Category: Genesis

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Phil Collins’ first show as frontman

In 1975, Peter Gabriel left Genesis. After unsuccessfully auditioning for a new singer, drummer Phil Collins took over and sang on A Trick of the Tail* (1976), the first album after Gabriel’s departure. Still, he did not want to sing on the following tour. This is the story of how he became Genesis frontman.

Phil Collins did not want to be the singer

The album A Trick of the Tail was a huge success, showing that Genesis could survive the loss of their lead singer Peter Gabriel. Phil Collins demonstrated his singing skills and his variety of range on heavy tracks like ‘Dance On A Volcano’ and softer songs like ‘Ripples’.

Purchase A Trick of the Tail here on Amazon*

There was still a problem: Phil Collins did not want to be the singer. He wanted to be the drummer, which for him was the most respectable part of the group. ‘I’ve always felt the singer was the cheapest gig in the band, ’cause all they had to do was look good and wiggle their bum,’ Phil said. ‘I always wanted the most respectable part in the group, which was of course the drummer.’1 When the band planned to tour the new album, he became very reluctant. He agreed to sing if he found someone whom he could trust as a drummer.

His mate Bill Bruford of Yes became drummer for the upcoming Genesis tour and Phil properly became Genesis frontman. Their first gig was in London, Ontario, on 26 March 1976.

Could he replace Peter Gabriel?

Having listened to A Trick of the Tail, the audience knew that Phil Collins could sing. Also, there was no need to worry if he was able to sing the older songs. Peter Gabriel and him not only had similar voices, Phil had also accompanied Peter as a backing vocalist. There was no doubt or problem when Phil Collins approached tracks like ‘The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway’, ‘Firth Of Fifth’ or the epic fan favourite ‘Supper’s Ready’.

Also, the new songs were received very well. On ‘Robbery, Assault & Battery’, Phil showed his acting skills from drama school and brought the Victorian story to life onstage. The instrumental ‘Los Endos’ became even more adventurous than on record when it was played with two drummers.

The addition of Bill Bruford was the right decision at that point. Having played with Yes, he was a well-known drummer in the progressive rock world. Also, to have two drummers onstage was something new for Genesis and added a new dimension to the music. On later tours, they would bring the double-drumming to perfection, when Phil played with Chester Thompson. Whereas Bill and Phil played more against each other, Chester and Phil played with each other.

A happy audience welcomed the ‘new’ singer

The audience wanted this line-up to work and they welcomed the ‘new’ singer enthusiastically because he came from within the group.

They also liked Phil’s down-to-earth approach combined with a bit of Pythonesque humour. In fact, the band seemed more relaxed onstage and the focus was not only on the frontman, but also on the other members. On ‘I Know What I Like’, Phil involved them by putting funny hats on their heads and singing together with Mike Rutherford into the microphone. He also invented his famous tambourine dance.

Whereas Peter was the mysterious traveller, Phil was the bloke next door. He did not tell strange stories but communicated with the audiences directly. Peter Gabriel often stated that he was happy when Phil replaced him. He knew that technically he was a better singer and he also knew that Phil’s communication with the audience would work.

And he was right. Although Phil was nervous on this first show in London, Ontario, this approach worked – the band went on with him as lead singer since then, only with a short interruption in the 1990s when Phil also left the group and Ray Wilson took over. But this is another story.

Title photo: Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins of Genesis in 1977. Source: Wikimedia Commons, Jean-Luc Ourlin from Toronto ontario, Canada / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)

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  1. Genesis – A History ↩︎
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The Silent Sun (1968) – Genesis

In February 1968, Genesis’ debut single ‘The Silent Sun’ was released on Decca Records. Peter Gabriel was just 17 when it came out. Let’s take a look at the band’s first single!

Genesis at Charterhouse

Genesis were still at Charterhouse in 1968. Tony Banks, Peter Gabriel, Mike Rutherford and Anthony Phillips had met at the public school and formed the group Genesis to break away from the oppressing school life. Back then, the group consisted of two songwriting pairs: Tony Banks and Peter Gabriel on the one hand and Anthony Phillips and Mike Rutherford on the other. They had recorded some demos while at school and had passed them on to producer Jonathan King. King was an ex-Charterhouse pupil and had become a successful producer and musician (his famous hit being ‘Everyone’s Gone To The Moon’).

King liked the music, in particular Peter Gabriel’s voice. He signed them at Decca Records and decided to produce an entire album with them. But when the band presented their next demos, he was not impressed with what he heard.

Their producer Jonathan King was a Bee Gees fan

Jonathan King wanted to have a potential hit single from his group. Peter and Tony knew that King liked The Bee Gees, so they wrote a Bee-Gees-pastiche called ‘The Silent Sun‘.*

‘I tried my best Robin Gibb impersonation,’ Peter laughs.

Naturally, King liked it, it became their first single and he went on to produce their first album ‘From Genesis to Revelation‘*.

The song is a mixture of folk and pop with Tony Banks’ piano (already) being very dominant. The main focus is on Peter’s voice. The strings were added later in the studio by King. ‘The Silent Sun’ is also one of very few official recordings that feature the group’s original drummer Chris Stewart.

‘’The Silent Sun’ came after we’d been drilled in the art of trying to write short pop songs by Jonathan King, which I resisted,’ Ant laughs. ‘I didn’t like ‘The Silent Sun’ at all.’ He also thinks that it was a good thing the single was not successful: ‘If the single had been successful the group would never have developed its proper style.’

Tony Banks agrees but thinks that the song would have made a great hit single. For Peter Gabriel, one of the most exciting moments in his musical career was seeing the name Genesis in the Record Mirror. Mike Rutherford remembers the excitement hearing ‘The Silent Sun’ for the first time on the radio in Ant’s kitchen.

Reviews

The Decca release list from 2 February 1968 called the single ‘quietly attractive’. The New Musical Express wrote: ‘Competently handled by Genesis, with a beautiful flowing arrangement of violins and cellos. A disc of many facets and great depth, but it might be a bit too complex for the average fan.’

‘The Silent Sun’ failed to chart

Despite their enthusiasm, ‘The Silent Sun’ did not make the charts. The following album From Genesis To Revelation was also a flop and ultimately, the band and King separated ways.

Genesis were able to write and produce more adventurous music and once they were famous, King kept re-releasing his early recordings with the band in different versions over the years.

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Sources

ANTHONY PHILLIPS UNFILTERED: GENESIS C0-FOUNDER IN CONVERSATION.

Decca Press release.

GENESIS REUNION Pt1: PETER GABRIEL GETS BACK WITH TONY BANKS, MIKE RUTHERFORD.

Thompson, Dave, Turn it on again. Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins & Genesis. (San Francisco: Backbeat Books, 2005).

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The Rainbow shows in January 1977

Genesis started their “Wind & Wuthering” tour at the Rainbow Theatre in London on 1st January 1977. They played the venue for three nights. Those shows were the first with Chester Thompson on drums. Also, the tour was the last with guitarist Steve Hackett.

Wind And Wuthering

In December 1976, Genesis had released “Wind and Wuthering”, their second album since Peter Gabriel’s departure. The band had become a foursome the year before, drummer Phil Collins had taken over the vocal duties. He had proved that he could fill this role easily on the previous album “A Trick of the Tail” and the following tour in 1976. On this tour they had Bill Bruford of the band Yes on drums. Being a famous “prog rock” drummer, this gave the band and the fans huge confidence. It was a signal that the band was stronger than ever after Gabriel had left them.

So they went in the studio to record their next album “Wind & Wuthering” in 1976. By this point, keyboardist Tony Banks and guitarist/bassist Mike Rutherford were the main songwriters. Phil Collins was still more of a player and arranger. Guitarist Steve Hackett felt that not enough of his material was used. He was frustrated about his role in the group. “Wind & Wuthering” was released in late 1976. The band set out for a huge tour in 1977 that would lead them to South America for the first time.

Purchase Wind & Wuthering here on Amazon*

Genesis Music on Amazon*

Their new live drummer

Since Bill Bruford was busy in other projects, Genesis had to find another drummer for the tour. Phil Collins found the perfect candidate in Chester Thompson of Weather Report. Chester had also played with Frank Zappa. Phil had heard him on Zappa’s “Roxy & Elsewhere” and liked his style. So he decided to offer him the job in Genesis. Although he hardly knew the band, Thompson agreed. He came to London for only a few days of rehearsals before the tour started.

The music was totally new to him. He knew a bit of “A Trick Of The Tail” because Weather Report’s bass player Alphonso Johnson (who was friends with Phil Collins) had listened to the record on the last Weather Report tour all the time. But now he, an American jazz drummer, had to learn and rehearse a two and a half hour set of British progressive rock music in ten days. Chester wrote down the music in a little book. He learned it by night and played it the next day at rehearsals. Tony Banks was (of course) very impressed by Chester’s notes and his way of working.

Chester Thompson played with them until 2007

From the moment Phil and he played together, they knew that they had something special going on. The both of them clicked instantly. There is a greater chemistry when they play together than when Phil played with Bill Bruford. Thompson was criticized by some for these first performances at the Rainbow. Music journalist Chris Welch admitted that Thompson was technically better than Collins or Bruford but that he lacked excitement. Peter Gabriel, who was in the audiences at the Rainbow shows, felt a bit sorry for Chester, because he had to learn this kind of music and its feeling in such a short time.

But Chester became much more familiar with the music during the course of the tour and could put his own stamp on the songs. Songs like “Los Endos” or “Wot Gorilla” that were influenced by jazz rock reached another level, especially with two drummers. But also the epic fan favourites benefitted from the new influence. “Supper’s Ready”, “Lilywhite Lilith” and the ending of “The Musical Box” were played with a groove that was missing before. The band and the audiences liked Thompson’s input. The collaboration worked so well that Thompson toured with them until their reunion tour in 2007 (with the exception of the 1998 “Calling All Stations” tour). Unfortunately he was not part of the “The Last Domino?” tour in 2021/2022.

Live at the Rainbow 1977

When Genesis announced the Rainbow shows, 80.000 people applicated for 8000 tickets – despite critics saying that punk killed progressive rock that year. Fans that were lucky enough to see the shows were also suprised by new visiuals. The “Wind & Wuthering” tour introduced a new light show, which included lasers and Boeing 747 landing lights.

The new songs were welcomed by the crowd. Genesis opened the Rainbow show with “Eleventh Earl Of Mar” from the new album. This song was also lifted to another level by Thompson’s playing. The jazzy new instrumental “…In That Quiet Earth” was unbelievably groovy with two drummers. At the end of Tony Banks’ ballad “Afterglow”, Thompson and Collins reproduced a drum fill that Thompson had played with another drummer on the Zappa live album.

“Best Live Band” in 1977

Tony Banks’ epic “One For The Vine” proved to work just as well as “Supper’s Ready” or “The Musical Box”. The quirky “All In A Mouse’s Night” was a humorous moment to relax between the heavy stuff. “Squonk””from “A Trick Of The Tail” suffered a bit in comparison to the album version and is a reference point for the Thompson critics. “I Know What I Like”, originally a rather short single from 1974, became even longer than on the previous tour and had much more groove. For Genesis, the three nights at the Rainbow theatre were highly successful and a strong start for a long and successful tour.

The tour would lead them through Europe, the US and South America. Genesis had reached a new peak in live performances and was voted “Best live group” in 1977. This was captured in the double live album “Seconds Out”. After the tour, guitarist Steve Hackett left the band. The three remaining members Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks returned to the studio to record their next album.

Title photo: Genesis_(the_band). Source: Wikimedia Commons, Jean-Luc / CC-BY-SA-2.5 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0).

Purchase Seconds Out here on Amazon*

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Steve Hackett’s first gig with Genesis

On 14 January 1971, Steve Hackett played his first gig with Genesis at University College, London. It was not the best start for the guitarist.

When Steve joined in late 1970, Phil Collins had already been in the band for a few months. Since then, Genesis had performed as four piece: Tony Banks on keyboards, Mike Rutherford on guitar and bass, Phil Collins on drums and Peter Gabriel on vocals.

Steve Hackett was quite nervous before he played his first gig with Genesis. On 14 January 1971 the band played at University College in London. They came in the afternoon, the stage was set up, they did a soundcheck and had something to eat and a few drinks.

Phil decided to test the rule of how many Newcastle Brown Ales you could drink and still play the drums

On this evening, Phil decided to test the rule of how many Newcastle Brown Ales you could drink and still play the drums. By the time the band was onstage, he did all the right fills but three inches to the right of each drum.

The usual equipment problems of the early Genesis days kicked in

For nervous Steve, the whole gig was a nightmare. Not only because of Phil’s experiment, but also because the usual equipment problems of the early Genesis days kicked in, when his fuzzbox did not work properly.

After the show he thought that he had failed and the others did not want him in the group. He heard Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford arguing with Phil backstage and thought it was about him. Of course they gave Phil a hard time because of his performance!

Although this certainly was not the best first gig for Steve Hackett, the audiences were happy and the band wanted him to stay. They liked his contribution and played more gigs throughout the year and recorded their first album together, Nursery Cryme*. But that is another story in Genesis history.

Title photo: Wikimedia Commons, Jeff Wurstner / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)

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The Longs (1993) – Genesis

After the ‘We Can’t Dance’ tour in 1992, Genesis released two live albums titled The Way We Walk (1992/93). A ‘typical’ Genesis concert from that period was split in two. The first volume, The Shorts contained the hits, the second volume The Longs contained longer epics. Live – The Way We Walk, Volume Two: The Longs was released in January 1993 . It was their last release with Phil Collins before he left the group and the band’s last no. 1 album in the UK.

The second volume of the live release The Way We Walk

All the songs on the live album were recorded on the We Can’t Dance tour in 1992. It starts with an impressive ‘Old Medley’ which incoporates snippets from ‘Dance On A Volcano’, ‘The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway’, ‘The Musical Box’, ‘Firth Of Fifth’, ‘I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)’ and more. The sound of the album is pristine, Mike Rutherford’s and Daryl Stuermer’s guitars are much more prominent than on previous live releases. This shift in sound came with new producer Nick Davis, who had also produced Genesis’ last studio album We Can’t Dance. Daryl only plays guitar on the ‘Old Medley’, Mike plays guitar on all the other tracks of the album and rhythm guitar on ‘Dance On Volcano’ in the ‘Old Medley’.

The medley is followed by ‘Driving The Last Spike’, ‘Domino (Part I: In The Glow Of The Night, Part II: The Last Domino)’, ‘Fading Lights’, ‘Home By The Sea/Second Home By The Sea’ and the ‘Drum Duet’ between Phil Collins and Chester Thompson.

‘When we came down to the dressing room afterwards the roadies had put down what tonight’s timing was, because it always got a bit longer’, Phil laughs. ‘They put bets on it and see if we were going to break the 10-minute mark tonight. It was definitely the highlight. Tony Banks would debate because he used to go and have a beer, but it was one of the highlights of the show for sure.’1

‘There’s something that happens when you got two drums locked in together’, Chester says. ‘The power is just so amazing. […] Those moments for me were the ones where there was, for a lack of a better word, a majesty to it.’2

Apart from the medley, the other songs come from the most recent albums Genesis (1983), Invisible Touch (1986) and We Can’t Dance (1991).

Their last number one album with Phil Collins

All of the songs sound stronger than on record with Chester Thompson and Daryl Stuermer playing an important part in it. Chester’s drumming and Daryl’s bass lines on ‘Driving The Last Spike’ lift the song up on another level.

‘Fading Lights’ is interesting as it is only played by the three band members Tony, Phil and Mike. It is a typical long song in band tradition with an extraordinary instrumental part (also way better than on record). The lyrics about fading memories were written by Tony and it almost seems as if Genesis were discreetly saying goodbye to their fans. Was it irony or prophecy that the band really split up afterwards?

‘Domino’ and ‘Home By The Sea’ both sound better than on record because the e-drums are replaced by real drums and there is much more energy in the performance. The ‘Old Medley’ songs that would have sounded interesting as standalone tracks are ‘Dance On A Volcano’ and ‘The Musical Box’. ‘The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway’ and ‘I Know What I Like’ would have sounded very modern between the more recent hits.

Many fans do not like the way the band split up the two The Way We Walk volumes. Nonetheless, The Longs is a great compilation with many of the songs presented in their best versions.

Purchase “Genesis – The Longs” here at Amazon*

Get “Genesis – The Shorts” here at Amazon*

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  1. PHIL COLLINS: ON AMERICAN DRUMMER CHESTER THOMPSON DRUMMING FOR GENESIS. ↩︎
  2. CHESTER THOMPSON FULL INTERVIEW : DRUMMING WITH ZAPPA, WEATHER REPORT, GENESIS & PHIL COLLINS. ↩︎