They were progressive rock's darlings of the 1970s with such epic songs that in concerts, people fought the urge of going to the bathroom so they can make it through. That's how long a Genesis song lasted.
They released such albums in the 1970s as "Nursery Cryme," "Foxtrot," "Selling England By The Pound" and the classic "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway." Such memorable tunes from each of those albums included the 10-minute opus "The Musical Box," "The Return Of The Giant Hogweed," "The Fountain Of Salmacis," "Get 'Em Out By Friday," "Watcher Of The Skies," "Firth Of Fifth," "Dancing With Moonlit Knight," "The Cinema Show," "The Battle Of Epping Forest," "In The Cage," and the 22-minute "Supper's Ready," which was broken down into seven parts.
Seven parts! It's a freakin' song ... not a drama!
Heck, the band's 1973 live album has only five songs! Why? Because every song is over eight minutes long!
Needless to say, the idea of "art rock" is to develop it like you're drawing the Mona Lisa or something similar. I'm telling you ... bathroom breaks!
In front of all this was one of the band's co-founders, lead singer Peter Gabriel who would stand in front of the microphone and sing those songs in some of the most outlandish outfits one ever laid eyes on at a concert, everything from face paint to a Trojan warrior to wearing a foxhead to costumes he called "The Flower" and "Magog." According to band members over the years, they didn't understand the thought process in Gabriel's head into some of the things he wore on stage.
But they were successful as prog-rockers, which meant in that era, anything went. In 1975, the band began to reach a more mainstream audience. They cut the songs they were performing down considerably to four and five minutes and "The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway" became the band's first gold album.
However, by then, Gabriel wanted to branch out. He left for a solo career in '75, leaving Genesis as a quartet with guitarists Mike Rutherford and Steve Hackett, keyboardist Tony Banks and drummer Phil Collins. When Gabriel left, so, too, left the voice of the band. They brought in a number of people to try and fill the large void left by the charismatic Gabriel, but in the end, the answer was there all along.
It was decided that Collins, who joined the band last in 1970, would be the new lead voice. And so the band carried on in 1976's "Trick Of The Tail," which continued the structured four- and five-minute song format of "Lamb" and also went gold. That was followed by another gold album, "Wind And Wuthering."
But by 1977, Hackett left to pursue other ventures.
And then there were three.
Literally and the creative name of the trio's next album in 1978. "And Then There Were Three" not only continued the rising success of this band, but it also gave Genesis their first Top 40 hit, "Follow You Follow Me."
Slowly, Genesis was working its way out of the prog-rock staple they became into pop artists and it was working -- "And Then There Were Three" became the band's first million-selling platinum album here. They cashed in on that success with platinum-selling albums "Duke," "Abacab," "Three Sides Live" and the self-titled "Genesis" that gave Phil, Mike and Tony their first Top 10 hit here in the late winter of 1984, "That's All!"
But that wasn't all. There'd be more.
And while the trio was working on their first album together in 2 1/2 years, Gabriel was becoming a solo star. There were those four "Peter Gabriel" albums between 1977-82. And when a record executive raised the idea that Gabriel was going to name his fifth album "Peter Gabriel" with a bit of concern in his voice in 1986, Gabriel reacted in only Gabriel fashion.
"So?"
Henceforth the album -- and title -- that would give Gabriel worldwide success. The first single from that album had debuted in the Top 40 on May 31, 1986, the funky and irreverent "Sledgehammer." While that song debuted at No. 39, right behind it at No. 40 was another debut hit called "When The Heart Rules The Mind" by a group called GTR. It didn't stand for anything else but the abbreviation of the word "guitar." Three of the band's members were guitarists -- bassist Phil Spalding and the two leaders of the group, Steve Howe, who made his fame with the group Yes, and Steve Hackett, who waited nine years for his first Top 40 hit after leaving Genesis.
So former Genesis members were in the Top 40 back to back. The only thing that was needed were Phil, Mike and Tony to make the Genesis reunion complete.
And so on June 7, 1986, GTR moved up five places from No. 40 to No. 35 and Gabriel jumped up seven places from No. 39 to No. 32. And debuting at No. 37 was "Invisible Touch," the long-awaited first hit and title cut from the newest album by -- Genesis!
The reunion was complete! But this wasn't a reunion that lasted one week or one night really. It lasted two months! GTR spent nine weeks in the Top 40 with "When The Heart Rules The Mind," peaking at No. 14, a modest debut hit single for Hackett and his new band.
The real story, though, was going on at the top of the chart by late July. "Invisible Touch" bum-rushed its way up the Top 40 and on the week of July 19, 1986, Tony, Mike and Phil woke up with the news that their single became the No. 1 song in America, a glorifying moment for Genesis -- even if by then they weren't the group that first made their name over a decade earlier making songs into seven- and eight-minute pieces of prog-rock art work.
But all they had to do was look behind them on the Top 40 chart that week to know what was to happen next. Gabriel was pulling up to the bumper at No. 2 and the very next week, Genesis' former lead singer displaced his old band at the top with "Sledgehammer." Like his old band, Gabriel was scoring the one and only No. 1 hit in his career.
The original five members of the group -- Collins, Rutherford, Banks, Hackett and Gabriel -- reunited in 1999 to re-record "The Carpet Crawlers" for a hits collection. But that's really been it with all five members of the band coming together. Genesis, which is currently on hiatus as a touring and recording band, was elected into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2010, though on the night of their induction, it was just the three main members -- Collins, Banks and Rutherford -- along with Hackett, who joined them for the celebration of all their music. However, there was no Gabriel because he was in rehearsal for a tour he was about to start and the quartet there did not even perform that night.
And in March 2011, Collins retired from the music business, though he's hemmed and hawed over doing a solo tour ... even working with Genesis. However, nothing has materialized, but the other band members have continually said, "Never say never." We shall see. In April 2014, Gabriel was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for his solo work and performed that night.
For now, we have the memories of their music, prog-rock and hit-making. And we have the memories of that two-month period in the late spring and summer of '86 when all five main members enjoyed their "reunion" in various forms in the Top 40 all at once.
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