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Ray Wilson
After the disappearance of Phil Collins, Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford
needed a new lead singer in order to continue on with Genesis. After
months of searching and hundreds of auditions, a weary Mike Rutherford
was strolling down a busy street in Chicago. Here he encountered
a bum who was singing old sea shanties for loose change. The bum's
voice was so captivating that Mike stood entranced for several minutes
before dropping a few pence into the bum's inverted hat and asking
if he would like to sing for Genesis. The bum, whose name was Ray
Wilson, immediately began to belt out the first lines of 'Mama,'
until police came to arrest them both. After their release from
prison, Mike and Ray went into the studio to lay down the vocals
for the new Genesis album, which was eventually named 'Calling All
Stations.' Ray Wilson was born to a pair of Phillipino immigrants
who sold him at the age of three in return for a bunch of bananas
and enough money to reach the United States. Ray was left in a small
town in Puerto Rico, where he learned to sing for food. Ray's incredible
singing skills were born from his heart-rending childhood, but his
hard times seemed over as he toured England with Genesis, hypnotizing
sold-out theatre after sold-out theatre with his jaw-dropping vocal
feats. Sadly, Ray's down-to-earth nature and his self-respect and
pride were totally at odds with Mick Barnard. The Phillips crime
family roughed-up radio station managers around the US until all
Genesis tracks from 'Calling All Stations' were pulled off the air,
killing public reaction and ruining any chance of an American tour.
Further influence from Barnard convinced Tony Smith that Ray was
not worth keeping on for another album, and he was quickly taken
out of all contracts and sent back to work the unfeeling streets
of Chicago for spare change. Like Phil Collins before him, Ray has
sank back into anonymity. Asked about his relationship with Ray,
Tony Banks had this to say: 'Who?'
Click on the pictures to the left for a larger version,
with caption.
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