Countdown: Background

“‘Countdown’ is the surging, shifting closer on Signals that was inspired by a trip the band took to Cape Canaveral in April 1982 to watch the liftoff of the space shuttle Columbia from the VIP area, Red Sector A. The song’s video would be memorable for its NASA-authorized space footage.”—Martin Popoff, Contents Under Pressure

“It was an amazing thing, an amazing site to witness. I’ve never heard anything so loud in my life. Your pants are flapping, you could feel the ground vibrating, and this was three miles away. That’s the closest you could get. We decided right then that on the next album we’d like to do something.” (Harmonix)—Alex in Merely Players

“‘Countdown’ didn’t work at the time but led us forward. It was a first attempt at a documentary, taking real life and putting it into a song.” (Modern Drummer)—Neil in Merely Players

“Geddy was later to say that the song came across like a textbook, but it does have drama, and is not dull. The moment comes alive. Here is a band that’s always been fascinated by technology trying to describe a leap forward in man’s development.”—
Bill Banasiewicz, Rush Visions

Geddy plays the solo on keyboards. “I don’t think I’ll ever do that again. I do a little improvisation on keyboards, but not much. I stick to business with the keyboards.” (Keyboard)—Geddy in Merely Players

“Dedicated to astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen, the NASA audio excerpts as well as the footage in the video promo are provided by Gerry Griffin, a director at NASA at the time.”—Robert Telleria, Merely Players

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