Tag: Phenix Horns

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3×3 (EP/1982) – Genesis

In May 1982, Genesis released 3×3, an extended-play featuring three previously unreleased tracks from their 1981 album Abacab.

Three songs from the “Abacab” sessions

Abacab* from 1981 had brought a change in sound and style for Genesis. They had a new producer (Hugh Padgham) and had bought ‘The Farm’ in Surrey, where they had their own studio and could take time to jam for the new record. When they put Abacab together, there was not enough space on the record to include all the songs they liked. So they decided to release an EP with three leftover tracks the following year.

The three tracks were ‘Paperlate’, ‘You Might Recall’ and ‘Me And Virgil’. All of them were written by Tony Banks, Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford together. The EP 3 x 3* was released in May 1982 between two Genesis tours. In the US, they did not release 3×3, only ‘Paperlate’ was released as a regular single with ‘You Might Recall’ as b-side.

The songs

‘Paperlate’ is similar to Abacab‘s ‘No Reply At All.’ It also includes the Earth Wind & Fire horn section with which Phil Collins had worked on his first solo album the year before. The title comes from the song ‘Dancing With The Moonlit Knight’ from the band’s 1973 album Selling England By the Pound*. During a soundcheck of the song in 1978 or 1980, Phil was repeating the phrase ‘Paperlate cried a voice in the crowd…’ over and over again, which inspired the band to write a song around this term.

‘You Might Recall’ is a romantic tune, which resembles some earlier Rutherford compositions like ‘Alone Tonight’. The third track, ‘Me and Virgil’ resembles his ‘Deep In The Motherlode’ (1978) in lyrics. This time it was Phil Collins who wrote a Wild West story with the band trying to create a ‘The Band’-like song. Phil Collins was so unhappy with the song that it was left off the Genesis Archive release in 2000, which featured many non-Album songs on CD for the first time.

The artwork was inspired by The Beatles

Inspired by the Beatles’ EP’s in the 1960’s, Genesis decided to create a cover similar to their Twist And Shout* EP. They also called in Tony Barrow to write the sleeve notes. Barrow had been the Beatles’ publicity man 20 years earlier. He wrote the Genesis sleeve notes in the same style (‘These cheeky chappies from Guildford…’).

One reviewer was not familiar with the Beatles original and misunderstood the design for being serious. But it was another sign of the band’s humour and the EP was a success for them. With ‘Paperlate’ they appeared on ‘Top of the Tops’ once more. The EP went to number 10 in the British charts.

Three Sides Live

In the same year, Genesis also released the successful live album Three Sides Live*. As EP’s rarely charted well in America, they decided to put the 3×3 songs on the fourth side of the live album and not release the EP individually. To complete the fourth side, they added two leftovers from Duke (1980): The Rutherford composition ‘Open Door’ and the Banks composition ‘Evidence Of Autumn.’ The UK on the other hand had a fourth side live.

3×3 was never released as a CD. Instead, ‘Paperlate’ and ‘You Might Recall’ were released on the Genesis Archive 2: 1976-1992* box set from 2000. It features rare and unreleased songs for the first time on CD. All three songs were included in the box set 1976-1982* on CD. Even ‘Me And Virgil’ was remixed for this release.

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Face Value (1981) – Phil Collins

In February 1981, Phil Collins’ first solo album Face Value was released. It went straight to number 1 in the UK charts and to number 7 in the US. His debut was his gateway into superstardom and includes his signature track ‘In The Air Tonight’. Let’s take a closer look at the album that turned Phil Collins from Genesis front man into one of the biggest solo artists of the 1980s.

Genesis touring life

By the time Phil Collins wrote the songs for what would become Face Value*, he was a broken man. The drummer of Genesis had become the singer of Genesis in 1976. In 1978, the group released the album …And Then There Were Three*, which included their first big hit single ‘Follow You Follow Me’. The group had become a trio: Tony Banks on keyboards, Mike Rutherford on guitar and bass and Phil Collins on drums and vocals. On …And Then There Were Three, they had moved towards shorter, simpler songs with direct lyrics.

Following the album, the band went on a massive tour that also took them to Japan. Banks, Collins and Rutherford were joined by drummer Chester Thompson, who had played with them on the previous tour, and by Daryl Stuermer for the first time , who became their live guitarist and bassist after Steve Hackett had left the band. This five-piece group would be the Genesis (live) line-up until 2007 (with a short interruption in the 1990s, but that is another story).

Before going to Japan, Phil’s wife Andrea told him that she and the kids would leave if he went on that tour. When Phil returned home, he realized that she had made her promise come true. In an attempt to save his marriage, Phil followed his wife and children to Canada in 1979, but things did not work out and he returned to England alone.

A broken marriage

Phil spent his time alone in his house in Surrey and started to write songs to express his feelings. He sat down at the piano and played along to the drum machine while improvising lyrics. Up to that point, he had not been a songwriter in Genesis . When Tony, Mike and Phil got back together to record their 1980 album Duke*, Phil brought in some demos to Tony and Mike’s surprise. They liked his simpler, more direct approach and chose two of his songs for Duke: The swinging ‘Misunderstanding’ (which turned out to be a big hit in America) and the very personal, heartbreaking ballad ‘Please Don’t Ask’.

When band manager Tony Smith came to visit Phil and listened to the other demos, he suggested to put them out as a solo record. Mike and Tony had already released solo albums during his time in Canada in 1979. Phil took his demos to producer Hugh Padgham, whom he knew from working together on Peter Gabriel’s third solo record, and they turned them into an album. The album became hugely successful and is considered one of Phil’s best.

In The Air Tonight

The opening track ‘In The Air Tonight’ with its dark, eery chords set the mood for the album. The song builds up tension over an interesting drum machine rhythm that finally bursts when the real drums come in with the famous fill-in. The lyrics were mostly improvised and the drum fill was pure coincidence. Had they used another take, maybe another drum fill would be considered the most famous drum fill of all time. The song went to no. 2 in the UK charts has always been the highlight in every Phil Collins show.

The Phenix Horns

The next single, ‘I Missed Again’ is a funky, up-beat song that features a brass section: The Phenix Horns, who played with Earth, Wind And Fire. The horn sections would become a trademark of many of Phil’s solo hits over the decade.

Apart from the hits, the album shows Phil playing with different styles. The ballad ‘You Know What I Mean’ is only him on piano and vocals. The instrumental ‘Hand In Hand’ plays with influences from jazz and black music and was a great show opener in later years as it showcased the talent of every musician involved.

Everything that would define the solo artist Phil Collins was born on Face Value and is presented there in its purest and rawest form. Maybe that is why many fans consider it one of Phil’s best albums. And unlike some of his other works, it definitely stands the test of time.

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