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

June 29, 2021 / Amanda Rodgers

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“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

Discord & Rhyme Roll Call

Amanda Rodgers (moderator)
Mike DeFabio
Phil Maddox
John McFerrin
Jeff Blehar (special guest)

A Trick of the Tail tracklist

Dance on a Volcano
Entangled
Squonk
Mad Man Moon
Robbery, Assault and Battery
Ripples…
A Trick of the Tail
Los Endos

Invisible Touch tracklist

Invisible Touch
Tonight, Tonight, Tonight
Land of Confusion
In Too Deep
Anything She Does
Domino
Throwing it All Away
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.

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tags / Mike DeFabio, Phil Maddox, John McFerrin, Amanda Rodgers, Jeff Blehar