Chart entered : 6 April 1974
Chart peak : 21
Number of hits : 30
Hot on the heels of Freddie and the boys came another behemoth with one of the weirdest hit singles of the decade,
The band had a much longer recording history than Queen. The band formed at the prestigious Charterhouse public school in 1967 and originally consisted of Peter Gabriel ( vocals ) , Tony Banks ( keyboards ), Mike Rutherford ( bass ), Anthony Phillips ( guitar ) and Chris Stewart ( drums ). Former pupil Jonathan King attended a concert at the school and was given a demo tape which he liked. He named them Genesis and signed them up for Decca.
Their first single "The Silent Sun" came out at the beginning of February 1968. It's a Bee Gees style big ballad specifically written to please King with heavy orchestration by Arthur Greenslade and Peter crossing between both the singing Gibbs in his vocal. It's pleasant enough but a rather flimsy song.
"A Winter's Tale" followed , a moderately interesting psychedelic pop song with a more recognisable Peter Gabriel vocal but it's never a good idea to release a song with winter in the title in the middle of May. Before going into the studio to record their debut LP in the summer holidays, King insisted they change drummers and Chris Stewart went the way of Pete Best . The fact that he's since made a living as a farmer and travel writer suggests it was a good call. He was replaced by John Silver.
The debut LP "From Genesis To Revelation" came out in March 1969. King had a major say in the track listing, production and arrangements. The biggest influence on the sound is The Bee Gees ,emphasised by Arthur Greenslade's overdubbed horns and strings which irked Anthony Phillips in particular. Other evident influences are Jefferson Airplane, The Yardbyrds and Pink Floyd. The lyrics have a vaguely quasi-religious feel and legend suggests that the album failed to sell because it was taken to be a Christian rock album. I doubt that; I think the lack of a hit single and a general lack of bite in the songs were the real problem. The opening track "Where The Sour Turns To Sweet" which sounds like an out-take from Hair ! was released as a third single in the summer but did nothing.
With the band leaving school in the summer of 1969 decisions had to be made. John Silver decided to go to university in the U.S. and was replaced by John Mayhew. More significantly the band parted ways with Jonathan King which seems to have been a mutual and amicable decision . The band went out on the road to earn themselves a new recording contract and eventually attracted the attention of Charisma. The band moved away from the pop songs of their debut to a more complex style of music that would attract the progressive rock crowd.
They released their second album "Trespass" in July 1970. This comprised six songs written by the four original members , only one of which was under five minutes in length. Having said that most of the music is accessible; it's just oddly arranged. "White Mountain" for instance would be a terrific pacey pop song despite the flowery lyrics ( loosely inspired by White Fang ), were it not for the pastoral interludes after each verse which are not unpleasant in themselves but ruin the flow of the song. Many Genesis diehards cite the closer "The Knife" as their favourite song; it's the only full on prog track and you can instantly hear how much early Marillion owed to the band. Though I like the album as a whole, I find much of this nine minute track indigestible -though Anthony's guitar solo ( the only one on the album ) is superb and Peter's lyric - Won't Get Fooled Again from the point of view of the bloodthirsty revolutionary leader remains just as relevant. It failed everywhere except Belgium where it went to number one.
Before the next album the line up changed again. Anthony Phillips was not comfortable performing on stage and announced he was leaving. Though not now regarded as a very significant player in the band story it was a profound shock to the others at the time and the band almost broke up. Anthony went on to a low-key studio-only solo career, his albums usually featuring Genesis alumni including those who joined after his departure. Having decided to carry on Peter, Mike and Tony told John Mayhew he wasn't up to scratch. He went off to be a carpenter in Australia and passed away in 2012. Drummer number 4 , recruited from Melody Maker, was Londoner Phil Collins . Though he likes to play the chirpy Cockney and went to stage not public school, Phil's background is still fairly middle class; he was never the square peg he's sometimes made out to be. After some dates as a four piece and then with a temporary guitarist, the band recruited Steve Hackett through auditions and what many regard as their classic line-up was complete.
While the new boys found their feet "The Knife" was released as a single covering both sides with a sleeve featuring Phil and Steve even though they had nothing to do with the track.
The third album "Nursery Cryme" , released in November 1971 , is less accessible than its predecessors, with "nice bits" and interesting lyrical concepts rather than great songs. There are some shorter songs in between the epics but none of them are classics and as Rolling Stone's reviewer correctly identified, John Anthony's murky production lets it down somewhat. Phil sings one song and duets with Peter on another so the supposed great revelation that he could replace Peter in 1975 is another overstated myth. No singles were issued from the LP and it didn't sell well here. This time round it was Italy that picked up on them with the album reaching number 4 there.
The band ten went out on a long tour to promote it lasting well into the summer of 1972. In May they put out the one-off single "Happy The Man". With its throwaway lyrics it's not very representative of where they were and sounds very like Jethro Tull. It's alright but needed a stronger chorus to cut through.
The fourth album , the first to feature the same line up as its predecessor was "Foxtrot" in October 1972. They did however change producers and David Hitchcock gives them a much sharper sound. The songs are better formed as well , with the music and vocals melding together in a much more appealing way without sacrificing any lyrical originality or musical virtuosity. It is of course famed for their longest ever song , the 23 minute "Supper's Ready" ( which is actually seven pretty distinct songs segued together but never mind ) but it's always listenable and pretty good towards the end. The other songs are worth a listen too especially the semi-fantastic take on Rackmanism "Get 'Em Out By Friday". It broke them in the UK reaching number 12 and went to number one in Italy.
The band went back out on tour to promote it and to spice up their live act Peter started dressing up in outlandish costumes , beginning with the fox in a dress figure on the album cover. The other band members had their doubts about this but when Peter appeared on the cover of the NME shortly afterwards they began to appreciate what it could do for their profile. Under record company pressure they released a mid-priced live album in July 1973 which demonstrated their growing popularity by reaching the UK Top 10 and making a minor showing on the U S charts.
In October 1973 came the fifth album "Selling England By The Pound" another strong collection of songs which crashed straight into the Top 5 in the UK and made number 70 in America. Loosely connected by themes of Englishness some parts of "Dancing With The Moonlit Knight" and "The Cinema Show" are quite moving as Peter's emotive vocals mesh with Tony's gorgeous melodies.
"I Know What I Like In Your Wardrobe" was released as a single in January 1974 and was something of a sleeper hit taking nearly three months to make the charts. It originated from a jam between Steve and Phil which the others felt was a bit too close to The Beatles but eventually agreed to develop. The finished song anticipates both Peter's solo work with its dense and angular percussion work and the slimmed down Genesis of "Follow You Follow Me" with the catchy chorus. On top of that you have Mike's winding sitar giving a flavour of India completely at odds with Peter's lyric about a young groundsman content to stay within his own narrow horizons. I don't remember hearing it at the time but Simon Bates always played it when he did 1974 in his "Golden Hour" segment. The spoken "I'm just a lawnmower " bit makes a bit more sense now but I'm still unsure how the wardrobe fits in.
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