Rush marked the 40th anniversary of Permanent Waves — and paid tribute to their late bandmate Neil Peart – with an animated video for that album's signature single "The Spirit of Radio."

The nostalgic clip, like the song, celebrates the power of radio broadcast. It opens in Italy with Guglielmo Marconi, the inventor of radio, and jumps over to Canada, where the band members are recording the track at Le Studio in Quebec. You can watch it below.

Rush tip their cap to disc jockeys like Bob Coburn, Jim Ladd, Donna Halper and David Marsden. They also throw in a series of Easter eggs for fans, including a subtle reference to 2112 that appears on Alex Lifeson's guitar neck during his solo. The visual ends with a shot of a tricked-out drum kit and the caption "In memory of our brother Neil Peart," who died in January at age 67.

UMe recently issued a remastered, expanded edition of Permanent Waves in four formats, including a Super Deluxe Edition with live bonus cuts, a hardcover book with previously unreleased photos, revamped artwork, a 12,000-word essay and other extras.

Peart was also recently honored in his home city, with residents of St. Catharines, Ontario, renaming the Port Dalhousie area (which inspired the Rush song "Lakeside Park") Neil Peart Pavilion.

"The public voting on naming is obviously fairly conclusive," Councilman Bruce Williamson told the St. Catharines Standard, emphasizing that 81 percent of voters supported the title. “Neal Peart's been one of our most famous local individuals, and a lot of his songs have local roots, including the namesake park.”

 

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