The Tri-Lite

Issue date: 4/2/09 Section: Entertainment

Media Credit: Julie Ivers

In the beginning, rock 'n roll music was very simple. Usually, songs were about love with catchy hooks that made people want to dance and clap along. In the 1960s, music began to change with classically trained musicians investigating rock 'n roll. Artists such as Pink Floyd and Yes began to make music that employed more complex music and concepts creating progressive or art rock. As Dennis Hopper so eloquently put it in his narration of "The Seven Ages of Rock": "With art rock, rock 'n roll was no longer boy meets girl, but boy meets ideas." Of all the progressive bands, Genesis stands as one of the most unique and inspiring bands of all time.

In 1970, after several line-up changes and two previous albums, the band would form their classic line-up with Peter Gabriel on vocals, Tony Banks on keyboards, Steve Hackett on guitar, Mike Rutherford on bass, and Phil Collins on drums. Peter Gabriel was the main songwriter and many of his lyrics came from dreams he had. For instance, the song "Supper's Ready" off the "Foxtrot" album was a 23-minute song that Gabriel described as a personal journey that ends up walking through scenes from the Book of Revelation in the Bible. While Genesis was known for their music, it was their stage presence that garnered them a lot of attention.

The band would normally perform in front of a white backdrop with black lights employed that made the band appear as silhouettes on stage. However, the mood in the theater was no match for the on stage presence of Peter Gabriel. The band needed to have an image and they all considered themselves very boring to look at. The story goes that one night the band was out on stage and, as soon as they counted in the first song, a man stepped out on stage wearing a red dress and a wolf mask. The band had thought it was some fan until they realized it was Peter Gabriel in the costume. From then on, Gabriel wore costumes on stage to visualize the theme of the song the band was playing. One famous costume was called "Batwings," which consisted of Gabriel wearing batwings on his head, a huge cape, ultraviolet face paint around his eyes, and ultraviolet gloves for the song "Watcher of the Skies." Along with visually representing the themes of songs, Gabriel's costumes were also meant to garner attention from the press. The costumes did not come without a price as a rift started in the band. Gabriel was getting all of the attention and was thought to be the only creative force in the band. Also, the costumes were getting so elaborate that it almost became impossible to sing. Gabriel departed from the band in 1975 on good terms and pursued a solo career. Steve Hackett left the band in 1977, and now it was just three: Phil Collins, Tony Banks, and Mike Rutherford.

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