On March 24, 1974 Genesis played at The Winterland Arena in San Francisco, California. Rich Isaacs was the music director for the San Francisco University campus radio station KRTG (880 AM) and was able to schedule an interview for the day after the concert. These interviews conducted while the events were happening give amazing insight into the band! The Genesis Museum is proud to present one of the longest and one of the earliest Genesis interviews (unheard for more than 50 years) and we plan to work on Rich's other Genesis interviews in the future.
NOTE: There was another interviewer/photographer here as well, but after 50 years Rich can no longer remember who it was.
http://genesismuseum.com
Rich Isaacs: "This was the first interview I had ever done. In those days, information about relatively obscure British bands was hard to come by, unless one had access to magazines such as Melody Maker or New Musical Express. I got to speak with Phil Collins and Tony Banks in one room at the Holiday Inn, and then later that day with Peter Gabriel in another room. As Tony said, Peter had a reputation for being a difficult interview because he was hesitant and chose his words carefully. Those characteristics proved true, but he was still friendly and engaging. In 1975, on the “Lamb Lies Down on Broadway” tour, I was able to again interview Tony and Peter. In 1976, for the “Trick of the Tail” tour, I finally got to sit down with Steve Hackett and Mike Rutherford. My last interview with any member of Genesis took place in 1977 at the Miyako Hotel with just Phil. During those years, I was also fortunate to talk with, and write about, Anthony Phillips, Al Stewart, bands like Camel, Split Enz, Gentle Giant, Devo, and others.
After a 40-year hiatus from writing, I am currently a staff writer for Copper, a free online magazine dealing with music, audio, and other topics. I have written about progressive rock, comedy groups, unusual cover songs, and more. The full story of how I got the Genesis interviews can be found in Issue 125 https://www.psaudio.com/copper/article/interviewing-genesis-in-the-1970s-part-one/ and Issue 127 https://www.psaudio.com/copper/article/interviewing-genesis-in-the-1970s-part-two/
I want to thank The Genesis Museum for the incredible job transcribing my interview and bringing it to life with the accompanying visuals."
00:00 Intro
00:48 Flaming Youth
01:29 Tony's music training
01:46 From Genesis to Revelation
02:20 Phil's early bands
02:51 Genesis auditions
04:57 Trespass
06:16 Live vs Studio tracks
09:47 Playing old material
10:15 Song writing
13:32 Peter's role
14:13 The Midnight Special
15:46 Watcher of the Skies
16:15 Favorite Genesis songs/LPs
18:25 Phil's drum set
18:58 Stage show / Peter on wires
20:24 Winterland show / disruptions
22:12 Toronto show with Lou Reed
23:23 Genesis music vs other bands
26:24 Theatrics / From Genesis to Revelation
31:10 Stage curtain / spinnakers
33:06 Slides
35:20 Visuals
36:49 Reviews
39:01 Radio airplay
40:08 Singles
42:40 Current tour
43:05 Drumming / Billy Cobham
45:30 Drums / bass rhythms / time signatures
49:30 Drum training
51:34 Keyboard training
52:20 Album releases
53:08 Band logos
55:52 Double album / recording
59:41 Music progression
1:00:58 Other musicians / groups
1:01:53 Selling albums / airplay
1:03:38 Between song stories
1:04:46 Drum solos and other solos
1:07:39 Equipment breakdowns
1:11:29 Recording vs rehearsing
1:12:19 Peter Banks
1:13:20 Arthur Brown
1:15:42 Religious influence
1:16:20 Watcher of the Skies lyrics
1:17:37 Concertgoers
1:19:07 Rick Wakeman/Keith Emerson
1:20:21 Bootlegs
1:20:44 All Genesis releases
1:21:55 Tony's influences
1:23:11 Tony listening to Genesis
1:25:12 Winterland audience