Most Untypical Genesis Song

  • Who dunnit seems to be more nonsense, than anything else, which doesn`t fit to the regular seriousness of the band, especially Tony.

    The first half of The Waiting Room sounds drug induced like a song Syd Barrett would have done.

    Who Dunnit is nonsense! That's the point. As you say, the band were perceived as being serious (an ill-informed perception because this was the band who brought us All In A Mouse's Night, Harold The Barrel and The Colony Of Slippermen); Abacab was all about challenging those perceptions.

  • You Might Recall was the safe bet and in 1981 Genesis were not making safe bets. If You Might Recall had been on the album, everyone would have loved it. Who Dunnit, though, really divides opinion. And for that reason alone, I think Genesis made the right choice.

    I never succeeded in seeing it that way, simply because You Might Recall is one of my favourite songs from Genesis. There is more great stuff, that didn`t make it on the album. But I understand your point.

    First we learned to walk on water.

    Then we tried something harder.

    - Red Seven -

  • I never succeeded in seeing it that way, simply because You Might Recall is one of my favourite songs from Genesis. There is more great stuff, that didn`t make it on the album. But I understand your point.

    I think I took it from Chapter And Verse and, if memory serves, it was Tony who told the story as to why Who Dunnit was picked to go on the record. The late, great Ahmet Ertegun used to refer to Who Dunnit as "that song". He never mentioned it by name but he was also of the opinion that it should go on the record. Opinion be damned; Ahmet knew more than any of us here about how to sell records!

  • I suppose The Waiting Room is the obvious choice, the only example in their career of a free-form jam. In a way, it's their Revolution 9. I love the second half, it's one of my favourite pieces of Genesis music. I always liked the rare occasions when they got a bit dirtier and edgy. If part 2 of TWR is at the end of the Genesis spectrum I most like, the opposite end has the stuff I really dislike - the shiny, twee, fluffy stuff like RA&B, Mouse's, Snowbound, Scenes.


    Who Dunnit, while not a favourite of mine (although I don't mind it), was kind of a clever move by them. Abacab is generally a very conscious step away from their (and the fans') "safe" zone, and that track sums up that move. I did read Banks saying they knew it would annoy the hell out of lots of fans, which is why they did it. I like that approach.


    In some ways I think Happy The Man is an unusual one in that it doesn't feature much (or any?) keyboard and lacks those trademark chords. Harlequin is similar.


    More Fool Me does stand out, being a quite soulful and melancholy guitar-and-vocal duo, something they only did that once, I think. I like it a lot and it shows how varied their work is. Side 1 of SEBTP remains for me probably their finest bit of track sequencing in any album.


    Oh and of course, Horizons is pretty unusual.

    Abandon all reason

  • Noel Gallagher (that well-known baiter of Phil Collins and writer of derivative rock and roll tunes) was recently introduced to The Conqueror and was totally blown away by it.

    Do you have a source for this? Who sat down Noel Gallagher and played him "The Conqueror", of all things?

    Was it you or was it me? Or was it he, or she?

  • Beyond Whodunnit and The Waiting Room, there are a number of other songs that don't really resemble much else in their catalogue. That's All has a somewhat country groove that is pretty different than anything else. No Reply At All has a very R&B groove - Paperlate not so much, although it too has horns. Mama is also pretty singular.

  • Beyond Whodunnit and The Waiting Room, there are a number of other songs that don't really resemble much else in their catalogue. That's All has a somewhat country groove that is pretty different than anything else. No Reply At All has a very R&B groove - Paperlate not so much, although it too has horns. Mama is also pretty singular.

    That's All has a country groove? What an interesting comment. I see what you mean, but they wrote it to sound like early Beatles, with Phil saying he wanted to write a Ringo drum part.

  • That's All has a country groove? What an interesting comment. I see what you mean, but they wrote it to sound like early Beatles, with Phil saying he wanted to write a Ringo drum part.

    It is a Beatles pastiche but there was a reason why Phil used to introduce it as a country and western song on the Mama tour.

  • In some ways I think Happy The Man is an unusual one in that it doesn't feature much (or any?) keyboard and lacks those trademark chords. Harlequin is similar.

    Thanks for reminding me about Happy The Man. I played it to my wife when we were courting because I knew (as a fan of their later stuff) she'd be hard pressed to guess who it was. And I was right, she didn't have a clue! I always felt it sounded like a Cat Stevens track.

  • That's All has a country groove? What an interesting comment. I see what you mean, but they wrote it to sound like early Beatles, with Phil saying he wanted to write a Ringo drum part.

    On the Mama Tour video, if I remember correctly, PC jokingly (and in a terrible accent) introduces it as a "country & western song".

    Abandon all reason

  • On the Mama Tour video, if I remember correctly, PC jokingly (and in a terrible accent) introduces it as a "country & western song".

    Yes, he did that on quite a few shows on that tour. Certainly he said it on all the bootlegs I've heard.


    Funny story about that Mama tour video. There's someone in the audience who shouts out for In The Cage and Phil has a bit of banter with him. I have a bootleg recorded the following night and the same fella is in the crowd, shouting out for In The Cage again prompting Phil to say "You were 'ere last night".

  • I've said this before, but Looking for Someone always stands out for me.


    Lyrically it reminds me strongly of Peter Gabriel's solo work - an introspective, personal song without characters, which doesn't tell a story, is not fantastical, and is in the first person. I can't think of another Gabriel-era Genesis song quite like it. Musically as well, it really stands out for me. Obviously the instrumentation means it fits in with the early Genesis sound, but the composition... I don't know, it makes me think more of some of the other early prog bands that were around at the same time - like Rare Bird, or something. Weirdly enough, it also reminds me of some of Tony Banks' solo work - not sure why that is. But it just doesn't sound like Genesis to me!

  • I've said this before, but Looking for Someone always stands out for me.


    Lyrically it reminds me strongly of Peter Gabriel's solo work - an introspective, personal song without characters, which doesn't tell a story, is not fantastical, and is in the first person. I can't think of another Gabriel-era Genesis song quite like it. Musically as well, it really stands out for me. Obviously the instrumentation means it fits in with the early Genesis sound, but the composition... I don't know, it makes me think more of some of the other early prog bands that were around at the same time - like Rare Bird, or something. Weirdly enough, it also reminds me of some of Tony Banks' solo work - not sure why that is. But it just doesn't sound like Genesis to me!

    Good call. I was on the verge of namechecking LFS in my reply, a lot of what you say rings true for me. I find it one of their most fascinating lyrics, in just that way alone it's very unlike any of their other work. I like the way it conveys a general, unspecific sense of a frustrated person who doesn't seem to know where they're going and this manifests as their irritation at what and who they see around them.

    Abandon all reason

  • Abacab is classic "untypical" Genesis, and though anyone else would likely choose Who Dunnit? as the most atypical, I have to go with No Reply at All. The fact it was a lead single off the album and went to the charts is half of its oddness. That's when you consider the other half. For a traditionally-structured pop song, there are no memorable hooks in the chorus, instead it relies on the simple lyrics of the verses and the Marquee Moon-esque flutters of Banks. It's main hook, which would have been a candidate for the chorus had any other band wrote it, is placed at the ending coda. The bridge stripped out of the song's context could have been from an entirely different ballad, but in the song, like Earth, Wind and Fire's guest appearance, it's seamless and in no way at all jarring. The fact it was at least moderately successful is an Art Pop accomplishment, for 1981 standards. Who Dunnit?, on the other hand, was an album cut and was never intended to be a radio hit. The song itself may be abstract and forward-thinking, but the reluctance to release it as a single betrays any progress the term "forward-thinking" entails.

  • Aside from the ones mentioned already, I'd probably throw in The Knife. Lyrically it's probably reasonably typical (if there is such a thing), but musically in many places it's probably the closest to heavy metal Genesis ever came, at least to my ears. The at times distorted, at times screeching guitar, heavy bass, and driving drums - remove Tony's organ (so to speak) and I could definitely imagine it covered by a metal band with some growling (and much worse) singing.

  • I wouldn't say it's untypical within the context of Abacab, similar to how I feel about Who Dunnit?. Maybe it would be untypical had it appeared on another one of their albums. Dodo/Lurker is typical Genesis progressive fare with the Abacab style and direction. No Reply at All and the title track can be considered untypical within the context of Top 40 singles. They're both drastic jumps from Misunderstanding.