Genesis (band)

Genesis is a British progressive rock group that was formed in 1967 when founding members Peter Gabriel and Tony Banks were still students at Charterhouse School. Genesis was formed from the merger of two separate school bands — The Garden Wall (Gabriel, Banks) and Anon (Rutherford, Philips). The band was christened and managed by Jonathan King and later by Tony Stratton-Smith then Tony Smith. The band enjoyed considerable success in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Genesis' longevity is only outdone by the likes of the Rolling Stones and The Kinks.

The "Phil Collins" era

The group began auditioning lead singers — "We got quite a lot of weirdos, because of Peter and his costumes," Rutherford recalled in an interview —. Phil Collins, whose backing vocals had featured heavily in the Genesis sound of the Gabriel era, was given the job of coaching prospective replacements how to sing Genesis songs. Slowly, it dawned on the rest of the band that that the "teacher" sounded a lot better than any of the potential new replacements. But the band were reluctant to concede that their own drummer might be Peter Gabriel's successor. Jon Anderson of Yes, was one of the few that championed Collins for the job.

Related Topics:
Jon Anderson - Yes

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Eventually, Genesis did settle on Collins as their new singer, at least in the studio. Many believed that the band would fail miserably without Gabriel, but changing from a quintet to a quartet, Collins proved to be the ideal singer for the band. This was rather to the suprise of many of the band's fans, as well as the music critics. There were, after all, few precedents for successful bands losing their lead singers, and then carrying on as successfully as before. Especially not when the departed lead singer was as charismatic as Gabriel had been, and especially not when the replacement turned out to be the band's own drummer. But A Trick of the Tail was generally well received and demonstrated that the group were far more than a backing band for their theatrical former front-man. It helped that the album featured a markedly clearer production than previous albums. This was courtesy of new producer, David Hentschel, who had previously served as engineer on Nursery Cryme.

Related Topics:
Quintet - Quartet - A Trick of the Tail - David Hentschel

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Despite the success of Trick of the Tail, there was still the problem of what to do on stage. Collins was confident that he could handle live vocal duties too, but needed another drummer to fill in for him while he was singing. At that time, the only drummer with whom he felt confident was Bill Bruford from Yes via King Crimson. Bruford joined the band on tour in 1976 as drummer; later, the jazz fusion-trained Chester Thompson, a veteran of Weather Report and Frank Zappa, would take over live drumming duties, leaving Collins to step into the spotlight. Phil Collins' approach to live Genesis shows differed from the more theatrical performances of Peter Gabriel, and his interpretation of Gabriels' works were often lighter and more subtle. Peter Gabriel famously told Collins at the 1982 Milton Keynes reunion show that Collins sang Gabriel's songs better than Peter, but never quite like Peter.

Related Topics:
Bill Bruford - Yes - King Crimson - 1976 - Jazz fusion - Chester Thompson - Weather Report - Frank Zappa - 1982 - Milton Keynes

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Wind & Wuthering was released later on in 1976, and confirmed that the new lineup of the band was a going concern.

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Hackett's departure

Guitarist Steve Hackett was becoming increasingly disenchanted with the band. Following the departure of Gabriel, he had taken the opportunity to become the first member of the band to record a solo album. The freedom that he had experienced during the making of Voyage Of The Acolyte lead to him to feel constricted at what he regarded as the confines of Genesis. According to Collins, Hackett wanted a quarter of the Wind & Wuthering album to be given over to his own material; "a dumb way to work in a band context" said Collins. Genesis tried to placate him by giving extra songwriting credits on the track "Unquiet Slumbers for the Sleepers..In That Quite Earth". But it was to no avail. Following the release of the "Spot The Pigeon" E.P., consisting of outtakes from Wind & Wuthering, and the Seconds Out live album of the 1977 tour, Hackett left the band.

Related Topics:
Voyage Of The Acolyte - Wind & Wuthering - Seconds Out - 1977

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Mike Rutherford took over his guitar duties on record, although Daryl Stuermer would be the live guitarist and bass player (In the 80s, Stuermer and Thompson would be present in both Genesis' and Collins' own live shows). The group continued as a trio, a fact reflected in the title of their 1978 album ...And Then There Were Three. This album began yet another change in Genesis' musical direction, away from their 10-minute-plus progressive epics and towards shorter, more radio-friendly tracks. It yielded their first American radio hit, "Follow You Follow Me" which caused ...And Then There Were Three to be the band's first US Gold selling album.

Related Topics:
Daryl Stuermer - Trio - 1978 - And Then There Were Three - American

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A more rock/pop direction

In 1979, Genesis almost lost Phil Collins as he moved to Canada in an attempt to save his first marriage. However, two months and a divorce later, Phil Collins returned to the UK and immersed himself into working on Duke. Collins later claimed that his marriage breakup accelerated his growth as a songwriter: Duke was the first Genesis album upon which he pulled equal songwriting weight with Banks and Rutherford. Duke was also a further departure (begun on ...And Then There Were Three) from the sounds and concepts that identified Genesis in the 1970s. Lengthy, complex themes and music gave way to shorter, more "accessible" pieces. The use of the drum machine was a consistent element in the forthcoming Genesis albums and certainly in Phil Collins' solo projects.

Related Topics:
1979 - Canada - Duke - And Then There Were Three - 1970 - Drum machine

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The more commercial Duke was well received by the mainstream media and was Genesis' first UK Number 1 album, and the tracks "Misunderstanding" (a Collins song) and "Turn It On Again" became two of the band's standbys.

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Genesis followed Duke with 1981's Abacab, which featured brass and wind instruments and a collaboration with Earth, Wind & Fire on the track No Reply At All. The album also featured an even more forceful live drum sound from Collins, featuring the use of a reversed noise gate and (on some songs) no cymbals. The distinctive sound was originally developed at the instigation of Peter Gabriel with Genesis co-producer/engineer Hugh Padgham, when Collins was recording the backing track for "Intruder," the first song on Gabriel's 1980 solo album.

Related Topics:
Abacab - Brass - Wind instrument - Earth, Wind & Fire - Noise gate - Cymbals - Hugh Padgham

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All of these new developments, including Padgham's production, had been apparent on Face Value, Collins's debut solo album, earlier that year. The "gated" drum sound, in particular, would become an audio trademark of both Genesis and Collins albums from then onward.

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Reunion and solo successes

In 1982, the band released the double (on vinyl) live album Three Sides Live. The U.S. version of this album had three sides of live material (hence the album's title) plus one side of studio tracks. The studio side included the song "Paperlate", featuring the EWF horn section yet again. In the U.K., the three songs on the "Paperlate" side of the album had already been released on a Paperlate E.P.. This enabled the U.K. version of 3 Sides Live to also contain live material, albeit from earlier tours, making something a mockery of the album's title. An eventful year was capped by the reunion of the band with Gabriel and Hackett for a one off concert at the Milton Keynes bowl. The concert was hastily put together as a way of recouping some of the losses that Gabriel had incurred on the inaugural WOMAD festival, earlier that year.

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The self titled Genesis album (sometimes referred to as "Shapes" for its game-piece covers) was released in 1983 and was their third successive number 1 album in the UK.

Related Topics:
Genesis - 1983

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The album featured radio friendly pieces such as "Mama" (with its dramatic live drum sound near the end) and "That's All", but also re-introduced the band's flair for lengthy pieces in "Home by the Sea", which did particularly well in Asia because of it being based largely in the pentatonic scale (as most Oriental music is). The album track "Just a Job to Do" became the theme song of the 1985 ABC detective drama The Insiders.

Related Topics:
Asia - Pentatonic scale - Oriental

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Genesis released their highest selling album, Invisible Touch in 1986, at the height of Phil Collins' popularity as a solo artist. The album yielded three number one singles ("Invisible Touch", "Throwing It All Away" and "In Too Deep") and two top five hit singles ("Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" and "Land of Confusion"). "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" was used in a Michelob commercial (as was Collins' "In the Air Tonight"). Critics and fans of the classic Genesis sound found the new album too commercial and "pop," and also wondered whether the band would persist given Collins's growing solo fame.

Related Topics:
Invisible Touch - 1986 - Michelob

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Earlier that year, Collins had seen a spoof of himself on Spitting Image, a satirical British TV show that featured politicans and celebrities of the day in puppet form. So impressed was he with own puppet representation that the band commissioned the show's creators, Fluck and Law, to work on the video for "Land of Confusion". The video was a sarcastic commentary on The Cold War, played to the perception of each coalition's leaders as being "trigger happy" with the nuclear "button". As well as puppet versions of Banks, Collins and Rutherford, the video also showed Ronald Reagan dressed as Superman. It was nominated for the MTV "Video of the Year", losing to Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer."

Related Topics:
Spitting Image - Fluck and Law - The Cold War - Nuclear - Ronald Reagan - Superman - MTV - Peter Gabriel - Sledgehammer

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In 1987, Genesis became the first band to play 4 days in a row at Wembley Stadium. The band's live performances, as always, were augmented by a commitment to cutting edge technology. Genesis were the first band to use Vari*Lites, Jumbotron screens and the Prism sound system, all of which are now standard features of arena rock concerts.

Related Topics:
1987 - Wembley Stadium - Jumbotron

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After a lengthy layoff to work on solo projects (more solo work for Collins, while Rutherford formed Mike and The Mechanics) Genesis reconvened to releaseWe Can't Dance in 1991. This proved to be Phil Collins' last studio album with the group. The album featured several successful singles such as "Jesus He Knows Me", "I Can't Dance" and "No Son Of Mine" and lengthy pieces such as "Driving the Last Spike" and "Fading Lights". The album also features "Since I Lost You", which was written in memorial to the death of Eric Clapton's son, Connor. (Also see Tears in Heaven).

Related Topics:
Mike and The Mechanics - We Can't Dance - 1991 - Eric Clapton - Tears in Heaven

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Meanwhile, Collins had become a superstar in his own right with a hugely successful solo career, studio production work, acting stints (including the then popular TV show Miami Vice), and guest drumming on tours for Robert Plant and Eric Clapton. Collins' own success as a solo artist may have influenced the success and musical direction of Genesis. Certainly many saw his departure from the group in 1996 as the band's death knell.

Related Topics:
Miami Vice - Robert Plant - Eric Clapton

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