Posts by Gabble Ratchet

    More Recent stuff:

    Life On Mars (wouldn't it be great to wake up and find yourself back in 1973....)

    Ashes to Ashes (...or find yourself back in 1980, for that matter!)

    Twin Peaks (series 1 & 2. Didn't rate the recent 'return' as much)

    The Wire (series 1-4, before it went OTT)

    Lost (all of it; yes, I know it went crazy but we kinda went there incrementally..)

    Breaking Bad

    House of Cards

    The Royle Family

    Pretty much any Nordic Noir (The Killing, The Bridge etc)

    Pretty much anything off Channel 4's World drama channel, 'Walter Presents' (eg. Brazilian series 'Magnifica 70')


    Older stuff:

    Star Trek (TOS)

    Minder (esp the Dennis Waterman years)

    Brideshead Revisited

    Rising Damp

    Dad's Army

    Yes, Minister

    Yes, Prime Minister


    Kids' stuff:

    Marine Boy (one of my earliest faves! Still hoping someone will invent oxygum - lol)

    Wacky Races

    Tom & Jerry (Fred Quimby)

    Scooby Doo (TOS) - "I'd have gotten away with it, if it weren't for you pesky kids!"



    "Da-ba-da-ba-dabba, that's all folks!"

    Funny ... I came here to write that I despise Mama. I've never been part of a Genesis forum until now, and I never would have guessed that Mama was so loved.


    That laugh ... ugh.


    But then again, aside from Silver Rainbow, I don't like anything from the eponymous album.

    Couldn't agree more. By the time this album came out, they'd long abandoned art-rock glory for radio-ready piffle.

    My number 2 choice is One for the Vine.


    Classic symphonic prog rock from the masters, from whatwas the bands best period.

    This song and Mad Man Moon have both grown further on me since starting this countdown. I've now tweaked my running order and they are sitting at number 4 & 5 respectively.

    #2 ‘The Cinema Show’ from Selling England by the Pound (1973) GOLD


    The song starts with a heart flutter of gentle notes descending into the lyric of a modern day “Romeo and Juliet”. This track typifies the Genesis sound with a plethora of 12 string guitars of which 2 and sometimes 3 are used in addition to an electric 6 string. Hackett plays some very pastoral phrases here whilst Gabriel contributes the melodic lead. Like the other epics on this album, the song builds into many sections of which the first shift occurs at 2.01 when Romeo plans to bed his Juliet, ‘armed with his chocolate surprise’. At this point the gentle acoustic promise gives way to a Hackett solo of joyful expectancy with lyrical pastures inspired by T.S. Eliot and a gentle but persistent background drumming. At 2.44, the musical tide ebbs away leaving the drums and vocals behind as we bob along on the wave of a flute solo and a floating choral chant before returning to repeat the chorus. So far so typically prog. But this isn’t what really floats our boat in the Cinema Show, is it? No; it’s those closing 5 minutes.

    Oh, Tony Banks, you may not be the coke-snorting, babe-magnet bad boy that the music press love to write about but when you hit the keyboards like you do here, no Val Doonican jumper can hide your inner rock-god. At 5.20, it’s time to seriously jack up the volume. A tease of a Hackett solo quickly dissolves into drum-laden rhythms that simmer along deceptively until, with a sudden swoop, Banks soars skywards at 6.58. Who doesn’t experience a shiver down the spine as he sustains this aerial flight accompanied throughout by an incredible... and I mean, incredible... drum shuffle in 7/8 time by Collins. This is a climax and a post-coital fag rolled into one and quite simply the point of no return for the listener.

    Those who remain unmoved by this should pack their bags and buy a one-way ticket to the 80s. The rest of you; wipe the tear from your eye, you’ve made it through: welcome! This is GOLD medal 1970s prog-rock and nothing short of an arthouse blockbuster!

    Yeah that was another thing I was wondering about as well as fans interest in the game. If the players don't get anything to acknowledge their finish, that's kind of lame imo.


    I can see this game mattering to fans if there was some type of long standing rivalry between the nations but aside from that is there much interest or importance in this game for the fans?

    No, it's a losers' final. Nobody cares about it and the players hate playing in it. Just listen to Gary Linekar's intonation when he talks about the one he was involved in back in 1990. It might be a consolation for Harry Kane, though, if he can use it to win the 'golden boot' but that's about it. I certainly wouldn't want to miss the rest of that scintillating semi-final at Wimbledon between Nadal and Djokovic. What a gripping day yesterday on centre court was: Anderson winning that epic 6 hr 37 min semi-final against Isner.

    We're now into GOLD medal territory and at #3 I have

    Supper’s Ready from Foxtrot (1972) GOLD


    I once spent Christmas Day in Italy where we went to the local hotel for Christmas Day dinner. Expecting the usual three courses I was somewhat disappointed at the tiny portions served up and kept jumping up for seconds. A big mistake as I soon discovered: the courses just kept coming and coming. By the time the 12th course arrived, I was stuffed and there were 11 more to come! A total of 23 courses, uncannily reflective of the 23 minutes of musical flavours in Supper's Ready, the garam masala of Gabriel-era Genesis: featuring 7 different sections of contrasting tempos, recurring motifs, and dramatic musical mood swings. Fast-food fans eager for familiar and easily digestible musical hooks move on: you won’t find it here. But If you’re prepared to chew over your food and savour courses of different texture and flavours and try things that may be foreign to your palate, then reach for your napkin: SUPPER’S READY!


    Supper's Ready is feast consisting of 7 courses and served over 23 minutes.


    1. "Lover's Leap" (0.00 - 3.47)

    This is a tale of two lovers merging as one. In terms of storyline this is somewhat reminiscent of Salmacis, though the arpeggiated guitars create a gentler more romantic sound than the magic of the swirling mellotron. Hackett, Banks and Rutherford all play 12-string guitars here and recreate a medieval feel with paired down percussion (the occasional tinkle of the triangle is heard but no drums) and a dreamy background chant of three part vocal harmonies with a playful piano conclude the section. It's a sublime almost semi-religious opening to the suite. The section segues seamlessly into...


    2. "The Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man." (3.48 - 5.43)

    More assertive percussion and keyboards now pick up the pace and the folksy harmonies are exchanged for Gabriel's rousing vocals. This is the wine that accompanies the supper and what a wine to start with. A heady Barolo which swirls delightfully around your head with a stirring melody for the whole of this section. The listener gets his glass topped up with this again in instrumental form at the beginning of section VI, before getting to drain the bottle when it returns to form the body of section VII, with new lyrics. The section cuts abruptly, to a group of children singing "We will rock you, rock you little snakes/We will keep you snug and warm" A brief refrain from Lover's Leap now reappears as a flute melody before making the transition to...


    3."Ikhnaton and Itsacon and Their Band of Merry Men." (5.44 - 9.42)

    This is the course where the meat of the supper is served up and this is no measly burger. This is a boar's head complete with apple stuffed in its jaws. A gallop of drums and a swirl of mellotron at 6.30 ups the pace dramatically before Hackett appears at 7.19 with a biting solo of pure pork crackling which Banks honours with a generous dollop of mellotron sauce at 8.00. At 9.14 the section ebbs away to an almost monastic silence.


    4."How Dare I Be So Beautiful?" (9.43 - 11.04)

    The monastic feel continues here with a series of hanging ethereal chords that allow the listener to sit back, catch his breath and digest the heavy course that he's just consumed before the next one arrives


    5."Willow Farm," (11.05 - 15.36)

    The Marmite* sandwich of our supper.

    Hackett aptly describes this as a cross between 'Teddy Bears picnic' and 'I am the Walrus'. A psychedelic hangover from Gabriel and full of tiresome word plays, Willow Farm was originally a stand-alone Gabriel song which Banks wanted to include in the suite in order to distance the piece from their earlier epic, 'Stagnation.' For the love of God, Tony, what were you thinking of? Marmite may be fine as a stand-alone snack but it is completely out of place in this otherwise grand feast and sadly overshadows its final 2 minutes which is actually bloody good and made up of moody atmospheric synth and a beautifully haunting flute solo. Grateful for the small portion size in this otherwise 23 minute feast, I quickly move on.


    6."Apocalypse in 9/8," (15.36 - 20.50)

    Another heavy course here as pounding rhythm guitars are now served up ad nauseam. In fact, they're so heavy that they end up wrestling with the accompanying synth solo and distracting the listener from its musical accomplishments. Ok, I know this is supposed to be the apocalypse but we are talking of a Tony Banks solo, for Chrissake! And no matter how heavy and atmospheric we want this course of our supper to be, there are only so many dumplings a man can eat. When Gabriel crashes in with his "Six, six, six..." , at 18.53, it's to a sense of palpable release as the incessant clamour is finally given direction. Harnessing those pounding guitars, he sings us out in a climactic fashion before the rhythm falls away naturally to the gentle sound of a flute which then falls further into the sublime with the delicate chiming of three solitary bells.


    7 "As Sure as Eggs Is Eggs," (20.51 - 22.54)

    This is the final course of our supper.

    A faint background drum roll and the dramatic tolling of bells accompany Gabriel's first couple of lines before the drums suddenly come to the forefront and he chants out his angst in dramatic staccato. By the time he's sung the line, "Now I'm back again," at 20.36, we can see the champagne being brought to the table as the bottle of Barolo is finally drained. A few more seconds of musical build-up follow. "Can't you feel our souls ignite?" he cries as the cork is eased from the bottle. Suddenly, Hackett is everywhere, spraying champagne over the assembled throng like holy water. Could this get any more emotional? Well: yes; the final verse. As if Hackett's guitar doesn't touch enough of your soul, now it's openly fused with religious allegory ("There's an angel standing in the sun / And he's crying with a loud voice / This is the supper of the mighty one.") Gabriel sings with religious fervour as Hackett swoops around us like an angel topping up our glasses with virtuosic generosity before our supper is brought to a close with the final climactic lines from the Book of Revelation. (ch.19, v. 17)


    "Lord of Lords, King of Kings

    Has returned to lead his children home

    To take them to the new Jerusalem."


    The lyrics over, Hackett is released once more to swirl in ecstasy for a final minute before fading out as the table is cleared.


    Banks was once asked why nobody makes music like this any longer. “Well…,” he pondered, “you’re not allowed to."


    (*Marmite is a yeast extract spread similar to Vegemite)

    Disappointing second half performance summed up accurately by Croatian defender Sime Vrsaljko.

    “The all-round perception was that this is a new-look England who have changed their ways of punting long balls upfield but when we pressed them it turned out that they haven’t.”


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    #4 Dancing with the Moonlit Knight - SILVER-GILT


    “Can You Tell Me Where My Country Lies"


    In Medieval times, minstrels would travel from place to place entertaining their listeners with stories sung acapella so that their story was not drowned out by any accompanying instrumentation. So begins ‘Dancing with the Moonlit Knight’, a song whose strength resides in the blending of the gentle medieval sounds of ‘olde England’ with the frenetic powerhouse of the new world. It is well documented that Selling England By The Pound takes its name from a Labour Party document and the song is essentially a pastoral yearning, lamenting the loss of the old order. The early 70s were tumultuous times which witnessed the rise of the impersonal supermarket chains and the early decay of community life as exemplified by the demise of locally owned shops. This dramatic shift towards consumerism was to find its ultimate expression a decade later with the Friedman policies of Thatcher that ravaged communities in favour of individual freedoms. So, where does my county lie? Gabriel's cry is clearly an early warning but even the uncertainty of the direction of travel was not enough to stop ‘the trade’. ("It lies with me- cried the Queen of Maybe. For her merchandise, he traded in his prize.")


    Contrast now the poignant passing of the old world ("Old man dies - the note he left was signed 'Old Father Thames' - it seems he's drowned. Selling England by the pound") with the corpulent new world. ("There's a fat old lady outside the saloon. Laying out the credit cards she plays fortune") Credit cards were relatively new back in 1973 offering easy credit and displacing those personal arrangements that one had with local tradesman and which helped bond a community together. With community centred transactions being replaced by faceless corporate credit, is it any wonder that it resulted in a mindless consumption of commodified products with a little bit of old England disappearing with each fast-food Wimpy (1) meal ordered? ("Chewing through your Wimpy dreams. They eat without a sound. Digesting England by the pound") Gratifying individual wants are what matters in these times not the social perceptions valued by their elders ("Young man says you are what you eat - eat well. Old man says you are what you wear - wear well")


    Yet, this is a dance none can escape. The Arthurian legend of the Holy Grail is quintessential English heritage that is both romantic yet moribund, set in a mould like the sun that sets in the sky before sinking at the onslaught of the night sky. Yet is the rampant march towards consumerism so unstoppable? Few would choose to turn away from paths of gold even though gold is a cold metal offering little of the emotional succour that the nostalgia for past times can provide.


    " - join the dance

    Follow on! Till the Grail sun sets in the mould

    Follow on! Till the gold is cold

    Dancing out with the moonlit knight

    Knights of the Green Shield stamp and shout"


    This clever juxtaposition of the Arthurian legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight with the supermarket Green Shield stamp (2) saving schemes, so popular in 1970s England, gives way to a tussle as the two worlds 'stamp and shout' and a frenetic surge of electronic modernity displaces the delicate medieval arrangements of before. The vocals underscore this by lauding the arrival of the corpulent new world. To a powerful rhythmic backing we are introduced to the fat old lady with her credit cards and her world of anonymised credit as mentioned earlier. The narrative finally ends with Gabriel lamenting the changes. There is a sense of the inevitable in his line, "With a twist of the world we go!" before the modern powerhouse is allowed to play itself out. When the dance is finally over we find that what ultimately prevails is the medieval arrangement we started with. This quietly reasserts itself in a delicate ambient coda which lasts a full two minutes; a full quarter of the song. Yet it is barely noticeable. It's almost as if it's been there all along, playing quietly in the background; temporarily drowned out by the clamour of modernity yet marking, in its own quiet way, the timeless endurance of the past.


    (1) Wimpy was England's first fast-food burger chain, pre-dating McDonalds who didn't open their first restaurant until 1974; a year after SEbtP was released. Ironically, it was in a Wimpy bar that Peter Gabriel first met his wife Jill.

    (2) Collins recounts that back in the days of gigging around England in their van, fights would often break out over ownership of the Green Shield stamps that they would get when buying petrol from filling stations.