I am guessing it may have functioned as a promo video, as there are no other video's of the song available. Often in Australia bands would play on the national music show Countdown and that would end up being there promo video. Not stating fact, merely speculating.
I can see why you mistook it for a promo video though, because he’s not playing in front of a TOTP audience. Occasionally this would happen when artists were on tour. They often filmed their performance separately from the main show. First time I have seen this, and it is a stunning performance. It reminds me of the tour I saw. In fact he resembles Gary Numan here, and it is intentional, as Numan was really popular at the time. The first couple of opening numbers he did at the show I saw, it was clear he was aping Numan’s robotic moves on stage, and sending him up. I just checked setlist fm, and the show I saw was on the 28 February 1980. Intruder Play Video Start Play Video I Don't Remember Play Video Solsbury Hill Play Video Family Snapshot Play Video We Do What We're Told (Milgram's 37) Play Video Modern Love Play Video Not One of Us Play Video Lead a Normal Life Play Video Moribund the Burgermeister Play Video Mother of Violence Play Video Humdrum Play Video Bully for You (Tom Robinson Band cover) Play Video Games Without Frontiers Play Video And Through the Wire Play Video I Go Swimming Play Video Biko Play Video On the Air Play Video Here Comes the Flood
I Don't Remember Probably one of the more easily accessible songs on the album in a late seventies, early eighties perspective. A nice tempo and a really cool bass line from Tony Levin. I think to a degree listening to this album, that Gabriel found some of his solo years vocal trademarks here, and we start the song with one of them. This song bounces along beautifully. Information from song facts This song is about a man with amnesia being asked a bunch of questions. Gabriel had an interest in psychiatry and explored the topic on this album. In a 1980 interview with Sounds, he called himself "a purveyor of amateur psychiatric cliches," adding, "The only way I can make it work is compare my own experience with the theories." Robert Fripp, Dave Gregory, and David Rhodes all played guitar on this. Fripp was a member of King Crimson. This song was heavily processed, especially at the end where the music is slowed down and distorted further over some barely-audible whispering by Gabriel. The bass and midrange were equalized out of Gabriel's vocals, giving him a tinny sound similar to a phone line. Gabriel wrote this using a new approach. The rhythm was put in a programmable drum machine and the chords and melody built around it. Drum machines were new at the time. This song is somewhat less ominous than some of the tracks on this album and at this time in my life it resonated with me quite clearly having had a series of drunken blackouts ... not exactly swelling of pride there, but reality often isn't. This track works for me on that level and could well have been written in light of that kind of thing, because it captures everything about it.
Is the intro to I Don't Remember the first time we hear that signature vocal crack in Peter's yodel? At first, I thought it was unintentional, but when he's able to do it every time, it dawned on me that he meant to do it. It's extremely effective. The production and mix on this track are inspired. I particularly love how tinny and thin the verses sound, but when the chorus kicks in, the bass and fuzz guitars explode into stereo and it sounds magnificent. The verses convey the fear our subject is experiencing during the interrogation and then he sounds confident during the verse stating that he can't remember - he simply can't answer the questions. A marvelous match of music and lyrics. To me, this is the obvious single on the album.
Another great song, and though not exactly smooth emotional sailing, it's at least a bit more straight ahead than the first two tracks. I love the richly layers guitar parts, each with its own texture, as well as Levin's distinctive Chapman stick tones. The narrator is seemingly at odds with himself. At the beginning of the second verse, he tries to come across all cool and savvy: Strange is your language and I have no decoder Why don't you make your intentions clear? With eyes to the sun and your mouth to the soda (I always assumed that this was "soul" when I was younger) Saying, "Tell me the truth, you got nothing to fear" But then suddenly things turn, as Gabriel's vocals take on a more unnerved, distraught quality and he reveals what he's really feeling: Stop staring at me like a bird of prey I'm all mixed up, I got nothing to say I don't remember I don't remember There's almost something strangely liberating about his dissociative declaration in the chorus, cutting through all the crap and admitting his confusion. I really love the video for this track as well, which is full of memorable imagery, like PG getting sucked into the sofa as he's trying to put the moves on a woman. Gabriel's boldly letting his freak flag fly by this point: You'll have to take me just the way the you find me. . .
This song in particular reminds me of something Rael might have sung, yet the fear of sitting in a darkened room under interrogation is not far removed from the real world experiences that led Gabriel to write Wallflower just twenty-four months after this album's release.
Not exactly. It was filmed at the TOTP studios and despite the apparent absence of an audience it was filmed during a normal production episode. Gabriel was given 100% production control and actually enjoyed the experience more than he thought he would. He didn’t have his touring band with him for the performance and so Interview helped out by mining to the backing track. Other tv networks certainly were given this film to use overseas but it received minimal exposure and so far as I know that licence only lasted for the period the single was current so for instance MTV never had rights to show it. So it’s not really considered a promo just a TV appearance.
I love the effects at the pounding drum intro of Intruder - it sounds like the tension is literally being ratcheted up. Wonderful tie in to the lyric.
What does everyone want me to do over Christmas/New Year? Do you want me to just carry on. Have those two days off as a break? If you guys are going to be around, barring something coming up to change my current thought pattern, I am happy to keep going, but again if everybody is tied up or having a break, I can hold off a few days. Please let me know
Family Snapshot The song was inspired by An Assassin's Diary, published in 1973 and written by Arthur Bremer, who attempted to assassinate George Wallace, a politician who supported racial segregation. Gabriel talked about the book in a 1988 authorized biography:[1] An Assassin's Diary was a really nasty book, but you do get a sense of the person who is writing it. Bremer was obsessed with the idea of fame. He was aware of the news broadcasts all over the world and was trying to time the assassination to hit the early evening news in the States and the late night in Europe to get maximum coverage. Referring to the Assassination of John F. Kennedy, Gabriel stated in the introduction to the song during his concert at the Paramount Theatre, Seattle, 10 August 1983, that the song is: partly taken from the writings of Arthur Bremer and The Diary of an Assassin and mixed with a few images of Dallas twenty years ago The musical transition reflects the progress and emotions throughout the story. It starts off as a slow, understated piece, where the killer goes through his plan, becoming more intense as the target unwittingly comes closer to the assassin. Finally, the song transitions back to a quiet, mournful climax as the shooter, having just shot his target, remembers his childhood loneliness and thirst for attention that led him to where he now is. The recording features Gabriel's first use of the Yamaha CP-70 Electric Grand Piano.[2] -------------------------------------------------------- I was not aware of the roots of the song, so the above information was very interesting to me. I always assumed there was some connection to the Kennedy assassination, but it didn't quite make sense. So the fact that it is a bit of that and a bit of this book, makes much more sense. We start with a very gentle piano and vocal. The intensity builds after the first verse with the instrumentation filling out and that wonderful Levin bass coming. We get another build in intensity as the killer starts to feel the power of what his actions are going to do, and we move into a rock section. In the rock section, we have a strange dynamic with the sax coming in, almost giving it a joyous feel, and further confusing the mentality of the killer. Listening to the rationalisations of the killer are somewhat disturbing. We build to a crescendo as the bullet flies ..... then we drop out to the aftermath. The shocked silence, the killer seemingly reminiscing about how he got here, calling for his parents to come back .... In a sense this is one of the most disturbing songs on the album, and also one of the best. In all honesty when I first heard it, I really didn't know what to make of this song. I didn't dislike it, but it was very different musically and also in terms of its subject matter. It has grown over the years to be one of my favourite Gabriel songs, just due to the scope of its writing. It also contains one of his best vocals, he sounds like he was really feeling it. In the rock section, we have a strange dynamic with the sax coming in, almost giving it a joyous feel, and further confusing the mentality of the killer. Great song.
My favorite track on PG3. I loved it upon the first play. It's lost none of it's chilling effect after close to 40 years. Hell it's more relevant now than ever, seeing as so many are hungry for fame via this strange avenue.
It took me a while to get into Family Snapshot but now I realize it's brilliance. It certainly fits in with the theme of the album of darkness, and soulless terrible people.
Per the holidays, I wouldn't mind a break for the 24th and 25th. Lots of family activities happening.
I'm loving this thread but these Album-by-Album threads move so fast that I'm always playing catch-up and never find the window of opportunity to contribute! I first got to know Gabriel through the Birdy soundtrack (besides hearing "Solsbury Hill", "Games without Frontiers", and "Shock the Monkey" on the radio and MTV) and subsequently Plays Live before I journeyed through his back catalog. Thus, I knew the melody of "Family Snapshot" used on "Close Up" long before I picked up Plays Live and eventually Peter Gabriel (3 – Melt). I agree with many here that Peter Gabriel (3 – Melt) is the standout of his first four eponymous albums where he matured and found that "Gabriel sound" which he crafted further on his following work that would catapult him into superstardom with So and Us.
I was at that Seattle show in August, 1983. Kind of amazing that almost twice as much time has passed since then as had passed from that date to the events of 1963.
Family Snapshot is my favourite track from PGIII. Radio 1 picked up on it on the couple of interviews Gabriel gave to them before the album came out, playing it during the Kid Jensen show and Rock on Saturday for which he was interviewed by Phil Sutcliffe. My favourite version is the Amnesty International Live Show from 1986 - the Conspiracy of Hope Tour although he fluffs the line about I’ve got my radio I can hear what’s going on sadly. But a terrific song and one he’d return to often during subsequent tours.
I thought it was solely about the Kennedy assassination, so pleased to be corrected. It has only taken 38 years! Yes, such a magnificent song, although kind of out of place on this album, since it’s the most conventional. I think he managed to describe such a harrowing event quite brilliantly, and this song encapsulates everything that was great about Gabriel during this period. He really was coming into his own as a songwriter.
It's interesting to see some people say that it took them a while to get into "Family Snapshot", since this was the first track to feel more accessible to me at first blush, probably because it offers more in the way of melody, as well as a gripping dramatic arc as the music builds along with the action. In its own way, this song continues with the concept of putting the listeners into the mind of deranged, unstable characters. Gabriel somehow manages to make this killer seem believable and even vaguely sympathetic. At the climax, the narrator describes this chilling sense of identification with the victim, alongside the drive to supplant him: I don't really hate you I don't care what you do We were made for each other Me and you I want to be somebody You were like that too If you don't get given you learn to take And I will take you. The song then unwinds abruptly as we're taken back to his lonely childhood, adding an ambiguous dream-like quality. A powerful vocal performance from PG on this song, again demonstrating his knack for inhabiting vivid, compelling characters.
I think it's not so much of a popular favorite because, while it has interesting and perceptive lyrics, there aren't much in the way of musical hooks, the melody is twisty and meandering, and there are multiple sections that don't have have much in common musically. The rest of the album features hooks galore that grab you and won't let go. The drama of Family Snapshot is maybe better suited for the stage.
And Through The Wire We start off with a really nice sounding synth and then burst into an alt rock thing that starts with Gabriel's vocals. We start with a chorus and it works quite well. I'm not sure if this track is about a person with a strangling fetish, or if we are talking about communicating via telephone or telegram/wire ... This is a good song, but not a favourite ... In fact it is probably my least favourite on the album, which goes a long way to show how highly I regard this album. Tomorrow we will have a day off so folks can spend Christmas with their families, or however they feel fit, undistracted
That’s cool - I never understood why cd singles would ever include old songs but in this case it made sense!
