Abbreviations | Non-Album Tracks | Songs Never Played Live | Songs Rarely Played Live | Songs Most Often Played Live | Medleys | Pete-Era Songs Played by Phil-Era Band | Mystery List | Band Formations Through the Ages | Set Lists Through the Ages

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The official Genesis site used to have an extensive FAQ section which actually managed to make some of the information I provide below quite redundant. Their FAQ was heavily researched and revised by a plethora of die hard fans. (In the present form of the web site this FAQ no longer appears to exist.) I think it's fairly impressive (he said modestly) that in the places where we intersect, our information matches perfectly (I am, after all, only one man, who independently researched and wrote these lists).


Commonly Used Abbreviations

On the discussion forums and in other internet communications, there are plenty of abbreviations, because people don't want to have to type long phrases repeatedly. Album names, song titles and simple phrases get turned into acronyms. Usually they're quite easy to figure out from context, but occasionally I've come across ones that really stumped me for a while, and I thought it might be nice to have a list of them. I've put together the common album abbreviations, some song abbreviations, and some normal phrase abbreviations that aren't really Genesis-related, but get used often on the internet in general. The albums that already had short names were never abbreviated, so I didn't include them here. I've also added a short list of some of the more obscure references I make on some of the pages of this web site.

 

Album Title=AKA
From Genesis to Revelation=FGtR
Nursery Cryme=NC
Selling England by the Pound=SEbtP
The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway=tLLDoB, the Lamb
A Trick of the Tail=aTotT, TotT
Wind and Wuthering=WW, W&W, W+W
...And Then There Were Three...=ATTWT, ATTW3
Genesis=Eponymous album, Mama album, Mama, Pieces album
Invisible Touch=IT
We Can't Dance=WCD
Calling All Stations=CAS

Song Title=AKA
(these are just a few examples; the song title abbreviations are pretty obviously just acronyms using the first letter of each word)
Dancing With the Moonlit Knight=DWtMK
Firth of Fifth=FoF
I Know What I Like=IKWIL
Supper's Ready=SR
Tonight, Tonight, Tonight=TonightX3, Tx3

Band Member Names are often abbreviated as well, but they're just the initials: Tony Banks is TB, Peter Gabriel is PG, Phil is PC, Mike MR, Steve SH, etc.

Common Phrase=AKA
Laugh out loud=LOL
People=ppl
In my opinion or In my humble opinion=
IMO or IMHO
Talk to you later=TTYL
By the way=BTW
Genesis Webmaster=GW
Fan of Genesis=FOG
Laughed My Ass Off=LMAO
As Far As I Know=AFAIK
King Biscuit Flower Hour=KBFH
(KBFH was a popular American radio show on which Genesis concerts were often featured)
The Way We Walk DVD=WWW DVD

BURP=Bataitis Ultimate Remastering Project (Remaster group headed by Mark Bataitis--various other remastering projects are off-shoots of this one, including BURP II, SR (Squonk's Revival) and GRU)

 

Other Obscure References
Often in the course of this web site I refer to my sources of information merely as "Hewitt," "McMahan," "the a-z site," or "Simon."

Alan Hewitt is the author of a wonderful book about Genesis (Opening the Musical Box) which has lots of great information that I refer to. He is also the editor of The Waiting Room online magazine, interviewee on the Songbook DVD, Anthony Phillips historian/fan club manager, and general Genesis Freak.

McMahan is Scott McMahan, compiler and editor of the Genesis Discography, or (as I sometimes think of it) Genesis Bible. He is no longer an active part of the Genesis scene, but his document remains a priceless source of Genesis info/trivia.

The A-Z site was a site by Martin Dean (sadly, now gone) that detailed every song ever written/recorded/performed by Genesis, as well as solo member stuff. It also had a very nice discography and various other well-researched information about all things Genesis.

Simon is Simon Funnell, maintainer of The Movement, which is the closest thing that we will probably ever see to a definitive listing of all extant Genesis live recordings.

More info about all of these people/sources is available on my Links and Sources pages. I used all of them mercilessly in the process of composing these lists and am forever indebted to them for anything in here that may prove to have merit.

It would also be quite wrong not to mention Armando Gallo, who also gets referenced in this site. Armando is an early fan of the band who wrote multiple books about them and was a dedicated photographer of the band especially while Pete was lead singer. His books are currently only available by emailing him personally and paying a large amount of money. His information about the early times of the band is invaluable.

 

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Non-Album Tracks

There is a list like this in Scott McMahan's discography, but mine is a bit different and includes a bit more songs (and more information in certain areas). I've put this information together using McMahan's file, Hewitt's book, Genesis a-z web site, the official web site, and one or two other web sites--and also with the help of some kindly fans. I've broken it up into different sections:

1 B-sides. This is more a euphemism than an accurate term, since a few of the tracks are the a-sides of singles or tracks from EPs that never got onto an album; basically these are songs that were officially released, but not on an LP. Entries are listed chronologically and broken up by album session. The release dates for the singles are all the dates of their initial release and do not include any subsequent re-releases that may have occurred; the dates are taken almost entirely from Hewitt, and are backed up by McMahan--the only questionable ones are "Happy the Man" and "Twilight Alehouse," which seem to wickedly elude being consistently dated.

2 Demos/Live/Etc. Also listed as chronologically as I could. Songs written and performed by the band which were not officially released. These are surprisingly numerous and required a lot of explanation, so I provided two lists, one a summary of all the song titles and the next a more detailed run-through.

What I defined as "Non-Album Tracks" are any tracks recorded (sometimes not even that much!) or credited to Genesis (live or studio or seen on a session track list) that did not appear on their 15 official studio releases or five live releases. One bunch of exceptions are the b-side tracks included on the fourth side of the original US release of Three Sides Live, which I put on this list because they were originally b-sides and because this version of Three Sides Live is no longer in print and is not really officially available anymore. Another couple of pseudo-exceptions are the first few b-sides in the list, as they are actually featured on most re-issue CD versions of FGTR. I include them here because they were not released on the original official LP release of the album, and were initially b-sides or simply non-album tracks. I'm ignoring the fact that many of the tracks in both categories have been released on the archive box sets--that still doesn't make them "album tracks" in my book. (Two "b-sides" that didn't make the archive cut, though they were eventually released on the bonus disc included in the 1976-1982 box set: "Match of the Day" and "Me and Virgil.")

What I did not include on the list were single edits or extended versions or remixes of songs that appeared on official albums. Thus you won't see the "sex mix" of "We Can't Dance" or the extended version of "Mama" on here. I did not include working titles for album tracks, as those titles do not represent alternate versions of those songs but are only casual names given to album tracks as they evolved into real songs. (That having been said, there are a few formative or alternate versions of album tracks that did get into the Demos/Live/Etc. list, since I felt they were different enough from the originals.) I did not include medleys as they always consisted of album tracks put together, and because I have a separate list of them further down. I also did not include covers by Genesis of songs by other bands (although they've done a few--Rolling Stones songs in their formative days, some very few songs from solo members, and various classic rock songs in the "Turn It on Again" medley and elsewhere), only original Genesis tunes.

Finally, a warning: BEWARE THE FALSE TITLES. Professional bootleggers are not always dedicated Genesis fans, and quite often song titles on bootlegs will be incorrect. (Vulcano?!) Often you might be looking at a bootleg track list, thinking "Wow! I've never heard of that song before, but it says it's by Genesis! I've found a NEW Genesis song! Sweet Georgia Brown!" when in fact what you're looking at is just a horribly mistitled version of "Behind the Lines." So be careful! Odds are if the title is not on this list, the song is either not by Genesis (for instance, early Anthony Phillips demos have been tacked onto bootleg compilations of Genesis outtakes: "The Reaper," "Master of Time") or is a song you know that's been mistitled (people very unfamiliar with the band will name songs by their chorus, and I have sometimes seen "Dancing With the Moonlit Knight" called "Selling England by the Pound").

One particular example that we should all keep in mind is Mary, Mary, which is actually a song on a well known bootleg called Happy the Man. It's not a mistitled track, and it is by Genesis--just not the right Genesis. There was another Genesis hanging around in the late 60s in the US; they were the reason the first album made by Banks and company didn't have the band's name on the cover, and thus got filed in with the religious albums. And this other Genesis did a song called "Mary, Mary," which then got accidentally filed with the other tracks on Happy the Man. (Adding to the confusion is the fact that the band Anon, featuring members who would eventually become part of Genesis, covered a Stones song called "Mercy Mercy," which you'll see is a very similar title! And to make it even more confusing, I have also heard info stating that the "Mary, Mary" on the Happy the Man bootleg is NOT the same version as that recorded by the other Genesis!!)

Anyways, with that all out of the way, here (finally) is the list:


B-Sides

From Genesis to Revelation sessions
That's Me (written/recorded 1967, released February 1968 w/The Silent Sun)
A Winter's Tale (released May 1968 as a-side; b-side is below)
One-Eyed Hound

(These were a couple of songs left over from the very early days of the band which were regularly played live but for one reason or another never got released officially until later in the band's history)
Twilight Alehouse (March 1973 one-track flexidisc promotion with Zig Zag magazine, then b-side to I Know What I Like, October 1973 (these dates are different for every single source I've looked at, and I just had to settle for the most plausible ones); given set list evidence, this song might have been around in written form as early as October of 1969)
Happy the Man (May 1972 a-side b/w Seven Stones; so technically not a b-side)

A Trick of the Tail sessions
It's Yourself (recorded 1975, released February 1977 w/Your Own Special Way; in an earlier form it was known as Beloved Summer and had an additional verse of lyric)

Wind and Wuthering sessions (released on the Spot the Pigeon EP, May 1977)
Match of the Day
Pigeons
Inside and Out

...And Then There Were Three... sessions (released June 1978, w/Many Too Many)
The Day the Light Went Out
Vancouver

Duke sessions (also appeared on Three Sides Live (US))
Open Door (May 1980, w/Duchess)
Evidence of Autumn (August 1980, w/Misunderstanding)

Abacab sessions
Naminanu (October 1981, w/Keep It Dark)
Submarine (March 1982, w/Man on the Corner)

Abacab sessions (released on the 3 x 3 EP, May 1982, and later on Three Sides Live (US), June 1982)
Paperlate
You Might Recall
Me and Virgil

Invisible Touch sessions
I'd Rather be You (August 1986 or possibly earlier that year, w/In Too Deep)
Do the Neurotic (August 1986, w/In Too Deep)
Feeding the Fire (November 1986, w/Land of Confusion)

We Can't Dance sessions
On the Shoreline (1991, w/I Can't Dance)
Hearts on Fire (August 1992, w/Jesus He Knows Me)

Calling All Stations sessions
Papa He Said (August 1997, w/Congo; as is the next one)
Banjo Man
Phret (1997?, w/Shipwrecked; as is next)
7/8
Anything Now (February 1998, w/Not About Us; as are the rest)
Sign Your Life Away
Run Out of Time

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Demos, Live, Etc.

Summary List:
Early Demo Tape Songs
Patricia
Pennsylvania Flickhouse
Don't Want You Back
She is Beautiful
Try a Little Sadness
Listen on Five
Image Blown Out
Barnaby's Adventure
Fourteen Years Too Long
Hair on the Arms and Legs
Hidden in the World of Dawn
Lost in a Drawer
The Mystery of the Flannan Isle Lighthouse
Sea Bee (AKA: CB)
From Shapes to Shadows
From the Bottom of a Well
Hey!
I'm Here!
2:30 Park Time or 2:30 Pinktime (AM PM)
There Was a Movement
Everywhere is Here
The Magic of Time
Build Me a Mountain
Humanity
You Got to be Perfect

Early Live Songs, etc. (1969-1970)
Babies
Little Leaf
Chobham Chords
Digby of the Rambling Lake
Masochistic Man
Key to Love
Going Out to Get You
Let Us Now Make Love
Pacidy
Stranger
Grandma
Jamaica(n) Longboat
Classic
Eastern Magic Boogie
Epic
Think Again
Wandering
Wooden Mask
Waterlily
The Shepherd
Winter Flies By
In the Meanwhile
Silver Song
Moss (AKA The Epilogue)

Genesis Plays Jackson (1970)
Provocation
Frustration
Manipulation
Resignation

Alternate/Early Versions
F# 1
Family
Nice
The Light
I've Been Travelling All Night Long/Rock My Baby/Bye-Bye Johnny
The Movement

Titles Only
Rainbows of Gaia
Shimmers

Nowhere Else to Turn


Detailed List:
Songs labeled (A) were included in some form on the first box set. Songs labeled (B) I have on bootleg--click on the B to go directly to an entry in my Live Recordings section featuring the corresponding song. Any song with neither letter after it is, as far as I know, not extant in recorded form except on the original demo tape (which may or may not still exist). Some very old Genesis tunes have become available on Anthony Phillips solo releases; "F#" is one example, and there are one or two others like that, which I noted in the list.


The first tape (April 1966)
Patricia (A)
Pennsylvania Flickhouse
Don't Want You Back
[This, according to Hewitt and confirmed by other sources, is a partial track listing for the first tape ever recorded by members of what would eventually become Genesis (actually the band Anon, whose only member that would eventually join Genesis at that time was Anthony Phillips--Mick Colman was filling in for Mike Rutherford, who was temporarily banned from playing guitar). These songs (in addition to at least one Stones cover) were recorded by friend Brian Roberts in a makeshift studio above two garages. The second two songs would later be re-recorded at the band's first professional recording at Tony Pike Sound--there, Mike Rutherford replaced Mick Colman on guitar. All of these songs except "Pennsylvania Flickhouse" were also included on the first demo tape given to Johnathan King, so it's pretty much fair to call them Genesis songs, even though in April of '66 they were still Anon songs. Gallo calls "Don't Want You Back" "Don't Wash Your Back," but I think I put more faith in Hewitt, as a lot of his information seems to come straight from interviews with band members. Genesis a-z puts "Don't Wash Your Back" as an alternate title. "Patricia" is an instrumental version of what would eventually become "In Hiding" on the first album; Gallo says it was written by Ant when he was thirteen years old.]

The first demo tape for Johnathan King (Easter 1967)
She is Beautiful (A)
Try a Little Sadness (A)
Listen on Five
[This is not the entire track listing for the first demo tape, just the ones that I haven't mentioned yet. None of these demo tape track lists are complete--I did not mention any songs recorded that would end up as officially released b-sides or on a studio album, as I am trying to stick just to songs which have never been officially released (not counting their appearance on the box sets). "She is Beautiful" is technically just an early version of "The Serpent," but the lyrics and the vocals are so different that I consider it a different song.]

The second demo tape for Johnathan King (Summer 1967)
Image Blown Out (A)

The third demo tape for Johnathan King (Autumn 1967 or early 1968)
Barnaby's Adventure
Fourteen Years Too Long
Hair on the Arms and Legs (A)
Hidden in the World of Dawn (A)
Lost in a Drawer
The Mystery of the Flannan Isle Lighthouse (A) (there's some conflict over the spelling of "Flannan," as some sites have it as "Flannel," but since the archive says "Flannan" and you can also see an image of a demo tape track list with it spelled that way, I'm going with that)
Sea Bee (AKA: CB) (A)
From Shapes to Shadows (this song appears on a copy of the third demo tape's track list. Much thanks go to José Carlos Maltez for pointing out to me the existence of the track list image on the official web site)

Other songs from 1967
From the Bottom of a Well
[From the Bottom... was a planned b-side for "Where the Sour Turns to Sweet," but was never released; recorded in August 67.]

Demo session, 13 March 1968
Hey! (A)
I'm Here! (just a title on a session sheet; may be an early version of some other song)
2:30 Park Time or 2:30 Pinktime (AM PM) (the correct name is unknown, though the official site music FAQ came down on the side of the first one)
There Was a Movement (AKA Movement? but definitely not The Movement; see entry for The Movement near the bottom of this list)

Other demos, recorded in 1968

Everywhere is Here
The Magic of Time (A)
Build Me a Mountain (A)
Humanity
You Got to be Perfect
[Build Me a Mountain was recorded during the FGTR sessions of 1968. Another song that could have been mentioned here is Sitting on Top of the World, which was also recorded in 1968. However, information that I've read about it leads me to believe that it is in fact a cover, not an original Genesis tune, so I don't think it really belongs on my list. But I mentioned it, so there you are]

Songs probably played at first gig, 23 September 1969
Babies
Little Leaf (covered on Ant's Private Parts volume 3, as "Old Wives Tales")
Chobham Chords
Digby of the Rambling Lake
Masochistic Man
Key to Love
Going Out to Get You (A) (B) (my sources claim this song was played at the first gig; it was also on a demo recording made in August 1969. The live versions of this song that I have heard come mainly from 1972, and they basically sound like a different song as compared to the demo. I'm almost tempted to list this song twice because of that...but I won't)
Let Us Now Make Love (A) (B) (probably written in 1968; a regular live number)
Pacidy (A) (B) (Pacidy was also a regular song at early concerts, and was demoed in August 1969)
Stranger (this ended up on Ant's Private Parts & Pieces Volume I--some sources say it was played at the first gig, and I'm inclined to agree with them)
Grandma

Other early live songs, circa 1969
Jamaica(n) Longboat
Classic
Eastern Magic Boogie
Epic
Think Again
Wandering
Wooden Mask (McMahan has this song labeled as Wooden Horse, but the a-z web site says this is the correct name)
Waterlily
The Shepherd (A) (B) (this song along with Pacidy and Let Us Now Make Love were recorded for a BBC Session in February of 1970--the other two songs were definitely early live numbers, as they probably were played at the first Genesis gig; and I also believe this song was considered for that gig, though probably not played)
Winter Flies By
In the Meanwhile
(these last two were mentioned on the Genesis Music FAQ on the official site as being live songs from the early days; I do not remember having seen them anywhere else.)

Various from 1969 and later
Silver Song (B) (Silver Song is a Phillips/Rutherford collaboration, written while they were both still in the band, so I include it here as a Genesis track. It was probably written in the summer of '69, as this was when Johnathan Silver left the band (his leaving was the inspiration for the song). It was even supposedly considered as part of the very first live Genesis set, but as it turned out was never played live--perhaps Pete's voice was not right for it, and the band could not convince any other member to do the vocals. "Only Your Love" is another song that might be put here, as it was performed by Collins and Rutherford and recorded in the same session with Silver Song (much later, in 1973), but I have chosen in this case not to include it as I believe it was written totally by Anthony Phillips. For more about it, see the Mysteries section)
Moss (AKA The Epilogue) (this may not be from 69, but it's definitely early and I couldn't find another place to put it. I've seen this song mentioned as being part of the Genesis live set in an article from January 1971 reproduced by the official site (and in a famous set from June of that year played at the Friar's Club and reproduced in a magazine article), but it was probably around before then. I've heard information that puts this song during the strange time in the band after Phil joined but before Mick Barnard joined, which would be between August and October of 1970--however there is also information suggesting that this song was considered for the band's second album, which would put it a couple months before that period)

Songs written for a documentary about painter Mick Jackson (9 January 1970)
Provocation (B, partial) (includes an instrumental section of Looking for Someone)
Frustration (B, partial) (became Anyway; this version had different lyrics)
Manipulation (B, partial) (basically just another name for F#)
Resignation (B, partial) (or Peace)
[Tapes from this have surfaced but have not been bootlegged in full form--I received mp3 clips of each one of the songs from another fan. It's possible these songs will be officially released in the near future. There were plans to make this documentary, but they were scrapped. I'm not sure about the year for the original recordings of these songs; it's possible that quite a few of them were born out of improvisations based upon the works of the painter, although I'm quite sure that "F#" existed before the time of this recording. The Genesis A-Z site provided a date of 9 January 1970 for the BBC session, entitled "Genesis Plays Jackson." This has since been confirmed for me by a magazine article and some photographic evidence. The clips I have are astoundingly good quality. The names of the songs are related to the themes found in Mick's works.]

Early songs that became other songs, but started out different
F# 1 (became The Musical Box; from 1969. May also have been recorded as early as 1968, but information on that is conflicting. Available on Ant's Archive Collection Volume 1, which I have, so I can tell you that this song is basically the entire guitar melody for a good half of The Musical Box, including the aggressive, pounding riff that comes after the last refrain of "Play me my song/Here it comes again." There is also an F# part 2 included on the Ant collection, though I don't believe that bit was used in The Musical Box. The tuning of the guitar was Mike's idea, and Ant embellished on it. It is also said that Mick Barnard wrote the ending melody line of the final song (I assume this is the "She's a lady" section), and possibly it was Steve Hackett who actually made the sound of a musical box (whatever that means), so a lot of Genesis guitarists worked on this song)
Family (A) (became Dusk. The demo recording labeled as "Dusk" on the archive set was actually called "Family" at the time--and the time was August 1969)
Nice (became The Knife; according to at least one of my sources (the a-z site) this song was already being played by Genesis at their very first gig. Gallo suggests this song was put together at Ant's parents' house during September of 1969, the very month of the first gig)
The Light (B) (became Lilywhite Lilith; from 1970 or 1971. Was definitely played live on March 7, 1971, and probably also in January of that year. This song is much longer than Lilywhite, has alternate lyrics (which are either Phil's first attempt at writing, or more likely Peter making up lyrics on the spot and trusting a muddy PA system to cover the rough edges), and has some slightly different music to it. Has been called a staple live number from the early days. If Phil truly wrote the lyrics to this song, that means it must have been finished after August 1970, when he joined the band. Actually he probably was more involved in the music-writing than the lyrics)
I've Been Travelling All Night Long/Rock My Baby/Bye-Bye Johnny (B, last two) (all names for what became Can-Utility and the Coastliners; the first version was apparently vocal-free. Bye-Bye Johnny or Rock My Baby was an almost finalized version of the song, but it had more music, slightly different lyrics in one section, and none in the ending section. It was still being played in this fashion in 1972, and was probably around before then. One source I've seen has the first incarnation being played 10 April 1970.)

The Movement
This is an incredibly long (45 minute) instrumental piece dating back to the very early days of the band (possibly during the end of summer 1969, according to a quote from Ant), that was supposedly recorded but was never played live (for obvious reasons). It was broken up and evolved into various songs and bits of songs later in the history of Genesis. Examples of those songs are: The Light (later Lilywhite Lilith), The Colony of Slippermen, Get 'em Out by Friday, Stagnation, Moss. Sounds like it would have been very impressive to hear the whole thing, but sadly there is little chance of that happening...On a VH1 special promoting the first Archive box set, Peter Gabriel says that this song was recorded, during a session played at early drummer John Silver's house--but that the tape has since been lost. We can only hope it will turn up some day. According to the a-z web site, this song is not related to the song(s) called "Movement" and/or "There Was a Movement."

Songs so mysterious that we only have names for them
Rainbows of Gaia
Shimmers
[Two songs that the a-z web site lists as being in the "copyright database" for Genesis; I'm not sure where this is, but I trust the web site enough to take their word for it. No other details are known, although a-z has writing credits for both songs.]

The last demo
Nowhere Else to Turn (B)
[From the CAS sessions, this one was never released as a b-side and didn't get onto the album. It's the only other non-album, non-b-side track I know of, and it's separated from the others by about 25 years, as it was probably recorded in the latter half of 1996 or the first half of 1997. According to documentaries on the making of the album, there were several song ideas for the WCD album which were developed up to a certain point and then scrapped--but no information is available on them. There are probably several other songs like this scattered throughout the band's career--and it is probably all for the best that nothing will ever be known about them. In being loyal fans, we should all (ideally) trust to the band's own judgment that these aborted compositions were not fit for public consumption. It's possible that the same could be said for many of these early, unavailable songs listed above--but it is impossible for me not to be curious...]

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Songs Never Played Live

The following songs are Genesis songs that were never played live by Genesis. I've included album tracks and b-sides, separated into separate sections, each section arranged chronologically and separated by album or album session.

I used the a-z web site, Hewitt's book and McMahan's discography to compile this list (and on questionable points there was also The Movement and other fans to consult). McMahan's list did not include b-sides (since he quite logically decided not to bother listing them, as the great majority were never performed and it sort of went without saying), nor did it include songs from CAS; mine does. You won't see anything from the Lamb on this list, because every show of the Lamb tour included the entire album of songs!

From Genesis to Revelation
(Information on this album and its tour is too sketchy to give any solid answers here. Given however that the band did not have a lot of material to work with at this earliest stage of their career, it's possible that every track on this album might have been played live at least once.)

Trespass
(it seems quite likely, given information from various sources, that every song from this album was being played live before the album itself was even recorded, as in the early years Genesis played new material live as soon as they had written it.)

Nursery Cryme
For Absent Friends

Foxtrot
Time Table

Selling England by the Pound
After the Ordeal
Aisle of Plenty (the band played Cinema Show regularly, but never actually finished it with this song, which returned to the "Moonlit Knight" theme and rounded off the album very nicely; ah well...)

A Trick of the Tail
Mad Man Moon (it was downright cruel of Tony to write this beautiful song if he wasn't going to play it live)
A Trick of the Tail

Wind and Wuthering
Blood on the Rooftops
"Unquiet Slumbers for the Sleepers..." (though various sources at one time or another have listed this song in track lists or set lists, it was never actually played live, only its instrumental counterpart "In That Quiet Earth." Simon Funnell has confirmed my suspicions on this point via email--as has my own extensive collection of live recordings)

...And Then There Were Three...
Undertow
Snowbound
Many Too Many (the video is a trick!!)
Scenes From a Night's Dream

Duke
Man of Our Times
Heathaze
Alone Tonight
Cul-de-sac
Please Don't Ask

Abacab
Another Record

Genesis
Taking It All Too Hard
Just a Job to Do (there is one recorded instance of a very small section of this song being played during a soundcheck: 27/2/84; but it does not seem to have been played before an audience)
Silver Rainbow

Invisible Touch
Anything She Does

We Can't Dance
Never a Time
Tell Me Why (this song and the next were possibly played during soundchecks or rehearsals, but never in front of an audience)
Living Forever
Way of the World (never played before an audience, though a bootleg includes a version of this song played during a live rehearsal)
Since I Lost You

Calling All Stations
If That's What You Need
Uncertain Weather
One Man's Fool (only played during rehearsals, apparently)

B-Sides
It's Yourself

Match of the Day
Pigeons

The Day the Light Went Out
Vancouver

Open Door
Evidence of Autumn

Naminanu
Submarine

You Might Recall

I'd Rather Be You
Do the Neurotic
Feeding the Fire

On the Shoreline
Hearts on Fire

Papa He Said
Banjo Man
7/8
Phret
Anything Now
Sign Your Life Away
Run Out of Time

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Rarely Played Live

The following Genesis songs were played live by Genesis inconsistently. Some songs here were only played a few times, some were played for only part of one tour, some were played periodically on one tour, and some were played for only small portions of several tours. I did not include songs that were played regularly on one whole tour (except a few very early songs, since the first tour is so mysterious and was so short-lived). These are once again broken up by album (after the album songs are the b-sides that were played live, and after those are a few of the much rarer variety).

The songs listed from the first two albums are not certain, as I don't think any recordings exist of them actually being played, and we're only going on guess work for those. By most songs I've put whatever information I was able to get from the Movement, the a-z web site, McMahan, Hewitt, and various boot sites (including my own) about when and where they were played. In some cases I have also included information about songs that were played regularly on other tours, but only rarely on others; there is more detailed information on this subject on the set lists page. Any songs marked with a (B) I have on bootleg--click on the B to be taken to an entry from my Live Recordings section which includes one of the better quality versions of the particular song.

From Genesis to Revelation
In the Beginning
The Serpent
In Hiding
One Day
Window
In Limbo
The Conqueror
(Given set evidence, these songs were probably played live during the FGTR and possibly parts of the Trespass tour. Other songs from the FGTR album are usually not mentioned.)

Trespass
Looking For Someone
Visions of Angels
Dusk
(McMahan lists most of these as having been included in early gigs, the a-z site agrees, and McMahan and Hewitt cite quotes from Ant in which he mentions (at one time or another) all of these having been played live. Hewitt seems quite certain that "Visions of Angels" was a regular part of the tours for the first and second albums (and the a-z site puts it at the first gig); of course that would normally put it out of the running for this list, but since there are no live recordings of this song extant (to my knowledge), I include it here. It has also come to my attention that the opening theme of "Visions" was resurrected during the longer live performances of "I Know What I Like.")

Nursery Cryme
Seven Stones (B)
Harold the Barrel (B)
Harlequin (B)
("Seven Stones" was only played during the Italian part of the NC/Foxtrot tour in 1972, according to McMahan; Hewitt seems to have it in their set list of 71, but he doesn't get specific so it's hard to tell. The only known recording of the song is from Genoa, 22/8/72. "Harold the Barrel" was supposedly played occasionally on the NC tour, but it is only present in recorded form on one NC date: 20/8/72 (it was also played on a BBC session, but I don't really count that as a real "live" performance). As bootlegs from this tour are scarce, it is possible the song was played at other times in '72. It was also played at the end of January and the beginning of February 1974, during the European part of the SEBTP tour. You'll hear Foxtrot tour audiences shouting for "Harold!" sometimes, but there are no boots from that tour with the actual song on them. I have a Foxtrot show wherein Phil tells the crowd that "Harold" is an old number and that they aren't going to play it. Still, boots for the Foxtrot tour are quite spotty, so again anything is possible. "Harlequin" was probably played periodically on the NC tour; it replaced "Happy the Man" as the show opener on the only extant copy of it being played before an audience, at the Watford Technical College show of 4/3/72.)

Foxtrot
Horizons (B)
Can-Utility and the Coastliners (B)
("Horizons" is not mentioned as being particularly rare on the a-z site or by Hewitt, but McMahan mentions it. It was played only periodically during the SEBTP tour, usually replacing "More Fool Me" in the set (though occasionally both songs were played). Few are the bootlegs that actually have a version of this song on them--less than half of the existing SEBTP shows. "Can-Utility" is not mentioned by others but I definitely mark it as a rare live track. It was played a few times on two different tours, but never enough to amount to a whole tour's worth. It was played very rarely in its early form as "Bye Bye Johnny" (or one or two other titles, such as "Rock My Baby") during the Nursery Cryme tour, and then under its actual name for the end of the NC tour and the first part of the Foxtrot tour: the latter tour began in September 1972, and they seem to have given up on it by the beginning of October. In fact it only appears on two of the bootlegged gigs from that tour. And after that it was never played again.)

Selling England by the Pound
I Know What I Like (in Your Wardrobe) (...just kidding!)
Firth of Fifth piano intro (B)
More Fool Me (B)
(Ahh, the dreaded "Firth of Fifth" intro. Considered rare because it was only played during the SEBTP tour, and then only sporadically. Actually I have many performances of it on bootleg from the SEBTP tour, played flawlessly, but apparently Tony often had trouble with it, enough that it was never played again on any subsequent tour (although "Firth of Fifth" was often played live). The actual last time it was played was 6 May 1974 in NYC, the very last show of the SEBTP tour. "More Fool Me" was played in a lot of shows during the SEBTP tour, but not always--towards the ending two months of the tour it was often dropped from the set. One well-documented performance was at the Rainbow Theatre, the version that is on the first box set. Another song from this album that could be mentioned here is "Battle of Epping Forest," which while played rather often during the SEBTP tour, was not played every night by a long shot, and was never played in another tour after that.)

Wind and Wuthering
Your Own Special Way (B)
Wot Gorilla? (B)
All in a Mouse's Night (B)
("Your Own Special Way" is kind of iffy to put on here, as it was played on three different tours, but only in parts of them. This song was played very consistenly for the first part of the W&W tour, from the very first show until May, when for their introductory tour of Brazil Genesis dropped the song in favor of the even rarer "Inside and Out" (this coincided with the release of the Spot the Pigeon EP, on which the song was featured). This song remained in the set in place of YOSW until the end of the tour in early July. "Your Own Special Way" was also played during the Australian leg of the IT tour--with "The Invisible Strings," a local orchestra--in November and December of 1986 (there are only very few bootlegs with this version of the song, but it popped up on the second box set as well), and a very small section of it was put into the Old Medley on the WCD tour from time to time. "Wot Gorilla?" was only played on the very first night of the W&W tour, 1/1/77, in a medley with "Lilywhite Lilith" and "The Waiting Room." "All in a Mouse's Night" was only played during the UK portion of the W&W tour in January of '77.)

...And Then There Were Three...
Down and Out (B)
Ballad of Big (B)
("Down and Out" was only played in the early part of the ATTW3 tour. It was played regular as clockwork in the US early in the tour, and then off and on in Germany and Sweden and Canada, but by the end of July it seems to have left their set for good. "Ballad of Big" was played very spottily, kind of near the beginning and in the middle of the tour, but almost never in America (except their show in MSG). Mostly it seems to have been played (when it was played at all) in the European leg of the tour, in places like Germany, Sweden, and Switzerland.)

Abacab
No Reply At All (w/Phenix horns) (B)
Like It or Not (B)
("No Reply" was actually played regularly on the Abacab tour, but only about four times on the 3SL tour with the Phenix horns (or EWF?). The a-z web site and Simon Funnell basically agree that these performances were on 9-10 and 22-23 August 1982, in LA and New York respectively. "Like It or Not" was only performed in the NE of the US (and one Canada gig) during the later days of the Abacab tour--the only concrete gigs I have it at are as follows: The Spectrum, Philadelphia on 26/11/81; Landover, Maryland on 30/11/81; Hartford, Connecticut on 2/12/81; and Montreal on 4/12/81.)

Invisible Touch
In Too Deep (B)
(Not mentioned by other sources, but this song was only played during part of the IT tour: it was dropped by February of 1987 and was not played for the remaining five months of the tour. It was only played during the US and Australia legs of September-December 1986 and part of January of the following year. A playing of it from that period appears on the WWW live disc, volume 1.)

We Can't Dance
Dreaming While You Sleep (B)
(Spottily played on this tour, but definitely played during the final UK leg and in Earl's Court, which is how it ended up on the WWW DVD. The a-z site says it was played during the early part of the US tour and every once in a while in the middle of the tour in US and Canada. Simon's boots bear out the early US appearances, and the ending UK appearances, but don't show much in the middle. Hewitt only mentions the UK appearances.

While I'm on this tour, I'd like to point out two songs that, while they were played often on other tours, only appeared rarely on this one. "Mama" was only played very early in the tour in the US, and then was altogether dropped, so that the version of that song on the official live CD release (The Way We Walk) is not even from the WCD tour, but from the IT tour (specifically Wembley Stadium 4 July '87, the last night of the tour). "The Carpet Crawlers" was only played once, at the first small club show in England. If you're wondering, yes, I do have that version of "The Carpet Crawlers," and no, it's not very good quality.)

Calling All Stations
Shipwrecked (B)
Alien Afternoon (B)
Not About Us (B)
Small Talk (B)
There Must Be Some Other Way (B)
(The CAS tour had a somewhat fluctuating set list from the standpoint of CAS tracks played, and while all of these were played on the tour none were played for the whole of the tour. CAS also has the unfortunate quality of being the only tour with CAS songs, making many of its songs almost automatically rarities in my mind--I probably put more on this part of the list than I really needed to. "Shipwrecked" was played for most of the tour but was dropped a bit past mid-February of '98. "Alien Afternoon" was played off and on throughout the tour, just not every night. "Not About Us" was played at a lot of the pre-tour radio and promotional shows before the main tour began, notably at RTL studios in Paris on 13/12/97 (this recording was featured as a b-side, which I have); and then very regularly during the second half of the tour, starting in late February. I believe that it was only ever played acoustically. The RTL studio show also featured what was the only actual live performance of "Small Talk," which I also have. "Small Talk" was played during rehearsals, but never before an audience except on this one occasion. "There Must Be Some Other Way" was like "Alien Afternoon" in that it was played most of the time, but not always--in fact "Alien" and "There Must Be..." traded places in the set periodically starting near the end of February 1998. Before that time they were both regulars in the set. "There Must Be..." was probably the more often played song of the two.

There were also a few standard Genesis numbers that were tried out on this tour for a few shows and then dropped: "That's All" and "Hold on My Heart." "That's All" may have only been played on 23/1/98, for a dress rehearsal gig in the UK, but "Hold on" was played at the 23/1 gig, on 28/1 for a dress rehearsal in Budapest, and again on 29/1 for a "real" concert at the same venue. I know of no other before-an-audience performances of these songs on this tour.)

B-sides
Inside and Out (B)
Paperlate (B)
Me and Virgil (B)
("Inside and Out" was only played on the W&W tour, starting at 10 May for the band's first visit to Brazil and continuing probably until the end of the tour in early July. "Paperlate" was probably only played with the EWF horns on the same dates as "No Reply At All," listed above. "Me and Virgil" was only played at the first two gigs of the Abacab tour, in Spain. The first gig of 25/9 has only an incomplete recorded version of the song available; the second gig's version is featured in complete form on several bootlegs.

By the way, in case you're wondering, "Happy the Man" and "Twilight Alehouse" are not mentioned here because they were actually regular staples of the NC tour; "Twilight" was also probably played well before then, and periodically afterwards during the Foxtrot tour. "Happy the Man" also exists on the La Ferme gig in Belgium on 7/3/71, which was during the Trespass tour; it's an earlier version, played slower and with different lyrics. The a-z site puts "Happy the Man" at the beginning of the Foxtrot tour as well, but I've seen no recordings of this, and Hewitt doesn't seem to mention it either.)

Others
Pacidy
The Shepherd
Let Us Now Make Love
Little Leaf
Key to Love
Going Out to Get You (B)
The Light (B)
(These are samples of some of the songs from the early days which were never released officially; all of these but "The Shepherd" and "The Light" were probably played at the first Genesis live gig. "The Shepherd" may have been a regular during the FGTR tour. "Pacidy" is listed by Hewitt in the first and second tours, and the next two in the list were eventually recorded in 1970 for the BBC--Hewitt has them being played live in 1970. "Little Leaf" and "Key to Love" were only played during the very early gigs. In a general sense the a-z site agrees with Hewitt's information. I've read a direct quote from Ant who confirms that these first four songs were among their early live sets. "Key to Love" seems to have been a fairly regular early live number as well.

"Going Out to Get You" was probably a fairly regular number in the early, early days (including the first gig). Early sets changed a lot, though, and evidence is very slim, so it's hard to say just how often anything was played. The song is documented in recorded form as an encore on the only existing boot from the Trespass tour (7/3/71 in Belgium) and on a couple of Italian boots from the NC tour (18/4/72 in Rome and 15/4/72 in Lugo Di Ravenna (or Romagna?)). Its presence on three different tours technically doesn't really make it a rarely played song--but recordings of it are scarce. Probably by the NC tour it was regarded as a very old number that was only tacked onto the end of the set as a special treat for the Italian audiences. There are reputedly unrecorded live versions of this song that went on for as long as 20 minutes. "The Light" is only in recorded form on the bootleg from 7/3/71. Tony Banks mentions it as being one of the "favorites" from the early days, and it was probably a regular from the Trespass tour, but it does not appear to have been played on any subsequent tour.)

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Most Often Played Live

Below, for your consideration, are the songs played most often live by Genesis. By most often I mean regularly on several tours. They are basically in chronological order. I have also detailed in exactly what tours the songs appeared (for some of the songs, this information is repeated in the later list of "Pete-era songs played by Phil-era band," but I didn't want someone reading this to have to go to a different list to get this information, so I repeated it). This list was actually a bit harder to compile than you might think, because it's hard to set guidelines for what can really be considered "often," and then hard to track down just how many times a song was played live (you have to go through a lot of set lists). I chose as my guideline for "often": any song that was played fairly regularly for more than four tours' worth of performances. Sometimes there were songs that appeared for a lot of tours, but in many of the tours they were either only played at a few gigs or only played in small bits in the middle of medleys; these did not make it to the list.

This cut off a lot of songs which were played very regularly, but also left a surprising number (17 songs in all). You'll notice that no songs from the Mama album onwards are included here, because there were only four Genesis tours from Mama onwards (not counting the 2007 Turn It on Again tour!), so none of the songs from those albums could possibly have been played for more than four tours (it also just happens that there are no songs from Abacab on here either, but that's just because none of those songs were played for more than four tours--in fact, only the title track was played for four tours). This is rather unfortunate, as the list then leaves out very regular live numbers from the '80s-'90s, like "Mama," "Home by the Sea," "Invisible Touch," "Land of Confusion," and "Domino" (all songs that, once they were written and recorded, were played regularly on every subsequent Genesis tour). But the line had to be drawn somewhere. Interesting to note, while I'm noting things, that the only songs from the WCD album that were carried over for the CAS tour were "No Son of Mine" and "I Can't Dance" ("Hold on My Heart" was also played by the Ray band, but only a few times).

I have decided to leave the Turn It on Again and Last Domino? reunion tours out of my reckonings for the most often played--if I had counted them, a lot of the songs I just mentioned from Mama and Invisible Touch would get on the list and make it even longer than it already is. However I do mention the tours in this list--look carefully and you will see that over half of the most played songs were used for the 2007 tour (and many of them in 2021-22 also). This shows pretty clearly how the band chose their most dependable live numbers for the reunion shows.

Before I go into the chronological list of 17 songs, let's do a quick ranking of the top 8 songs:

I Know What I Like (in Your Wardrobe)
Los Endos
The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
Turn It on Again
In the Cage
Dance on a Volcano
Afterglow
The Musical Box

That, as nearly as I can figure, is a correct ranking. I looked not only at how many times the song was actually performed, but also how complete the song was when it was performed (for instance, "Musical Box," while featured in 10 tours, was not always played every night of each of those tours, and for a lot of them only the last few minutes of the song were played). Technically, the drum duet should be tied with "Los Endos" for second place, but I'm not actually sure that the drum duet belongs in this list at all (see my entry for it below for more info).

The Knife
Tours: FGTR, Trespass, NC, Foxtrot, SEBTP, Lamb, WW, Duke, Abacab. Was reputedly played at the band's very first gig. It may not have been an encore at that historic event, but it soon became the standard ending number and trademark of the band, and remained a regular encore for quite a while. It became more and more rare as time went on, however. It was not played nearly every night of the SEBTP tour or even the Foxtrot tour, may have only been played thrice during the Lamb tour, only thrice during the WW tour, perhaps a dozen times on the Duke tour, and only once on the Abacab tour (the very last gig, 23/12/81 at the NEC in Birmingham). Was also played as the very last number of the reunion gig at Milton Keynes in 1982. When the Phil era band played this song, they used the studio version lyrics and omitted the flute solo and a lot of the guitar parts. The only recorded times that I know of when this song was not an encore was when it was played as the very first number: at the Reading Festival of 11 August 1972, and at a special gig at the Kennington Oval on 30 September '72.

The Musical Box
Tours: Trespass (perhaps earlier??), NC, Foxtrot, SEBTP, Lamb, WW, ATTW3, Duke, Mama, WCD. This song wins for being the song included in the most tours: 10, at least. I don't really believe this song was fully written until Hackett joined the band during the Trespass tour (January 1971), but the song did come from a guitar idea developed by Mike and Ant around '69 (and built upon by Mick Barnard in late '70), so it's always possible that the band were playing this song in an embryonic stage during the FGTR tour. Was a very regular number for every subsequent tour with Peter, from '71-'75, but Phil as lead singer never sang the whole song. Its closing section was only very rarely played during the ATTW3 and Duke tours (only twice to my knowledge in 1980). It was part of two of the later incarnations of the "Eleventh Earl of Mar" medley during the Mama tour, and a regular part of the "Old Medley" of the WCD tour. Ray Wilson, interestingly enough, did not touch this song.

Watcher of the Skies
Tours: NC (ending months), Foxtrot, SEBTP, Lamb, ATOTT, 3SL. This song, surprisingly enough, barely makes it onto this list, as it was only really played regularly and in its complete form for two tours (Foxtrot and SEBTP). It was introduced around late June of '72 and played for the ending months of the NC tour. It then became the standard opening number of the Genesis set, remaining in that position for the next two tours. It was a fairly regular second encore during the Lamb tour, but was not played every night. Phil never sang this song live. It only appeared in a severely edited instrumental form in two different encore medleys, during the ATOTT tour (paired with "It") and 3SL tour (paired with "Lamb").

Supper's Ready
Tours: Foxtrot, SEBTP, ATOTT, WW, ATTW3, 3SL, IT, CAS. (If you count the "Supper's Ready in X Seconds" skit--which you shouldn't--it also appeared very, very rarely in Abacab and Duke.) Though it did appear in many tours, the whole song was only played regularly during the first four tours listed and the 3SL tour (and even then, it was not played for the first months of the Foxtrot tour, and also not played for the first few gigs of the ATOTT tour). Only the ending sections were played on the ATTW3 tour, and only once before an audience. The ending sections were also the only bits played during the IT tour, and they were only played for the first few months of the tour (as part of a unique "In the Cage" medley). CAS featured only an acoustic version of the opening section of the song.

I Know What I Like (in Your Wardrobe)
Tours: SEBTP, ATOTT, WW, ATTW3, Duke, Abacab, 3SL, WCD, TIOA, TLD. Unlike some of the other songs above, this song was always played very regularly in every tour it appeared in, so that even though it was not in as many different tours as "Box" or "Knife," it was probably performed more times--and, unlike "Box" and "Knife," it was always played in its entirety. It did not really end up as an encore number until ATTW3, though it was near the end of the ATOTT set. It remained as an encore, however, from '78-'82. During the WCD tour it was a large part of the "Old Medley" number. On the TIOA tour it returned to the middle of the set. Probably of all the songs in this list, this one was performed most often and most completely.

Firth of Fifth
Tours: SEBTP, ATOTT, WW, Abacab, Mama, WCD, CAS, TIOA, TLD. Strange to think that the Pete-era band only played this song regularly for one tour--the only tour on which the piano intro was played, and even then not on every performance. It was a regular number in complete form, sans piano intro, for all of the ATOTT, WW, and Abacab shows. In an incomplete form, it was also present in every version of the "Mar" medley on the Mama tour (for half of the tour, the instrumental middle and the last verse were played; for the second half, just the middle section was played). Its middle section was played in the WCD tour's "Old Medley," and played outside of a medley as a stand alone piece for the CAS tour (though some bootlegs still label the song "Old Medley"--just to annoy me, I think). The CAS form with just the instrumental section was also used on the TIOA and TLD tours.

The Cinema Show
Tours: SEBTP, ATOTT, ATTW3, Abacab, 3SL, Mama, TIOA, TLD. In stand alone form for the first two tours listed. Basically the complete song was played during ATTW3 as well, but as part of a medley with "In That Quiet Earth" and "Afterglow." For the '81-'84 and '07 tours only the ending instrumental section was played, as part of the "In the Cage" medley. In '21-'22 the "Cage" medley was surprisingly transformed into the "Fading Lights" medley, but "Cinema Show" was still there. It was, of course, always played without the ending "Aisle of Plenty" section. Also starting in '78 a small riff from "Riding the Scree" was played in the middle of the instrumental part--this probably happened every time it was played, but possibly not.

The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
Tours: Lamb, ATOTT, WW, ATTW3, Abacab, 3SL, Mama, WCD, CAS, TLD. This song was played a lot. Of course played every night of the Lamb tour, also every night of the ATOTT tour as part of the "Lamb Stew." In the WW tour it was the encore medley, paired with the closing section of "Musical Box." It was played in this same form for a few nights of the ATTW3 tour. In the Abacab tour it was the third number in the set, played basically as a stand alone (though "Duchess" kind of segued into it). In the 3SL tour it returned to the position of encore, in a medley with "Watcher." It was played without the keyboard intro. During the Mama tour it was played in the final (albeit most-played) version of the "Mar" medley. In the WCD tour, most but not all of it was part of the "Old Medley," but in the CAS tour it occupied the third position in the set as a stand alone number (as during the Abacab tour). In the Last Domino? tour it returned as a shortened, acoustic number.

In the Cage
Tours: Lamb, ATTW3, Duke, Abacab, 3SL, Mama, IT, TIOA. Like IKWIL, this song probably beats out most other songs on this list for times performed. It was a very regular number in every tour it appeared in, and was always played in its entirety, whether it was in a medley or not (actually it was always missing the sort of meditative, hovering, quiet closing section after the Lamb tour, but that hardly counts as it was a very tiny bit). In fact, after ATTW3 it was always part of a medley--a medley that became increasingly complex and tedious, until reaching critical mass during the Mama tour. On the IT tour the band stepped back a bit and returned to a much simpler form of the medley, and during the WCD tour the "Cage" medley was dropped altogether in favor of the new "Old Medley" (what a wonderful oxymoron that was!). The Ray Wilson band chose not to attempt the song, but it was back again for the TIOA tour.

The Carpet Crawlers
Tours: Lamb, ATOTT, WW, Duke, Abacab, Mama, WCD, CAS, TIOA, TLD. A regular in the Lamb tour, and also a regular as part of the "Lamb Stew" in the ATOTT set. Was a stand alone during WW, and as part of a pseudo-medley during the Duke tour (where it was preceded by the introductory section of "Moonlit Knight"). Was not played during the last month of the Duke tour. Was also not played for the first few weeks of the Abacab tour. Was played during the beginning months and the last few gigs of the Mama tour, but not in the middle. Was only played on one occasion during the WCD tour. It was, however, a regular of the CAS tour. It was the second and final encore on the TIOA tour. From '81 through to '07 it was always a stand alone, and from '76 onwards it was always played without the opening verse. In 2021-22 it was used as a final encore but was paired back with the intro to "Moonlit Knight," as a nod back to 1980.

Dance on a Volcano
Tours: ATOTT, WW, ATTW3, Duke, Abacab, 3SL, WCD. Another one that was performed a LOT--probably just about as much as "In the Cage." The only time it was played in its entirety and as a stand alone was during the ATOTT tour. After this tour, the closing instrumental section or "Dance" was removed from the song. From '77-'81 it was in a medley with a drum duet and "Los Endos" as the closing number. In the 3SL tour it was back in the opening position, outside of its normal medley (though it did sort of segue into "Behind the Lines"). It was the opening number in the "Old Medley" of the WCD tour, but did not appear in the CAS tour. For its spot in the "Old Medley," only the first two verses were played.

Squonk
Tours: ATOTT, WW, ATTW3, Duke, Mama. This one barely makes it to the list--it was a regular and played in full for four tours in a row. During the Mama tour, however, an incomplete version of it was only played in the first two versions of the "Mar" medley.

Los Endos
Tours: ATOTT, WW, ATTW3, Duke, Abacab, 3SL, Mama, IT, TIOA. Was actually played more times than "Volcano," because it remained in the set for two tours after "Volcano" was dropped (though during the '91-'92 tour it was not played and "Volcano" was--this still puts it one full tour ahead). As with its counterpart, it was only played in its complete form and as a stand alone during the ATOTT tour--for every other tour it was in a medley with the drum duet and was missing its opening section. "Volcano" was taken out of the medley for the 3SL tour, and for that tour and the two subsequent tours the medley was simply drums/Endos. It was the same for the TIOA tour, with the unique difference that it was not the closing song of the regular set--this was the only time in the song's long live history that it did not end the set.

Drum Duet
Tours: WW, ATTW3, Duke, Abacab, 3SL, Mama, IT, WCD, TIOA. This one is really kind of iffy to put on here, as the drum duet was really an improvisation, so technically from night to night it would be a different song. Also from tour to tour the improvisation was based on a different starting point or rhythmic framework (I think), so really we're talking a different composition for at least each tour it appeared in. However, in principle there was always a drum duet and it was always performed by the same people. So if we grant that every drum duet can be considered the same "song," then this was a very oft-performed song. It was the linking piece for every Volcano/Endos medley from '77-'81, and after that was paired with just "Endos" for the 3SL, Mama and IT tours. During the WCD tour it was all by its lonesome. With Phil and Chester both gone for the CAS tour, the drum duet went the way of the dodo (song reference and pun intended). But it was resurrected, back with Endos, for the TIOA tour. Unfortunately, due most likely to Phil's physical limitations, the Last Domino? tour did not feature any drum duets or any drumming at all from Phil, which nixed this and the accompanying Endos.

Afterglow
Tours: WW, ATTW3, Duke, Abacab, 3SL, Mama, IT, TIOA, TLD. A rock steady number in all set lists from the year it was written ('77) until ten years later. In the beginning months of the IT tour it was not played, because its place was taken by the ending sections of "Supper's Ready," but for every other tour it was probably played every night. It was always part of a medley, except for a few nights of the WW tour, when "In That Quiet Earth" was removed from the set; and once during the ATTW3 tour, when it was played in stand alone form (to cover over a technical glitch). In 1978 it was normally in a medley with "Cinema Show," but from '80 to '07 was the ending part of the "In the Cage" medley. In a set list sea change, "In the Cage" was finally dropped from the band's set for the 2021-22 Last Domino? tour, but "Afterglow" still remained as part of a medley with "Fading Lights" and "Cinema Show." Though it was often played near the end of the set, this song was NEVER the last number, no matter how many people seem to think it was.

Follow You Follow Me
Tours: ATTW3, Duke, 3SL, Mama, IT, WCD, CAS, TIOA, TLD. Was not played for the last couple weeks of the Duke tour, and was only played for the first few months of the IT tour. For the WCD tour only a small bit of it was used in the "Old Medley." During the CAS tour the song was played as part of the acoustic set for probably every night of the tour, starting with the earliest promotional appearances in December '97. During the 3SL tour it was in a pseudo-medley with "Volcano" and BTL. For every tour but 3SL and WCD it was a stand alone piece. On the TIOA tour Phil sang this song from behind the drum kit, a rare occurrence for him. On the TLD tour it went back into an acoustic set, as in CAS.

Turn It on Again
Tours: Duke, Abacab, 3SL, Mama, IT, WCD, CAS, TIOA, TLD. Other songs may have been played on more tours, but few songs have been played as many damn times as this song. It was probably played at every performance of every tour it was in, plus all the one off gigs that Genesis have done over the years (the reunion gig of '82, MSG '88, Knebworth '90, Cowdray Ruins '93; heck, they even played it at the MMF dinner for Tony Smith in 2000). The CAS tour went through a lot of set changes and started out with very short, acoustic sets of only four songs in length--but this song was in every single one of them. After the Duke tour, where it was played as part of the Duke Suite in the middle of the set, it was always played towards the end of the set. It did not become an encore number however until the Mama tour, when the famous "Damn" medley was added onto its end. The medley, in an altered form, was also used for the IT tour, but for the WCD tour it was dropped. The Turn It on Again tour necessarily featured this song in the set, this time right near the beginning of the show instead of at the end. The Last Domino? tour used it as well, in the same position. They've played a lot of songs over the years, but very few of them as regularly and as often as this one.

Here are some runners-up, that came really close to getting in: '...in that quiet earth.' (which was played for four solid tours, mostly as part of the "Cage" medley--it was just under the cut-off), Misunderstanding (was actually in five different tours, but only partially and not every night--not enough to make up even 4 tours worth of performances), Abacab (played regularly for four tours; just under the cut-off), Mama (played every tour since it was written, though not every night of the WCD or CAS tours), Home by the Sea/Second Home by the Sea (same as with "Mama," this one was in every tour since '83--it was performed quite a bit more than "Mama," actually, since "Mama" was dropped a little into the WCD tour, while HBTS was played every night of that tour). There are also three big ones from the IT album which were played very often on every succeeding tour, but were still just not around long enough to make the cut: Invisible Touch, Land of Confusion and Domino.

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Medleys

Ever since the early days of the Phil era, Genesis has been making use of the medley, probably as a device to cram a lot of their songs together, as after a while they developed quite a bit of material and wanted to fit as much of it in a concert as possible to please the most fans. These medleys I have taken from McMahan's discography list, with corroboration from the a-z site and some little touches of my own (I went a little broader than some with the definition of "medley," and included almost any songs that faded or segued into one another). They are listed chronologically in order of when they were first played live, though some of the more successful medleys--like the Volcano/drum/Endos, the In the Cage and the Turn It on Again--were used again in subsequent tours. I have at least one version of every one of these medleys on bootleg, except some variations on the "Turn It" medley and the "Cage" medley without "Riding the Scree"--I don't believe the latter actually exists.

1976 (AToTT tour)
-Lamb Stew: The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway/Fly on a Windshield and Broadway Melody of 1974 (instrumental)/The Carpet Crawlers
-It/Watcher of the Skies
-I Know What I Like (in Your Wardrobe)/Stagnation (theme)

The "Lamb Stew" number went by many other similar names, such as "Lamb Cutlet" or "Lamb Casserole." It was always considered to be only three songs, but I maintain that the instrumental piece between "Lamb" and "Crawlers" has bits from both "Fly" and "Broadway Melody." Phil would toss in little lines from non-Genesis songs into the middle of "I Know..." if they happened to mention the city Genesis was playing at the time; for instance he sings "Chicago, chicago..." at the Uptown Theatre, and "I love Paris in the springtime" on the Seconds Out album. Also on the version from Seconds Out, a very small riff from "Dancing With the Moonlit Knight" is played for about ten seconds; I'm not sure how often they did this, but it occurs in many of my bootlegs from the WW tour and some from the ATOTT tour. I have also become convinced that at some point in the song's live history (perhaps as early as '76), Tony started throwing in a little instrumental theme during the ending half of IKWIL that is actually the theme to "Visions of Angels," if you can believe that; listen to the song very closely and recall the opening of "Visions" and you may hear what I mean--it's kind of like trying to recognize the theme of "Wot Gorilla?" in that one section of "One For the Vine."

1977 (W&W tour)
-Lilywhite Lilith/Waiting Room/Wot Gorilla? (first show only)
-Dance on a Volcano/drum duet/Los Endos
-The Lamb/The Musical Box (closing section)
-'...in that quiet earth.'/Afterglow

1978 (ATTW3 tour)
-Dancing with the Moonlit Knight (almost complete)/Musical Box (more than closing section)
-The Cinema Show/Riding the Scree/'...in that quiet earth.'/Afterglow

The "Moonlit Knight" medley is very rare, and was probably only played at the famous Uptown Theatre gig.

1980 (Duke tour)
-Dancing with the Moonlit Knight (opening)/Carpet Crawlers
-Dancing with the Moonlit Knight (opening)/Squonk
-The Duke Suite (or the Story of Albert): Behind the Lines/Duchess/Guide Vocal/Turn It on Again/Duke's Travels/Duke's End
-In the Cage/The Colony of Slippermen (The Raven)/Afterglow

1981-2 (Abacab and 3SL tours)
-Drum duet/Los Endos
-In the Cage/Cinema Show/The Colony of Slippermen (The Raven)/Afterglow
-In the Cage/Cinema Show/Riding the Scree/The Raven/Afterglow
-Behind the Lines/Duchess/The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
-Dance on a Volcano/Behind the Lines/Follow You Follow Me
-The Lamb/Watcher of the Skies

The third and second to last medleys listed are sort-of medleys; the first three numbers played in the Abacab and 3SL set respectively, they segued into each other, giving the impression of a medley. "Volcano" was played without its ending "Dance" section.

1983-4 (Mama tour)
-Eleventh Earl of Mar (opening section)/Ripples/Squonk/Firth of Fifth
-Eleventh Earl of Mar (instrumental)/Squonk/Firth of Fifth
-Eleventh Earl of Mar (instr)/Behind the Lines/Firth of Fifth/The Musical Box (closing section)
-Eleventh Earl of Mar (instr)/Lamb/Firth of Fifth/The Musical Box (closing section, from "I've been waiting here for so long...")
-In the Cage/Cinema Show/Riding the Scree/'...in that quiet earth.'/Raven/Afterglow
-Keep It Dark/It's Gonna Get Better (sort of a medley)
-Turn it On Again (oldies medley: Everybody Needs Somebody to Love/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction/The Last Time/All Day and All of the Night/In the Midnight Hour)
-Turn it On Again (more contemporary medley: Everybody Needs Somebody to Love/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction/Twist and Shout/All Day and All of the Night/Baby Let Me Take You Home/Karma Chameleon/Every Breath You Take/Pinball Wizard/In The Midnight Hour)
(there were variations on these medleys, and sometimes the following songs also appeared: Born In The USA, Glad All Over, Going Back to Miami, Sunshine of Your Love, You Really Got Me.)

The "Mar" medley is an interesting one; it went through many evolutions, as you see, and the first three were only played on a few occasions each before being dropped. Also none of them were featured on any of the radio shows or videos from this tour, for whatever odd reason. A hard medley to get a hold of, unless you know where to trade for audience boots...

1986-7 (IT tour)
-In the Cage/'...in that quiet earth.'/Supper's Ready (from Apocalypse in 9/8)
-In the Cage/'...in that quiet earth.'/Afterglow
-Turn It on Again (medley: Everybody Needs Somebody to Love/(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction/Twist and Shout/Reach Out and I'll Be There/You've Lost That Loving Feeling/Pinball Wizard/In the Midnight Hour)
(some versions also included Baby Let Me Take You Home and It's My Life)

There was also a version of the Turn It on Again medley played at the Atlantic Anniversary concert at MSG in 1988 that went like this:
-Turn It On Again/Land of Confusion/Misunderstanding/Throwing It All Away/You Can't Hurry Love/Shortcut to Somewhere/All I Need is a Miracle/Tonight, Tonight, Tonight

1992 (WCD tour)
-Old Medley: Dance on a Volcano (first half)/The Lamb (first half)/The Musical Box (closing section)/Firth of Fifth (instrumental)/I Know What I Like (in Your Wardrobe) (with small bits from: That's All/Illegal Alien/Your Own Special Way or Misunderstanding/Follow You Follow Me/Stagnation, and possibly others)
-Tonight, Tonight, Tonight/Invisible Touch

2007 (TIOA tour)
-Behind the Lines/Duke's End/Turn It on Again
-In the Cage/The Cinema Show/Riding the Scree/Duke's Travels/Afterglow

2021-2022 (TLD tour)
-Behind the Lines/Duke's End/Turn It on Again
-Fading Lights/The Cinema Show/Riding the Scree (?)/Afterglow
-Dancing with the Moonlit Knight (opening)/Carpet Crawlers

NOTES: Some medleys are not as linear as they may appear; for instance, the "Lilywhite Lilith" medley sort of places "Wot Gorilla?" in the middle of a light "Waiting Room" sandwich, and all of the "Turn It on Again" medleys return to "Turn It on Again" at the end. Also "Riding the Scree" is stuck sort of in the middle of the "Cinema Show" section in medleys where it appears. McMahan places "'Unquiet Slumbers...'" in the much later "In the Cage/.../Apocalypse in 9/8" medley, but as I said above in the "Never Played Live" list, this is an error. The presence of the riff from "Riding the Scree" in medleys containing "Cinema Show" is not often mentioned, but it is there--in fact, I think it's always there, but as it is possible that it is not, I have also included a version of the medley without "Scree."

Some that I have listed as medleys are really just one song that kind of segues into another, and if I opened up the guidelines a little more I could have included several other segues (for instance, during the Mama tour "Misunderstanding" kind of segued into "Turn It on Again," as during the second half of the Duke tour it had segued into the "Cage" medley--also "Man on the Corner" segued into "Who Dunnit?" and "Dodo/Lurker" segued into "Abacab" during the Abacab and Mama tours), but I didn't want to go crazy. It's interesting to note that every Genesis tour featuring Phil as lead singer had medleys as part of its set list; but as soon as Phil left the band, medleys were dropped. It's quite possible that Mike and Tony do not approve of the piecemeal quality of the medley, and it was mainly Phil pushing them to incorporate it into the gigs. Or it could be that removing the medleys was an attempt to make Ray's job easier on the CAS tour.

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Pete-Era Songs Played by Phil-Era Band

This is another list also featured in McMahan's discography, but mine is (as always) slightly different in structure. Songs are listed chronologically as they appeared on studio albums. The information on when they were played has been gathered from the a-z web site and confirmed where possible by live recording evidence. Some of these songs did not appear in my "Rarely Played" list, because they were played often by the Pete-era line-up; but they may have been played only a few times by the Phil line-up. It's also just interesting to see which of the old songs they stuck with and which they dumped. Keep in mind, when I talk about when these songs were played I don't include whether they were played during the reunion gig at Milton Keynes; for a look at what was played there, you can either consult my tour page for that in the live recordings section or check out my list of set lists. This list was a natural successor to the medleys list, as many of the old tunes were only rehashed in medley form.

-White Mountain (possibly during early gigs, then during the ATOTT tour; perhaps rehashed because Phil had a good voice for it. Anyone with a good ATOTT boot (like me) can get a copy of Phil doing this song)
-Visions of Angels (I have a theory that the theme of this was used in I Know What I Like, possibly for a lot of the performances of that song from '76-'92)
-Stagnation (theme used in I Know What I Like, on almost every tour from 76 on)
-The Knife (rare encore number during WW, Duke and Abacab tours; only 23-25/6/77 of WW tour, and only 23/12/81 during Abacab tour. I believe it was usually if not always a shortened version, and I further believe that Phil sang the lyrics from the studio version, not the altered lyrics that Pete usually used live)

-The Musical Box (the closing section was often used in medleys, and as a stand alone during the Duke tour (at least two recorded times in June 1980), but Phil never sang the whole thing--though there are rumours he did, during the ATTW3 tour. During the WW tour the regular encore was Lamb/Box, and this encore recurred on very rare occasions during the ATTW3 tour, a tour which also featured the rare Moonlit Knight/Box medley. It also appeared in the last two versions of the Mar medley from the Mama tour, and in the Old Medley during the WCD tour)
-The Fountain of Salmacis (ATTW3 tour, but not always; it was dropped towards the end)

-Watcher of the Skies (appeared in two different medleys: with It during Trick tour, and with the Lamb during the 3SL tour; listed above (interesting to note that both times it appeared in the Phil era it was in an encore and it was attached to the end of a song from the Lamb album). Only instrumental)
-Supper's Ready (ATOTT, WW, ATTW3 (apparently only once in front of an audience, from Apocalypse in 9/8, 14/6/78; but also on rehearsal boot from this tour), 3SL, and as part of a medley with In the Cage during part of the IT tour (from Apocalypse in 9/8 on). Also on the Duke and Abacab tours, there was sometimes a little skit performed called "Supper's Ready in X Seconds" (the length varied, but was usually very short--between 10 and 16) in which Phil sang snippets of the lyrics very rapidly)

-Dancing With the Moonlit Knight (most of the song was played as part of a medley with Musical Box in probably only one show of the 1978 tour (in this version Phil replaced the "With a twist of the world we go" line with "With a trick of the tail we go"); the Duke tour featured the opening section in two different medleys (it segued into Crawlers for the first half of the tour and into Squonk for the second half). Also on several occasions on the W&W tour and sometimes during the ATOTT tour (though probably not during any tour afterwards, as I think this was mainly Hackett's idea), a very small bit of one guitar riff from this song was included in I Know What I Like). In 2021-22's Last Domino? tour the intro, paired with "Carpet Crawlers" as it had been in the 1980 tour, was resurrected as an encore)
-I Know What I Like (in Your Wardrobe) (every tour since ATOTT but Mama and IT, and the whole song was part of the Old Medley on the WCD tour. During one playing on the ATTW3 tour at the MSG (29/7), Pete joined them. If they are sick of playing any one song, it must be this one)
-Firth of Fifth (ATOTT, WW, Abacab. The instrumental section was used in medleys during the Mama and WCD tours--during part of the Mama tour, the last verse was also included. The instrumental section was played as a sort of stand-alone during the TIOA and TLD reunion tours (though technically it segued into I Know What I Like). The piano intro was never played)
-The Cinema Show (ATOTT; most of the song was played as a medley with '...in that quiet earth' during the ATTW3 tour, and thereafter in the Abacab, 3SL, Mama and TIOA tours the ending instrumental section was played as part of the In the Cage medley; it was also played on the TLD tour in the slightly different Fading Lights medley)

From THE LAMB...
(Interesting piece of trivia: starting from the actual tour for the album, no regular Genesis set list from '74 all the way up to 1998 has been without at least one number from the Lamb. This is some impressive live performance longevity for an album to have, I think.)
-The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (appeared on every Phil-era tour since ATOTT except Duke and IT, but always as part of a medley--EXCEPT during the Abacab tour, when it was played in basically a stand alone version, though I have it listed as a sort of medley in my medleys list, above. In most medleys, the whole song was played. If you're wondering what medley it was in from the ATTW3 tour, it occurred only a very few times when they played the last year's encore of Lamb/Box. This song appeared again on the Last Domino? tour in an acoustic set)
-Fly on a Windshield (ATOTT, part of the Lamb Stew, instrumental only)
-Broadway Melody of 1974 (ATOTT, part of the Lamb Stew, instrumental only)
-In the Cage (ATTW3 by itself, but from Duke to IT and TIOA as part of varying medleys)
-Back in NYC (at the beginning of the Duke tour it opened the set, then for one gig it was played a little further in to the set. Then it was dropped altogether for some time. Later in the '80 tour, at MSG (and possibly one or two other spots in the US), it was played as an encore)
-The Carpet Crawlers (ATOTT, as part of Lamb Stew; WW; Duke, in a medley with Moonlit Knight for most of the tour; Abacab, every night excepting the first few gigs; a few nights of the Mama tour; one time on the WCD tour (23/10/92); and the last encore in every show of the TIOA tour (except the show where they didn't play the encores!) and likely every show of TLD. In all cases the opening verse ("There is lamb's wool under my naked feet...") was dropped, and it started with "The crawlers cover the floor...". In TLD the song was again paired with Moonlit Knight)
-Lilywhite Lilith/The Waiting Room (played only once, on the first night of WW tour in a medley with Wot Gorilla?)
-The Colony of Slippermen (the Raven) (played in medleys with In the Cage, instrumental only, Duke, Abacab, 3SL and Mama tours)
-Riding the Scree (played in medleys with Cinema Show, main riff only, ATTW3, Abacab, 3SL, Mama, TIOA, TLD)
-It (played in medley with Watcher of the Skies, ATOTT tour; a good deal of the lyrics were taken out of It, and Watcher was only the instrumental opening and conclusion)

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Mystery List

Try to guess what these songs have in common:

Horizons
Ripples
Keep It Dark

Hint: It has to do with when they were played live.

Can't guess?

Answer: These are all songs that were only played live after the tour for the album they appeared on. For instance, though "Horizons" was on the Foxtrot album, it was not played live until the tour for Selling England. "Ripples," though released on '76's A Trick of the Tail, was not played live until the 1978 And Then There Were Three tour--it was subsequently a regular number in that tour and the 1980 tour, as well as appearing in edited form for a few shows of the Mama tour. "Keep It Dark" was on the 1981 Abacab album but was only played during the '83-'84 Mama tour, in a sort-of medley with "It's Gonna Get Better" and (if you really want to stretch the definition of "medley") "Follow You Follow Me."

I believe I'm being accurate here, and these are the only songs in Genesis history which have this admittedly strange distinction. Why did the band wait before playing these songs live? Probably for different reasons. "Horizons" may have been delayed because the band wanted to stick to their more impressive group material during the Foxtrot tour--and maybe Steve was too uncomfortable at that time to play all by his lonesome on stage. "Ripples" waited two tours before getting played live, until Daryl became the guitarist and Steve left--perhaps the line-up change is part of the reason why it got played. Who knows, maybe Steve hated that song! And maybe the band ignored "Keep It Dark" because of its simplicity and repetitiveness, until they realized it would be a nice segue into the then-new "It's Gonna Get Better."

Another possible list in this vein would be those songs that were played live before they were released in studio recorded form. However, this list would be harder to compile, as it would require digging into the band's not-very-well-recorded early history, when they did things like play songs live as soon as they were written. The list would actually include none of the songs from the band's first album, as their first live gig was not played until after that album's release (FGTR came out in March '69; first gig was in September of that year). It would, however, probably include all of the songs from Trespass (in fact, the way the Trespass album was constructed probably involved the band picking and choosing six numbers from their very varied live repertoire at that time, and putting them on a record) and some of the songs from Nursery Cryme (definitely "Musical Box," probably "Salmacis" and "Hogweed"). "Watcher of the Skies," "Get 'em Out by Friday," and "Can-Utility and the Coastliners" would also be included, as they ended up on Foxtrot but entered the band's live set during the NC tour. After this, the band waited until they had stuff recorded before playing it live.

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Band Formations Through the Ages

This is a chronology of the various line-ups of Genesis. I included as much of the earlier, formative bands as I could, but I didn't get into all the solo members' touring bands or the various members of Phil's jazz band, Brand X. I also did not, in most instances, include one-off guest performances which may have occurred. The information here is taken from McMahan's discography (he got it from a "family tree" by Peter Frame, made in 1978 and printed in Armando Gallo's book; and an updated version printed in a Japanese release of Tony Banks' Soundtracks), Hewitt's book, and a re-print of Frame's tree in the booklet for the first box set (I strained my eyes for that one, as it was mysteriously re-printed at a microscopic size). Also much information about the state of the band during 1970 was provided by José Carlos Maltez, who did a lot of research in other Genesis books and interviews that I do not own, and passed his findings on to me. Not all of the early band line-ups are known, and there were lots of changes, as you'll see. I also included the years the line-ups existed, when I was able to find out, and various bits of appropriate trivia, including a general idea of what instruments everyone played.

 

The Spiders
(Ant's band, formed in prep school before 1965; Hewitt also states that Ant had a very short and ignominious spot as a vocalist on a band before this, but the name is not given.)
Rivers Job: bass
Anthony Phillips: guitar
Richard Francis (or "Sid"): ? (possibly vocals)
"Bonehead" Goldsmith: drums
  The Chesters
(Mike Rutherford's prep school band, before Sept 1964, probably around 1959 or 1960; played with one other guy when he was 9 years old.)
 

Anon (1)
(not "The Anon," please! Short for "Anonymous")
(May 65-July 66)
Anthony Phillips: lead guitar
Mike Rutherford: rhythm guitar (vocals)
Rob Tyrell: drums
Rivers Job: bass
Richard MacPhail: lead vocals (he knew the words)

The first Anon gig at Charterhouse was on 16 December 1965. A few things happened to Anon after this. Richard MacPhail was kicked out of the band by his parents, at which point Mike Rutherford was for a short time the lead vocalist. Then Mike was kicked out since the headmaster banned him from the guitar. At some point either the ban was lifted or he defied it, as he joined this band:

The Climax

I have no other information on them. While Mike was out of Anon, MacPhail came back and brought with him Mick Colman to fill in on rhythm guitar. However, when Anon went to their first pro recording session (Tony Pike Sound, summer 1966), Mike Rutherford came back on, replacing Mick. Thus there is technically an Anon 1a w/o MacPhail, and an Anon 1b with Mick replacing Mike, before they got back to Anon 1 again; but this isn't mentioned in most lists.

By the end-of-term concert in December 1966, Anon's last performance, MacPhail, Rivers Job and Mick Colman had all moved on, The Climax had broken up, and Anon was left in this state:

Anon (2)
(July-December 66)
Anthony Phillips: lead guitar/vocals
Mike Rutherford: rhythm guitar/vocals
Rob Tyrell: drums

 

The Spoken Word
(summer 66) (I have only McMahan's word on this one)
Peter Gabriel: drums
David Thomas: vocals
Rivers Job: bass
others

Also according to a band file released by Melody Maker in 1972, Pete's amateur debut was as a drummer in a band called "Milords"--the performance date is not given.

The Garden Wall
(August-September 66; possibly formed in Winter 1965)
Peter Gabriel: vocals
Chris Stewart: drums
Tony Banks: piano
Johnny Trapman: trumpet (?)
(The Garden Wall had no lead or bass guitarists, so at the end-of-term concert at Charterhouse they were helped out by)
Rivers Job: bass
Anthony Phillips: guitar

 

At this point the various members of what would become Genesis all knew each other and were still messing around musically, though their bands were basically defunct. Mike and Ant decided to record their songs, and got Tony to come along and play keyboards with the condition that Tony could bring Pete along for vocals and record one Gabriel/Banks penned tune. It was decided that Pete had a better voice than Ant. Chris Stewart was on drums. Thus we have

Genesis (1)
(January 67-May 68)
Anthony Phillips: guitar/vocals
Mike Rutherford: bass/guitar/vocals
Tony Banks: keyboards/vocals
Peter Gabriel: lead vocals/flute
Chris Stewart: drums

As this line-up, Genesis recorded a few demo tapes for Johnathan King and, eventually, their first two singles: "The Silent Sun/That's Me," released 2/2/68; and "A Winter's Tale/One-Eyed Hound," released 10/5/68. However, by the time Genesis got in the studio to record their first album, Chris Stewart had been replaced on drums (he was, from what I understand, still at school) and the line-up looked like this:

Genesis (2)
(June 68-July 69)
Anthony Phillips: guitar/vocals
Mike Rutherford: bass/guitar/vocals
Tony Banks: keyboards/vocals/guitar
Peter Gabriel: lead vocals/flute/percussion
Johnathan Silver: drums

 

After the recording of the first record in the summer of '68, the band basically went back to school for the remainder of the year. The album was released in March of 1969, put into the religious bins of record stores, and generally ignored by everyone.

Though the response to their first record was disappointing, the band decided to continue; all except for Johnathan Silver, who felt he had done the rock star thing and decided to go on with his education--prompting Ant to write "The Silver Song." John Mayhew was recruited to replace him (possibly as early as July of '69, though no recordings seem to have been done until August), and the band developed and recorded their second album (and also played their first bunch of live gigs, starting in late September of '69) with this line-up:

Genesis (3)
(August 69-July 70)
Anthony Phillips: guitar/vocals
Mike Rutherford: bass/guitar/vocals
Tony Banks: keyboards/vocals/guitar
Peter Gabriel: lead vocals/flute/percussion
John Mayhew: drums/vocals

After this, increasing anxiety and stage fright forced Ant out of the band; his last gig: 18/7/70. Around this same time, Mayhew left the band (or, more probably, was kicked out). On 4 August Phil Collins replaced Mayhew on the drums (though he didn't start rehearsals until 24 August--the band took a two-week holiday right after Phil was hired).

For about three months during that second half of 1970, after Phil's joining in August and before the band hired a semi-steady guitarist, they played as a four-piece (Tony, Mike, Pete and Phil) and Tony reproduced the sound of a guitar by playing his keyboards through a fuzzbox (they must not have sounded that great, but I'd love to have heard them during this period all the same). Thus:

Genesis - the four-piece line-up
(August 70-October 70)
Mike Rutherford: bass/guitar/vocals
Tony Banks: keyboards/vocals/guitar (sort of)
Peter Gabriel: lead vocals/flute/percussion
Phil Collins: drums/vocals

There is evidence that Phil's friend, Ronnie Caryl, who had auditioned for the position of guitarist at Phil's audition and been rejected, actually came back and played one gig with the band during this four-piece period (my guess for the date/venue of this gig, given hints from Phil, is 6 October 1970 at the British Legion Hall in Princes Risborough, UK). It's possible that other guest guitarists may have been invited to join the group for one or two gigs during this period.

There is additional and very concrete evidence (namely, a letter from Peter Gabriel dated the end of October 1970) that a Kim Shaheen, who was a friend of Pete's, had sat in with the band during the sessions for the Trespass album and was later asked to come back and fill in as guitarist during the four-piece period. Whether he did or not is somewhat unclear, but I would guess not, as the letter asking him to come back is dated October 28 and the new guitarist, Mick Barnard (you thought I was going to say Steve Hackett, didn't you? :), joined in very early November. However it is remotely possible that some of his work with the band was included in the sessions for the Trespass album (although this would seem strange, since Ant was still ostensibly with the group until after the album was recorded--though he left before it was officially released, on 21 October).

 

Meanwhile...

Two bands called The Dimension and The Schy joined to form
The Freehold
(? 1968-October 1968; later versions lasted till January 1969?)
Jeff Slater: vocals
John "Fluff" Hunt: guitar
Les Mannering: bass
Phil Collins: vocals/drums

Phil was not a member of Dimension or Schy, but answered an ad they placed. Later, "Fluff" was dumped and these players came in:

Ronnie Caryl, Jr. (replacing "Fluff"): guitar
John "Feakin" Deakin: saxophone
John "Sleepy" Redfurn: keyboardist
Gerry Earsdon (replacing Ronnie): guitar
Gerry's brother (replacing Phil): drums

Phil left the band in October of '68, to join
Hickory
(?? possibly late '68 to early '69)
Phil Collins: vocals/drums
Brian Chatton: vocals/keyboards
Ronnie Caryl, Jr.: vocals/bass/guitar
"Flash" Gordon Smith: vocals/guitar/bass

which became:
Flaming Youth
(spring to fall 1969)
same lineup as above

(Ronnie Caryl, Phil's long time friend, accompanied him on his audition with Genesis, and tried out for the guitarist position. It is also possible that Ronnie actually did sit in with the band on at least one live gig (see left).)

Quiet World
(December 69-July 70)
Steve Hackett: guitar/harp
John Hackett: guitar
Gill Gilvert: vocals
Lea Heather: composer
John Heather: vocals/guitar
Neil Heather: composer
Phil Henderson: keyboards
Sean O'Malley: drums
Dick Driver: drums
Eddy Hines: flute/sax

According to Melody Maker's "Genesis File" of 1972, Hackett also played in the following bands: Canterbury Glass, Heel Pier, and Sarabande.

 

Regardless, after this unstable, mostly four-piece period of the band's existence, they picked up Mick Barnard of the band Farm and had a somewhat steady guitarist for a while. Mick was playing with the band when they were taped for TV in 1970 (aired on 14/11/70). A bootleg of this video unfortunately does not exist. And so:

Genesis - the Mick Barnard line-up
(November 70-December 70)
Mick Barnard: guitar
Mike Rutherford: bass/guitar/vocals
Tony Banks: keyboards/vocals/guitar
Peter Gabriel: lead vocals/flute/percussion
Phil Collins: drums/vocals

Most lists of the band's line-ups do not even mention the four-piece or Mick Barnard line-ups, and to my knowledge there are no existing recordings from this period. (Needless to say, there is also very little information around about Kim and Ronnie playing with the band.) The official site claims Mick's first gig with the band was on 3 November 1970. Mick was definitely with the band well into December, but was then replaced by Steve Hackett. Hackett's first gig was actually 14 January 1971, though according to interviews it had been agreed that he would join before then--probably late December (they were simply waiting to fulfill contractual obligations with Mick). If we look past Mick's brief stay (which probably lasted about two months) and the odd four-piece period, the next line-up, and what many consider the classic line-up of the band, looks like this:

Genesis (4)
(late December 70-May 75)
Steve Hackett: guitar
Mike Rutherford: bass/guitar/vocals
Tony Banks: keyboards/vocals/guitar
Peter Gabriel: lead vocals/flute/percussion
Phil Collins: drums/vocals

The band recorded and toured for four albums with this line-up, and built and developed a cult following (even playing across the pond in America), as well as generating some interest from the music press because of their creative stage theatrics. Eventually, however, creative tension and various band differences caused Peter Gabriel to drop out of the band. Pete's last gig with the band was probably on 27/5/75 in Besancon (or St. Etienne?), France. He announced his departure from the band on 18 August of that year, but it was known by the other band members earlier than that, and they fully intended to continue on without him (even as an instrumental band, if need be!). With Phil replacing Pete as lead vocalist, the next line-up looked like this:

Genesis (5)
(May 75-July 77)
Steve Hackett: guitar
Mike Rutherford: bass/guitar/vocals
Tony Banks: keyboards/vocals
Phil Collins: drums/lead vocals

(Live, March-July 76)
Bill Bruford: drums

(Live, 1/1/77 to 3/7/77)
Chester Thompson: drums

The 3 July show of 77 proved to be Steve Hackett's last gig with the band, as he felt too creatively constricted by the democratic song-writing style (or possibly the tyrannical control of Tony Banks). He announced his departure on 8 October of 1977. As with Peter's departure, the core band decided not to replace Hackett, and they were left with this trio:

Genesis (6)
(July 77-September 93)
Mike Rutherford: bass/guitar
Tony Banks: keyboards
Phil Collins: drums/lead vocals

(On tour starting in March of 1978 and going to the end of this period, the band also featured:)
Daryl Stuermer: guitar/bass
Chester Thompson: drums

In this pared-down line-up, the band finally found its greatest success and popularity, producing six studio albums, two live albums, and piles of live performances in between pauses for various solo projects.

I don't feel it's fair to cover this period without giving a nod to the famous "Six of the Best" reunion concert, which occurred at the National Bowl in Milton Keynes on 2 October 1982. For that one night the band was very briefly returned to a semblance of its famous 5-piece configuration - with some additions and adjustments. The line-up looked like this:

Genesis (Six of the Best)
(2 October 1982)
Mike Rutherford: bass/guitar/vocals
Tony Banks: keyboards/vocals/guitar
Peter Gabriel: lead vocals/flute/percussion
Phil Collins: drums/vocals
Daryl Stuermer: guitar/bass
Chester Thompson: drums
Steve Hackett: guitar (only on the encores; he arrived late)

After this the band continued to rise enormously in popularity, going multi-platinum with several albums and filling giant arenas. All good things must come to an end, as they say, and eventually Phil Collins decided it was no longer convenient for him to continue in the group dynamic. Phil's last real gig with the band was played at the Cowdray Ruins on 18/9/93 (although he played and recorded a few old songs with them in 2000). He had definitely decided to leave the band by 94, but the official announcement was made 29 March 1996. The band's new singer was announced on 6 June 1997. The new line-up was as follows, for the studio recordings and the subsequent tour:

Genesis (7a - studio)
(June 97-August 97)
Mike Rutherford: guitars
Tony Banks: keyboards
Ray Wilson: lead vocals
Nick D'Virgilio: drums
Nir Zidkyahu: drums

Genesis (7b - live)
(August 97-May 98)
Mike Rutherford: guitars
Tony Banks: keyboards/guitar
Ray Wilson: lead vocals
Anthony Drennan: guitars
Nir Zidkyahu: drums

I added "guitar" back into Tony's instruments because he did indeed play one during the acoustic section of the set while on tour.

The CAS album and tour did not take the world by storm, and after 1998 the band fell into a sort of hibernation. For several years the separate members worked on solo projects and occasionally got together for private one-off performances. A few releases of old material and occasional rumors kept interest in the band alive. Then:

Genesis (8 - reunion!)
(May 07-October 07)
Mike Rutherford: bass/guitar
Tony Banks: keyboards
Phil Collins: drums/lead vocals
Daryl Stuermer: guitar/bass
Chester Thompson: drums

On November 7, 2006, after a very long band hiatus, the big trio announced that they were getting back together for Turn It on Again, The Tour (or, as Phil would like to call it, "selection of shows"). They reformed their classic live band (or, in the context of this list, "Genesis 6") of the 80s and early 90s and in 2007 toured Europe and North America. Original plans to tour with the classic five-piece line-up ("Genesis 4") and play The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway have been, at least for the moment, shelved--but it's not impossible that some day I will be adding another entry to this list!

Sure enough . . .
In March 2020 the classic 3-man line-up announced another reunion tour, coming off the success of Phil's "Not Dead Yet" solo tour which had ended in 2019. The band's decision proved remarkably ill-timed, as the COVID-19 pandemic immediately intervened and caused multiple delays and cancellations. Eventually however the tour did come off, dubbed The Last Domino? and running from fall of 2021 to spring 2022 with a tired-looking and largely immobile Phil managing once again as frontman, but this time bringing his son Nic along on percussion instead of longtime live drummer Chester Thompson. A couple of new members were brought in to fill out the vocals. Thus:

Genesis (9 - reunion 2!)
(September 21-March 22)
Mike Rutherford: bass/guitar
Tony Banks: keyboards
Phil Collins: lead vocals
Daryl Stuermer: guitar/bass
Nic Collins: drums/percussion
Daniel Pearce: backing vocals
Patrick Smyth: backing vocals

A couple of band members have publicly stated that this is very likely it for Genesis as a touring act, and thus we can in all likelihood remove the question mark from the end of the tour name. The end?

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