Sunday, August 17, 2008

Genesis: I Know What I Like in Your Wardrobe



OK so the first minute and a half are silly and pretentious, and the ending is not much better. But in between there is a great song.

And, yes, the long-haired drummer is Phil Collins.

Back in 1974 I was aged 14, and in those days Market Harborough was a town with no branch of W. H. Smith's, let alone a bookshop. Most of my culture came from the charts, but this was the era of glam rock and, though I followed those charts closely, I sensed even then that most of it was crap.

Suddenly there was a single that was different. "I Know What I Like in Your Wardrobe" told me that music could mean more than that.

Over the years, as Peter Gabriel left and Collins became the dominant influence, Genesis degenerated into a middle of the road band. (There is also an interesting social drama in there somewhere: Collins was originally the little man from the village who came to drum for his three Charterhouse-educated bandmates.)

But in their days of playing what Steve Winwood calls "twisted mushroom pixie rock", they really were something special.

2 comments:

  1. My mum has been a HUGE Peter Gabriel fan all my life, so his stuff and early Genesis remind me of being in the back of her car when I was a kid, and makes me smile. I really like Supper's Ready, which is probably even sillier and more pretentious.

    Oof, sorry if that makes you feel old, just realised it might. If it helps any, I was the product of a teenage pregnancy!!

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  2. Oh yes Steph! Love that early stuff:

    "If you go down to Willow Farm
    To look for butterflies, flutterbyes, gutterflies..."

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