One
of the most successful rock acts of the 1970s, 1980s,
and 1990s, Genesis enjoyed a longevity exceeded
only by the likes of the Rolling Stones and the
Kinks, in the process providing a launching pad
for the superstardom of members Peter Gabriel and
Phil Collins.
The group had its roots in the Garden Wall, a band
founded by 15-year-olds Peter Gabriel, Tony Banks,
Johnny Trapman, Chris Stewart and Rivers Job in
1965 at Charterhouse School in Godalming, Surrey,
where fellow students Anthony Phillips, Robert Tyrell,
Rivers Job, Michael Coleman and Richard McPhaeil
were members of another group called Anon. Mike
Rutherford was in The Climax, with Chris Stewart
(drums), Chris Pigott (bass guitar), Duncan James
(lead guitar) and Tim Hobart (vocals). The Scarlet
and Black group included Toby Ward (drums), Guy
Ross-Lowe (bass guitar), Michael Slack (piano),
Mark Weeks (piano and guitar), Richard Apley (saxophone),
Andrew Bruce (trombone) and Paul Gabriel (vocals).The
groups initially merged out of expediency as the
older members of each graduated; Gabriel, Banks,
Rutherford, Phillips, and drummer Chris Stewart
soon joined together as the New Anon, and recorded
a six-song demo featuring songs primarily written
by Rutherford and Phillips. The Charterhouse connection
worked in their favor when an ex-student, recording
artist and producer Jonathan King, heard the tape
and arranged for the group to continue working in
the studio, developing their sound. It was also
King who renamed the band Genesis.
In December of 1967 the group had their first formal
recording sessions. Their debut single, "The
Silent Sun," was released in February of 1968
without attracting much notice from the public.
A second single, "A Winter's Tale," followed
just about the time that Chris Stewart quit -- his
replacement, John Silver, joined just in time to
participate in the group's first LP sessions that
summer. King later added orchestral accompaniment
to the band's tracks, in order to make them sound
even more like the Moody Blues, and the resulting
album, entitled From Genesis to Revelation, was
released in March of 1969. Music seemed to be shaping
up as a brief digression in the lives of the members
as they graduated from Charterhouse that summer.
The group felt strongly enough about their work,
however, that they decided to try it as a professional
band; it was around this time that Silver exited,
replaced by John Mayhew. They got their first paying
gig in September of 1969, and spent the next several
months working out new material.
Genesis soon became one of the first groups signed
to the fledgling Charisma label, and they recorded
their second album Trespass that spring; following
its completion, the unit went through major personnel
changes -- Phillips, who had developed crippling
stage fright, was forced to leave the line-up in
July of 1970, followed by Mayhew. Enter Phil Collins,
a onetime child actor turned drummer and former
member of Hickory and Flaming Youth. The group's
line-up was completed with the addition of guitarist
Steve Hackett, a former member of Quiet World; his
presence and that of Collins toughened up the group's
sound, which became apparent immediately upon the
release of their next album, Nursery Cryme.
The theatrical attributes of Gabriel's singing fit
in well with he group's live performances during
this period as he began to make ever more extensive
use of masks, make-up, and props in concert, telling
framing stories in order to set up their increasingly
complicated songs. When presented amid the group's
very strong playing, this aspect of Gabriel's work
turned Genesis's performances into multi-media events.Foxtrot,
issued in the fall of 1972, was the flashpoint in
Genesis's history, and not just on commercial terms.
The writing, especially on "Supper's Ready,"
was as sophisticated as anything in progressive
rock, and the lyrics were complex, serious and clever,
a far cry from the usual overblown words attached
to most prog-rock. Genesis's live performances by
now were practically legend, and in response to
the demand, in August of 1973 Charisma released
Genesis Live, an album assembled from shows in Leicester
and Manchester originally taped for an American
radio broadcast. 1973 also saw the release of Selling
England by the Pound, the group's most sophisticated
album to date.
The release of the ambitious double LP The Lamb
Lies Down on Broadway in late 1974 marked the culmination
of the group's early history; in May of 1975, following
a show in France, Gabriel announced that he was
leaving Genesis, owing to personal reasons. The
group tried auditioning potential replacements,
but it became clear that the remaining members all
preferred that drummer Collins take over the role
of lead singer. The band returned to the studio
as an official quartet in October of 1975 to begin
work on their new album: the resulting Trick of
the Tail made number three in England and number
31 in America, the best chart showing up to that
time for a Genesis album, its success completely
confounded critics and fans who'd been unable to
conceive of Genesis without Peter Gabriel. The group
seemed to be on its way to bigger success than it
ever had during Gabriel's tenure as 1977's Wind
and Wuthering became another smash. But then Hackett
announced that he was leaving on the eve of the
release of a new double live album, Seconds Out;
he was replaced on the subsequent American and European
tours by Daryl Steurmer, but there was no permanent
replacement in the studio.
In 1978, Genesis released And Then There Were Three,
which abandoned any efforts at progressive rock
in favor of a softer, much more accessible and less
ambitious pop sound. After a flurry of solo projects,
the group reconvened for 1980's Duke, which became
their first chart-topper in England while rising
to number 11 in America. The continued changes in
their sound helped turn Genesis into an arena-scale
act: Abacab, released in late 1981, was another
smash, and 1983's self-titled Genesis furthered
the group's record of British chart-toppers and
American top 10 hits, becoming their second million-selling
U.S. album while also yielding their first American
Top Ten single, "That's All." Two years
later, the group outdid themselves with the release
of their most commercially successful album to date,
Invisible Touch, which went platinum several times
over in America. Its release coincided with the
biggest tour in their history, a string of sold
out arena shows that cast the group in the same
league as concert stalwarts like the Rolling Stones
and the Grateful Dead.
Their 1991 album We Can't Dance debuted at Number
One in England and got to number four in America;
it was Collins' last album with the group, and with
new vocalist Ray Wilson, formerly of the group Stiltskin.
Genesis resurfaced in 1997 with Calling All Stations,
which recalled their art-rock roots. Neither the
critics nor the fans warmed to the album -- it sold
poorly and the tour was equally unsuccessful.
Coming on the heels of the disappointing Calling
All Stations, the long-awaited box-set retrospective
Archives, Vol. 1: 67-75 was even more welcome. Containing
nothing but unreleased material and rarities from
previously unavailable on CD, the set was released
to surprisingly strong reviews in the summer of
1998. A followup, containing unreleased material
from the Phil Collins era, was scheduled for release
the following year.
