Chart. Promotional 12-inch copies were released in the United States in late 1979 with the B-sides of "Working Man" and "The Trees", and the song being incorrectly titled "The Spirit of the Radio". Reception Cash Box said that "Geddy Lee's high vocals and the band's electrically charged instrumental should click on AOR lists." "The Spirit of Radio" was named one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll and was among five Rush songs inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame on March 28, 2010. Record World called it a "crafty rocker that's an out-of-the-box AOR-pop smash." Classic Rock readers voted "The Spirit of Radio" the fourth best Rush song. Odyssey ranked "The Spirit of Radio" number 11 on their ranking of every Rush song, and rated it 10/10. They also considered it to be the second best song from Permanent Waves, only behind "Freewill". The song was covered by the British alternative rock band Catherine Wheel in 1996, with their version appearing both on their B-sides and rarities album Like Cats and Dogs and on the CFNY-branded compilation album Spirit of the Edge, Vol. 2. Music video In celebration of the 40th anniversary of Permanent Waves, on June 12, 2020 Rush produced an animated music video featuring themselves as they appeared around 1980 as well as nods to Guglielmo Marconi (an Italian inventor instrumental in the development of radio) as well as radio djs from the time that were influential in Rush's development. The video also pays homage to Rush's drummer, the late Neil Peart, "whose music and lyrics continue to capture the hearts and imaginations of the fans". Weekly charts See also List of Rush songs References External links Dedicated to the old CFNY Current CFNY 1980 singles 1998 singles Mercury Records singles Rush (band) songs Songs about music Songs written by Alex Lifeson Songs written by Geddy Lee Songs written by Neil Peart Songs about radio Song recordings produced by Terry Brown (record producer) 1980 songs