Genesis: The Story of a Legendary Band on the 55th Anniversary of Their Formation
The legendary English band Genesis came together in 1967. They’re known for two very different creative eras. In the first, they made their name with complex song structures, instrumental brilliance and theatrical live shows. All of that made them one of the most original progressive rock bands of the 1970s. From the eighties on, their music took a sharp turn toward melodic rock and pop rock. That meant shorter, simpler songs that were easier for the wider masses of music fans to get into. This second phase had a huge hand in their incredible commercial success and in making them a household name.
The two best-known members are undoubtedly Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins, both of whom had gigantic success as solo artists. Since 2020, after two breakups along the way, Genesis have been active again as an occasional live collective, even though the last time they recorded new music was way back in 1997. Still, very few of the bands that emerged in the second half of the sixties have matched their longevity and success.
The roots of Genesis reach back to the mid-sixties, when founding members, singer Peter Gabriel and keyboardist Tony Banks, were still students at the English school Chaterhouse School. Genesis officially formed in 1967 when two school bands merged: The Garden Wall, which had Gabriel and Banks, and Anon, which had bassist Mike Rutherford and guitarist Anthony Phillips. The original lineup was Peter Gabriel (vocals), Anthony Phillips (guitar), Tony Banks (keyboards), Mike Rutherford (bass) and Chris Stewart (drums). For two years they played school halls, mostly covering popular songs by other pop rock bands, until Jonathan King, a songwriter, producer and label man, discovered them.
Their first album, “From Genesis to Revelation”, came out in 1969 after they signed with producer King, who at the time had a hit of his own (and his only one) with “Everyone’s Gone to the Moon”. King was the one who picked the band’s name, because it was the first serious band he’d worked with, the beginning, or genesis, of his infamous music career. During the recording of the debut, drummer Chris Stewart left the band and was replaced by John Silver. On their first record, Genesis laid down a pile of shorter songs that mostly echoed the easygoing style of the already popular Bee Gees, whom King was crazy about. A prime example of that Bee Gees imitation was their first single, “The Silent Sun”. King packaged the resulting songs into a sort of pseudo-concept album about the creation of the world.
“From Genesis to Revelation” was a brutal commercial flop. It was pressed in limited numbers, and even those were mostly available only in music shops that sold religious music. The band members were naturally extremely unhappy and felt manipulated, so they ended their collaboration with King. He’s still despised among the band’s followers today, since he kept trying to claim a piece of their later success, even though all contact had been cut off since 1969. He still owns the rights to their debut material and has tried more than once to sell them off for all kinds of reissues. King’s already bad reputation was later made even worse by pedophilia scandals, which saw this depraved criminal put behind bars for seven years at the start of the new century.
After the initial failure, Genesis carried on with new drummer John Mayhew and began working hard as a live act. In 1970 they signed with Tony Stratton-Smith, founder of Charisma Records. Through their early gigs they became known for their hypnotic melodies, which often sounded dark, mystical, medieval and Victorian. “Trespass” (1970, RockLine review), their second record, was the first to feature progressive rock. “Trespass” laid the cornerstone of their prog direction, which dominated all the way to the end of the seventies.
A special RockLine feature marking the 50th anniversary of the album “Trespass” is available HERE.
In this period they wrote longer songs, often operatic and symphonic in feel. In between came shorter, frequently witty pieces that were just as virtuosic and packed with complex arrangements. Most of this material had a major influence on the early years of progressive rock, which at the time was shaped, besides Genesis, by bands like King Crimson, Yes, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Van der Graaf Generator, Camel, Caravan, Gong, Gentle Giant, The Moody Blues and Hawkwind, to name just some of the best and most important.
In 1970, not long after “Trespass” came out, guitarist Anthony Phillips decided to leave Genesis. Officially, his health problems were behind the decision, but the real reason was stage fright. Phillips’s departure was traumatic for all three key members, Gabriel, Banks and Rutherford, since he was a founding member and a key factor in the move to going pro. That’s exactly why they wavered over whether they could even continue without him. Still, they decided to keep going. First they fired drummer John Mayhew. On August 4, 1970, a then-unknown Phil Collins, who had previously drummed in Flaming Youth, came in as the new drummer.
During this “transitional” period they played a few gigs as a four-piece. Then they brought in guitarist Mick Barnard for a handful of shows. The core of the band quickly realized Barnard wasn’t on their level, so they set out to find a “proper” replacement for Phillips. Toward the end of 1970, guitarist Steve Hackett answered their ad in Melody Maker. After an audition at his home, he became their new guitarist. With Collins and Hackett on board, the “classic” and most revered lineup in Genesis history was born.
“Nursery Cryme”, their third record, released in 1971, was also the first by the classic version of Genesis. This record finally shot them into the front ranks of progressive rock. The new album had Genesis standards like the burlesque “Harold the Barrel”, the epic “Fountain of Salmacis”, the wistful “For Absent Friends” (Collins’s vocal debut as a Genesis member) and the theatrical “The Musical Box”, which, with its epic ending, remained a must in their live sets for a long time. Gabriel’s live performances in this period became more and more extravagant, with him playing different roles using inventive masks and costumes.
The next record, “Foxtrot” (1972), firmly wrote the band into the rock legends’ book. “Foxtrot” featured, among other things, the 23-minute magnum opus “Supper’s Ready” and the opening anthem “Watcher of the Skies”. The latter was inspired by a short science-fiction story by Arthur C. Clarke, the one that gave rise to the film classic ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’. “Foxtrot” ‘cemented’ the Genesis members as outstanding songwriters and performers. Gabriel’s dramatic, theatrical shows, which included numerous costume changes and surreal stories serving as an intro to each song, made Genesis one of the most talked-about live attractions on the British music scene of the day. The next record, “Genesis Live” (1973), was a live album and a kind of warm-up for what most fans and music critics consider their greatest masterpiece.
On “Selling England by the Pound” from 1973, they nailed fantastical, epic-flavored rock symphonies to perfection. With “I Know What I Like” they scored their first commercial success, as it became a totally unexpected radio hit. That record is their biggest commercial success of the Peter Gabriel era and is seen by most fans as their best. Classics like “Firth of Fifth”, “I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)” and “Cinema Show” became live staples for the next few years. In this period, guitarist Hackett became one of the first guitarists to use the ‘tapping’ technique. This guitar technique, usually associated with Eddie Van Halen, was used on Genesis songs like “The Return Of The Giant Hogweed”, “Supper’s Ready” and “Dancing With The Moonlit Knight”.
Gabriel’s incredible charisma and his influence on the band’s creative process kept growing. His ideas for new music and lyrics reached a staggering level of innovation, too. In 1974 they put out their most ambitious record, the double concept album “The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway” (1974), on which Gabriel pushed his extraordinary talent to the absolute limit. The concept follows a supernatural, out-of-body journey between two worlds, experienced by Rael, a poor Puerto Rican immigrant, as he wanders around the middle of New York. Even though the album was a big success and is still one of the most important and best records in the history of progressive rock, it caused plenty of friction between band members while it was being made, especially between Banks and Gabriel. That strange conceptual story was definitely not for everyone’s taste.
Many years later, Collins said he never managed to understand the idea behind “Lamb”. “Lamb” was also their first album where the rest of the band wrote the music separately, while Gabriel wrote only the lyrics. That was definitely not the best move for the mood in the band. The brilliant, hyperactive singer, flautist and dramatist started feeling more and more boxed in within the group, because he could no longer fit all his big ideas in, or rather, the other members couldn’t keep up with him anymore. Getting married and the difficult birth of his first child also had a decisive effect on how Gabriel was feeling at the time. So in 1975, after a huge US tour during which they played the whole of “Lamb”, among other things, he shocked the world by announcing he was leaving the band. That kicked off a very successful solo career. Gabriel’s 1977 solo debut included the song “Solsbury Hill”, an allegory of his split from what was by then an already world-famous band.
Genesis suddenly found themselves without their creative leader, the soul of the band and the key player behind their success up to that point. They launched a frantic search for a new singer, and a good number of all sorts of costumed oddballs showed up to audition, all trying to imitate Gabriel and his stage antics, and of course none of them pulled it off. So the rest of the band finally decided that drummer Collins would just take over vocal duties himself. Most people at the time were convinced the band would crash and burn without Gabriel, but with the switch from a quintet to a quartet, Collins ended up being the ideal singer for the band. He nailed his new job, and in 1976, with him handling both vocals and drums, the band recorded the excellent album “A Trick of the Tail”.
Against all the negative expectations, Collins managed to win over new fans and most of the old ones. He convinced most music critics too, and the band carried on with this record in their recognizable style. In the history of rock music there are very few cases of a popular band losing its lead singer and carrying on just as successfully, especially when the previous singer was as charismatic as Gabriel. The band’s new era was already starting to take shape, even though its members didn’t realize it yet.
“A Trick Of The Tail” earned loads of positive reviews and proved that Genesis were far more than just a backing band for their former theatrical frontman. The much cleaner production compared to the earlier albums also did a lot for its success. Another thing that brought unexpected success was the simple fact that, according to many music critics, Collins’ vocals sounded more ‘Gabriel-like’ than Gabriel himself. The new album had quite a few Genesis classics, like “Ripples”, Squonk”, “Dance On a Volcano” and “Los Endos”.
Despite the unexpected success of “A Trick of the Tail”, there was still the problem of what to do about live shows. Collins was convinced he could sing and drum at the same time on stage too, but he still needed an extra drummer to fill the drum stool while he stepped up to the mic. At the time, Bill Bruford, former drummer of Yes and King Crimson, was the only one Collins felt was right for that kind of feat. Bruford joined Genesis on the 1976 tour.
Later, the regular live drummer became Chester Thompson, an American coming out of jazz fusion, best known for his work with Frank Zappa, Santana and Weather Report. Thompson let Collins move smoothly to the front of the stage and up to the mic. Collins’ take on the live songs was a lot less theatrical and more laid-back than Gabriel’s. Gabriel once said that Collins sings the old Genesis songs better than he does, but never the way he sang them.
The next record, “Wind And Wuthering”, released in the UK at the end of December 1976, was for most of the old fans, with the classics “Eleventh Earl Of Mar” and “Afterglow”, their last ‘classic’ album. After the 1977 world tour, marked by the double live album “Seconds Out”, longtime guitarist Hackett left Genesis. After Gabriel’s departure, he had been the first (then still active) member of the band to record a solo album, titled “Voyage Of The Acolyte” (1975).
The band didn’t look for a replacement for Hackett, and from then on they worked as a trio in the studio: Collins, Banks and Rutherford. Bassist Rutherford took over guitar duties in the studio, while American guitarist Daryl Struemer stepped in for live shows on guitar and bass. The first record Genesis made as a trio in 1978 is called “And Then There Were Three”. It was a huge commercial hit, thanks mainly to the love ballad “Follow You Follow Me”. That kicked off a new era of shorter, more accessible songs for Genesis, which brought them big commercial success, but with the stylistic turn toward a more pop-rock and noticeably less prog-rock direction, they began losing their old fans.
In 1979 the band nearly lost Collins, who had just moved to Canada because of problems with his wife at the time and the divorce that followed. Luckily he came back to England and joined the other members to record a new album. That experience hit him hard, and from then on he contributed a lot more to the lyrics and the songwriting. In his own words, it was the divorce that deserves the credit for his growth as a lyricist and songwriter. Thanks to him, the legendary band’s next record was very personal, and also the first one where Collins was on equal footing with Banks and Rutherford in his lyrical contribution.
“Duke” (1980, RockLine review) is their last prog-rock record, though it’s already a kind of hybrid of progressive rock, pop rock and melodic rock. The trend that began with the previous album was even more noticeable here, and the sonic elements that defined their music in the seventies had almost completely vanished by then. With a string of hits like “Misunderstanding”, “Turn It On Again” and “Alone Tonight”, “Duke” brought them worldwide commercial success. It also gave them their first number one on the UK albums chart, and overnight the band became a megastar pop act. On top of that, an ever more starry Phil Collins, with his hugely successful solo career, began to shape the band’s musical style through the eighties. Programmed drum rhythms became a trend on the next Genesis albums and on Collins’ solo records.
You can read a special RockLine piece marking the 40th anniversary of the album “Duke” HERE.
In 1981 the band fully morphed into a pop attraction and, with the album “Abacab”, became one of the most popular groups of the eighties. With the hits “Abacab” and “Keep It Dark”, which features a collaboration with Earth, Wind & Fire, they kept the huge success rolling. “Abacab” had an even more ‘new wave’ sound and even more programmed drums.
Around this time Collins also released his first solo record, “Face Value”, which brought him incredible success and launched him among the biggest music icons of the eighties. After a huge world tour in 1982, they put out the double live album ”Three Sides Live”. The highlight of that year was surely the brief reunion of the classic lineup, meaning with Gabriel and Hackett, under the name “Six of the best”. Sadly, that reunion lasted for just one show, at a festival in Milton Keynes. The gig was organized purely to cover some of the losses Gabriel had taken on his WOMAD festival at the start of 1982. All hopes of a permanent reunion of the classic lineup ‘went down the drain’, and Collins finally became the alpha and omega of the band, while the days of grand, symphonic compositions with Gabriel were just a distant memory.
In 1983 they put out one of their better pop-rock records. It was simply called “Genesis,” though some people call it “Shapes” because of the cover. The new album brought them huge success again and their third UK number one in a row, with “Mama,” “That’s All” and “Home By The Sea” as the new hits. Since Collins’ solo career was by then doing better than Genesis themselves, the band took a short break so Banks and Rutherford could focus on their own solo projects too.
In 1986 they came back with another massive commercial hit. In fact, it’s their most successful release to date. “Invisible Touch,” packed with hits like the title track, “Tonight Tonight Tonight,” “Throwing It All Away,” “In To Deep” and “Land Of Confusion,” stormed the world’s pop charts again. No surprise there, since it landed right at the peak of Collins’ solo popularity. That’s mostly why the band was at the height of its commercial success at that point. After a huge tour, the band members went back to their solo careers.
For most of the old-school fans, though, “Invisible Touch” was already too commercial, and plenty of people started wondering how long the band could keep carrying the weight of Collins’ fame as a solo artist, or how long he could keep up the double life. In 1987 Genesis became the first band to play four nights in a row at Wembley Stadium. They also became the first band to use giant jumbotron projectors and a prism sound system at their shows. Meanwhile Collins was throwing himself ever more into his hugely successful solo career. Banks and Rutheford were busy with solo paths too, and the latter founded the popular band Mike and The Mechanics toward the end of the eighties.
In 1991 Genesis unexpectedly returned to the studio and recorded “We Can’t Dance,” which again was loaded with hits like “No Son Of Mine,” “Jesus He Knows Me” and “I Can’t Dance,” to name just the best-known. But commercial success was a double-edged sword, and by then most of the old fans were firmly convinced that Genesis were just Collins’ backing band. Collins also started writing film music around this time, mostly for the Disney corporation, so it was clear to everyone that it was only a matter of time before he left the band. There’s no doubt a lot of truth in the idea that Collins’ solo career heavily shaped Genesis’ musical approach at the time. Another long and successful world tour followed, wrapping up in 1992. At the end of the tour the band released two live albums, “The Way We Walk-The Shorts” (1992) and “The Way We Walk-The Longs” (1993).
In 1996 superstar Collins left Genesis, which by then had long since become too cramped for him. Many fans saw this as the final nail in the band’s coffin. Original members Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford were left on their own, but not for long: to everyone’s surprise, they decided to carry on and start fresh. After plenty of speculation about who the new singer would be (Sting and Fish, the former Marillion singer, were both mentioned, and David Longdon, the late singer of Big Big Train, made the shortlist), they found their man in the young, talented Scottish singer Ray Wilson, a former member of Stiltskin.
For the new record “Calling All Stations” (1997), the new Genesis brought in Moroccan Nir Zidkyahu as a guest drummer, and he stayed behind the kit for the tour after the album came out. The rest of the drums on the album were played by American Nick D’Virgilo, current member of Big Big Train and former member of Spock’s Beard. Despite the excellent newcomer Wilson, a gradual return to prog roots on some tracks and two mini-hits in “Congo” and “Shipwrecked,” “Calling All Stations” didn’t get the success everyone expected. The album only did well in Europe. Everywhere else, especially in the US, it flopped commercially, which proved fatal for the American leg of the tour, which was cancelled.
Banks and Rutherford, hugely disappointed, ended their collaboration with Wilson and decided to focus on their solo projects. Genesis unofficially fell apart, which left a lot of lovers of good music heartbroken. Still, the individual members kept in touch, and sometimes even got together for special occasions and anniversaries, but they hadn’t made new music in a long time. In 1999, for a milestone anniversary, almost all the former and current members came together briefly and recorded a new version of “Carpet Crawlers,” on which Gabriel and Collins shared the vocals successfully.
In 2006 Genesis reunited for the ‘Turn It On Again’ tour with the Collins, Rutherford and Banks lineup. The original plan was for this reunion to include Gabriel and Hackett as well, plus a live performance of the whole “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway” album. In its less ambitious form it only lasted until 2007, but that was enough for the live album “Live Over Europe 2007” to come out afterward. Another long stretch of inactivity followed, with everyone heading back to their own solo projects.
That went on until 2020, when Collins, Rutherford and Banks announced they were setting off on their farewell tour as Genesis. The news of a new tour came as quite a surprise given Collins’ growing health problems: on top of hearing loss, he’d developed trouble walking, which meant giving up active drumming, and he mostly had to sit on a chair while singing. Because of the covid-19 pandemic, the tour was pushed back to 2022. Gabriel caught one of the shows, but sadly didn’t join Collins, Rutherford and Banks on stage. After the tour wrapped up successfully, the last three members of the legendary band are staying tight-lipped about the future, since they haven’t announced an official end, so the ‘last tour’ label should be taken with a grain of salt.
by: Peter “Dr. ProgRock” Podbrežnik
