[ updated august 6 1999 – a kind of overview ]

We're more than halfway through 1999 and I thought it was appropriate to sum up what has been going on in the camp of Genesis since my last news update. One of the first things that happened was Ray Wilson's album with his band Cut – titled 'Millionairhead'. It was released in Germany only, and we hope it will be wider distributed soon. Cut is currently touring Germany.

Phil Collins is while writing this having his fourth hour of fame as a result of being involved in the writing the soundtrack for the new Disney movie 'Tarzan'. The film was premiered in the US in June, and will be ready for Europe in October/November. But the soundtrack is already available, and I hereby recommend it to all of you. Phil combines both his composing and playing abilities on this album.

Earlier this spring Phil Collins also released a live compilation of his tour with the The Phil Collins Big Band last year. Most of the album was recorded in Paris in July 1998, and I was one of the lucky audiencee that night. We're talking jazz, we're talking drumming – and we're talking an outstanding selection of tunes we know so bloody well!

Steve Hackett released his 'Darktown' on April 26, and for many fans this is Steve's most adventurous effort since 'Guitar Noir'. Personally, I needed several listenings to really enjoy what was going on. 'Darktown' is a demanding album, and my advice is to unsubscribe from everything and stay at home alone for at least one week. With "alone" I mean you and 'Darktown'. Then you'll discover musical treasures not very often found these days. I have three personal favourites these days – 'Dreaming With Eyes Open', 'Jane Austen's Door' and 'In Memoriam' – but I'm sure there will be three others in August. Steve Hackett's albums are available at Camino Records, and there is a nice and describing review of 'Darktown' at Daily Vault – look more closely at this link.

Mike Rutherford and his Mechanics came to European towns early this summer with their new studio release. Their sixth album is unfortunately available in Europe only. [Thanks to Angela Schipplick for the photo]

- More updates and overviews in early August...

December 11: Phil in Oslo
Last Friday Phil Collins played together with several rock profiles at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo. I was there, experiencing a show with a few highlights and quite a few lowlights. Among the former were a reunited A-ha, a powerful Alanis Morissette, and - of course - our Phil. He played two songs alone on his piano - and 'Both Sides of the Story' as well as 'Another Day in Paradise' sounded great and he put a lot of passion into his performance. He later joked in a Norwegian newspaper that he couldn't afford to bring his band with him. TV stations in 40 countries are going to present the show.

More Phil
Phil Collins is very active these days, currently working on the score for the upcoming (June '99) Tarzan movie. He is also doing a lot promotion for his 'Hits' compilation, and some of his movements can be traced by following some of the hints'n'links below. Enjoy!

- updated December 9, 1998 Info on 'The Fox Lies Down - a Tribute to Genesis'. Genesis chats on Virgin Net. See transcript, November 27, 1998 Another Archive Review from Danish paper Information, October 26, 1998 Phil Collins on Atlantic's Digital Arena, October 29, 1998 Phil Collins will play at Nobel Peace Price arrangement in Oslo, December 11, 1998 'Phil Collins - For The Love Of Big Band': From the October issue of Down Beat. Check out the chat with Phil Collins at Top of the Pops, October 22, 1998 Doug Boucher's 'A Trick of the Tail' review - updated November 20, 1998 Classic Rock magazine What about this! A new rock magazine has seen the light of day - and it's great. A British team of journalists has put together a magazine for those of us tired of reading about the most recent and hippest devolopment in the rock business. Their first issue has a great feature on Steve Hackett and Genesis - covering interesting interviews on subjects like the Archive box set, the reunion rumours - and the present status of Genesis. JUST BUY IT "I'm saving up for a computer!" Last Thursday Phil Collins was chatting with his fans live on Top Of The Pop's website. Unfortunately, my question didn't get through, but several interesting issues were discussed. His new album, the rumours of a reunion and his departure from Genesis were among them. Collins is obviously not aware of all the online activity devoted to his work. Get online, Phil! SEE TRANSCRIPT Too much Genesis? Obviously - indeed, if we choose to trust some comments in a British newspaper after the band's gig at the Empire Pool in April 1975. Genesis, known for "creating moods", got mixed reception for their first concert in England after touring the States and Europe during Spring 1975. Here are some of the comments from the papers after the show. TURN IT DOWN Genesis Relived 'Keeping the Memories Alive' A 2 hour 'Tribute' show truly dedicated to the sound and creativity of Genesis, has been a project for Genesis fan Ricky Birch for the last 2 years and now everything is ready, from the music, sound, and lights, to the vocals and 'Gabriel' costumes. The show stretches from 'Musical Box' up to 'Calling all Stations' including 'Supper's Ready', and many songs from the greatest album of all time 'The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway'. The band hopes to do a few gigs in the autumn and a lot more in 1999. They are hoping all Genesis fans will support it and hope to pick up a few more enthusiasts along the way who were not fortunate enough to be around to witness those fantastic concerts of the 1970s. RELIVE Genesis' sound & lighting Genesis 'Calling All Stations' tour is history, and band members are currently working on their individual projects. Anyway - I just wanted to publish this interesting article from the April issue of Lighting + Sound International. This is a kind of technological review - with descriptions of how the sound and lighting were arranged for the last tour. LIGHT? Dale's 'The Eyes Have It' Another CD from the world of Genesis! Dale Newman has worked close to Genesis since 1975 - originally as a guitar roadie and then full time at the band's Fisher Lane Farm. Now Dale have released a nice collection of songs written and played all by himself - and there are some very strong moments on 'The Eyes Have It'. Check out my review. DALE And the wheels keep turning In this article from 1991, Tony demonstrates his snobbish attitude - this time regarding campers vs. caravans. Kirsten Burghardt sent me some interesting '91 articles from German mags. ON WHEEL Phil on leaving the band: From: Baltimore Sun Date: December 8, 1996 Title: Re-Phil Transcribed by Daniel Stackhouse His split with his old band, Genesis, was even more amiable [than his divorce]. It too, had its roots in the "Both Sides" period, but for utterly different reasons. "When I did 'Both Sides', I felt that I'd arrived at a place, musically speaking, that was really fulfilling for me," he says. "I mean, 'I've Forgotten Everything,' which is I think one of the best songs I've ever written - the vocal performance that's on that album is what I sang that night as I improvised those lyrics. "That, to me, is organic music. That is what people have always criticized me for not being. I thought, not only am I doing something fulfilling to me, but maybe this will be the album that people will say, 'Yeah, he's got rid of all that fluff.' Or apparent fluff." In other words, Collins felt that he was finally coming into his own creatively, and having to make the sort of compromises that a partnership like Genesis requires didn't really appeal to him. "At my age, I should be able to stand up and be counted, and not really do anything I don't want to do," he says. "I mean, I know there are some great magical moments when the three of you are writing together, and the last album was the happiest we've ever made." Breaking up, then, would be hard to do. But Collins knew it had to be done. "I told out manager, Tony [Smith], pretty much within a month or so of having thought about it and not changed my mind the morning after," says Collins. "He said, 'Well, listen. We don't have to make any decisions yet. See how you feel in a year.' He knew the ups and downs of my personal life. So we didn't tell anybody; we didn't even tell Mike [Rutherford] and Tony [Banks]. There was no need - the Genesis project was not being talked about at that time. When they started saying, 'When Phil goes off the road, we should start thinking about when we're going to do another project, another album,' at that point, he said to me, 'Well, we're going to have to address this, soon.'" So Smith convened a luncheon for all three, and warned the other members of the group, Banks and Rutherford, that Collins was thinking about quitting. I don't think anyone was bowled over," says the singer. "Mike said, 'You want to leave. We understand. You want to do something else. It's cool. It could be me, could be Tony.' And Tony said, 'Well, this is a sad day. But I understand.'" HIRING A REPLACEMENT To soften the blow for fans, the band turned its official announcement of Collins' departure into a small joke. Because Collins started out as the band's drummer, and originally became a singer only to fill in when the original front man Peter Gabriel left, the band announced that it was finally going to hire a replacement for Gabriel - "the idea being that after a 20-year apprenticeship that I didn't really want to be a singer, anyway," says Collins. "Ultimately, I'm pleased that Genesis are carrying on," he says. "It's very important for me. I certainly didn't want to destroy something, and Mike and Tony understood. I just hope that the fans out there will keep an open mind as they did when I took over."