{"id":559115,"date":"2026-07-25T15:58:23","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T15:58:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/559115\/"},"modified":"2026-07-25T15:58:23","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T15:58:23","slug":"phil-collins-first-show-as-genesis-frontman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/559115\/","title":{"rendered":"Phil Collins\u2019 first show as Genesis frontman"},"content":{"rendered":"

There was a lot riding on Genesis<\/a>\u2019 first show with Phil Collins<\/a> fronting the band in place of Peter Gabriel<\/a>. In 2012, 36 years later, the people involved looked back with Prog on the first time Collins took the stage as lead vocalist.<\/p>\n

After a stellar, record-breaking career, Phil Collins<\/a> still vividly remembers his first show as lead singer for Genesis<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Canada \u2013 \u201cbecause it was always strong for us\u201d \u2013 had been chosen as the location: London, Ontario first, then Kitchener. A thousand thoughts were rushing through his head on March 26, 1976. \u201cWhat do I wear? What do I do? I had big shoes to fill. I could sing, but could I talk? I had the goodwill of the audience, but not the security blanket of my drums. Once we\u2019d got a couple of songs out of the way, though, I felt: I can do this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Latest Videos From Louder<\/p>\n

Genesis fans were onside: they wanted the band to survive original vocalist Peter Gabriel\u2019s exit. Prematurely written off by the press as a backing band without a leader, they now had underdog appeal. \u201cA Trick Of The Tail <\/a>was a bright light,\u201d says Collins, \u201cand they preferred that we\u2019d made things work within ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mike Rutherford<\/a> recalls in the memoir Genesis: Chapter & Verse that in the first break between songs, \u201cI saw Phil go up front with a piece of paper in his hand, shaking, so nervous. But it worked great. Phil had experience from his [acting school] youth of being on stage: he was comfortable there, and the audience wanted to like him. As some of our songs were slightly distant, atmospheric, dark, Phil\u2019s more down-to-earth presence on stage counteracted the heavier parts of the set. He reduced the tension and allowed people to relax between the songs.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The 1976 tour then swept across the States before arriving in England in June and continuing through Europe. It was an unqualified success, with the band honing a set list that accommodated their new, more accessible material alongside highlights of the earlier, Peter Gabriel era. Yet it nearly hadn\u2019t happened \u2013 with Gabriel\u2019s departure, the remaining members had wondered if they had any future as a unit. How would they replace their charismatic frontman? Could they come up with songs? Where would they find a new singer? And if they did, would he be given a fair crack of the whip?<\/p>\n

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\"Genesis\"\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: (Image credit: Mondadori Portfolio \/ Getty Images))<\/p>\n

Most of the answers were, as decades of commercial triumph were to prove, closer to home than they initially realised. Collins, simultaneously playing with experimental outfit Brand X, at first assumed Genesis would carry on as an instrumental quartet. That notion, he laughs, lasted \u201cabout a day\u201d.<\/p>\n

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Tony Banks<\/a> and Rutherford pointed out that they were and had always been songwriters, and needed a singer. Many luckless souls auditioned before the band realised the perfect solution was right under their noses. Steve Hackett<\/a>, along with Yes<\/a> vocalist Jon Anderson<\/a>, went to Collins\u2019 first wedding and urged Collins to consider the role.<\/p>\n

Phil\u2019s vocal contribution to the 1975 Hackett solo album Voyage Of The Acolyte had been much admired by the guitarist. Collins says he\u2019s also \u201cread somewhere\u201d that his wife encouraged him to do it, \u201cwhich is quite possible\u201d. In the end, he says, he showed up at a rehearsal and said, \u201cWell, I guess I\u2019m going to have to do it. As long as I can find a drummer I like.\u201d Because of course by \u2018promoting\u2019 Collins to vocals, Genesis were, to some extent, sacrificing another asset: the fact that they had one of the world\u2019s best and most in-demand drummers.<\/p>\n

Collins\u2019 friend from Brand X, Bill Bruford<\/a>, formerly of Yes<\/a> and King Crimson<\/a>, came in to bridge the gap for this tour. With his pedigree, he was, to the fans, \u201cfriendly fire\u201d, reckons Collins. The new situation also lent Genesis the possibility of using two drummers at times.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhen they were playing together on The Cinema Show [from Selling England By The Pound<\/a>],\u201d Banks has said, \u201cthat became one of the strongest moments in the show.\u201d Hackett\u2019s memory of Bruford\u2019s impact is even more specific: \u201cBill was a star in his own right. He helped our confidence on stage no end. I even shaved off my moustache. At last I was without facial hair!\u201d<\/p>\n

The most radical change, though, was upfront, centre stage, on the microphone. Banks says he knew Phil had a lovely voice, but wasn\u2019t sure that he\u2019d \u201cwant\u201d to do it. At the time, he ponders, \u201cHe didn\u2019t seem to have\u2026 the gravitas.\u201d Yet as the auditions had revealed, he \u201csounded great\u201d and was the right, if not the most obvious, choice.<\/p>\n

Producer David Hentschel has said, \u201cPhil really half-nominated himself\u2026 the timbre of his voice was not dissimilar to Peter\u2019s\u2026 but there needed to be a push to convince the other guys.\u201d Collins, though, denies that he was \u201cambitious\u201d. \u201cI\u2019d got myself a nice little reputation as a drummer, and I was happy with that. This was the last thing on my mind. I had no affinity with the idea of walking out from behind the drums and becoming a band\u2019s singer: the guy who wiggled his bum, who people looked at. Over the years there have been people claiming I nudged Peter out. That\u2019s complete rubbish.\u201d<\/p>\n

Behind the scenes, the writing had been on the wall for the Gabriel-Genesis line-up for some time. Although Gabriel, Banks and Rutherford had grown up together at Charterhouse School and formed the band, their close friendship had become strained by the pressures and rigours of touring and recording.<\/p>\n

Gabriel, frustrated by the democratic band format, was embarking on parenthood and, after quitting, took some time out to \u201cgrow vegetables\u201d and recharge his batteries before getting his solo career motoring. During the recording of their 1974 double album The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway<\/a>, he\u2019d often be writing lyrics in one room while the others wrote music in another. \u201cSo,\u201d muses Collins now, \u201cyou can look back and see where the trip wires were.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gabriel had informed the band of his decision before The Lamb\u2026 was finished and just before the subsequent exhaustive tour, on which the band played this lengthy concept album, as yet unreleased, in full, to often bewildered audiences blasted with innovative lighting and laser stabs.<\/p>\n

He honoured his commitments, and Hackett recalled that, \u201cmore and more shows were put in because nobody wanted to say goodbye to him. Nobody\u2019s departure from a band is without rancour, but it was as gentlemanly as it could be.\u201d Banks hints that there was some begrudging of the press-led notion that Gabriel was the main man and the others just his backing band fleshing out his ideas.<\/p>\n

Perhaps Gabriel at first had more faith in the others\u2019 ability to succeed than they did. \u201cIt was difficult,\u201d he said in Genesis: Chapter & Verse, \u201cbecause they didn\u2019t understand why I\u2019d want to go when we were about to achieve something we\u2019d worked so hard for. They perhaps felt I was sabotaging what was possibly their one big chance. I believe to this day that I had much more confidence in the band\u2019s ability to transcend my departure than they did themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\"Genesis\"\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Jim Fisk)<\/p>\n

Collins remembers exactly where he was when Gabriel told him he was leaving. \u201cI was in his hotel room in Manchester. I love Peter dearly, but I just assumed we\u2019d carry on. Then as I\u2019d been Peter\u2019s stooge onstage, singing all the back-up vocals and more, the job of teaching the songs to the guys coming in to audition fell to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rutherford, Banks, Collins and Hackett were delighted with the new material they\u2019d come up with for A Trick Of The Tail, the likes of Squonk, Dance On A Volcano, Ripples\u2026 and Entangled convincing them they\u2019d been right to carry on. Squonk played a major part in deciding the course of the transition.<\/p>\n

None of the singers auditioning had hit a home run, but one was in pole position. They got him in to record Squonk, but the key was too high and the results disappointing. Collins chuckles, with hindsight, that the band never took the courtesy of asking the singer what key suited him, adding that they never gave him that courtesy either in later years: \u201cI had to make do,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

So, having been pencilled in to perhaps sing one or two of the softer songs, Collins sang Squonk (inspired by the drum sound on Led Zeppelin<\/a>\u2019s Kashmir), confirming that he could handle tougher, heavier tracks too. The album was completed, everyone was getting along famously, and somehow, more by accident than design, Phil was the new Genesis singer. The tour that could have been an epitaph became a celebration, and the dawn of a new phase in the band\u2019s remarkable career.<\/p>\n

Of course, had A Trick Of The Tail tanked, the reinvention would have fallen flat. \u201cBut the album came out and it was a sudden turnaround,\u201d says Rutherford. \u201cWe\u2019d been dismissed: \u2018Gabriel leaves, it\u2019s all over\u2019. Then it came out and people liked it and the reviews were very good.\u201d Banks emphasises that the reception for The Lamb\u2026 had been, for all its subsequent acclaim, \u201cvery mixed. The fans weren\u2019t ecstatic about it in the way they were about Foxtrot or Selling England\u2026. So this gave Trick\u2026 a chance: people who found Peter a bit difficult perhaps preferred it being a little less dense.\u201d<\/p>\n

Released in February 1976, it went top three in the UK (and hung around, voted album of the year by the readers of Melody Maker), and went gold in the States. According to Banks, it doubled the band\u2019s previous album sales, and helped to solve another issue: at the time of Gabriel\u2019s leaving, Genesis were almost half a million dollars in debt.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Genesis\"\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Gabriel was happy for his former colleagues. \u201cThat assuaged any guilt I might have felt,\u201d he\u2019s said. \u201cClearly they were off and away after a wobbly period. When I\u2019d been the centre of the band everyone assumed that like Pete Townshend in The Who I\u2019d been the main writer of everything, whereas I\u2019d been just one of the main writers. When the band had more success without me, I suddenly felt that people were re-evaluating the old work, thinking, \u2018Oh, maybe Peter was just the guy who wore the masks\u2019, and that did piss me off! When I did write seriously agaim, I tried to come up with songs that sounded as different from Genesis as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

There were no masks for Collins, who didn\u2019t try to compete with Gabriel\u2019s on-stage theatricality, simply playing up his unpretentious guy-next-door persona. \u201cNot a conscious decision,\u201d he says now. \u201cI just didn\u2019t feel I could pull off the things Peter did. I said: \u2018Okay, I\u2019ll give it a go, but don\u2019t expect me to wear all those costumes!\u2019\u201d So he \u201cjust stood there and sang\u201d, afraid even to take the microphone off its stand at first. \u201cTaking the microphone off its stand was what \u2018singers\u2019 did, I wasn\u2019t ready for that yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet as that night in Canada and many future nights (even during and after his phenomenal solo success) testified, he had a connection with Genesis\u2019 music and fans that was invaluable. \u201cHe was quite a character, but to the audience he was one of us, and, therefore, one of them,\u201d says Mike Rutherford now. \u201cWe knew after half an hour that night in Canada \u2013 this is going to work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Genesis – Toronto March 31 1976 8mm – YouTube
\n\"Genesis<\/p>\n

Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n

Eyewitness report by Jim Fisk<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a once-in-a-lifetime event!\u201d says the then-teenage snapper of the very first show with Phil as singer in London, Ontario.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe London Arena [since demolished] could hold a few thousand at the most and is more used to roller-skates than rockers. Before the show, I wandered in with my Dark Side Of The Moon<\/a> stickered briefcase (was I a roadie?) and watched the band set up. Everyone was ejected for the sound check. Come show time we dashed up to third-ish row on the hard concrete floor.<\/p>\n

“When the lights dimmed, the place, small as it is, was packed. Phil perhaps a little tentative at first, but the crowd responds and so does Phil. Bill Bruford, in his Boston Bruins T-Shirt was Mr Perfection, as usual. I\u2019d missed the Lamb\u2026 tour in Toronto for a physics exam (poor choice) and my buds were concerned Phil couldn\u2019t cut it. He cut it good. Robbery, Assault And Battery and Phil is dressed the part. \u201cA Flower?\u201d he says as the huge green and yellow tulip explodes into view.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019m snapping pictures and I\u2019d swear Phil and Mike are posing for me. Over 35 years later, and as I look at them now they still amaze me. Mike\u2019s double-necking is masterful. But the Phil and Bill percussion duel was incredible. Speed, technical excellence, and musical too. Tony perched on the edge of the small stage, quiet, just doing his job and doing it well. Steve, all in white, soars to heights unreachable by mortal man. In the small hall, the sound seemed to wrap around us. Bass pedals grabbed my guts and shook them like there\u2019s no tomorrow.<\/p>\n

“Encore? Encore! Sure, I regret like hell not seeing Gabriel do Lamb\u2026 (although he did a bit in his first solo tour), but when the house lights came up I knew we\u2019d witnessed a once-in-a-lifetime event.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There was a lot riding on Genesis\u2019 first show with Phil Collins fronting the band in place of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":559116,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[458,146,85,46],"class_list":["post-559115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/559115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=559115"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/559115\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/559116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=559115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=559115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=559115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}