Discord & Rhyme: An Album Podcast

Discord and Rhyme is a podcast where we discuss the albums we love, song by song.

075: Genesis - A Trick of the Tail (1976) and Invisible Touch (1986)

“There’s an awful lot of people out there who like us, it’s just a matter of finding them.”

Tony Banks

What kind of band was Genesis - strange, artsy prog-rock masters, or catchy, commercial pop stars? In this very special episode of Discord and Rhyme, we’re here to make the case that they did both equally well - and not only that, but the presence or absence of Peter Gabriel was not the main influence on their sound. They never truly lost their prog sensibilities, but they did get better at balancing them with more commercial and accessible sounds. After you get through all three hours of our third double feature, you will be the person at the party who says, “WELL, ACTUALLY” when someone tries to tell you that post-Gabriel Genesis is bad. 

Miscellany

  • John didn’t have an opening to mention this in the episode, but to get a sense of the deep-rooted Genesis obsession in this podcast, John met Rich and Mike in person for the first time back in 2002 when they picked him up at the airport, and within about 20 minutes, they were on the BART doing an a capella approximation of “Dodo.”

  • The book Genesis Chapter & Verse that John mentioned (an oral history of the band constructed from interviews with its various members) is indeed excellent, but as of recording it has been out-of-print for a very long time, so if you find it consider yourself lucky.

  • The creature described in “Squonk” was first described in written form in the 1910 book Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwood, written by William Thomas Cox.

  • Speaking of “Squonk,” the line that we thought was “shoo be doo” is actually “wouldn’t you be, too?”

  • Kim Poor did quite a few paintings related to Genesis, including the one that inspired the lyrics of “Entangled,” and they’re all lovely. 

  • Regarding the connection between “It’s Yourself” and “Los Endos,” the fan theory Mike ran across was that “It’s Yourself” was originally meant to segue into “Mad Man Moon,” since the original unedited version ends with the same five notes that “Mad Man Moon” begins with. But “Los Endos” does sound like we’re joining something already in progress, so who knows.

  • Mike also discovered, after the recording took place, that “The Last Domino” was directly inspired by Hawkwind. He’s not sure how to connect the dots from Space Ritual to that ridiculous creation, but he thinks that’s pretty great all the same.

  • A funny detail in the “Land of Confusion” video that we didn’t mention is that Ronald Reagan is going to bed at 4:00 PM.  

  • Popular wisdom says that Phil Collins was the one who forced the band in a pop direction, but in addition to all the evidence we presented in the episode, let us not forget that one of the other band members was the namesake of Mike + the Mechanics.

  • In Amanda’s defense, she never said “Here Comes the Weekend” IS better than “Isn’t Life Strange,” she just LIKES it better. There is a difference.

Music Videos

Other links 

Discord & Rhyme Roll Call 

  • Amanda Rodgers (moderator)

  • Mike DeFabio

  • Phil Maddox

  • John McFerrin

  • Jeff Blehar (special guest) 

A Trick of the Tail tracklist 

  1. Dance on a Volcano

  2. Entangled

  3. Squonk

  4. Mad Man Moon

  5. Robbery, Assault and Battery

  6. Ripples…

  7. A Trick of the Tail

  8. Los Endos

Invisible Touch tracklist

  1. Invisible Touch

  2. Tonight, Tonight, Tonight

  3. Land of Confusion

  4. In Too Deep

  5. Anything She Does

  6. Domino

  7. Throwing it All Away

  8. The Brazilian 

Other clips used 

Genesis:

  • it.

  • Driving the Last Spike

  • In the Beginning

  • The Knife

  • The Musical Box

  • The Return of the Giant Hogweed

  • Supper’s Ready

  • Dancing With the Moonlit Knight

  • The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway

  • Follow You Follow Me

  • Squonk (Live at the Lyceum Theatre, 1980)

  • The Battle of Epping Forest

  • Who Dunnit?

  • Ripples (Live at the Lyceum Theatre, 1980)

  • Throwing It All Away (Live at the LA Forum, 1986)

  • It's Yourself/Los Endos

  • Watcher of the Skies

  • Dodo/Lurker

  • Turn It On Again

  • Do the Neurotic 

Others:

  • Peter Gabriel - Solsbury Hill

  • Steve Hackett - Every Day

  • Eric B. & Rakim - As the Rhyme Goes On (Radio Mix)

  • Disturbed - Land of Confusion

  • RJD2 - A Beautiful Mine

  • The Moody Blues - Here Comes the Weekend

  • Kate Bush - There Goes a Tenner

  • Duran Duran - Tel Aviv

  • Steve Hackett - Star of Sirius

  • Steve Hackett - Ripples

  • Steve Hackett - Invisible Touch (Live in Glasgow, 2014)

Band/album personnel 

A Trick of the Tail

  • Steve Hackett – electric guitar, 12-string guitars

  • Mike Rutherford – 12-string guitar, bass, bass pedals

  • Tony Banks – pianos, synthesizers, Hammond organ, Mellotron, 12-string guitar, backing vocals

  • Phil Collins – drums, percussion, lead and backing vocals

Invisible Touch

  • Tony Banks – Sequential Circuits Prophet 10, Yamaha CP-70 electric grand piano, NED Synclavier (ORK version), E-mu Emulator II, ARP Quadra, Yamaha DX7, Yamaha TX816, Bass Synthesizer

  • Phil Collins – Lead vocals, backing vocals, drums, Simmons electronic drums, percussion, drum machine

  • Mike Rutherford – Shergold double-neck guitars, bass guitars, Taurus Moog Bass Pedals

 Credits 

“Discord & Rhyme (theme),” composed by the Other Leading Brand, contains elements of: 

  • Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf

  • Amon Düül II - Dehypnotized Toothpaste

  • The Dukes of Stratosphear - What in the World?? ...

  • Faith No More - Midlife Crisis

  • Herbie Hancock - Hornets

  • Kraftwerk - Autobahn

  • Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen

  • Genesis - Squonk (this episode only) 

You can buy or stream A Trick of the Tail, Invisible Touch, and other albums by Genesis at genesis-music.com, your local record store, or the usual suspects such as Spotify, iTunes, YouTube, and Amazon. Follow Discord & Rhyme on Twitter @DiscordPod for news, updates, and other random stuff. Editing is by Rich, and special thanks to our own Mike DeFabio, the Other Leading Brand, for production and original music. See you next album, and be ever wonderful.

This website and all episodes' discussion/commentary © 2018—2024 Discord & Rhyme. Excerpts from recordings appearing in episodes are included for purposes of review only, and all rights to such material remain property of their copyright holders. Please note that we make a good-faith effort to ensure all information included in these episodes is accurate, but if we get something wrong, let us know at discordpod@gmail.com and we will print a correction in the show notes. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Website design by Amanda Rodgers. Thank you for visiting, and keep as cool as you can.

Powered by Squarespace