From all accounts it appears that Tony Banks was the main antagonist behind giving Gabriel a hard time during that period. While Banks can appear quite likable in interviews, reading between the lines it appears that he's quite intense and difficult to work with on a professional level. I'm sure his intentions are good, but he's just difficult to reason with and budge from his thoughts/opinions/ideas. I'm also sure Gabriel did himself absolutely no favors with insisting on writing all the lyrics on The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway but it really appears that Banks took the most umbrage with that, and it's something that he apparently still can't let that go... even after almost 50 years.
The back doesn't have vent windows. He's in the front passenger seat of a RHD car made for the British market. It would be easy enough to get the wipers out of the shot.
Artwork The picture was taken in Wandsworth, London. The car, a Lancia Flavia, was owned by the designer Storm Thorgerson of Hipgnosis. It was sprayed with water from a hose and Peter sat in the passenger seat. Originally in black and white, the artwork was then hand-coloured and each droplet highlight patiently scraped clean with a scalpel by Richard Manning. Link - Peter Gabriel (Car) Fine Art Print - Real World Records Store
Tony Banks has always struck me as a fairly unlikeable guy; it certainly wouldn't surprise me to learn that he was the most difficult personality in the pre-1976 Genesis lineups. He never seems enthusiastic or excited about anything and has little to offer but criticism when asked to assess the band's work.
I could never get past the title, even though the subject matter of the song is deeper than the title would suggest. It's the one track that seems to be a hangover from Genesis.
Agree to disagree then. Pete's work improved once he began injecting global politics and current issues into his songs. His music became important and even influential to a substantial degree in terms of influencing world events. By these standards, songs like the one in question seem rather archaic to me.
Yes, agree to disagree - I think his first album is his best and the opener amazing! I like his later stuff as well.
Yes, Kiss of Life live b-side wasn't included on Plays Live. It was the third track of I Don't Remember live 12'' single, with I Don't Remember being a strange live extended remix:
I can see how Banks can come off as unlikable. He definitely is very egocentric and seems to have a hard time letting things go... especially if he doesn't get his way. One of the reasons why I think that the Rutherford/Banks/Collins era group was so successful was due to the division of labor being so well defined once Hackett left the group so it left little room for arguments to come up as it was agreed that they would compose the music together and then each member would write lyrics to a given set of the compositions. During the Gabriel/Hackett/Rutherford/Banks/Collins era roles weren't quite so defined which led to more arguments and Banks' real attitude/nature would come out more often in that environment.
I was going to post that clip if no one else did, hilarious and very telling. And I absolutely agree with you that it's a testament to the strength of the song that it holds up so well after all this time. Great post. I was getting into early Genesis first in the 80s and then gradually following along with Gabriel's solo career, which seemed a little more alien to me at first. My brother got III initially which seemed worlds away from Selling England By The Pound, one of our pivotal crossovers into "new music". At first I was almost a little put off by it but fascinated at the same time. Then going back to his first album, it felt like we were at least a little bit more on familiar ground. "Solsbury Hill" was a really powerful song for me at that point, seeming to poignantly speak to a lot of my hopes and fears, and it remains so (In the past, I used to say that I wanted to play it at my funeral, but that might be a bit much!). It ushers in a somewhat older, wiser songwriter, a bit more emotionally direct but still enigmatic, a crucial cornerstone in his budding solo career.
Yes! I just went back to that Play dvd recently and really dug it, both for the videos and the surround mixes. Kate comes out loud and clear there at the end. I also love that creepy video for "I Don't Remember", which is an entirely different version, of course. Has any other artist married music and video so effectively? This thread is pretty timely for me really. I've been going back to Gabriel a lot lately. He was really an important figure to me in my teenage years--creative, charismatic, a little bit alien but still relateable--and it's interesting for me now to go back to this music now, like revisiting a part of my own past. I was a little surprised by how moving it was to see some of those videos again.
It's remarkable how well Gabriel married music to visual all together Even the secret world concert dvd is quite remarkable visually... come talk to me is very simple, but one of the most effective concert visuals I've ever seen.... i find it quite emotional to be honest.
Moribund the Burgermeister is a great opener for the debut Gabriel album; you can hear traces of his work with Genesis but the atmospheres and production value set it far enough away for it to signal a moving away from his past - which was the main point of him having a solo career. He avidly avoided forming a “keyboard centred” rock band and wanted to establish a sound of his own. He doesn’t fully achieve that with this album but he set himself off in a new more interesting and ultimately more rewarding path. Free of commitments to others (other than his wife and kids) he could indulge, explore, experiment and meander to his hearts content, until he found the stimulation he needed to write and record new music. I loved the live versions of this he played between 1977-80 (resurrected in 2007 to great effect) - in particular when he delivers the refrain - I will Find out - when he would deliver a menacing stare as he got into character.
To my ears PG1 is relatively unbalanced. He was trying to find a style for himself but it was not yet fully developed. Nevertheless it's an enjoyable listen to these ears. Highlights for me are Moribund, Flood, and Excuse me. There are bootlegs circulating ("Before the flood" and "Before before the flood") recorded before PG1 and also they are very uneven and all over the place. He really had no idea where to go musically.
Modern Love This is a great inclusion in this album. I personally like this song, and feel that it is a very cool rock song, and I think it is really cool that Gabriel took to the idea of making a pretty straight forward rock song to put on this album. In some ways this album reminds me of a Queen album whereby there is every style of music one could possibly place on an album, but due to the strength and character of the artist it all holds together well, It starts with a nice chordal riff and pounds along nicely. To some degree I think this song really works as a statement that says "hey guys, I am not going to be making Genesis albums". Frankly, why would he, Genesis were still making albums, and Gabriel very wisely found his own ground, and in some ways he was at the forefront of the New Wave movement. This is 1977 and we still had the punk movement making its impact and the New Wave movement wasn't really fully developed at this stage, but to a lesser extent this album, but certainly the next three were, to me, major artistic works in that movement ... Anyway, that's just my opinion. Oh, and enjoy the goofy video too
I agree, Modern Love is a good shake-things-up song (and I completely agree it's a "hey I'm not in Genesis anymore" statement). The lyrics are a bit dodgy, especially the forced rhyme of 'Incognito' with 'Magneto'! Good fun though, always raises a smile.
I found the Play DVD in Amsterdam last year for a steal - I loved it instantly! His videos are absolutely fantastic for the most part. And I agree on SW Live - goosebumps all the way through!
There was a Phil Collins interview in the mid/late 80's where he was challenged on Genesis' pop direction, the questions' implication being that he'd been the one responsible for dragging the other two more serious musicians along....he replied along the lines of "well, if you think you can get Tony Banks to do something he doesn't want to, you're mistaken".
Solsbury Hill is Gabriel’s first classic song to have graced his solo career and is a timeless song that is difficult to fault. The central message of the song is often linked to his decision to leave Genesis (as is DIY) but I think he was writing about leaving the industry altogether (with no plan B) which by Spring 1974 he was thoroughly fed up with. The stuff that went on in Wales after the birth of Anna just added to this feeling but the damage was done in the 12 months leading up to end of the US tour in March/May 1974. One funny anecdote is the Japanese lyric sheet that comes with Plays Live which for this song reckons one of the couplets is: “Today I don’t need no replacement - I tell them not to spy on my basement.”
"Modern Love" is founded on a good catchy guitar riff... I don't really find Peter's voice that well suited to loud rock tunes, though. He pretty much stopped writing that kind of song after 1980.
Nicely put Mark. Completely agree. One more thought on Solsbury Hill... does anyone else feel the song's power has been diminished by the live versions he has performed over the years? It became a "fun" song, almost like it was seen as an opportunity to have an upbeat number in the set. It lost much of it's emotional power for me. Wasn't this the one where they rode around on bicycles? That genuinely irritated me at one of those shows. Despite my whining it remains one of my favourite songs of all time.
yea the growing up concert has the bikes .... It didn't bother me too much, he is a showman when he is on stage these days/those days .... I guess it does somewhat reduce the spiritual aspect of it, but for me the song is too high quality to be truly spoiled.
