Genesis are an English rock band formed at Charterhouse School, Godalming, Surrey in 1967. The most commercially successful and long-lasting line-up includes keyboardist Tony Banks, bassist/guitarist Mike Rutherford and drummer/singer Phil Collins. Other important members were the original lead singer Peter Gabriel and guitarist Steve Hackett. The band underwent many changes in musical style over its career, from folk music to progressive rock in the 1970s, before moving towards pop at the end of the decade. They have sold 21.5 million RIAA-certified albums in the US and their worldwide sales are estimated to be between 100 million and 150 million.
Formed by five Charterhouse pupils including Banks, Rutherford, Gabriel, and Anthony Phillips, Genesis was named by former pupil Jonathan King who arranged them to record several unsuccessful singles and an album. After splitting with King, the group began touring professionally, signing with Charisma Records. Following the departure of Phillips, Genesis recruited Collins and Hackett and recorded several progressive rock style albums, with live shows centred around Gabriel's theatrical costumes and performances. The group were initially commercially successful in Europe, before entering the UK charts with Foxtrot (1972). They followed this with Selling England by the Pound (1973) and The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (1974) before Gabriel decided to leave the group.
After an unsuccessful search for a replacement, Collins took over as lead singer, while the group gained popularity in the UK and the US. Following A Trick of the Tail and Wind & Wuthering (both 1976), Hackett left the band, reducing it to a core of Banks, Rutherford, and Collins. Genesis had their first UK top ten and US top 30 single in 1978 with "Follow You Follow Me" and the group continued to gain commercial success with Duke (1980), Abacab (1981), and Genesis (1983), reaching a peak with Invisible Touch (1986), which featured five US top five singles. Its title track reached number one in the US. After the follow up, We Can't Dance (1991) and related tour, Collins left Genesis in 1996 to focus on his solo career. Banks and Rutherford recruited Ray Wilson for Calling All Stations (1997), but a lack of success in the US led to a group hiatus. Banks, Rutherford and Collins reunited for the Turn It On Again Tour in 2007, and together with Gabriel and Hackett were interviewed for the BBC documentary Genesis: Together and Apart in 2014.
Their discography includes fifteen studio and six live albums, six of which topped the UK chart. They have won numerous awards and nominations, including a Grammy Award for Best Concept Music Video with "Land of Confusion", and inspired a number of tribute bands recreating Genesis shows from various stages of the band's career. In 2010, Genesis were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame....(Read more)
TV broadcast their Knebworth set in the first year of FRS' life and repeated it at least once: he was moved to comment on its being a great performance. The lengthy Supper's Ready regularly made appearances in listeners' polls of all-time favourite tracks, and Burning Rope was a show favourite.
Sessions[]
Genesis did not record any sessions for the FRS, but at least three from the BBC Archive were repeated on the Friday and Saturday rock shows.
- Recorded: 1970-02-22 for Night Ride. (05 August 1989 (Alan Freeman)), (05 May 1990 (Alan Freeman))
- Recorded: 1971-05-10 for Bob Harris. First TX 1971-05-31. (22 June 1979)
- Recorded: 1972-09-25 for John Peel (Session #2). First TX 1972-11-07. (22 June 1979)
Concerts[]
(For details, see relevant show pages.)
- Recorded: 1972-03-02, BBC Paris Studios, London. (20 May 1989 (Alan Freeman))
- Recorded: 1978-06-24, Knebworth, Hertfordshire. (29 December 1978, 17 February 1984)
- Recorded: 1980-05-06, Lyceum, London. (27 April 1991 (Alan Freeman))
- Recorded: 1980-05-07, Lyceum, London. (11 July 1980, 26 December 1980)
Other Shows Played[]
- 22 May 1976 (Alan Freeman): Dance On A Volcano (LP - A Trick Of The Tail) Charisma
- 03 January 1977 (Alan Freeman): 'Eleventh Earl Of Mar (LP - Wind & Wuthering)' (Charisma) 1976 Rock albums #15
- 19 November 1977 (Alan Freeman): Afterglow (2xLP - Seconds Out) Charisma
- 07 January 1978 (Alan Freeman): Suppers Ready (2xLP - Seconds Out) Charisma
- 26 August 1978 (Alan Freeman): 'Burning Rope (LP-...And The There Were Three)' (Charisma)
- 08 December 1978: 'Ripples (LP-A Trick Of The Tail)' (Charisma)
- 23 March 1979: 'Burning Rope (LP-And Then There Were Three)' (Charisma)
- 13 April 1979: 'The Musical Box (LP-Nursery Cryme)' (Charisma) Friday Night Connection (1979)
- 08 June 1979: 'Apocalypse In 9/8 - As Sure As Eggs Is Eggs (LP-Seconds Out)' (Charisma)
- 20 July 1979: 'Burning Rope (LP-And Then There Were Three)' (Charisma)
- 16 November 1979: 'Supper's Ready (LP-Foxtrot) (Charisma) Now We Are One, #8
- 25 January 1980: 'Dusk (LP-Trespass)' (Charisma) Friday Night Connection (1980)
- 07 March 1980: 'Happy The Man (7")' (Charisma)
- 14 March 1980: 'Man Of Our Times (LP-Duke)' (Charisma)
- 28 March 1980: 'Man Of Our Times (LP-Duke)' (Charisma)
- 02 May 1980: 'Eleventh Earl Of Mar' (LP-Wind & Wuthering) Charisma
- 16 May 1980: 'In The Beginning (LP-From Genesis To Revelation)' (Decca)
- 29 August 1980: 'Misunderstanding (7")' (Charisma)
- 31 October 1980: 'The Knife (LP-Trespass)' (Charisma)
- 14 November 1980: 'Supper's Ready (LP-Foxtrot) (Charisma) Two's Up - Listener's Top 10, #2
- 23 January 1981: 'Eleventh Earl Of Mar (LP-Wind & Wuthering)' (Charisma) Friday Night Connection (1981)
- 17 April 1981: 'The Fountain Of Salmacis (LP-Nursery Cryme)' (Charisma)
- 29 May 1981: 'Robbery, Assault & Battery (2xLP-Seconds Out)' (Charisma)
- 07 August 1981: 'Abacab (7")' (Charisma)
- 07 August 1981: 'Ripples (LP-Trick Of The Tail)' (Charisma) Friday Night Connection (1981)
- 18 September 1981: 'Abacab (LP-Abacab)' (Charisma)
- 09 October 1981: Like It Or Not (LP - Abacab) Charisma
- 16 October 1981: Twilight Alehouse (single 'B' side of I Know What I Like)
- 13 November 1981: 'Can-Utility and the Coastliners' (LP - Foxtrot) Charisma
- 20 November 1981: 'Supper's Ready' (LP - Foxtrot) (Charisma) Listeners Chart #02
- 15 January 1982: 'Snowbound (LP-And Then There Were Three)' (Charisma) Friday Night Connection (1982)
- 04 June 1982: 'Fountain Of Salmacis' (LP - Three Sides Live)
- 06 August 1982: 'The Lady Lies (Live)' (Flexi-disc) Flexipop
- 19 November 1982: 'Supper's Ready' (LP - Foxtrot) (Charisma) Listeners Chart #02
- 10 December 1982: 'The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway' (LP - The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway) Charisma
- 21 January 1983: 'Firth Of Fifth' (LP-Selling England By The Pound) Charisma
- 06 May 1983: 'Ripples' (LP-A Trick Of The Tail) Charisma Friday Night Connection
- 01 July 1983: 'Vancouver (7"-Many Too Many / The Day The Light Went Out / Vancouver)' (Charisma) Friday Night Connection (1983)
- 29 July 1983: The Musical Box (LP - Nursery Cryme) Charisma
- 19 August 1983: Mama (single) (Charisma)
- 02 September 1983: Robbery, Assault And Battery (LP - A Trick Of The Tail) Charisma
- 14 October 1983: Just A Job To Do (LP - Genesis) Charisma
- 14 October 1983: Burning Rope (LP - ...And Then There Were Three) Charisma
- 18 November 1983: 'Supper's Ready (LP-Foxtrot)' (Charisma)
- 02 December 1983: Afterglow (2xLP - Seconds Out) Charisma
- 03 February 1984: 'Turn It On Again (LP-Duke)' (Charisma)
- 20 April 1984: The Knife (LP - Trespass) Friday Night Connection
- 11 October 1984 (Into The Music): 'Burning Rope (CD-...And Then There Were Three)' (Charisma)
- 16 November 1984: Supper's Ready Listeners Chart #04
- 27 September 1985: Get 'em Out By Friday
- 15 November 1985: Supper's Ready Listeners Chart #04
- 13 June 1986: Land Of Confusion
- 13 June 1986: The Lamb Lies On Broadway
- 11 September 1987: 'In The Cage (2xCD-The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway)' (Charisma)
- 26 March 1989 (Alan Freeman): The Musical Box (LP - Nursery Cryme) Charisma
- 22 April 1989 (Alan Freeman): One For The Vine (LP - Wind And Wuthering) Charisma
- 17 June 1989 (Alan Freeman): Domino (Live)
- 24 June 1989 (Alan Freeman): Deep In The Motherlode (album - ... And Then There Were Three ...) Charisma
- 01 July 1989 (Alan Freeman): Dance On A Volcano (LP - A Trick Of The Tail) Charisma
- 22 July 1989 (Alan Freeman): Your Own Special Way (LP - Wind And Wuthering) Charisma
- 26 August 1989 (Alan Freeman): Squonk (LP - A Trick Of The Tail) Charisma
- 23 September 1989 (Alan Freeman): Dance On A Volcano / Los Endos (2xLP - Seconds Out) Charisma
- 16 December 1989 (Alan Freeman): 'Follow You Follow Me (LP - ...And Then There Were Three...)' (Charisma)
- 30 December 1989 (Alan Freeman): Abacab (LP - Abacab) Charisma
- 24 February 1990 (Alan Freeman): One For The Vine (2xLP - Three Sides Live) Charisma
- 19 May 1990 (Alan Freeman): Abacab (LP - Abacab) Charisma
- 26 May 1990 (Alan Freeman): Get 'Em Out By Friday (LP - Foxtrot) Charisma
- 09 June 1990 (Alan Freeman): Snowbound (LP - ...And Then There Were Three...) Charisma
- 21 July 1990 (Alan Freeman): The Carpet Crawlers (LP - The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway) Charisma
- 06 October 1990 (Alan Freeman): Robbery, Assault And Battery (LP - A Trick Of The Tail) Charisma
- 26 January 1991 (Alan Freeman): Firth Of Fifth (LP - Selling England By The Pound) Charisma
- 23 November 1991 (Alan Freeman): Fading Lights (album - We Can't Dance) Virgin
- 04 January 1992 (Alan Freeman): Supper's Ready (LP - Foxtrot) Charisma
- 11 April 1992 (Alan Freeman): Firth Of Fifth (LP - Selling England By The Pound) Charisma
- 10 October 1992 (Alan Freeman): One For The Vine (LP - Wind And Wuthering) Charisma
- 09 January 1993 (Alan Freeman): Eleventh Of Earl Of Mar (album - Wind And Wuthering) Charisma
- 07 August 1993 (Alan Freeman): Ripples (LP - Trick Of The Tail) Charisma
- 18 October 1996 (Alan Freeman): The Fountain Of Salmacis (LP - Nursery Cryme) Charisma
- 08 November 1996 (Alan Freeman): The Chamber Of 32 Doors (LP - The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway) Charisma
- 01 August 1997 (Alan Freeman): Calling All Stations (CD - ...Calling All Stations...) Virgin
- 01 August 1997 (Alan Freeman): Congo (CD - ...Calling All Stations...) Virgin
- 29 August 1997 (Alan Freeman): The Dividing Line (CD - ...Calling All Stations...) Virgin
- 19 September 1997 (Alan Freeman): The Dividing Line (CD - ...Calling All Stations...) Virgin