On a recent visit to New York City (he didn’t mention the purpose of his trip), Geddy Lee, bassist and lead vocalist for Canadian rock legends Rush, stopped by the studio at radio station Q104.3 – a station that bills itself as “New York’s Led Zeppelin Station.” That’s kind of nice to hear about since I figured all the stations down in that neck of the woods had switched formats to hip-hop by now.

As seasoned Rush fans would expect, Lee was his usual humble and soft-spoken self during the interview, which is available in three parts on the stations website. Make sure your allow pop-ups when you visit the station’s site since the videos are delivered in that fashion and will play in Windows Media Player for most viewers.

There was the usual interview talk about the well-recognized dedication of Rush fans as well as some things you usually don’t hear during an interview with one of the guys from Rush. Particularly the issue of a certain celebrity who lost her virginity while Rush’s Tom Sawyer played in the background, which may or may not have resulted in Lee’s face turning a bit red, depending on the accuracy of DJ Jim Kerr’s observation.

There was a good deal of discussion about the recent release of Rush: Retrospective 3, which Lee jokingly referred to as “absurd.”  The new release is a CD/DVD set which features some re-mixed tracks from their Vapor Trails album as well as some live cuts that have not previously been released. The DVD features what Lee refers to as “just about every video we have made from that period (1989-2008) as well as some live concert footage and their rare national TV appearance on Comedy Central’s Colbert Report from last summer, which, by the way, I still have in my DVR.

We also learn that Rush has appeared in a new movie, a fact many dedicated Rush fans probably are well aware of, and leads to a few comments by Lee regarding the historic lack of popularity of the band among females, although he says that appears to be changing somewhat these days. Although well-accustomed to seeing bored and unhappy looking female companions in the crowd at Rush concerts who have shown up for the sake of their partner, Lee says that he is starting to see situations lately where the roles have been reversed. Rock on, ladies!

Although not a great revelation for Rush fans, Lee confirms that the group is considering a new album that they may start to work on in the fall, after they have had a chance to relax for a while and “recharge their batteries.” Something Neil Peart seems to be fully immersed himself lately.

You can grab a copy of Rush: Retrospective 3 at Amazon.com if you are so inclined.