelled too. Or worse. And if Peart had done so, Rush would have probably have had to cut the tour short as you can't drum very well with broken fingers.

I doubt that. The Yakuza are a just bit publicity shy. Fucking up a tourist would bring unwelcome attention, let alone a celebrity.

This whole "Neil Peart shouldn't get so uppity about wife beating" is ridiculous as fuck.

It wouldn't have brought unwanted attention because nothing would happen. You don't actually think one would be arrested for beating his wife, do you?

[Danzig in the Dark]

I've never seen a guy punching or kicking his wife, but I've seen husbands threaten and/or push their wives a few times. The more serious violence usually happens behind closed doors.

Your point? I'm not under the impression spousal abuse is nonexistent in the US or Canada as you assclowns seem to think, but we both know that shit like beating your spouse in public wouldn't fly here. Even the MCs like Hells Angels, who consider their SOs personal property, keep that on the down low.

Hr was Yakuza. Those guys who cut their own little finger off as a proof of loyalty to the clan. He wouldn't have given a shit about what anyone else thought and any Japanese people there knew that if they'd tried to interfere they'd get pummelled too. Or worse. And if Peart had done so, Rush would have probably have had to cut the tour short as you can't drum very well with broken fingers.

I doubt that. The Yakuza are a just bit publicity shy. Fucking up a tourist would bring unwelcome attention, let alone a celebrity.

This whole "Neil Peart shouldn't get so uppity about wife beating" is ridiculous as fuck.

It wouldn't have brought unwanted attention because nothing would happen. You don't actually think one would be arrested for beating his wife, do you?

He sure as fuck would have been arrested for attacking Neil Peart, and most likely for the wife too. The Japanese police don't fuck around, nor are the Yakuza as powerful as you imagine. The Yakuza would have certainly dealt with him for the unwanted attention he brought either way.

Hr was Yakuza. Those guys who cut their own little finger off as a proof of loyalty to the clan.

They didn't cut their fingers off to prove loyalty. They did it because they fucked up and had to pay the price for failure.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4009169/

Yubitsume is the ritualistic self-amputation of the proximal digits at the distal interphalangeal joint (DIP) among members of the Japanese mafia, or yakuza. This practice of self-mutilation is done as a sign of apology for making a mistake deemed punishable by higher-ranking members or violating the code of the yakuza. Members of the yakuza may present to emergency departments seeking medical assistance to stop hemorrhage or treat infection at the site of injury following self-amputation or to have the severed portion of the injured finger reattached.

[GreatWhiteSnake]

Who knew there were so many yakuza experts on the board? Cool...

[Danzig in the Dark]

Who knew there were so many yakuza experts on the board? Cool...

We can't all be "professional drivers". Now get your ass moving. Those fries are getting cold.

[Wednesday 13 Fan]

Who knew there were so many yakuza experts on the board? Cool...

Not as many as they think.

[GreatWhiteSnake]

Who knew there were so many yakuza experts on the board? Cool...

We can't all be "professional drivers". Now get your ass moving. Those fries are getting cold.

Hi Danzig! I can see you still don't read so good. Bank Couriers DON'T deliver fries! They do eat them though. True I do DD on the odd weekend for a couple hours for my MDK (mama don't know) fund. That's for buying weed and guitars. Ok now that we've got that straight got any cool stories of when you were in the yakuza?