Version#10: November 22, 2004
Copyright
1996 through 2004 David Dunnington (david_dunnington@hotmail.com)
CONTENTS
What is a radio show?
My quest for good quality Genesis bootlegs has lead me into the world of "radio shows". Radio show transcriptions consist of material prepared for broadcast on LP, CD, DAT or reel-to-reel tape. These radio masters, being of broadcast quality, have sound reproduction and mixing comparable with officially released material. In terms of sound quality a live radio show master is the ultimate bootleg, christened "pre-FM" and much sought after by tape and CDR traders.
Not all live radio broadcasts yield radio show transcriptions: shows for broadcast on local radio do not require distribution, so the recordings result in a single master source, usually reel-to-reel format for older recordings with more recent masters held on DAT. Obviously tracking down the original reels of a local radio broadcast is much more difficult than locating LPs or CDs distributed to participating stations of a radio network, yet recordings are occasionally leaked from archive vaults in this way.
Initially, the legitimacy of dealing in radio show transcriptions was a legal grey area: the media which reproduces the show is the property of the broadcasting company, but transcriptions are not illegally manufactured. These days regulation is tighter, for example "Record Collector" can no longer accept adverts offering to sell radio shows and they are officially out of bounds on Ebay (though a steady stream of radio shows continue to be auctioned there).
Who manufactures radio shows?
The king of the radio show is King Biscuit, a transcription service owned by the US broadcasting company DIR. King Biscuit have put out various series of live shows, including "The King Biscuit Flower Hour" (60 minutes), "Superbiscuit" (80 mintues) and "Supergroups In Concert" (100 minutes) which are distributed to the various radio stations in the DIR network for broadcast. King Biscuit's first live show went out on 18th February 1973 and they have recorded Genesis on most of their major tours. Participating radio stations specify their preferred medium to receive King Biscuit shows when they subscribe to the network: reel-to-reel tape, LP or more recently CD.
King Biscuit made 2 inch multitrack recordings of full shows which they stored in their vaults, with live-to-radio mix additionally caught on 1/4 inch tape. For selected rebroadcasts King Biscuit retrieve the 2 inch masters and put substantial effort into recreating an authentic live experience of the band performing in that particular period. Newer shows often sound noticably better than the original broadcasts due to advances in remastering technology.
Latterly King Biscuit have started to release some of their archive material commercially, though no Genesis shows. These official CDs listed at www.kingbiscuit.com should not be confused with discs distributed for broadcast, private ownership of which is not officially sanctioned. It is worth noting that occasionally unbroadcast tracks appear on their official releases, so for any given show there's always a chance additional material will be made available. For example the song Prizefighters is present on the official release of GTR in concert at Los Angeles 1986, but was absent on the radio shows. Now that King Biscuit have issued numerous official releases from their archives, the non-appearance of a Genesis CD stands out as a significant omission. It is unlikely that King Biscuit have not attempted to capitalize on their abundance of Genesis live material, so the inevitable conclusion is that Genesis have not consented to release. If so the band may well be reserving the right to exploit the shows themselves - as with the Lamb show on the "Genesis Archive" box set; indeed a steady trickle of isolated tracks have in the past contributed to official products.
Other companies exist which operate on the same basis, leasing their radio shows to US local and independent stations. Another noteworthy name among these is Westwood One whose most famous series are "In Concert" and "Superstar Concert" (both about 80 minutes). Over time the Westwood One network has grown and absorbed several others including Transtar, Unistar, NBC, Mutual. A word of caution: Westwood One CDs are relatively easy to fake, their labels are black printing direct onto silver CDRs. Some suspicious copies have been selling on Ebay at reduced prices with lower quality back print, photocopied cue sheets and the odd occurrence of diginoise.
An honourable mention goes to the BBC Transcription Services. The BBC have been manufacturing LPs (now CDs) since the 1950s which constitute self-contained programs for broadcast on foreign BBC subsidiary stations. Many of these discs contain speech programmes on a wide variety of topics, but some are music oriented and the most pertinent to our current concern is the "In Concert" series of live shows. The hour long "In Concert" slot ran on BBC Radio One since the late 1960s and has more recently been continued on Radio Two. Interestingly BBC "In Concert" LPs sometimes differ by one or two tracks from the British broadcasts. When bootleggers became wise to the fact that the LPs could fetch up to 150 pounds (sterling) they began to manufacture inferior copies which can be identified as having black labels rather than the authentic BBC green label.
London Wavelength was a commercial company set up in the mid 1970s to syndicate BBC recordings for airplay on commercial non-BBC related radio stations. As such they can be considered as an arm of BBC Transcription Services, having access to the treasures within the BBC archives and including the BBC Transcription Services logo on their cue sheets. As with BBC transcription LPs their programs carry an introduction by a British DJ (often Brian Matthew, Richard Skinner or Andy Peebles), but unlike the BBC LPs their programs contain adverts and are syndicated for airplay under contract. They are famous among music collectors for the "BBC Rock Hour" programs, sometimes featuring album cuts, sometimes interviews, sometimes live concerts; other programs with live shows include the "London Wavelength Concert Hour" and "BBC College Concert". Due to the adverts, the majority of live shows are subsets of their counterparts on standard BBC transcription LPs: the BBC Rock Hour usually has about 50 minutes of material whereas BBC "In Concert" programs carry nearly a full hour of music. Yet there are examples of additional material being made available by London Wavelength, for example there was a special double issue of Rick Wakeman at the Hammersmith Odeon in 1976 comprising 100 minutes of a concert formerly limited to one hour on both the BBC broadcast and corresponding transcription LP. Another unique feature is that early shows were produced on reel-to-reel tape which if well preserved and properly treated can often produce superior quality sound to BBC vinyl.
Scope
In the sections which follow, I will concentrate on live material (many radio shows consist of interview and studio recordings) and will focus on band material: there are also numerous radio shows involving individual band members. To provide context, I will attempt a complete catalogue of all Genesis live broadcast, describing radio show LPs, CDs and reels where they exist. Bootlegs will be mentioned mainly when they relate to one particular radio show or broadcast; a complete list of bootlegs for each show would clutter the text.
Now that digital trading has become the norm it is usually possible to find CDR versions which are sourced closer to the master recordings than are the old bootlegs. With this explosion of sources it has become correspondingly difficult to obtain information on the lineage of circulating material. The difficulty is compounded by the ready availability of remastering capabilities which can produce multiple variant versions of any source. Wherever I have certain knowledge of a version whose provenance from master is know I have mentioned it, but if you intend to hunt for these items bear in mind that nowadays there will inevitably be false imitations and competing or misleading claims.
For completeness I have added an appendix on BBC sessions which first appeared in Jeff Kaa's excellent "9/8" fanzine. Although BBC sessions are not live in the sense of being performed before an audience they often have a "live" quality due to the limiting influence of the strict time schedules applied at BBC studios. Non-BBC sessions and demos are not addressed because that body of material could easily fill an article of its own. TV broadcasts will be mentioned only incidentally when relevant to radio broadcasts as this subject too deserves separate treatment.
LIVE BROADCASTS AND RADIO SHOWS
Foxtrot tour
Selling England By The Pound tour
The Lamb tour
A Trick Of The Tail tour
Wind And Wuthering tour
And Then There Were Three tour
Duke tour
Abacab tour
Mama tour
Invisible Touch tour
We Can't Dance tour
Calling All Stations tour
1. The Roundhouse, London, 11th March 1970
Speculation about prehistory is an inexact science! Nevertheless I will try to arrange the incomplete jigsaw pieces so as to present a plausible account of this mysterious recording. Apparently Genesis' PA system was not capable of making soundboard recordings until 1973. However this gig dubbed the "Atomic Sunrise Festival" at the London Roundhouse was headlined by David Bowie, increasing the likelihood of sound equipment with recording facilities. Verification that Bowie and Genesis played on this date comes in the form of a concert poster which advertised the festival program as follows:
Amazingly Genesis were actually captured on film at this concert! The film is silent, though a separate soundtrack is rumoured to exist, the work to sync sound and vision together not having been done. There appear to be quite a few independent reports of footage of various bands filmed at the London Roundhouse around 1970, including 35mm film of Hawkwind from April 1970 for which the soundtrack is said to be missing. VH1 have shown a clip of David Bowie live at the London Roundhouse, said to be recorded on 22nd February 1970, the day that Genesis were in London recording their first BBC session for the Night Ride program. As rumour has it, Yoko Ono was in the habbit of having some of the bands filmed at the Roundhouse around this era. Yoko Ono actually organized the "Atomic Sunrise Festival" opening the possibility that the master footage and soundtrack resides in the vaults of Apple Corporation. However it is claimed that a search of these archives during July and August of 2004 failed to uncover early Genesis material.
Glen Colson (formerly at Charisma) was shown black and white 8mm footage at the time he was putting together the first Archive box set. He remembers it being silent, about 20 minutes long, very good quality and says that Peter Gabriel was behaving like a young Mick Jagger! Anthony Phillips can be seen quite clearly in the footage, confirming the year as 1970. The dealer (known as Adrian Everett) wanted 20,000 pounds for the film and was "gently" persuaded (on threat of a law suit from Tony Smith) to abandon his ambitions. It is not certain whether Genesis were signed with Charisma at the time, but in any case an offical release is highly unlikely. Another account says that Ant can be seen playing the accordion on one song.
Turning to the subject of the missing soundtrack: Ant, Mike and Tony reportedly all remember the festival being pro recorded on 8 track equipment. A 20 second snippet introduced as live from the Roundhouse was aired by Earth News Radio, who's illustrious presenter Lew Irwin has kindly explained in an email:- "My source for out-of-print and bootlegged recordings was a company in Glendale, CA called Discontinued Records. They are no longer in business (the owner died), and I have no idea who acquired their collection (it was enormous). They did not actually sell the recordings, but made cassette copies for clients. I did not retain any of mine". Following up on this lead proved interesting as the somewhat chequered saga of DISContinued Records began to unfold.
Owner Les held one of the largest vinyl collections in the world, a massive 2.5 million used records at his outlet on South Victory Blvd, Burbank. For a fee Les would record a selection or an entire album for a customer and the scale of his activities attracted the attention of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) who then purchased tapes from DISContinued Records to use as incriminating evidence. On 14.Sep.81 Les was arrested and stock was seized in an RIAA raid on a charge of copyright infringement and a further more serious charge of grand theft on the basis that he had appropriated funds and property exceeding $25,000. A weak defense, mounted on the basis that Les thought he had the implied consent of the record companies, quickly collapsed. But the grand theft charge did not stick and he was instead found guilty of copyright infringement and petty theft, placed on probation, fined $7,500 and ordered to refrain from transferring recorded sounds without a license or consent.
DISContinued Records is mentioned in another court case relating to the manufacture and distribution of Elvis Presley records in 1980. California was known to be one of the major producers of bootleg records through the 1970s and 1980s and based on this evidence it looks as though this operation in Burbank played a large part in establishing this reputation. When Les died his son tried to continue the business, moving to nearby Glendale but eventually closed it down. Les's brother auctioned the stock and the proceeds were used to fund a Memorial Music Scholarship at California State University, Stanislaus which operates to this day; a fitting end to the story of an incredible music collection.
Sadly all this brings us no closer to uncovering the truth about the early Genesis recording, indeed the trail seems convincingly cold. A final word about the Roundhouse: it is fair to point out that considerable suspicion must attach to the date given since Ant Philips firmly believes Genesis were not professionally recorded live during his tenure with the band (though he does recall someone with a hand-held camera at one of the Roundhouse gigs). Although it would be neat to tie this radio show snippet with the film there is certainly room for doubt. The details of this recording remain a tantalizing mystery which I would love to solve!
1.1 "Earth News Radio" [1978 - LP]
Evidence of the London
Roundhouse recording is in the form of a fascinating 5 minute and 45 second
segment on a rare radio show LP called "Earth News Radio". It consists mainly of
Lew Irwin interviewing Peter Gabriel soon after the release of his second album
(June 1978). The really interesting part occurs in the first minute. After a
brief introduction, Lew announces that we are "about to hear a rare recording of
Genesis recorded at the Roundhouse in London nearly ten years ago". Then there
is a live snippet of Twilight Alehouse which plays for 20 seconds before the
interview begins and there is talking over the music which continues for a
further 20 seconds - Gabriel is saying how there were more people on stage than
in the audience. During this first part Lew Irwin dates the recording as "circa
1967" - which must be a rather wild estimate! The remainder of the interview
consists of questions and answers which present a cursory history of Gabriel's
career up to his second album.
The all-too-brief excerpt from Twilight Alehouse is certainly professionally
recorded and is different from other such recordings (the B-side version, the
BBC session version, the version recorded for Belgian TV).
2. BBC Paris Studios, London, 2nd March 1972
This 30 minute broadcast, part of the BBC "In Concert" series, contained a concert performance of three songs before an audience in BBC's Paris Studio. Andy Dunkley introduced the hour long program which consisted of a set by a band called Max Merritt And The Meteors followed by Genesis' set. The producer was Jeff Griffin and the engineer Chris Lycett. It was first broadcast on 11th March 1972 and the Genesis portion was repeated (minus Peter Gabriel's brief introduction to the first song) on 20th May 1989 during Alan Freeman's "Saturday/Sunday Rock Show".
3. Jahrhunderthalle, Frankfurt, 17th January 1973
The next live set to be broadcast is reputed to be part of an event called "The Sound Of Britain Festival" recorded at the Jahrhunderthalle (Century Hall) in Frankfurt and aired by Frankfurt's AFN radio.
Doubt exists over both the venue and date attribution. It may be that the songs were performed in a TV studio, a possibility given credence by the announcer's introduction and the resemblance of the crowd noise to a studio audience. As for the date, the official Genesis timeline has them on tour in Germany on 17th January, but not in Frankfurt, and no mention of this broadcast being recorded. Whilst the official timeline is not infallible it seems the exact date and location of this performance are in question.
Some tape copies of this material are accompanied by a recording of Supper's Ready which is sometimes mistakenly assumed to be part of the Frankfurt recording. In fact it was performed live in the studio for the French TV program "Melody". I Know What I Like was also performed for the Melody program, and video copies have over the last few years been leaked and traded quite widely. I do not know if AFN Frankfurt retained their master tape of this broadcast but I guess it is unlikely to see the light of day now. You can find a rather muffled version on the bootleg "Tango" [Chapter One CO 25112 - CD] together with the soundtrack of a live TV studio appearance in Brussels on 20th and 21st March 1972. Copies with better definition can be found on CDR.
4. De Montfort Hall, Leicester, 25th February 1973
The official LP "Live" was re-mixed from tapes originally recorded by King Biscuit. Charisma initially intended to release a double album, but instead cut the recording down to produce a single budget LP aiming to reach a wider audience. Nevertheless plans for the double album were sufficiently far advanced for Charisma to have commissioned test pressings from Philips in Holland entitled "Live at Leicester & Manchester" [Philips 6830.140/1, 13.Apr.73 - 2LP]; the numbers stamped into the vinyl are AA 6830 140 1Y 1 670 1 series. Each label was written out by hand so they all look slightly different. A few of these Philips test pressings were distributed by Phonogram Int. B.V and have survived but are very hard to find. They contain the additional track Supper's Ready, complete with Peter Gabriel's introductory story, and some of the other song introductions are a little longer than on "Live". Besides the vinyl test pressings there also exists a set of two acetates which must take the honour of "ultimate live Genesis rarity".
Record I:
Side 1
The test pressings themselves are not "radio shows": they were not manufactured for the purpose of radio broadcast; the opportunity to describe them here is due to independently mastered shows broadcast by King Biscuit and the BBC. Radio recordings of the show can be distinguished from the Philips LPs due to minor differences in sound production - King Biscuit's recording seems more "polished". On that basis I believe "Genuine Genesis Live" [GGL 2/73 - CD] to be derived from the King Biscuit broadcast. Also, the old bootleg "Carnegie Hall" [TAKRL 933 - LP] is undoubtedly the same material and was probably taped from a King Biscuit show. The Leicester gig will have been one of King Biscuit's very first recordings; it has not contributed to any of their more recent retrospective compilations and as far as I know the show has not survived on any medium distributed by King Biscuit.
Supper's Ready from this recording was aired by the BBC on the "Sounds of the 70s" show, hosted by Bob Harris and transmitted on Monday 23rd July 1973. The source was a "private tape" supplied, in all probability, by Charisma and as such is unlikely to have been retained in the BBC archives. A tape containing the BBC broadcast has long been circulating amongst tape traders, coupled with the "In Concert" broadcast (section 2) under the name "UK Tours 1971-1973".
None of the tapes or bootlegs derived from the King Biscuit broadcast include Hogweed, and according to the test pressing cue sheet this was the only track recorded at Manchester's Free Trade Hall (24th February 1973), therefore it is possible King Biscuit recorded the Leicester show and Charisma added Hogweed independently to complete the LP. All versions of this material sound heavily supplemented with studio overdubs.
5. Olympia Theatre, Paris, 7th May 1973
French AM station Europe 1 broadcast part of a gig from the Foxtrot tour on their "Musicorama" show with a reporter describing the on-stage action between songs. Introducing the Knife, the announcer said that "the audience were very warm that Monday night" which helps to verify the performance date as Monday 7th May.
There are no bootlegs from the broadcast; tapes are pretty hard to find and those I've heard are of a poor standard with Knife being clipped just before it finishes. Musicorama was a popular AM broadcast in the early 70s and Europe 1 sometimes rebroadcasts in stereo bits and pieces from these early shows - for example a Pink Floyd 1970 show was partially rebroadcast in 1995. So there is a possibility that Europe 1 still have their recording from the Olympia and may air it again one day.
6. Rainbow Theatre, London, 20th October 1973
It has long been supposed that this was a BBC recording, but in truth the BBC archives have no record of the show. The recording was made by Charisma and some of the material has been included in the Genesis Archives box set [Virgin 72438 422221 2 3 - 4CD] (missing are Watcher Of The Skies, Epping Forrest, Cinema Show).
London's Capital Radio came on air on 16th October 1973 making it the second commercial radio station in the UK, LBC having made their first broadcast only a week or so earlier. Genesis at the Rainbow received its debut broadcast on Capital Radio soon after the station was launched. Later there were several local US broadcasts probably supplied by Charisma to promote the US leg of the "Selling England By The Pound" tour. Absent from these hour long US broadcasts were Cinema Show and Epping Forrest, so related bootlegs (such as "Watchers Of The Skies" [Great Dane Records GDR CD 9018 - CD]) are similarly incomplete. Two verified US broadcasts are WXRT Chicago (1976) and WNEW New York (1986). WXRT are in the habbit of airing their version every few years, the most recent of which was on 13th February 2000 - Peter Gabriel's 50th birthday. A DAT recording of this latter 60 min broadcast is the best I have heard, leaving aside the doctored version on Archive #1.
Tapes of the show and other bootlegs include the extra tracks broadcast by Capital. One to look for is the classic two part bootleg LP "The Great Lost Live Album" [G48,G50 - 2LP], a very good recording which includes Epping Forrest but not Cinema Show: this is rumoured to have descended from the Charisma master rather than a broadcast. "Welcome to Epping Forrest" [RFCD8 - CD] is probably the definitive commercial CD release: an expertly remastered version of "The Great Lost Live Album", but again minus Cinema Show. The best bootleg version of Cinema Show, though still a little hissy, is on "Live Supper" [Chapter One CO 25111 - CD].
Hundreds of Capital Radio masters have been donated as a collection to the National Sound Archive introducing a glimmer of hope that the original broadcast reels may have survived; however most of the Capital tapes are as yet poorly catalogued and those which are documented appear all to be dated from the 1980s onwards.
7. Roxy Theatre, Los Angeles, 18th December 1973 (early show)
Reputed to be among the finest Genesis performances are the six gigs they played at the Roxy Theatre, LA in late 1973. For each of the 17th, 18th and 19th December Genesis gave both matinee and evening performances. A broadcast which is often overlooked is of the early performance on the 18th. The show came courtesy of a small local Los Angeles AM radio station, KDAY - long since defunct.
Happily there are decent bootleg releases of the morning show on the 19th! "Skywatchers" [TMQ 72115 - 2LP] and "Fantasia" [Exposure EX-002-1GE - CD] both have reasonable balance and pretty good stereo sound. Although certainly taken from the soundboard and with the aid of an audience micropone, There are lower generation copies available in trading circles which have a minute or so more of Supper's Ready than do the boots, finishing towards the end of the Apocalypse section rather than near the beginning.
I have not so far found evidence of a broadcast of the matinee show on 19th. A plausible theory is that both the 18th and 19th were recorded proffessionally and the 18th was selected for broadcast. If correct this would require someone with access to the later recording to leak the show in order that it eventually fall into the hands of the bootleggers.
8. Centre Sportif, University of Montreal, 21th April 1974
An entire "Selling England By The Pound" set was broadcast live on the air by Montreal radio station CHOM-FM (not to be confused with Toronto's local station CHUM-FM). Genesis were supported that night by Peter Hammill though his songs, introduced by Peter Gabriel, were not broadcast. To round things off CHOM-FM also broadcast a 20 minute post-concert interview and phone-in with Gabriel.
This particular show is a good one to own, not just because it is the only complete professional recording of this set but also because it sports a finely honed performance. Genesis had been on the road with this material for seven months and had already delighted the Montreal crowd at an earlier visit in October 1973. Watch out especially for some great upbeat backing vocals from Phil - during Willow Farm for example.
9. Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, 24th January 1975
This concert was professionally recorded by Genesis' sound engineer, John Burns, and Genesis management hold the master. The Lamb section of the show is available on the "Genesis Archives" box set, though with much overdubbing including doctoring of about one third of the vocals. An early official release of The Waiting Room from this performance was B-side to the single version of Carpet Crawlers [Charisma CB251] where it was nicknamed "Evil Jam". Performance wise this show is incredible with great musical virtuosity and an atmosphere of intimacy and menace: played loud it feels as though you are right there in the auditorium, especially on the unofficial (undoctored) short recording.
Missing from the box set are the last song of the standard set (It) and the two encores (Watcher Of The Skies and Musical Box). Tony Banks's accompanying notes claim that the intention was to make two overlapping recordings but that the second recording was not started due to an "engineer asleep on the job". Nevertheless a portion of the show broadcast on Dutch Radio included the three final songs. All of the 35 minute broadcast was taken from the second half of the show lending weight to the theory that the overlapping recording was indeed completed. There can be little doubt that the source of the broadcast was the John Burns recording because the crowd noises audible on the Archive #1 version match those of the broadcast indicating at the very least use of the same audience microphones. I conclude that Tony Banks owes John Burns an apology!
Loss of the second reel would certainly explain the omission of the final three songs on the official release, but another possibility is disatisfaction with some aspect of the performance. For example there's a noticable drum error during It, just after the line "It is hope for the dope ..." as though Phil has dropped a stick and had to fumble for a new one. I have it on good authority that drum mistakes are very tricky to fix when doctoring a live performance for release.
For quite a while I subscribed to the generally held belief that this material was broadcast by King Biscuit, but the only evidence I have found on this matter is negative. There are no tapes with Shrine Audititorium material containing King Biscuit announcements, adverts or a radio ID. A recent King Biscuit compilation containing live Lamb material attributed to Shrine Auditorium (section 10.27) turned out to be a segment of their old Wembley 1975 recording. The one lead I had claiming original King Biscuit reels from Shrine Auditorium turned out, after negotiations lasting five years, to be mistakenly attributed King Biscuit reels from Rainbow 1977. Though I have emailed King Biscuit for any details their archives might hold on the Shrine recording they have been either unable or unwilling to clarify the situation.
The Dutch broadcast was carried by "Hilversum 3" since renamed "Radio 3", a spokesman recalled that the tape they received for broadcast from "a record company" was about 90 mins long but that the tape had gone missing, possibly taken home by an employee. Dutch Radio 3 have no record of the original broadcast date and say that there have been no rebroadcasts; the concluding announcement on the tape is "that was Genesis recorded in 1975" which suggests the broadcast probably took place sometime in 1976.
A better recording can now be found as a CDR bootleg said to be sourced directly from broadcast reels. The quality of the sound certainly seems consistent with this assertion; moreover comparing this version with the Dutch broadcast reveals some differences which suggest it may well be a different source:
10. Empire Pool, Wembley, London, 15th April 1975
One of the most bootlegged radio broadcasts in Genesis' history was recorded at the Empire Pool, Wembley. Genesis played two nights at Wembley and the BBC were contracted to record both nights. Some sources quote the recording date as 14th, but comparison with an audience tape from 15th shows the recording is from the second night. The proliferation of this show on bootleg is partly due to the large number of broadcasts it has received: at least three by the BBC; several world-wide broadcasts of a BBC transcription LP; some King Biscuit broadcasts and numerous Westwood One airings.
In total, just under 70 minutes of the concert have been aired. The first broadcast on BBC's "In Concert" program, 12th July 1975 at 6:30pm, was bootlegged by the classic "Awed Man Out" [TAKRL 1975 - LP], minus Watcher Of The Skies. Tracks on the original BBC broadcast were as follows:
Among the many bootlegs, none compiled from the full set of broadcasts until recently: "The Light Goes Down on Empire" [Highland HL-271 - CD] has everything including Grand Parade and those parts exclusive to the original BBC broadcast. This Highland CD is easily the best being of excellent sound quality and well mastered. A version which originates from the BBC masters is the best in terms of completeness, while the Westwood One CDs are a little more refined due to remastering. Traded under the label AV01 is a CDR which compiles the best pre broadcast sources to create the ultimate version.
10.1 BBC "Pop Spectacular" [show 98, CN2302/SQ, 29th
week 1975 - LP]
The BBC pressed a quadraphonic LP to accompany the
original broadcast, hosted by Brian Matthew and named "POP SPECTACULAR featuring
Genesis In Concert". As often happens with BBC LPs this transcription differs
from
the corresponding UK broadcast: In The Cage was added at the expense of
Lilywhite Lilith and splicing out a couple of chunks of The Waiting Room.
There was a Swedish broadcast consisting of the first 30 minutes (up to and including Counting Out Time) augmented with a couple of tracks from Knebworth 1978 (section 21). I guess this was probably aired around 1978 and that the 1975 material was taken from this LP - at any rate record surface noise is audible on the Swedish broadcast.
10.2 London Wavelength "BBC Rock Hour"
[Show #3, 18th November 1975 - 1 reel]
Genesis are coupled with Renaissance on this the third program
in the long running BBC Rock Hour series, subtitled "Two For The
Price Of One". Reproduced on a single
reel-to-reel tape, the show is introduced by Alexis Korner
and includes the following songs from Wembley 1975:
10.3 BBC "Vintage Concert" [Show #313, CN4248/S 41st week 1983
- LP]
A second BBC pressing of the Wembley 1975 material was issued
in 1983 with full title "Stereo Pop Special - Vintage In Concert No. 313"
and label number 152819-S.
It contains the same tracks as on the original pressing, but in stereo
rather than quadraphonic and hosted by Andy Peebles.
The cover sports an amusingly creative listing of the songs:
Side One:
10.4 Westwood One "In Concert" [show #86-23,
17-24.Nov.86 - 2LP]
Westwood One's initial version of
this concert, the first of many, was in the form of a two part show
subtitiled "BBC Concert Classics : Genesis". Sent out on a 2LP set,
the first part was 45 minutes of Wembley 1975, the second part contained
tracks from New York 1981 (section 26.9).
Among the tracks claimed by the cue sheets of various different versions of this
Westwood One show are The Chamber Of 32 Doors and The Lamb Lies Down On
Broadway, but the real contribution is as follows.
10.5 King Biscuit "The Genesis Event, Part 1"
[30.Nov.86 - 2LP]
"The Genesis Event" is a four part extravaganza
which contains excerpts from King Biscuit's various Genesis shows together with
recordings of solo concerts by band members.
Section 30.1
has a full description of the contents, two tracks from the
Wembley 1975 gig contribute:
10.6 King Biscuit "The Genesis Chronicles"
[14.Feb.88 - CD]
Watcher Of The Skies from Wembley 1975 contributes to this
compilation of Genesis and solo material described in section
15.3.
10.7 King Biscuit "King Biscuit Flower Hour"
[21.Aug.88 - CD]
Half the show is dedicated to Genesis, the other half to live
material by King Crimson (live from Pennsylvania State University, Pittsburgh
29.Apr.74).
10.8 Westwood One "In Concert" [show #88-25, May.88 -
2LP]
Another coupling with songs from Nassau Coliseum 1981
(section 26.11), in
fact a reissue of Westwood One show #86-23 (section 10.4).
10.9 Westwood One "Pop Concert"
[show #88-45, 31.Oct.88 - 2LP]
Guess what? Yet another Westwood One coupling with songs
from the 1981 recording. To add a little interest the show carries the
"Pop Concert" title and the song selection is not just a reissue of
earlier editions. Wembley 1975 content comprises:
10.10 King Biscuit "Peter Gabriel Retrospective"
[9-15.Oct.89 - CD]
Twenty minutes of the Wembley concert appear
together with solo live material by Peter Gabriel to form a retrospective view
of his career. There are three songs from Wembley 1975:
10.11 King Biscuit "Peter Gabriel Retrospective"
[11.Mar.91 - CD]
Repeat issue of King Biscuit's Peter Gabriel retrospective compilation
described in section
10.10.
10.12 Westwood One "BBC Classic Tracks" [show #91-31,
29.Jul.91 - CD]
Westwood One produced a series of transcription CDs entitled
"BBC Classic Tracks" with the novel format that just one song
would be broadcast on each day of the week, each song having
a lengthy introduction by British DJ Richard Skinner relating
it to the band's history.
So far there have
been three distinct Genesis shows (see also sections 10.14,
10.16)
with identical music but sporting different commercials, mixing tracks taken
from Knebworth 1978 (section 21.6)
with two tracks from Wembley 1975.
Especially important is The Grand Parade Of Lifeless Packaging which is
unique to these sources.
10.13 King Biscuit "The Genesis Chronicles"
[9.Dec.91 - CD]
A reissue of the earlier King Biscuit show with air date 14.Feb.88,
see section 10.6.
10.14 Westwood One "BBC Classic Tracks" [show #92-34,
17.Aug.92 - CD]
Second issue of Westwood One show #91-31 (section 10.12) combining Wembley 1975
tracks with Knebworth 1978
(section 21.7) .
10.15 King Biscuit "Flower Hour" [23-29.Nov.92 - CD]
Repeat issue of King Biscuit's Peter Gabriel retrospective compilation
described in section
10.10.
10.16 Westwood One "BBC Classic Tracks" [show
#93-14, 29.Mar.93 - CD]
Third issue of Westwood One show #91-31
(section 10.12) combining Wembley
1975 tracks with Knebworth 1978
(section 21.8).
10.17 Westwood One "In Concert" [show #93-18,
26.Apr.93 - 2CD]
CD reissue of Westwood One show #86-23 (section 10.4)
mixing Wembley 1975
with some 1981 songs
(section 26.15).
10.18 King Biscuit "Peter Gabriel Retrospective"
[9.Sep.93 - CD]
Repeat issue of King Biscuit's Peter Gabriel retrospective compilation
described in section
10.10.
10.19 Westwood One "Superstar Concert" [show #93-45,
1.Nov.93 - 3LP]
Later in 1993 Westwood One produced another version
of the Wembley/New York combination as part of their Superstar Concert series.
Although the LP versions of this series were put out on 3 LPs, whereas "In
Concert" shows were on 2 LPs, the shows were roughly the same length; the tracks
are the same as show #86-23 (section 10.4).
Couples Wembley 1975 with some 1981 songs
(section 26.16).
10.20 King Biscuit "Peter Gabriel Retrospective"
[18.Sep.94 - CD]
Repeat issue of King Biscuit's Peter Gabriel retrospective compilation
described in section
10.10.
10.21 Westwood One "Superstar Concert" [show #95-24,
5.Jun.95 - 2CD]
Another CD issue saw Westwood One again capitalizing
on Wembley 1975 but this time augmented with material from Knebworth 1990
(section 39.1).
CD one contains the Knebworth 1990 tracks while CD two contains a slightly
different selection of Wembley tracks:
10.22 King Biscuit "Peter Gabriel Retrospective"
[8.Oct.95 - CD]
Repeat issue of King Biscuit's Peter Gabriel retrospective compilation
described in section
10.10.
10.23 Westwood One "BBC Classic Tracks" [show
#96-23, 1996 - CD]
The Grand Parade features in a "BBC Classic
Tracks" compilation program, rather unflatteringly entitled "Seventies Pomp".
10.24 Westwood One "BBC Classic Tracks" [show
#97-04, 20.Jan.97 - CD]
Yet another Westwood One Genesis
compilation, this one boasts that its first track is The Lamb Lies Down On
Broadway, but in reality the set is just the usual segment from Silent Sorrow to
Riding The Scree. Filler material is provided from Knebworth 1978 (section 21.9)
and Nassau Coliseum 1981 (section 26.17).
10.25 King Biscuit "Peter Gabriel Retrospective"
[13.Oct.97 - CD]
Repeat issue of King Biscuit's Peter Gabriel retrospective compilation
described in section
10.10.
10.26 Westwood One "Superstar Concert" [show #98-18,
27.Apr.98 - 2CD]
No one can accuse Westwood One of underusing their
material! Here's another Genesis double bill, this time on a two CD set coupled
with more material from Knebworth 1978 (section 21.10).
Presenter JJ Jackson's amusing comments include mistakenly stating that Phil
Collins replaced Chris Stewart on drums. Another quirk is a clumsy attempt to
edit out the expletive in Back in NYC!
10.27 King Biscuit "Flower Hour"
[show #01-28, 9.Jul.01 - CD]
Advertised material from the Shrine Auditorium turns out in reality
to be from Wembley 1975, strengthening my belief that King Biscuit have never in
truth had any material from the Shrine Auditorium 24.Jan.75 show. Also present
are songs from the Los Angeles Forum, 1986 recording. I think in this case the
misattribution of the venue was really an excuse for presenter Ed Sharkey to
claim a spurious connection between the two shows as having both been recorded
in Los Angeles. The standard King Biscuit portion of Wembley 1975 is played
along with songs from 1986
(section 30.13).
10.28 Westwood One "Superstar Concert" [show #02-28,
13/14.Jul.02 - 2CD]
Repeat issue of Westwood One's Superstar Concert
#98-18 (section 10.26)
coupling Wembley 1975 with Knebworth 1978 (section 21.11).
10.29 King Biscuit "Flower Hour"
[show #02-47, 21.Oct.02 - CD]
A reissue of the show with air date 9.Jul.01
(section 10.27)
combining songs from Wembley 1975 with LA Forum 1986
(section 30.14).
11. Syria Mosque, Pittsburgh, 13th April 1976
Local Pittsburgh radio station WDVE broadcast this gig live on the air on Tuesday 13th April 1976, and repeated the show one week later. A subsequent rebroadcast probably occurred between late 1976 and early 1978. On at least one of these occasions the entire show was broadcast, though nearly all bootleg tapes are missing the It/Watcher encore.
After the opening number Phil says "Good evening Baltimore" then hastily tries to dig himself out of trouble saying that Baltimore is only forty miles from Pittsburgh. But he's digging a deeper hole, the distance between the two cities being rather more than forty miles!
Surprisingly there were no early bootlegs containing the Pittsburgh material until Highland plugged the gap with "A Trick Of The Show" [Highland HL 010/11#G1 - 2CD] minus the encore, then later the better sounding "A Trick Of The Stage" [Highland HL 319/320 - 2CD] which has some of the encore, finishing as It fades into Watcher. By far the best version of this show to be circulated is the recent fan release FAde002 which is compiled from three low generation recordings one of which boasted that elusive full It/Watcher encore.
WDVE-FM is still one of the top-rated radio stations in the Pittsburgh area. Until recently their format was a mix of contemporary and classic rock; not long ago they obtained the license to broadcast Pittsburgh Steelers (American) football games! WDVE made many classic recordings in the 70s, all on reel-to-reel tape, which used to be kept at their studio; now WDVE rarely play Genesis at all and the archive concerts (if indeed they still exist) are held elsewhere.
12. Music Hall, Cleveland, 15th April 1976
Genesis performed two nights at The Music Hall in Cleveland Ohio in April 1976. Their second show, minus Squonk and Entangled, was broadcast by Cleveland's local station WMMS who had an amazing track record for live broadcasts around this period.
Squonk and Entangled have never been broadcast by WMMS so they probably have not retained this portion of their recording. Los Endos has a rather badly clipped ending, an idiosyncrasy shared by the It/Watcher encore - this is common to all broadcasts and therefore almost certainly a feature of the recording. At the point in Supper's Ready where eerie infant voices sing "we will rock you little snake", the PA plays totally unrelated rock music instead. In Richard MacPhail's time he used biro marks on the tape to be sure that the cassette was in the right place; whatever the mechanism used in 1976 it wasn't foolproof! These quirks aside, this was a splendid performance which I highly recommend.
Currently WMMS run a program every afternoon called "Buzzard Basement Tapes" in which they play a half hour's worth of their concert archives. Genesis is played occasionally during this program. A repeat of the entire show (but still minus Squonk and Entangled) was broadcast on 30th October 1998 at 9:00pm. Apparently this rebroadcast came completely out of the blue, with no prior warning. WMMS are in the process of changing ownership so it remains to be seen whether there will be further repeats.
To digress a little, there's an interesting relationship between WMMS and Cleveland's famous rock venue the Agora. Cleveland Agora was the first to build an in-house recording studio, called Agency Recording, to produce records and live stereo radio broadcasts. In 1970 the Agora teamed up with WNCI-FM radio to produce the first Agora live broadcast featuring Ted Nugent. Before long, the show was moved to WMMS an alliance which Radio Magazine later dubbed the WMMS/Agora marriage. Consequently there would be two masters for each show broadcast from the Agora, WMMS's master recorded from a phone line feed and the Agora's own reel-to-reel master taped in the Agora's 24 track Agency Recording studio.
There is evidence of at least one show which was recorded at the Agora but which did not feature in a WMMS broadcast (Accept 1984 and maybe Judas Priest 1978). Over the years many shows in the WMMS archives have been stolen or thrown away, but some of these "lost" shows survivied in the form of the Agora reels. Two Rush concerts from 1974 owe their WMMS rebroadcasts to the Agora masters. After the Agora digitized their reels, the masters were donated to the Western Reserve Historical Society (WRHS). All this has no bearing on the WMMS Genesis 1976 and Peter Gabriel 1977 recordings since they were performed at the Music Hall rather than the Agora, though we do know the masters are intact by virtue of both having received rebroadcasts. But Steve Hackett's 25.Oct.81 appearance at the Agora was broadcast by WMMS (and there is an extended 100 minute FM recording now circulating as a "Steve Hackett Remastering Project" bootleg CDR with label SHRP08) which means that there may be a corresponding 24 track Agora master archived at the WRHS.
Before the rebroadcast, bootlegs of the Genesis Cleveland recording were limited to a 60 minute show made by the commercial transcription company "Rock Around The World" (described below). Highland released a double CD set of WMMS's (almost) complete recording within weeks of the rebroadcast: "Two Down Three Left Twelve Complete" [Highland HL 265/266 - 2CD], but its timing appears to be a coincidence. All tracks in common with the "Rock Around The World" show are from vinyl source, either from the transcription or one of its bootlegs; the remaining tracks are taken from a tape of one of the broadcasts. As a result Highland's bootleg is not as good as it could have been: recordings originating from the rebroadcast are much better.
12.1 RATW "Genesis Through the Looking Glass" [show
#107, 22-28.Aug.76 - LP]
"Rock Around The World", an independent
transcription syndicate, had a contact at WMMS who supplied them with material
from the Cleveland gig. Most RATW shows were based around interviews and studio
cuts but this one, hosted by John Brodey, was an exception. Along with the
unreleased test pressing (section 4)
the RATW LP is one of the most elusive Genesis live products.
An early bootleg LP made from a radio broadcast called "Two Down Three Left" [Dancin' Disc DD 1101 - LP] surfaced (though the sound quality on the bootleg is not great compared to the RATW LP) and is said to have been the subject of an FBI investigation! After this, bootleggers seem to have forgotten about the show until recently: a much better version of the RATW LP is now available called "Let The Dance Begin" [Alternative Record Company ARC/GNV 025 - LP], a curiously anachronistic LP release on multi-coloured vinyl. ARC's offering is also interesting for retaining some of John Brodey's introduction about the world's reaction to the first Genesis tour without Peter Gabriel.
12.2 RATW Radio "Rock Around the World" [show #120,
21-27.Nov.76 - LP]
Another "monster" rarity is this compilation from
Rock Around The World which contains Cinema Show from the Cleveland concert plus
songs from other artists.
13. Hammersmith Odeon, London, 10th June 1976
Later during the Trick Of The Tail tour Genesis were recorded live in London resulting in a broadcast by the "British Biscuit" - a short series run by DIR as a sister show to the King Biscuit Flower Hour. Popular belief proclaims this show as a BBC recording, but this myth is due to the confusing "British Biscuit" title and the opening announcement in a pronounced English accent: the BBC have never had access to this material.
Until recently the date was problematic: although commonly quoted as 11th June, the British Biscuit show did not match up with an audience recording claiming the same date. All was explained when an inventory of tapes available at Fisher Lane Farm uncovered a King Biscuit show labelled 10th June.
13.1 King Biscuit "British Biscuit" [1976 - 2 reels]
DIR distributed this show on two reel-to-reel tapes.
The original reels are very rare, I've seen them offered
on twice: once in Gold Mine and once on Ebay.
13.2 DIR "Live Cuts" show #49 [19.Jun.84 -
LP]
A single song, The Lamb Lies Down, contributes to this
compilation LP along with cuts from various other bands. Here the song is
misattributed to Philadelphia 1977.
13.3 King Biscuit "The Genesis Event, Part 1"
[30.Nov.86 - 2LP]
"The Genesis Event" is described in section 30.1.
King Biscuit's 1976 recording contributes one track,
again The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway.
13.4 King Biscuit "Flower Hour" [20.Nov.88 - CD]
Another compilation CD from King Biscuit of Genesis live material,
described by presenter Bill Minkin as "The Best Of Genesis Live". King Biscuit
yet again use The Lamb as the sole track from 1976:
13.5 King Biscuit "Flower Hour" [3-9.Apr.89 - CD]
Reissue of "The Best Of Genesis Live" show
(section 13.4).
14. Apollo, Glasgow, 9th July 1976
During the late 70s and early 80s members of Genesis made several appearances on Capital Radio to give interviews and play demos and rare tracks. These occasions, hosted by Capital DJ Nicky Horne a staunch supporter of Genesis, included original demos, studio live vocals over backing tracks and live songs supplied by the band. The live material was taken from Glasgow 9.Jul.76 and over the various programs the following were played:
The precise details of the Capital appearances are difficult to pin down, so it is worth digressing here to set down what we've pieced together (special thanks to Graham Collins and Alessandro Vasserot):
11th November 1976
Phil, Mike, Tony and Steve are interviewed about
their new album Wind And Wuthering in between various
cuts from the album. Interview topics include their
forthcoming 1.Jan.77 live date to re-launch the
Rainbow Theatre. No rare live material aired.
3rd November 1978:
Phil sings live in the studio over backing tracks
and other songs from a tape he's supplied are played
along with some album cuts.
Interview conducted by Nicky Horne includes a
competition to win a tour jacket.
Rare material comprises:
The Capital radio appearances have spawned many compilation bootlegs over the years, some on commercial bootlegs labels, which tend to be rather unsatisfactory in terms of sound quality, supporting documentation and completeness - usually with none of the surrounding interviews to provide context. For example Robbery, Assault And Battery and It (without Watcher) appear as bonus tracks on "Second Nature" [Highland HL042/43#G6], the bulk of the bootleg being dedicated to an audience recording from Fox Theatre, Atlanta 13th March 1977. At the end Nicky Horne can be heard saying he'll be back tomorrow with "Six Of The Best": this refers to a Capital Radio program, not the famous 1982 reunion concert! A much better representation of the broadcasts (to be found in CDR trading circles) is a recent four CDR set AV04, an anthology containing some of the most complete availalable recordings of the various programs. Capital Radio's master tapes of some (if not all) of these appearances are now held in a collection donated to the National Sound Archive, though details catalogued are extremely sketchy.
Moving on from our digression into the Capital Radio appearances, an early release of Glasgow 1976 show was in the form of a film recorded in quadraphonic and imaginatively entitled "Genesis In Concert".
Genesis In Concert was subsequently shown at Cinemas throughout the UK, later to be used as a trailer for various other films (I recall seeing it together with Led Zeppelin's "The Song Remains The Same" and the film version of "The Incredible Hulk"!). In 1986 the show was broadcast on US TV on a program called "Night Flight", a syndicated cult music video program created by Stuart Shapiro, which started airing in June 1981 and so preceded MTV. Instead of the usual cinematic widescreen format, the Night Flight broadcast of the film featured a full screen version. At some point Night Flight also broadcast the half hour Seconds Out promo video filmed in Dallas 1977. For quite a while now the widescreen footage has been available in Japan on both video and laserdisc and some good bootleg DVD transfers are around.
Apart from the Capital Radio programs and the In Concert film the material has been heard in an assortment of other forms. It/Watcher from Glasgow 1976 is the same version as on the UK release of the "Three Sides Live" double LP and CD. Phil's introduction which can be heard on the Capital Radio version is ommitted on the offical release. Just as well, since the introduction is an apology to the Scottish crowd for having praised them the previous night as being the best audience in England! On 26th December 1981 Radio London aired one song on their "Rock In The Movies" program. As well as playing Pink Floyd's Careful With That Axe Eugene, Crumbling Land and Seamus Blues they also aired I Know What I Like from the 1976 movie. The soundtrack of the laserdisc is faithfully reproduced on a rare vinyl bootleg release sporting black and white sleeves; 150 copies pressed on crystal vinyl and about 50 copies on different coloured and multicoloured vinyl.
According to director Tony Maylam the entire uncut film footage and multitrack recordings of both Stafford and Glasgow gigs are still intact. Potentially a full CD or DVD release could be a wonderful Archive Club project and a great gift to the army of die-hard Genesis fans.
15. Rainbow Theatre, London, 2nd January 1977
Following soon after the release of "Wind and Wuthering" Genesis began the album tour with the first three days of 1977 at the Rainbow Theatre. Capacity at the Rainbow ran to fewer than 3000 seats yet the Rainbow was a well known and important rock venue. The Rainbow reopened that night after a period of closure; appropriately this was the occasion Genesis played their first concert with Chester Thompson on the first night of 1977. Tony Banks said that if it had not been for the Rainbow reopening their venue of choice would have been the Hammersmith Odeon on account of better acoustics. 100,000 applied for the 8000 tickets available over those three days.
An excerpt attributed to the second Rainbow concert was made into a radio show by King Biscuit and distributed as a "British Biscuit" program. Whether the King Biscuit recording really was made at this concert is not certain. The KB announcer claims the venue be Rainbow Theatre, but then King Biscuit date and venue details very often prove to be innacurate. All we know for sure is that the show was recorded during the first (UK) leg of the tour and is not from a venue represented by a bootleg recorded from the audience (so it cannot for example have been recorded at the first night at the Rainbow).
Of the recordings circulating from this show, the majority are sourced from the various King Biscuit broadcasts, provisionally sent out on 20th March 1977. However it was also aired by WNEW-FM New York who don't subscribe to King Biscuit which introduces the possibility that their copy derived from the band. An excellent bootleg LP entitled "A Living Story" [Big Thumb PG 1300 - LP] was produced and received two separate pressings. The rare first pressing included In That Quiet Earth/Afterglow but the consequent length of Side One of the LP caused difficulties in mastering which led to it being withdrawn. The more common second pressing replaced Quiet Earth/Afterglow with All In A Mouse's Night. For the best version around seek out a CDR sourced from a digital transfer of the British Biscuit reels.
15.1 King Biscuit "The British Biscuit" [1977 - 2
reels]
As with the Biscuit's 1976 recording the transcription
takes the form of two reel-to-reel tapes.
15.2 King Biscuit "The Genesis Event, Part 1"
[30.Nov.86 - 2LP]
The opening number Squonk is also reproduced on
"The Genesis Event" (described in section 30.1).
15.3 King Biscuit "The Genesis Chronicles"
[14.Feb.88 - CD]
One of the earliest King Biscuit shows on CD, "The Genesis Chronicles"
reproduces a selection of live Genesis and solo songs from their
archives in digital sound quality. Squonk is significant on this
compilation, being the only available digital source of any of
the Rainbow Theatre 1977 recording.
15.4 King Biscuit "The Genesis Chronicles"
[9.Dec.91 - CD]
A reissue of the show described above in section
15.3.
16. Gaumont Theatre, Southampton, 20th January 1977
If ever there was a good time to be in a Southampton hospital, it would have been on this day! A full Genesis concert went out live to 8 hospitals in Southampton and Winchester. Southampton Hospital Radio has been broadcasting to listeners in local hospitals since 1952. They started with football commentaries and then added music programmes in 1963, initially on tape and from January 2nd 1966, live by landline.
The setlist that night was that common on the first leg of the tour in the UK, including All In A Mouse's Night. Before Carpet Crawlers, Phil announced that the concert was being broadcast to the hospitals.
17. Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, 16th February 1977
An entire "Wind and Wuthering" set was broadcast live by WKQX Chicago radio. As with Pittsburgh '76, there has been an inexplicable shortage of bootleg releases, with just half of the show represented on "Mirrors" [Alternative Recording Company ARC 0089 - LP]. Recently the balance has been somewhat redressed with 90 minutes of the 120 set appearing on the bootleg CD "Chicago On The Air" [LaXious 03-04], though the recording is cut short during Supper's Ready just after Willow Farm and then, inexplicably, augmented with bonus tracks from Chicago 1978. There are some very good tapes to be found on the trading circuit including one which claims to be recorded on DAT direct from the WKQX master reels: this is gradually becoming more common on CDR.
18. Maracananzinho Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, 15th May 1977
This show must be a strong contender for the worst ever live recording to be aired on radio! Evidently the sound engineers had trouble with this one; there is an ever-present background roar and the band sound distant, as though recorded from the back of the stadium. Acoustics at the Maracananzinho Stadium were notoriously bad and I understand that transmission conditions were also poor on that particular date.
The concert was aired by two of Brazil's radio stations, "Eldorado FM stereo", with minimal DJ interruptions, and the mono AM station "Radio Mundial", where DJ announcements featured more prominently. A superior version has recently been circulated on CDR which features all the songs broadcast in stereo; while the quality of the original recording is dubious, this version is likely to be close to the original. Previously the best copies around came from 90 minute tapes sourced from the Eldorado broadcast with songs rearranged; the last few songs were missing but could be found on tapes from the AM broadcast (from Dance On A Volcano to the end of the concert). It is possible that the full stereo version was obtained from the archives of one of the radio stations by a disaffected employee, but this is an unsubstantiated rumour. I do not know whether Carpet Crawlers and Eleventh Earl Of Mar were performed that night.
A soundboard recording from another of the Brazillian shows, Ibirapuera Stadium, Sao Paulo 21.May.77 has recently been uncovered and widely distributed. The sound characteristics of this recording are close to broadcast quality, leading to some mistaken rumours that the show was taped from FM radio.
19 Palais des Sport, Paris, 13th June 1977
The official live album Seconds Out is billed as being compiled mainly from four consecutive nights at this venue, 11th to 14th June 1977. In a Record Collector article it was pointed out that live albums from this era were sometimes falsely described as having been recorded in Paris as a tax evasion, Thin Lizzy's "Live And Dangerous" being quoted as a prime example. A few brief words in French from Phil are the main evidence we have that Seconds Out was indeed recorded in Paris and it is plausible to suppose these may have been spliced in to satisfy the tax man. That said, Phil's vocal improvisation in I Know What I Like when he sings "I love Paris in the springtime" implies that at least that song was from Paris.
A French radio station broadcast 45 minutes from the 13th, including some songs which do not appear on Seconds Out. None of the songs which Seconds Out has in common with the broadcast were recorded on this night. A fair amount of overdubbing occurred during the mixing of Seconds Out, so this item is interesting for having the performance in its original form as well as some of Phil's song introductions in French. Sadly the broadcast was AM, so sound quality suffers from being mono and having compressed frequency range. There has long been a rumour of a French TV broadcast from these four shows - a rumour which lack of credible evidence suggests is probably false.
20. Earls Court, London, 24th June 1977
Towards the end of the tour Genesis returned to the UK for three sold out nights at Earls Court and the second night was broadcast live on the air by Capital Radio. It was carried by a weekly program slot called "Your Mother Wouldn't Like It" presented by Nicky Horne. As a concession to the concert the program was specially extended by 20 minutes and Capital's hourly news bulletins were suspended. Capital is a commercial station and the broadcast was punctuated by adverts which interfered with the music in several places, the worst of these being during Supper's Ready, where the concert was left before Willow Farm and not rejoined until the prelude to Apolcalypse! Mercifully Capital repeated the show soon afterwards (possibly twice) without the intrusive adverts and interruptions. One song, Robbery Assault And Battery, was rebroadcast when Phil Collins guested on Capital Radio on 3rd November 1978 (see the Capital Appearances description in section 14).
For a long time the main bootleg of this material was "Living Revelations" [KM 2077 - LP], a well produced 45 minute LP including the famous performance of Inside And Out. This must have been sourced from the original broadcast as the cuts in the encore songs correspond to when presenter Nicky Horne spoke over the music. Tapes of the full show circulated amongst traders for quite a while until the inevitable release of the double CD set: the wonderful "Before Riches" [Silver Rarities SIRA 124/125 - 2CD]. A more recent release, "Simply Follow" [Highland HL062/63#G9 - 2CD] has the bonus track Your Own Special Way recorded in Chicago (section 17). While Before Riches remains difficult to beat it does have a few defects: for example the sound during Supper's Ready is muddy at times and there is some volume distortion during In That Quiet Earth. As is becoming increasingly common these days, there's a CDR version which improves on all commercial bootleg releases traded as SAB01, sympathetically remastered from a cassette recorded direct from the Capital broadcast.
Standard guidelines for broadcasting live concerts in the UK around this period stipulated that the recording be destroyed within an agreed time scale, a policy promoted by the Musicians' Union. It is therefore probable that Capital Radio have long since erased their master recording, however as with their reels Rainbow 1973 there's an outside possibility that the master lies undocumented as part of the Capital collection donated to the National Sound Archive. Nicky Horne, now at JazzFM, has fond memories of the occasion but has kindly indicated that he did not retain a personal copy of the concert.
21. Knebworth Festival, 24th June 1978
In 1978 Genesis headlined the annual Knebworth Festival, their sole UK date on the "Mirrors" tour. The BBC recorded the show on the Island Record mobile studio and a week later on 1.Jul.78 broadcast some of the show in quadraphonic on the fifth aniversary of Alan Freeman's "Saturday Afternoon Show" between 4:00pm and 5:30pm. The BBC master of this initial broadcast was a 90 minute edit of the show on quad reel-to-reel tape, though no subsequent broadcast has been in quadraphonic sound. CDR clones of a 48KHz DAT dub of the BBC master are kept at the National Sound Archive.
Three songs have been absent from all worldwide broadcasts and are not quoted in BBC archive records, namely Eleventh Earl Of Mar, In The Cage and The Cinema Show. Tracks on the original BBC broadcast were:
Janice Long announced on 7th October 2002 that later in 2002 the full BBC recording of Knebworth 1978 was to be broadcast before the end of the year. A corresponding recording did eventually appear on bootleg CDR thought to be from late 2002 or early 2003, but strangely the broadcast somehow managed to go unnoticed by many expectant fans (including me).
Another 2002 rebroadcast was made by "The Hawk" on Toronto 103.5, during the BBC In Concert slot of the "Classic Rock" program. After a brief introduction stating that the recording was made three years after Peter Gabriel departed, a 20 minute excerpt was broadcast consisting of Burning Rope, Ripples and Dance On A Volcano/Los Endos and featuring some clumsy editing on Dance On A Volcano. A concert by Joe Jackson was broadcast earlier in the program.
Danish Radio P3 also made a rebroadcast of a chunk of the Knebworth recording, probably in 1998 though it may have been later, consisting of the following songs, with the announcer talking over the start and end of the show:
Various bootlegs have been made, a reasonable offering sound-wise is the 65 minutes on "Live in Knebworth" [SGRS 034 - CD], though this is rendered redundant by the definitive commercial bootleg "Knebworth Show" [Highland HL078/79#G12]. But the recording of choice for the audiofile is a CDR transfer of the double issue BBC Rock Hour described in section 21.2
21.1 BBC "In Concert" [show #180, CN3146, 1978 - LP]
Roughly 60 minutes were used in the production of a BBC transcription
LP, issued in 1978 and broadcast by BFBS Germany sometime in late 1979 or early
1980. An amusing error: BBC introducer Brian Matthew claims Phil Collins to have
been a founder member.
21.2 London Wavelength "The BBC Rock Hour"
[show #35, 03.Sep.78; show #36, 10.Sep.78 - 2 reels]
The full 90 minutes as broadcast by the BBC featured in its entirity
over a two issue special BBC Rock Hour program, distributed on reels
and broadcast on the first two
Sundays of September 1978. These reels are among the rarest of Genesis live
radio shows: I first heard about the double Knebworth show in early 2003.
Compared with the original BBC broadcast the running order is changed,
with Deep In The Motherload and One For The Vine transposed so as to fit
the music within the two 60 minute show format (including adverts).
21.3 London Wavelength "Best of the BBC Rock Hour"
[show #123, 08.Jun.80]
Later compilation shows of Knebworth 1970 on the BBC Rock Hour were
distributed in LP form having two distinct variations. The first
consists of highlights from the 90 minute show, featuring
introduction and credits by Richard Skinner and adverts
between songs from Columbia Pictures.
21.4 London Wavelength "Best of the BBC Rock Hour" [show
#304, 25.Jan.81 - LP]
The second variation of the "Best of the BBC Rock Hour"
B has two introductions, the first by Marshall Thomas is followed by
Richard Skinner's introduction.
It has a different selection of songs and is essentially the BBC
transcription LP with Afterglow ommitted to make time for commercials:
21.5 London Wavelength "BBC Rock Hour - Special
Edition" [LP]
Another compilation edition of the "BBC Rock Hour"
show features highlights from various Rock Hour's presented by BBC DJ Brian
Matthew. I Know What I Like from Knebworth 1978 appears on this collection.
21.6 Westwood One "BBC Classic Tracks" [show #91-31,
29.Jul.91 - CD]
Further broadcasts across the atlantic were made
during Westwood One "Classic Tracks" programs
compiling three songs from the Knebworth concert (listed below) with
a couple of tracks from Wembley 1975
(section 10.12).
21.7 Westwood One "BBC Classic Tracks" [show #92-34,
17.Aug.92 - CD]
Second issue of Westwood One show #91-31 (section 21.6,
10.14)
21.8 Westwood One "BBC Classic Tracks" [show #93-14,
29.Mar.93 - CD]
Third issue of Westwood One show #91-31 (section 21.6,
10.16)
21.9 Westwood One "BBC Classic Tracks" [show #97-04,
20.Jan.97 - CD]
Only a single song, Follow You Follow Me,
contributes from Knebworth 1978 to this compilation, the remaining material
being taken from Wembley 1975 (section 10.24)
and Nassau Coliseum 1981 (section 26.17).
21.10 Westwood One "Superstar Concert" [show #98-18,
27.Apr.98 - 2CD]
Further use of Westwood One's material is made on
this double CD, again coupled with material from Wembley 1975 (section 10.26).
21.11 Westwood One "Superstar Concert" [show #02-28,
13/14.Jul.02 - 2CD]
Repeat issue of the 1998 Westwood One
Superstar Concert #98-18
(section 21.10)
also containing tracks from Wembley 1975
(section 10.28).
21.12 Westwood One "Superstar Concert" [show #03-05,
1/2.Feb.03 - 2CD]
The majority of the show is from Westwood One's 1981 recording
described in section
26.20.
Knebworth 1978 songs tacked on the end are:
22. Uptown Theatre, Chicago, 13th October 1978
Near the start of the "And Then There Were Three" tour Genesis played at the Stadium in Chicago. They were unhappy about their sound at the Stadium and so returned to play a small venue - the Uptown Theatre - in the later stages of the tour. This memorable gig was broadcast live on the air by WXRT Chicago and the 2 hour 30 minute set was rounded off with an interview with Phil. A key feature of this performance was that an almost complete Dancing With The Moonlit Knight made a brief return to the set.
The broadcast resulted in a great sounding early bootleg, "From The Mouth Of The Monster" [Atlantis GTT 78 - 2LP] lasting 90 minutes. Various bootleg CDs now reproduce the entire broadcast: "Follow You Follow Me" [Great Dane Records GDR CD 8918 - 2CD]; "Live In Chicago 1978" [Golden Stars GSCD 2104/1-2 - 2CD]; "Live and Alive with Genesis and Phil Collins" [IMTRAT - IMT 900.019/20 - 2CD]; "Live at Uptown Theatre Chicago" [International Pop - INP023,INP024 - 2CD]. There is also a trader's tape which claims to be sourced from the WXRT reels, missing half of Ripples but otherwise complete, including Phil's post-concert interview. Highland's "Master Of Chicago" is so far the definitive commercial bootleg release, being based on the alleged reels tape and with the second half of Ripples seamlessly supplied from the older "Follow You Follow Me" CD.
The Uptown Theatre show makes a strange and fleeting appearance during the 1992 "Soundcheck" interview - see section 40!
According to a source at WXRT-FM the station still have their master reels of old concert; moreover they do occasionally rebroadcasts their archive recordings, so let's hope this gets another airing one day.
23. Hofheinz Pavillion, Houston, 22nd October 1978
One of the last dates of the 1978 tour occurred in Houston and King Biscuit took this opportunity to obtain their recording. If King Biscuit's 50 minutes are anything to go by, this was a really good performance: Cinema Show stands out as a classic version.
One of the few nice surprises of the Genesis Archive #2 box set [724395034329/CDBOX 7] is Burning Rope from this gig, not included in the King Biscuit broadcasts. King Biscuit do not receive a credit, so perhaps the recording is owned by Genesis and was donated for broadcast.
Roughly half the dates I have seen quoted for this show state 19th rather than the 22nd and I cannot say for certain which is correct. However the Genesis Archives #2 box set unequivocally quotes the date as 22nd so perhaps we should go with that. To add to this confusion, King Biscuit announce that Genesis were recorded at the Hofheinz Pavillion in Houston though an eye-witness account and gig listings contest that they performed at the Summit. The box set insists on Hofheinz Pavillion.
Until the 90s this show was completely ignored by bootleggers and was one of the most difficult to find Genesis broadcasts; it is now available in good sound quality as "Coming Down From Houston" [Highland HL168 - CD]. Surpassing the Highland bootleg, another version is now available on a CDR bootleg having been transferred from Canadian broadcast reels originating from King Biscuit. No adverts or commerials were present on the Canadian reels, but some CDR versions have these supplied from a tape recorded from one of the King Biscuit Flower Hour broadcasts.
23.1 King Biscuit "King Biscuit Flower Hour"
[29.Apr.79 - 2 reels]
There appear to be a number of variations of this show, though
all containing the same songs. The Canadian pre-broadcast reels mentioned
above have no adverts, there's also a transfer of bona-fide King Biscuit
reels with adverts, but there are also versions traded taken off air which
have additional announcements and different adverts. All off-air and pre
broadcast versions have tight editing to the point where some songs are
a little clipped at the beginning or end.
24. City Hall, Sheffield, UK, 17th April 1980
British fans were rather short changed with a single show on the And Then There Were Three tour, but Phil promised a tour of England at the end of the Knebworth gig. This materialised in 1980 in the form of a 40 plus date tour of small venues all over the UK. Hallam Radio captured Genesis at Sheffield's City Hall and broadcast the show over a specially extended edition of their "Hallam Rock" program. Hallam, Sheffield's local station, recorded many artists in the early 80s (including Steve Hackett, Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman) but their recordings did not have the budget necessary to compete sound-wise with the likes of the BBC or King Biscuit. Many versions of this show seem annoyingly slow and lethargic, but this may have been so for the broadcasts. Despite this, Hallam's recording is valuable documentation of the intensity and intimacy of this tour and comprises the complete show, stories and all.
Hallam may have broadcast the show twice, and there was another broadcast by Nottingham's Trent FM around this time, minus Say It's Alright Joe and with tracks rearranged. The Trent FM broadcast was used for "Steeltown Revelation" [Discurios DIS 215 A - 2CD], a good recording but but with the slow speed problem mentioned earlier. It is possible that Hallam no longer have their master recording, due to Musicians' Union regulations as explained in section 20.
Finding a definitive version of this broadcast has proved difficult, with a number of great remastering efforts of various low generation source tapes somehow always stopping a little way short of perfection. Suspected speed problems on the original broadcast masters do not make the task any easier. Highland's "Hallam Tapes" [HL 509/510 - 2CD] is a great source for this music, a low generation version as good as many of the trader's tapes out there. For the best of the bunch, try a classy remaster of a 2nd generation tape put out as CDR boot SAB12.
25. Lyceum Ballroom, London, 7th May 1980
A source of many bootlegs and live releases are the London gigs played at the end of the UK tour in May 1980. Genesis played four nights: 4th and 5th at Drury Lane; 6th and 7th at the Lyceum Ballroom. Three nights were recorded: Drury Lane on 5th May (audio only) and the two Lyceum shows (audio and video). The recordings were then edited and mixed to supply various broadcasts and official releases, creating a tangled web which took some time to unwind.
An almost complete set was broadcast by the BBC on the "Friday Rock Show" one Friday in July 1980 between 10:00pm and midnight. All songs were taken from 7th except One For The Vine from 6th May, since the song as performed on 7th contained flaws on the basis of which it was deemed unacceptable for release or airplay. Say It's Alright Joe and most of Phil's song intros were omitted from the broadcast.
Prior to the BBC broadcasts, London's Capital Radio aired some Duke tour material. Capital having advertised their broadcast as to be from Drury Lane failed to deliver on time, but then suddenly produced a show claiming it to be Drury Lane which they broadcast in two parts one week apart (and there may have been a Capital rebroadcast too). In fact the material was the same as subsequently appeared on "The Friday Rock Show". Comparison with an audience tape of Drury Lane 5th May confirms this was certainly not the show broadcast by Capital and the BBC. One theory is that Capital were responsible for the incorrect venue attribution because they had already committed to Drury Lane in their adverts. However, it may be that whoever mixed the material on the band's behalf was responsible: the show was notionally taken from the three recorded dates and the fact that, in the event, none from Drury Lane was used may not have been noticed or considered important. In favour of this argument, there have also been US broadcasts by the NBC Radio Network under the title "The Source Concert" which were similarly mis-labelled (see section 25.1). Capital's master copy, on a single reel 25 cm 30 cm/sec stereo Ampex 406 tape, has been donated to the National Sound Archive.
Numerous bootleg LPs of parts of the radio broadcasts quickly appeared, one of the first being the famous US produced double LP, "Revelatory Genesis 80:78" [Steam SR 80001 - 2LP] which coupled some of the BBC broadcast with a few tracks from Knebworth 1978. "Revelatory" received a rare picture disc pressing and an Italian reissue. Another early release was "You'll Love Us Live", a rather poor recording of some of the BBC songs on a single LP. A better way to hear the music is on the more recent commercial bootleg CD releases "Musica" [Stonehenge STDC 2110/2111 - 2CD], "Duke Side Live" [Highland HL019/020#G2 - 2CD] and especially "Duke Source Live" [HL 511/512 - 2CD] which is a compilation including the 1991 BBC rebroadcast with "Say It's Alright Joe" and "The Source" transcription LP. Still more recently, even better recordings have emerged on CDR which are decended directly from BBC master reels.
Forty minutes of the 7th May filming were televised in 1980 by BBC TV on "Whistle Test" hosted by Anne Nightingale.