'Up' was, in my opinion, Peter Gabriel's best ever album, but this song about the worst part of TV culture, is actually the weakest song of the ten tracks on it.
My collection: 7" single no. 7279
Found: Marleen Records, Fulda (Germany)
Tracks: 'The Barry Williams Show (Unadulterated radio edit)' / 'Cloudless (radio edit)'
Peter Gabriel released 'Peter Gabriel plays live' as his fifth album in 1983. The album was originally released as a double album and longplay cassette, with sixteen songs and a running time of over 80 minutes. It was eventually issued as a double CD set, and, in 1985, as a single CD version 'Plays Live – Highlights' with only twelve songs and some significant track time alterations.
'Solsbury Hill' was written by Peter Gabriel after he left the and Genesis. Released as his debut single, it allegedly explains the reasons behind his departure, while also talking about a spiritual experience atop Solsbury Hill in Somerset.
I first heard Peter Gabriel's 'Shock the monkey' as part of a compilation album for Greenpeace, released in the mid-Eighties. That compilation was remarkable for its inclusion of Kate Bush's 'Breathing' - the single version no less.
The Italian promo single is a strange phenomenon. There are several in my collection, and without exception they are white label promos, released in a custom white sleeve, with two A-side tracks from different artists on them. In this case: 'Don't give up' by Peter Gabriel and 'In too deep' by Genesis.
'Don't give up' was not Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush's first collaboration, but it is arguably their best. The song was recorded for Gabriel's 1986 album 'So'. The lyric describes the despair of a man who feels that the economic system has no place for him, seeking council and support from the words sung by Kate Bush. Godley & Creme directed two videos for the song: the first consisted of a single take of the singers in an embrace, as the sun enters total eclipse and re-emerges. The second featured Gabriel and Bush's faces superimposed over film of a town and its people in disrepair.
Peter Gabriel released his debut solo single in 1977, after leaving the band Genesis, of which he had been the lead singer since its inception. Gabriel actually wrote the song to explain his reasons for leaving the band. The single reached number number 13 in the UK and number 11 in the Dutch Top 40.
'Kiss that frog' was the fourth single taken from Peter Gabriel's 1992 album 'Us'. Produced by Peter Gabriel and Daniel Lanois, the track was a bit of a messy affair, reminiscent of earlier singles by Gabriel, but not quite as effective.
'Steam' was released as the second single from Peter Gabriel's 1992 album 'Us'. Peter Gabriel has said that the song is about a relationship in which the woman is sophisticated, bright, cultured, and knows everything about anything and that the man knows nothing about anything, except, he does know about the woman, and she doesn't know much about herself.
The soundtrack of the motion picure 'Philadelphia' contained a famous Bruce Springsteen track, 'Streets of Philadelphia'. But strangely enough it is less well known that the soundtrack also contained a new Peter Gabriel track, entitled 'Lovetown'.
Peter Gabriel's song 'Big time' is often compared to his previous hit 'Sledgehammer', because both tracks are uptempo, both come from the same album 'So' (1987) and both were promoted by music videos that used several animation techniques. Still, 'Big time' was not the big hit 'Sledgehammer' was. In the Netherlands, 'Big time' peaked at number 24 and in the UK it reached number 13. It was the first Peter Gabriel single that was also released on the new cd-single format.
'Biko' was originally recorded in 1980 on Peter Gabriel's third solo album. The song was about Stephen Biko, a noted black South African anti-apartheid activist. Biko had been arrested by the South African police in late August 1977. After being held in custody for several days, he was interrogated in room 619 of the Walmer Street prison in Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape. Following the interrogation, during which he sustained serious head injuries, Biko was transferred to a prison in Pretoria, where he died shortly afterwards, on September 12, 1977.
'Red rain' was the third single released from Peter Gabriel's multimillionselling album 'So' (1987) . The song is a combination of several inspirations. The lyric directly reference a recurring dream Gabriel was having where he swam in his pool drinking cold red wine. According to the sleeve notes from the remastered version of 'So', it is also a reference to acid rain.
Peter Gabriel contributed the track 'Walk through the fire' to the soundtrack of the 1984 movie 'Against all odds'. It's interesting to note that other Genesis members contributed to the soundtrack as well: Mike Rutherford contributed the song 'Making a big mistake' and Phil Collins recorded the well-known title track.
Peter Gabriel released his sixth studio album 'Us' in 1992, six years after his previous album 'So' . The first single was 'Digging in the dirt', an intricate song but a slightly understated affair after all the bombast of 'Sledgehammer' and 'Big time'. The song was an exploration of the issues in his personal life at the time - the end of his relationship with Rosanna Arquette, his desire to reconnect with his daughter and even the self healing he was looking for in therapy. On the B-side there was a beautiful silent version of the album's next single, 'Steam'.
If you think Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush worked together for the first time in 1986 when they recorded 'Don't give up', you wouldn't be alone in thinking that. But in reality, they got together as early as 1979, when Kate Bush recorded a television special for UK television. They sang 'Another day' together, and Gabriel performed 'Here comes the flood' solo in this special.My collection: 7" single no. 2341
Found: Record Exchange, London, June 26, 1995
Cost: 1 pound
Tracks: 'No self control' / 'Lead a normal life'
Download: Album 'Peter Gabriel [3]', including both tracks
Peter Gabriel's 'Sledgehammer' will always be remembered mostly because of this video. It was directed by Stephen R. Johnson. Aardman Animation and the Brothers Quay provided claymation, pixilation, and stop motion animation that gave life to images in the song. In 1987, it won nine MTV Video Music Awards, a record which still stands today. It ranked at number four on MTV's 100 Greatest Music Videos Ever Made (1999). MTV later announced that 'Sledgehammer' is the most played music video in the history of the station.
