First song that started your Genesis journey (One for the vine)

    In the last few weeks I have lost my mum who was my last link to my childhood. Earlier this year my brother had gone too having caught covid. I have found great comfort in listening to so many Genesis songs in the last few weeks. My love of Genesis started by hearing the music coming from my brother's bedroom door. He was 4 years older than me and way ahead in terms of his musical tastes. The first song I can clearly remember was"one for the vine" and I have such a strong memory of hearing him sing along especially from the section starting from "follow me" and I can recall him sounding so like the original Phil vocal hitting all the high notes. He had a very good voice unlike me! Eventually I plucked up the courage and asked him what band produced this piece of music. He said it was Genesis and showed me the album cover which is still my favourite. A good friend painted me a version of it and it still hangs in my bedroom. After listening to Wind and Wuthering I worked my way back through his Genesis albums and then got every album after that seeing them live as many times as I could afford.


    Back in the late 1970s my brother seemed to be in a place I would never get to. He had lovely girlfriends, a sport's car, a great job and he was a very confident and popular person. In contrast I was painfully shy and lacking in any confidence in myself. Sadly over the years a demon emerged in his life in the form of gambling. It started very small but became an overwhelming presence in his life. It cost him a marriage, any relationship with his children, his job and goodness knows how much money. I tried to help him out and gave him money once when he was in a real hole. The grip of gambling took an even stronger hold leading him to stealing money from my parents who had very little. I found that hard to forgive and my angry outburst led to him and me not speaking again. He ended up going to Thailand and lived there for the last twenty years of his life earning money anyway he could to gamble away. This June he caught covid and surrendered to it after a brief but futile battle with this horrible disease. I had to tell my mum her favourite son had gone and she never really got over it. She gave up the will to live and finally went three weeks ago. I think she was truly heartbroken to lose her first son who she loved so much. When I went to clear her room there was a large photo of him by her bedside.


    I spoke to my brother's son the day he went and I wanted to focus on the positive things that I remembered. That is when I told him of hearing Genesis through my brother's bedroom door and how that led to my lifetime love of their music. Every time I hear one for the vine I still hear my brother singing along sounding so happy and perfectly in tune. Sadly he did not have the courage to win his battles but I am sure he found his way back home.

    Very sorry that you had to go through such difficult times, and happy you found confort in the music.


    Take care!


    (First song that set the wheels in motion for me: The Musical Box on the Live album.)

    First off, my condolences.


    As someone who has an estranged older sibling, I understand it’s so easy while barrelling through life to focus on the negative while forgetting moments where that person may have contributed something good in your formative years.


    I think you’re in a very healthy place wanting to focus on the positive.

    Thank you for sharing that personal and touching story.

    Thank you for your comments. I agree with "Witchwood" so much about "forgetting moments where that person may have contributed something good" to me. In the case of my brother the introduction to Genesis was priceless. Their music has played such a role in my life. Luckily I overcame my shyness in my late teens and married a lovely lady who loved Genesis too which was a huge bonus. In fact I think she recently enjoyed the Steve Hackett concert even more than me.


    And thanks to "Lazlor" so much. What a great first song to get you hooked to. I love the live versions of Musical box so much. I will listen to the live album later as it is not an album I listen to enough.

    That's a heart-rending account of your brother. Very sad to read that and entirely understandable of the significance of Genesis music and that song in particular. I've known a few people who for various reasons have had difficult relationships with siblings, or lost one and it's always upsetting to hear. I have three siblings and happy to say we've always had a great relationship with each other and I always appreciate it all the more when I hear about people having very different experiences.


    My Genesis 'journey' also started with The Musical Box. I heard it on the radio in about 1976 and it was the end section, "she's a lady..." that really caught my attention. The slow build of it, reaching a dramatic peak and those huge Hammond chords ringing out. It planted a seed and that was the beginning of decades of appreciation that are still going now.


    Going back to siblings, my love of their music was helped significantly along by my brother who'd been steered on to them by schoolfriends. Hearing him playing Genesis was a big part of my becoming a fan.

    Abandon all reason

    Like 1

    Two votes for the Musical box. As you say the ending is so brilliant. How did such young men write such a complex piece of music with such emotion and feeling in the music and lyrics? Sounds like you too were helped to find Genesis by your brother and great to hear that all your siblings have been such a positive part of your life.

    think it would have to be Entangled...as a young teenager, with the usual radio stations on at home, i had not really heard anything like it before. My friends older brother gave me a copy of Trick...and the rest is history!

    Hearing “Turn it on again” on the Radio back on its release as a single. It grew on me over a few weeks and i went out and bought Duke on vinyl - best move i ever made!

    Eleventh Earl Of Mar.

    I can still see my mum putting the tape in the old portable cassette recorder she had, to test it.

    I was hooked by the intro, I think because of the strange melody... And then there is Hackett's part "Time to go to bed now..." then the unexpected climax "Features are burning... BAMMM !"

    I was like... "wow... !"

    What comes next is One For The Vine, another masterpiece, so basically after this song, everything could happen, I was a fan.

    Quote from ScotsLamb

    Hearing “Turn it on again” on the Radio back on its release as a single. It grew on me over a few weeks and i went out and bought Duke on vinyl - best move i ever made!

    Also "Turn It On Again." I heard it on the radio at the gas station where I was working nights and was immediately hooked. I also heard and liked "Misunderstanding." Proceeded to borrow a copy of DUKE from the library!

    Hi KB,


    I was moved by your very honest account of the relationship you had with your brother. I guess nothing can totally erase the pain, but your post reminds us of the life-affirming aspect of musical appreciation. That’s something that applies to us as individuals, but as you point out, it’s something of immeasurable value when it’s something that’s shared. Can’t put a price on that.


    For me, it was a shared experience as well. It was round at my school mate’s house as he played me track after track after track. Then one week he played ‘Follow you, Follow me’, which I’d recently heard on the radio. I did like that one. But none of the rest.....couldn’t stand them. I did like Gabriel’s solo stuff though...


    Cut from 1979 to 2009. I decided that as I liked Gabriel’s solo stuff, I should investigate his work with Genesis. Jumped in at the deep end, and bought the 1970-1975 vinyl set on the way home from work one Friday, which happened to be payday.


    Around 3.00 Saturday afternoon I played the first lp, Tresapss. By the end of the opening line, I knew I was ‘home’. I’ve never looked back.


    I’ll raise a glass to your brother tonight, and hope that you’re keeping well, knowing that our musical memories endure in a way that we almost certainly never anticipated at the time.


    Cheers!

    The first Genesis song I really loved was Follow You, Follow Me, but the song that made a fan was I Can't Dance.


    Edit: I should have said No Son Of Mine here. I bought the CD single & then I bought the album.

    kb1977 sorry to hear of your losses and appreciate you sharing your story about your brother, that could not have been easy.


    My Genesis story began in early 1976 when I was 11 years old. I was living in Newark (East Midlands) and loved listening to the Rock show on Radio Trent. One night they played Dance on a Volcano and I thought wow! I was in the habit then of taping the rock show onto a cassette (remember them), and played the song over and over. After that I bought ATOTT which I loved and had to buy all their previous albums. After that I remember getting excited every time a new album was coming out, I would count down the days and bought each album on the day of release. It was always best day of the year when they released a new album.


    I am still in love with the band<3

    “Without music, life would be a mistake”

    Like 2

    Really nice to hear all your memories of how you first got into the music of Genesis. Such a variety of tracks that you first heard and got you hooked. Interesting to read the links to your brothers or older friends (like me) and also radio stations in an era when Genesis music was played on mainstream stations. I can remember several interviews on Capital Radio where Nicky Horne interviewed various members of the band. The one I remember most of all was when Phil And Mike were interviewed in early 1980 ahead of the Duke release. They played "Turn it on again" as the new single and a demo of misunderstanding with only a guide vocal. Lovely memories of those days.

    My first introduction to Genesis was my older brother borrowed And Then There Were Three from is friend. I'm assuming my mom wanted to her Follow You Follow Me. Which I recall being my first song.

    My brother's friend's older brother was big into Genesis. I do remember seeing Genesis Live in his collection and starring at the album cover while getting high. (mostly contact buzz I was 9 in 1978)

    But it wasn't until 1981 when by brother bought Abacab and PG 3 from Columbia House Records (for 1¢) and he was explaining to me the "melty face" guy was in that band originally. I was familiar with Misunderstanding and Turn it On Again from the radio, but it wasn't until Abacab & PG 3I became a crazy fan.

    I forgot to mention my brother told me the guy in the center wearing the head (inner sleeve of abacab) also played drums on the melty guy's album too.

    OP, my condolences and memory eternal to your loved ones!!☦️


    My Genesis journey is weird and complicated. I was born in 1975. I was scarcely born and Peter was already on his way out! When I was a boy, I saw the video for “Land of Confusion” and “Invisible Touch.” I loved the visuals, but even more, loved the music. In high school, when I was a freshman, I befriended a very talented senior who was a gifted drummer. He turned me on to Rush and Yes. I fell head over heels win love with progressive rock!!!! He told me, “If you ever get a chance, try this album!” He showed me “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.” He followed saying, “But don’t waste your time with that crappy Phil Collins era BS. That’s when they sold out and went pop. I hated Collins after that.”


    I didn’t listen to it (The Lamb).


    Also, I was a huge Peter Gabriel fan. Melt, Security, and So were albums I was obsessed with, so Peter was already on my radar.


    Fast forward to adulthood, years later. I stumbled upon Dance on a Volcano and was BLOWN AWAY. I mean….blown away!! I bought Trick/Tail and loved it….and I worked my way into the Hackett era. Holy crap!!!! Foxtrot, Selling England, Lamb, Tail, Wind &W, those are my albums.


    I’m appreciative for the pop era in that I got into Genesis as a kid, but I feel like the more mature, more depth-driven, timeless, beautiful Genesis was the prog era band. I do t hate the pop. I still listen to it, but I’m far more into Hackett/Gabriel Genesis than the pop era. Duke, And then there were Three, Genesis, Abacab, those albums are just not my thing.


    Just like the YesWest Trevor Rabin era Yes was on my radar first, so things went with Genesis. And both took me backward where I fell in love with the 70’s.


    I know, too long-winded and a weird story.

    Quote from Backdrifter

    🤨 It's neither.


    But it's the 2nd reference to "Yes West" I've recently seen. What's that?

    From 1968 or so to 1980 you had a progressive rock Yes. People came and went, but the music was pure prog goodness!


    Jon Anderson

    Chris Squire

    Bill Bruford then Alan White

    Tony Kaye then Rick Wakeman (mostly)

    Steve Howe


    In 1980 Yes was over. Squire and White were all that was left. They met with Jimmy Page to attempt a new band—-XYZ (ex—Yes Zeppelin). It didn’t pan out. Page went to The Firm.


    Squire and White met Trevor Rabin and they started a project of mostly Trevor-penned more mainstream rock songs. They started a band, named it “Cinema.” Enter Tony Kaye returning on keyboards and Squire asking Jon Anderson to return and you have a Cinema band that was really mostly Yes Men….so, they reformed Yes. Because they didn’t record in Europe as the prog era version did, they were LA-based, more popish and radio friendly, people called them Big Generator Yes or YesWest. West Coast, mainstream sound, big hits, radio friendly, less proggy.