The record Rush carried into 1974 was born out of rejection. Major Canadian labels showed zero interest in the trio's high-octane blues rock, prompting their manager Ray Danniels and producer Terry Brown to establish Moon Records. They pressed a modest run of 3,500 copies, packaged in a jacket featuring bold red lettering designed by Bob King. Tracks like "Finding My Way" and "In the Mood" showed technical promise, but it was the seven-minute closing track, "Working Man," that altered their destiny.
A copy reached the desk of Donna Halper, the music director at WMMS (100.7 FM) in Cleveland, Ohio. Recognizing the blue-collar resonance of the track's heavy guitar groove and Lee's piercing vocal delivery, Halper dropped the needle on the air. Listeners flooded the station switchboard, assuming they were hearing an unreleased Led Zeppelin cut. The resulting groundswell in northeast Ohio caught the attention of Cliff Burnstein at Mercury Records, who swiftly signed the band to an international contract worth an estimated $200,000, immediately re-mastering and re-releasing the album for a global audience.
