The early ‘80s through the early ‘90s were a sort of mixed time in music. Disco had, mercifully, died, and some new, innovative sounds were going around. The ‘90s saw the rise of a lot of independent bands (Like October Project, a favorite of mine) but it also saw a lot of older bands reworking their lineups and sound – few more so than Genesis. After front-man Peter Gabriel left, they brought in drummer and vocalist Phil Collins, who lent a whole new tenor to the group.
So, today, let’s take a look at Genesis – no, not the book, the band, in the Phil Collins era. We’ll take on the Peter Gabriel and the earlier Genesis in another installment. Here, without further ado, are six near Phil Collins/Genesis tunes.
That’s All (1983): A fun tune, first released as a single and with the album “Genesis,” later re-released in 1993 on CD. It’s an interesting song that shows off Phil Collins’ vocals. I remember catching this on MTV (remember when MTV actually had music?) as this may have been the first post-Peter Gabriel Genesis song I heard. I started listening to them more after this.
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Abacab (1981): From the 1981 album of the same name, “Abacab” has a bit of a story behind it. According to a 2006 interview with Genesis guitarist Mike Rutherford:
[There are] three bits of music in "Abacab" and we refer to them as 'bit A', [correcting self] 'Section A', 'Section B', and 'Section C'. And at different times they were in a different order. We'd start with section A and then have section C and then have section [pauses] and at one point in time, it spelt "ABACAB". And you've got the final version where it's not that at all, it's like "ACACACUCUBUBUGA"
Mama (1983): Also from the 1983 album “Genesis,” this one is a bit… weird. It has a slamming undertone, with discordant notes from guitar and bass, while Phil Collins’ vocals are darker than usual, almost angry. I remember an interview with Collins back in the day where he laughingly said that the creepy laugh, a barked “Ha-ha! Ha!” followed by what I can only describe as an agonized groan, was how he used to chase his little daughters to bed at night. And here I thought pretending to be a gorilla was weird.
I Can’t Dance (1991): Like many songs from 1991, this takes me back to a vast expanse of sand, hardpan, and dust – that being northern Saudi Arabia, southern Iraq, and Kuwait. We didn’t get much new music over there, but I remember one of the guys getting (somehow) a tape of this album, “We Can’t Dance” and playing it over, and over, and over.
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Follow You Follow Me (1978): It’s a rare (Phil Collins) Genesis song I remember from high school, but this slightly sappy love song was one. It was getting a fair amount of radio play in my junior and senior years, and it worked because it was simple but fun, with great rhythm and solid vocals.
Anything She Does (1986): The 1986 album “Invisible Touch” had some solid tunes, but for whatever reason this is the one I remember. In these days I was, well, broke – finishing up my last year in college and preparing to go back to finish out the time I owed the Army – so I wasn’t buying many albums. But the radio in my pickup worked, and I probably heard this song three or four times before I realized it was about a guy who fell in love with a pin-up model. Go figure.
Phil Collins went on to do some solo work and famously had a terrain feature (Phil Collins Hill) named after him in an episode of one of television’s best-ever social satires – “South Park.” But I’ll always remember him best as fronting for Genesis.
Any favorites of your own? As always, the comments are all yours.
