I know I’m generalizing, but it has seemed to me that men are NOT fans of early Genesis. I’ve met a few, but very few. The few times I saw them live in the 1970s, I saw a lot of girls at the show, like they were all pining for Peter Gabriel, and could “get” and support his dressing up in makeup and costumes. A lot of men thought he was a strange poof.
My ex-husband, the one I was with when I discovered Genesis in 1973, wasn’t into them. He didn’t hate them and was nice enough to buy me albums and tickets to the Selling England and Lamb tours, but he never listened to them if I wasn’t listening to them. My current husband, though he’s a huge Peter Gabriel fan, has never been interested in Gabriel’s Genesis. Luckily we’re both into Gabriel and Kate Bush at the same level. Speaking of Bush, though I first heard her on Gabriel’s 3rd solo album, I didn’t hear her own music until a fellow Genesis/Gabriel fan made me a mix tape in 1980, which made me an instant fanatic. That fellow Genesis/Gabriel fan was a woman too.
So, my own experience tells me that men aren’t into old Genesis, so therefore, why don’t men like early Genesis?
Yeah yeah, this thread’s gonna get locked. I can deal.
Coming across as a “strange poof” doesn’t seemed to have kept a lot of other 70’s musicians from being popular with men.
I don’t think I’ve listened to Genesis in more then a decade, but myself and my male friends used to listen to it when we were kids (early 90’s). Which is kinda weird now that I think about it, not sure what turned us on to it in the first place.
err…why? Is there some “No discussing Peter Gabriel” rule?
Are you kidding me? In my experience, prog rock = sausage fest. Pretty much the same male-female ratio as at heavy metal concerts.
I say this as a loooooong-time PG-era Genesis fan. I know exactly one female Peter-Gabriel-era-Genesis fan, and dozens of men. The crowds at The Musical Box concerts bear this out–lots more guys than girls.
Don’t get it either - it was an ex-boyfriend who introduced me to Genesis, making me a life-long PG fan. I always got the impression it was more men than women who listened to the early stuff.
Gotta disagree with the OP. My husband is a huge Genesis fan (Peter Gabriel era ONLY). He’s dragged me to several shows by a Genesis tribute band called The Musical Box. The vast majority of the audience at these shows were white dudes in their 40s and 50s. That’s generally been my experience with a lot of progressive rock bands, though there’s always exceptions.
I have to admit, that song’s one of my least favorite EG (Early Genesis), but I understand what you mean. It’s hilarious. I used to think it was about pot until I learned about the real Hogweed plant, and that made the song even funnier. It’s like an aural horror movie about an invasive phototoxic plant! “Turn and run! Nothing can stop them!”
I always smirk when I hear Genesis lumped into the “pretentious, takes themselves too seriously” school of art rock. They had a fantastic and warped sense of humor. “The Battle of Epping Forest” is an Ealing comedy brought to aural life. “Get 'em Out By Friday” is funny and tragic at the same time. “Counting Out Time” is hilariously rude. And “Willow Farm”? Well…
Maybe they’re not Pink Floyd fans and haven’t read that other thread.
But seriously, if I were to go by my own experiences, more females than males liked EG. I know enough to not judge by my own experiences though. Really.
Aren’t they so good? I’ve seen the Selling England and the Lamb tours by them and, since I was [gloat, though it makes me really old]actually there for the original shows[/gloat, though it makes me really old]I can attest they were spot on.
I don’t much understand why they bother with post-Gabriel tours though. What’s the point? Not that I didn’t like post-Gabriel Genesis. I stuck with the band up to and including Abacab*, loved all the Collins Genesis stuff (especially Wind & Wuthering) even post-Hackett (love love LOVE And Then There Were Three), but it’s Peter’s era that needs the re-creation most.
*I lost interest more because I was then getting into female vocals. I know they had worthy songs after Abacab.
Yeah, my experience too. My brother is a die-hard prog guy and he’s told me for the longest time about the dearth of female fans.
Now, prog might not be every man’s cup of tea. I know Zepplin had its Tolkien influences, but prog is (to boil it down in flames) music for rich intellectual college kids who might be more interested in reading books, de-constructing a Mellotron and taking the skiff out for a row instead of drinking beer and bangin’ chicks.
So does your basic rugby-playing, hard-living, boot-wearing manly man like early Genesis? No. He probably doesn’t like 80’s Genesis either.
Me and my mates were all huge Genesis fans before PG left, and have stuck with Gabriel but not with Genesis. I think your local demographic must be a bit skewed…
Same as everyone else here. Am a guy, love Genesis, don’t know a single female who’s into the Gabriel-era songs. **Genesis **used to be one of my two or three favorite bands (along with The Beatles, The Who and Pink Floyd) and I played early Genesis songs all the time and the only people that even tolerated it were other guys. I remember that at the time I came to the conclusion that women were simply incapable of musical appreciation. (I was young and stupid.)
(Between, I’ve always felt that the loss of Steve Hackett did much more to change the band’s sound than that of Peter Gabriel, which I always found curious. Also, I never understand why Hackett isn’t more talked about as a guitarist. He may not have been as technically gifted as Robert Fripp or Steve Howe but I liked his sound much more than theirs, he was very tasteful for a prog guitarist and showed wonderful restraint.)
My uncle was a very big fan of Genesis “before they went pop.” Straight, too. (And a giant Whovian, so admittedly odd.)
I like the song “Time Table” quite a lot (& am fond of Foxtrot in general). I have never gotten into The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. The one or two clips I have seen of P. Gabriel in Genesis did not endear me to the idea of his live performances, but maybe I would have dug it as a kid?
Oh, on the whole I prefer Phil Collins to Peter Gabriel, as solo acts certainly. And I liked Mike + the Mechanics all right.
The point? The point is money. I’d wager “Invisible Touch” made 10 times more money (between albums and concert tickets) than all the Gabriel-era product put together.
It’s not that men don’t like early Genesis. It’s just that more people in general like the music after he left much more, because it was more poppy and mainstream.
In my case, I have most Peter Gabriel albums, but never cared much for the sound of PG-Genesis. However, I like post-PG-Genesis even less. Another data point to muddy the waters!
I’m a 30 year old male, am a huge early Genesis fan, and there is only one woman I hang out with with whom I can geek out about Genesis, while there are quite a few men.
I don’t like early Genesis.
I don’t like middle Genesis
I don’'t like late Genesis.
I don’t like Peter Gabriel.
I don’t like Phil Collins.
I don’t like Mike + the Mechanics.
Have I left anyone out?
More seriously, I didn’t know too many people who were familiar with Genesis in the Peter Gabriel era. Later on, my circle of friends really liked the Phil Collins era although I never understood the appeal.
