FarOutMagazine.com recently posted an isolated drum track of Neil Peart performing “The Spirit of Radio” with Rush.

For Alan Cross, the post brought back memories, as Cross has worked for CFNY-FM in Toronto since 1986.

“And let’s be very clear,” says Cross in his web article, “The song was inspired by CFNY-FM.”

In fact, “The Spirit of Radio” was CFNY’s motto back in the day, and Peart himself confirmed the connection when he was interviewed by Canadian public broadcast channel, CBC.

“I remember coming home very late, and CFNY Radio was on the air,” said the drumming legend, “and as I was cresting the escarpment with all of the lights below of Hamilton and the Niagara Peninsula, where I lived at the time, with a fantastic combination of music that was on at the time. The song itself, musically, is switching between radio stations, with a reggae section at the end, the second verse is new waves, I’m playing like a punk drummer there, and that was all intentional.”

LISTEN TO PEART’S ISOLATED DRUM TRACKS