'The Ghost That Haunts Genesis'
'The Ghost That Haunts Genesis'
From Melody Maker, February 14, 1976.
by Harry Doherty.
Hello Folks,
I have several interesting articles of this vintage in which various members of Genesis discuss Peter's departure and their thoughts about the future. If you have strong feelings one way or another about these being posted to Paperlate, please e-mail me PRIVATELY.
Thanks,
Chloe (ipv@bway.net)
The Ghost That Haunts Genesis - Harry Doherty sees how Genesis are surviving without Peter Gabriel.
Yes, Peter is past, but the legacy remains. And Tony Banks, keyboards' player with Genesis, is finding it difficult to swallow that. Peter Gabriel has quit the band, life must go on as if nothing has happened. Courageously philosophical; hardly realistic.
Peter is past . . . but a Genesis minus Gabriel cannot possibly plod on regardless. They might feel that nothing has changed, want to believe that it's all the same but it cannot be. Change is inevitable.
Since the split, Genesis have fared well. They've released a new album, "A Trick Of The Tail", which has satisfied established Genesis freaks, and are preparing for an American tour. It is all coming together well. Drummer Phil Collins will handle the vocals, there will be no replacement for Gabriel. The visual presentation that has become a feature of the Genesis live act will remain, though without the weird costumes that Gabriel made his trademark. The emphasis will switch to films, slides and lights.
Banks: "It's (the music) as strong as it ever was. If it isn't, we won't play again. If it's not as good, there's no point in playing. Peter left and life goes on. We were all sort of sad. We spent some time trying to make him change his mind, but when he didn't, we just carried on."
But the absence of Peter Gabriel has forced change and eventually, Banks conceded that the post-Gabriel Genesis approach their task with a little apprehensiveness.
"We are apprehensive about the album. We still are. We've always had confidence in our own ability. The apprehension is more on whether audiences will accept us without Peter. He was our visual logo. The things you remember are Peter and his costumes. It's losing that."
Collins: "I'm supremely confident. We all have the same reservations. The visual show has always been the trimmings. That's the least important aspect of what we're about. Recording good music and the playing of the music is the most important thing. The presentation was the icing on the cake. 'A Trick Of The Tail' is a typical Genesis album but the major change is that it has a much stronger appeal than any other."
Banks: "I suppose we had to prove that we could do without him but that is really a secondary thing. We went in to make a strong album and we feel that we've done that. It doesn't matter now if it doesn't even sell a couple of copies. We think it's the best we've done. The sound production is the best we've ever had. This album is the most consistent, there aren't many low points."
"We'll lose people and we'll gain people with the new album. We expect that. The trouble with England is that people decide at an early stage whether they like something or not.
"What I would like is a reassessment. A lot of people have preconceived ideas of what Genesis is about. I'd like them to give albums a listen and they might be very surprised."
"His departure gives us a bit of breathing space and presents us with a few challenges. The whole thing had been becoming a bit obvious. We knew that we could get away with murder. We could, and did, play badly and get off with it. It gets too easy when you get very big. It's good to have some things to keep the edge.
"We tried to talk Peter out of it because there have been times when other people said that they wanted to leave and didn't. Steve (Hackett) has wanted to leave. I've wanted to leave. But when we've discussed it, it all seems silly. Peter's left, you accept that and you accept the challenge that it brings.
"I don't feel that we are left now with it all to do. There's no reason why it should stop. I'd say that it's set us back a year on live gigs, especially in the States, but Peter leaving has been played down there. You see, people there have no preconceptions about what to expect.
"England is the most difficult country of all. The English attitude is different. In this country more than any other, Peter was made out to be the star. England always looks for a star and the rest of the band are regarded as idiots. Some groups are allowed a couple of stars. In Europe, they see the band as all the constituent members. A band is only as good as the people in it. Everybody matters.
"The Press and the public here don't see it that way. Just because Peter was the frontman, it doesn't follow that he should be the chief writer and chief everything else, which was never true at all. For instance, if somebody else had left the band, there would have been a few polite questions and not much more."
The revitalised Genesis, with the main stumbling block to complete unity within the ranks out of the way, are brimming with new ideas. The band, Collins and Banks feel, is now a total unit. When Gabriel was there, he did his vocals alone in the studio and the result was that he often sang, without first informing the rest of the band, over strong instrumental passages. Now everybody is there to see what's happening.
There is an urge with Genesis to appeal to a wider audience, and they see themselves doing this with the help of a hit single. To achieve that end, the title track from the new album, "A Trick Of The Tail", specially written as a single, will be released.
Banks: "People like to think we're very complicated. That's why I'd like a hit. Genesis, as distinct from Yes and ELP, depend on the basic song rather than the fast playing and the fancy arrangements. It's closer to pop music really than heavy rock. In fact, I probably like more singles than heavy rock bands. We'd certainly like to appeal to a wider audience but I suppose we limited ourselves by the visual approach. 'I Know What I Like' was a minor hit but it doubled the sales of 'Selling England By The Pound'. That patchy single introduced people to a work that was an hour and a half long but I'm still not sure that we're capable of writing hit singles."
So with Gabriel gone Phil Collins, with his fine vocals but with hardly the intrigue and mysticism of his predecessor, has take over at the front. He's confident that the can deal adequately with the task but there is no way that he'll approach it in the same way as Gabriel. He feels no pressure.
"I don't see it in terms of pressure," he said. "I see it more in terms of excitement. I'll still be drumming on instrumental passages so I'll get the best of both worlds."
America gets the first taste of the new-look Genesis stage show in April. It might not reach Europe.
Banks: "If it doesn't work, it doesn't. At least the Europeans won't get the chance to see it not working but I can't think in terms of it not working. We've still got one or two unknowns that could be problems."
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