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From a Member of Genesis, Some Revelations
Genesis may be the most confounding band of all time. Over the course of more than 30 years, the group has steadily increased in commercial success while charting a course that navigates two of rock ‘n’ roll’s most ridiculous tributaries: progressive rock and adult contemporary pop. Indeed, the transition from Nursery Rhyme, tea-and-crumpet whimsy to a genre otherwise known as They Who Cannot Dance initially seemed so sudden that it made a lot of long-haired and thoughtfully-bearded heads spin all the way back to their tweedy university student unions, clearing the way for the vast mainstream to belly up with fistfuls of disposable cash. Most pundits will agree that such an abrupt and lucrative paradigm shift could only be conceived by the diabolical intellect of one man—Phil Collins.
“Not so!” cries the evil genius in this surprisingly candid 1982 interview. Phil’s quick to share the credit (blame?) with his affably grinning cohorts, Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford, and his explanations certainly possess a whiff of legitimacy. Collins describes the period following the departure of original vocalist and silly dress-up fancier, Peter Gabriel, and how necessity and old-fashioned growin’ up more than anything precipitated the maturely pop-oriented variant of the band that would soon leave its prog-y contemporaries fossilizing under a thick layer of hash resin.
While purists may yearn for the halcyon Gabriel era, the modern Genesis have consistently proven that the world’s appetite for solidly produced and occasionally goofy Top 40 hits is boundless. Here, at the end of another successful reunion tour for the group, take a moment to reflect on their story in medias res, and appreciate the long and strange careers that bands and their individual members were once allowed to have
10 Comments
shock the monkey, you ass kissing collins lover…PETER has forgotten more than Phil knows, lie down on this you shit.
occasionally goofy, you sorry ass kisser, get a turntable and listen to the music…
whose is the gay looking fellow on this page, oops! it’s phil…
I ache for the classic Genesis lineup. Steve Hackett and Peter Gabriel were obviously the heads in the group. Nursery Cryme, Foxtrot, Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. Listen to these, then listen to new Genesis. You’ll be sick to your stomach at how a great band can sell out so miserably. Money replace Art.
Having been born in 1970, if it wasn’t for their 80’s output i never would have gotten around to exploring the better stuff (imo) that they put out when Hackett was still in the band. (”Selling England by the Pound” is my all-time fave.) But it was the stuff they did in the 80’s (and just before) that inspired me to switch from alto sax to keyboards. Nowadays, i have a room full of keyboards and teach piano. Though i prefer the Gabriel/Hackett era, i have to admit it all started for me after seeing the “Abacab” video on MTV! ^_^ ..Oh, and i just loath “Invisible Touch” and “We Can’t Dance”, but the keyboard solos/instrumental bits from those albums are great, too.
Hmmm. Let’s see. The purpose of becoming a musician is to avoid the 9 to 5 JOB world, is it not? And if one cannot support oneself comfortably (i.e. records constantly in the $2.99 cutout bins, or no record deal at all, while the new Foreigner and Loverboy (lame examples, I know, but bear with me) records mysteriously roar past to gold and platinum status seemingly overnight…It would seem BLATANTLY obvious that the “majority” of people listening to and BUYING MUSIC aren’t the “SMART” people after all!! How can it be!? The Pop music world is dictated by pre and slightly post adolescents!? WHAT? 12-year-olds are getting money to buy records from their Mommies and Daddies, or their part time jobs at Sonic and THEY (mostly young love-sick girls) are calling the shots!! Not those of us who have to work to pay back our student loans! It’s SAAD but it’s TRUE, friends. NOPE, it is NOT the Gabriel-era Genesis fans, I’m sorry to say that’s dictating airplay…WAKE UP!! Ask Tom Petty! Sing to the little girls about love and boyfriends and breakups, and LOOKY! Dollar dollar BILL, Y’all! Another sold out SHOW!!! The SMART people who deplore DISCO or anything that says “Turn Me Loose” about a thousand times in a three minute song have CAR PAYMENTS, INSURANCE PAYMENTS, even HOUSING payments and food to consider buying before we can rush right out and buy the new album recorded by people who got together and formed a band that wouldn’t BORE you to pieces after one time on the turntable, that you could hear something you may have missed the first few times you listened to it; that GREW on you until you LOVED it (i.e. Yes-”Close To The Edge” and “Fragile”) but ALAS, the MUSIC BUSINESS IS and unfortunately for those of us with brains CONTINUES to be a BUSINESS. Over the years they have dumbed down even MORE (if that’s possible) to cater to the young ones who have to pick “I Want To Know What Love Is” for the theme song for this year’s prom….We’re DAMNED LUCKY that there once was a period of time where record labels WERENT so greedy to get that pubescent demographic (while an unfortunately fickle and less than loyal group at that) a handful of (dare I use this term) “Art-rock and Prog-Rock” bands DID actually get record deals and some of us with prefrontal lobes and the ability to know when the radio is LYING to us by saying they’re playing “THE BEST MUSIC” and we were blessed with the mass marketing of bands such as Genesis, Nektar, EARLY Yes, etc. etc. etc. until the greed and terms by dim-witted music reviewers such as “dinosaur rock” left us with just our memories and Cds we managed to buy before they went out of print. Love Live Rock!!! May God bless all of us who remember it before greed and a weak economy finally all but killed it. ROCK LOVE to all of you who understand why Phil Collins felt he had paid his dues and had the right to put out music for the kids who were pushing the record sales up. Don’t be mad at him, he gave us YEARS of great music before deciding it was time to pay the rent with it, rather than quitting and going into real estate. Stop by myspace.com/serpentbrew and have a laugh. Peace, Love and real music for those of us who understand it maybe a little more than the industry gives us credit for, Mojo.
if you don,t like it.why do you listen.
If you long to see vintage Genesis, go see the band The Musical Box. They recreate the Genesis tours of Foxtrot, SEBTP, TLLDOB, and now they are doing the Trick of the Tail tour from 1976.
http://www.themusicalbox.net/index2.php
Right on, Serpent. A well worded wrant and a clear assessment of the realities of the biz. Changes little, however. We who loved early Genesis will always mourn what the band eventually became, but they can’t take our old vinyl and cd’s (and memories) away from us. Fortunately, there’s a lot of great archival material by Genesis on YouTube, including a terrific full course ‘Supper’s Ready’.
Ken, yer right about The Musical Box. I’ve seen them thrice here in Milwaukee, and am going in 10 days to catch their act again, with the Trick of the Tale tour. Yes, TotT is post-Pete tuneage, but Hackett was still contributing, and it showed. Besides, TMB’s replay concerts are spot-on repros of the original band’s gigs, so there will be plenty of earlier songs included too. Check out TMB’s website for some clips and info at http://www.themusicalbox.net/ They’re well worth seeing.
Kid, the british word for you is TWAT. If there is no change, there is nothing new. What would be the point of that.