Wind and Wuthering is great too, with lots of references to 70’s tv programs.
Plus 20ft monster mouse. Fantastic!
With teeth and claws to match;
It only took one blow…
1 Like
A little Phil Collins story. So it’s 1977 in the UK and the Queen’s Silver Jubilee. Everyone was arranging street parties, putting out tables, food and drink and entertainment. An old friend of mine lived in Ealing or Hounslow, somewhere down in West London, and his mother was in charge of arrangements. So a singer knocked on her door and said he’d be happy to get his band to play at the party, to which she replied, not to worry, she’d already booked a disco. So thanks to his mum, Genesis didn’t play at their street party.
I was at school at that time, which was near the Hammersmith Odeon. I remember going to Trick of the Tail with Bill Bruford on drums, and Wind and Wuthering with Chester Thompson, which I think was at Earl’s Court. Both were brilliant. Memorable shows. And Then There Were Three was the start of the end for me.
1 Like
Definitely a big demarcation point for fans. This transition was to a completely different band. Not quite but almost as dramatic as the Yardbirds pivoting to the “new Yardbirds“ which became Led Zeppelin. Very different band.
2 Likes
Or the Small Faces to The Faces. Sometimes change is good.
I don’t think Genesis ever saw a decline in quality (Until “Calling All Stations” which is good enough for what it was, but it wasn’t Genesis) so much as a change in focus. And I don’t think the change was “Phil Collins ruined Genesis”. What doomed “Calling all Stations” was that they had migrated to writing together based on little nuggets each brought into the studio, which caused a very precise balance. When Phil left, that balance was thrown off and the songwriting just wasn’t there. “Sussudio” aside, Phil Collins is a BANGER of a songwriter and always had the ability as a function of his personality (no one has ever said anything bad about the man - drunken Jimmy Page excepted - he’s universally accepted as “a good bloke”) to guide a writing team without ruffling too many feathers and improving the final product. The man is a force of nature (seriously, look at the schedule they kept between 1976 and 1986; either he was recording and touring with Genesis or solo, or playing/producing other people’s stuff) and while his later work (“Dance Into the Light” forward) isn’t the best, his productivity and quality are as good or better than ANYONE who ever made rock/pop music, the Beatles included. (Seriously, McCartney’s later stuff is…not great) He’s so underappreciated!!
That’s gonna be my last comment on the thread since I seem to be hijacking this into a Genesis thread. Maybe I’ll start a separate Genesis thread sometime down the road since I do not tire of talking about them. LOL
Mike in Dayton
1 Like