GENESIS
In July 1970, a callow 19-year-old, who had a brief career as a
child actor in TV commercials and used to help out at the Marquee
Club after school, answered an advertisement for a drummer in Melody
Maker.
The audition went well and Phil Collins was suddenly a member
of Genesis (with two Charterhouse public school boys, Peter
Gabriel and Tony Banks).
The Nursery Cryme album featured Collins singing lead
vocals on one track, while their accompanying live shows attracted
much attention thanks to Peter Gabriel's elaborate masks and
on-stage props - and the group's perpetual retuning of
instruments.
After years of building a solid live following, their fourth LP
Foxtrot was to provide their first UK chart success,
while their first taste of the charts in the USA did not come
until 1974 when Selling England By The Pound reached
Number 70 in the States.
Peter Gabriel quit the band at the end of the 'Lamb Lies Down
On Broadway' tour in 1975 for "personal reasons". After
an unsuccessful 18 month search for a replacement vocalist (during
which the band auditioned more than 400 singers), drummer Phil
Collins took over vocal duties for the Trick of the Tail
album. Not bad for a Londoner who lost his job as the Artful
Dodger in the 60's stage production of Oliver because his
voice broke.
Ex-King Crimson drummer Bill Bruford joined the band in 1976 to
allow Collins to come out from behind the drum kit to fulfil his
new duties on tour. Steve Hackett departed in 1977 and the rest of
the band opted to continue as a trio.
The Duke album (1980) topped the UK charts and
provided Genesis with their first ever British Number One.
1981 saw a pair of album releases - The new Genesis album, Abacab,
in September and Face Value, the debut solo album from
Phil Collins. It didn't look too hopeful on paper - An ageing
drummer who'd spent the previous 11 years in a Prog Rock band, and
whose past experience included a role in a stage production of
Humpty Dumpty, a tour of duty promoting Smith's Crisps around
Britain (which involved demonstrating a dance called 'Do The
Crunch'), and a job as an extra in The Beatles' film A Hard
Days Night - releasing a solo album inspired by the
acrimonious break up of his marriage.
But Face Value went straight to Number One in the UK
charts. By the summer, Collins had accumulated three UK hit
singles. Meanwhile, Abacab spent two weeks at Number One
in the UK, giving the band three hit singles as well as their
first ever US Top 10 hit.
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