Peter Gabriel-led prog legends actually appeared on "safe," mass-appeal concert show. Now, we finally have the official, high-quality video from the source! The congregation may rise...often.
Fascinating piece, Brad, and lots to unpack. I never saw any rock TV except for Soul Train, so for better or worse, my exposure was almost entirely aural. I do know that after being weaned on the Doors and Cream, I was quite despondent about what happened to popular music (Olivia Newton John? John Denver? Muskrat Love? Are you fucking kidding?!) Then lucked out with randomly assigned college roommates who were into Fusion and Prog, and I realized the world was full of great music I had never been exposed to. I never saw the wild Peter Gabriel costumes, I just heard Genesis, along with all those other "droning and noodling" groups (!) and loved the music. Along with Purple, Zeppelin and Sabbath. And Weather Report and Mahavishu Orchestra. I had no idea what any of these groups looked like, but the music opened up my world. So it's interesting to read this piece and the comments and get the perspective of people who came to this by an entirely different route.
I do have one suggestion: Go back and listen to more King Crimson. For me, they are one of the greatest, most creative bands of all time (it's mostly Fripp, of course), and RED is easily on my list of top ten albums ever made.
I'm glad you mentioned Crimson...I soon grew to appreciate them far more than some of those other "typically David" bands (like Can...that was another one)!! "Court of the CK," for one, and of course, Fripp being another one of those wickedly creative guitarists like Hackett, Mahavishnu's John McLaughlin, Les Dudek, Tommy Bolin, et al that helped make the '70s far more substantive than much of the Top 40 fare that (mostly) occupied much of each "Midnight Special" ep.
My goal was to try to contextualize just how rare and exotic Genesis was (on U.S. TV, especially) back in '73 and '74. Few domestic rock rags really covered them, and only because I bought the UK rock tabloids (New Musical Express, Sounds, Melody Maker)---granted, a week late as they had to be shipped to Bellaire News in SW Houston back then for me to get them! But, Gabriel began to be regularly splashed on the front pages in his various costumes! Here's a whole bunch of 'em:
In 1975, during the "Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" tour (which I saw in Houston), Peter, in his Slipperman costume, couldn't get his mic up to his mouth well enough to be heard, his head and body were covered with so many bubbles and balloons! This pissed off Phil (mostly) to no end! He had no prob with Peter's costume predilection, otherwise (he knows it helped the band get noticed). But, when his costumes interfered with the music, that got his goat (that's well-documented, btw). Good stuff, Charles! I'm glad I turned you on to something new, like early visual Genesis!
Tommy Bolin! wow, talk about dying too young. I have his solo albums, loved his work on Spectrum, and saw him live with Purple. That's hilarious about Gabriel's costumes getting in the way of singing. Sheesh. Not sure what the "Typically David" reference is about....?
David was my lead guitarist I mentioned in the article. He was the one who turned me on to Genesis, and he was the one who always tried to "pass off" all those strange, proggy bands on me!
No thang, Charles....you'll find out all about David, shortly. I'll be dropping the story of my early-'70s Brimstone years this summer, only to Paid Subscribers, of which you're one! So, stay tuned!
Wow!! I got into early Genesis only recently when I lived in France near Spain! They have a huge following in this part of the world, hence the Hackett concert. Anyway, I would drive my family crazy playing “Supper’s Ready” while driving up a nearby mountain, but it was an experience not unlike playing “Darkside of the Moon” and Watching the beginning of “Wizard of Oz!” I would was scouring YouTube for early Genesis films, videos, footage, etc. I thought I had seen everything, but this version of “Musical Box” is amazing!!
I'm sure I related my "gob-smacked-ness" in the article, but you don't know HOW amazing! I had been into Genesis for a couple years, and watching Midnight Special every week since its debut. "WHAT!?! Genesis on MS?" Especially "Watcher of the Skies"----especially America! I kept thinking people must be thinking Martians have landed!!
My lead guitarist turned me on to them in '71 or '72..."Foxtrot." I just dropped a Paid-only article about my years fronting Brimstone out of my Houston high school. I'll drop the link here out of shameless self-promotion: https://bradkyle.substack.com/p/1i-was-a-teenage-lead-singer-the
Glad you like this one.....it'll be cool to see these as "The Midnight Special" producers keep rolling them out!
I didn't start watching The Midnight Special until around 1978 (my folks wouldn't let me stay up late enough for it before then) — and while I dug it, most of the featured acts were lip-synching by then. So to see these earlier TMS episodes where the musicians are actually playing has been a total revelation.
I didn't realize "MS" stooped to synching at any point, but, by '78, I can imagine the cynicism and $-grabbing becoming more prevalent....sadly, I'm guessing part of the dynamic was a greater ease in procuring talent by convincing them they didn't have to actually perform, other than synching their hands and mouths to make it LOOK like they were "live"! Shameful...but, not surprising, to various degrees.
Odd your folks "forced you to bed" on a Friday night. That was, I think, a lure for the network to be attracted to that time slot...kids could see it. But, I'm glad you're able to catch up now, of course, but really glad that whomever owns the rights is now officially releasing the original source tapes! Fun stuff! I'll be awaiting their release of The New York Dolls footage (and, we'll do this kind of spotlight again)!
Oh yeah — 11 pm was my official weekend bedtime until I was about 12. Occasionally I'd be allowed to stay up on Saturdays to watch SNL, but that was it...
Kinda weird how much the music landscape has changed. We have youtube now, which puts practically everything at our fingertips, from "live" music to music videos, but it's interesting how big TV used to be in the music promotion equation. Ed Sullivan, American Bandstand, Midnight Special, etc. were all before my time, but they were the next best thing to actually seeing a band in person at the time, and depending on the act, could be appointment television. I was around for the prime of MTV, which was probably more focused on music videos, but also featured its fair share of live music. But that went out the window a long time ago. Now, pretty much the only live music on TV are competition shows. I'm not bagging on them, but not really my thing, and definitely not the same. Like I said, youtube offers more sfuff than ever and more conveniently, but I do think we've lost something. Rare that a great performance posted on youtube, no matter how good, is going to have the same kind of cultural impact of Genesis on MS or the Doors on Sullivan or even Nirvana unplugged on MTV.
Not trying to be an old man yelling at a cloud here. I'm not saying we're worse off or that it rises to the level of tragedy. Merely noting the loss of something and admitting that I miss it, even though I wasn't even around for a lot of the stuff we're talking about. So maybe I'm not doing a great job of illustrating what I'm saying, but I think you get my drift.
I get it.......you're totally right on the money! It was all really an embarrassment of riches back in the early-to-mid-'70s, regarding music on TV. I think we knew it at the time, but had nothing to compare it to until it all was gone, and in its place was a wall of static videos called MTV in '81, which was nothing more than visual radio with more artists someone else would choose if we hear their music or not!
The gang was all there in the early '70s...."In Concert," "Don Kirshner's Rock Concert," "Midnight Special".....And, such was the landscape that an occasional Genesis would manage to sneak thru the "MS" AM radio pablum! Even the NEW YORK DOLLS made an "MS" appearance!! Here they are, with the official "MS" release still to drop. Imagine this parlay: "That was David Essex with 'Rock On.' And, now, ladies and gentlemen, The New York Dolls!": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCLu32WVPyM
I don't understand your last 5 words.....I mean, at all! I've never seen them in that order before!😉Every tip button will have a custom, punny call-to-action! It's how we roll, yo. Which reminds me of the peculiar audition I once attended. I had to read my sides while standing on my head. "Why am I doing it this way?" I finally asked. "That's how we role," was her response, "drole"-ly.
Such a great piece (as always). I love reading your stories because they always take me back to moments and places I haven't lived but feel almost as if I could -- through your words! Amazing that you "discovered" Genesis so early on, and that you could see the magic happen there and then. Of course their legacy is there and it's never too late to discover great artists. But there's something truly special and magical about discovering legends before they become legends!
You nailed it, Andy! And, I never take my perspective for granted. I was fortunate to be raised in a house where 20,000 LPs and 78s shared space, and that I was a curious music lover! The happy accident of having a lead guitarist, David, who dug such "progressive" music, and he shared it with me.....I sometimes wonder how/when/where I would've otherwise heard/heard of Genesis. The next day? Week? Year? At all?
I'm glad you'll be on board this summer when I tell the story of Brimstone. If it had a movie trailer, you might hear Don LaFontaine intone in low, dulcet timbres, "In a world where music and feelings come together, something's gotta give. And, this time, it's personal............"
It’s great you don’t take it for granted because it’s experiences like the one(s) you mention that give you a unique perspective. So keep remembering, please, and I will keep enjoying!! Thanks once again for sharing all these gems with us!
I have finally lived too long and my teenage years are now history , written about by folks whos parents are possibly too young to have been there . Midnight Special certainly was not aimed at housewives while they vacuumed ! The show aired late night for starters ... Before In Concert and Midnight Special we never saw these acts on television . Todd Rundgren did his career altering peacock outfit segment , Poco wasnt exactly regular tv fare etc and so on . We take Youtube for granted now . There was nothing like it back then of course . Even Ed Sullivan had left the airwaves . Midnight Special did have more of a top 40 feel than In Concert , but tv was still a pretty special treat when it came to rock music .
Point well-taken, Bob! Early- to mid-'70s, rock TV was pretty incredible, and we were lucky! While "MS" may not have, indeed, "been aimed at" housewives ("with hit radio--not 'Midnight Special'--playing while they vacuumed," as the article mentions), it did mean that we hippies (and subversive musical types) had to fairly "endure" the Olivia Newton-Johns, Mac Davis's, Helen Reddys, and their Top-40-ilk to finally get to "the good stuff"!
Thanks Brad for the re-post. Seeing that MS Special gig with The Musical Box - that's what piqued my interest in diving back into a few articles I saw on his new releases. for i/o. BTW, comments in the video YouTube post of that broadcast pretty much said: THANK YOU and YES!!
Gotta love that Substack serendipity! When I saw your Thursday post of the new Gabriel music, I had to make sure it capped off THIS article! Incredible memories for me, and astounding video evidence of footage very few fans of "In Your Eyes" and Phil's "Against All Odds" have ever seen (and will be stunned to witness)!
Fascinating piece, Brad, and lots to unpack. I never saw any rock TV except for Soul Train, so for better or worse, my exposure was almost entirely aural. I do know that after being weaned on the Doors and Cream, I was quite despondent about what happened to popular music (Olivia Newton John? John Denver? Muskrat Love? Are you fucking kidding?!) Then lucked out with randomly assigned college roommates who were into Fusion and Prog, and I realized the world was full of great music I had never been exposed to. I never saw the wild Peter Gabriel costumes, I just heard Genesis, along with all those other "droning and noodling" groups (!) and loved the music. Along with Purple, Zeppelin and Sabbath. And Weather Report and Mahavishu Orchestra. I had no idea what any of these groups looked like, but the music opened up my world. So it's interesting to read this piece and the comments and get the perspective of people who came to this by an entirely different route.
I do have one suggestion: Go back and listen to more King Crimson. For me, they are one of the greatest, most creative bands of all time (it's mostly Fripp, of course), and RED is easily on my list of top ten albums ever made.
I'm glad you mentioned Crimson...I soon grew to appreciate them far more than some of those other "typically David" bands (like Can...that was another one)!! "Court of the CK," for one, and of course, Fripp being another one of those wickedly creative guitarists like Hackett, Mahavishnu's John McLaughlin, Les Dudek, Tommy Bolin, et al that helped make the '70s far more substantive than much of the Top 40 fare that (mostly) occupied much of each "Midnight Special" ep.
My goal was to try to contextualize just how rare and exotic Genesis was (on U.S. TV, especially) back in '73 and '74. Few domestic rock rags really covered them, and only because I bought the UK rock tabloids (New Musical Express, Sounds, Melody Maker)---granted, a week late as they had to be shipped to Bellaire News in SW Houston back then for me to get them! But, Gabriel began to be regularly splashed on the front pages in his various costumes! Here's a whole bunch of 'em:
https://www.google.com/search?q=peter+gabriel+costumes+genesis&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjkgNTJqLf_AhW5kmoFHVRaBLkQ0pQJegQIDBAB&biw=1094&bih=504&dpr=1.25
In 1975, during the "Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" tour (which I saw in Houston), Peter, in his Slipperman costume, couldn't get his mic up to his mouth well enough to be heard, his head and body were covered with so many bubbles and balloons! This pissed off Phil (mostly) to no end! He had no prob with Peter's costume predilection, otherwise (he knows it helped the band get noticed). But, when his costumes interfered with the music, that got his goat (that's well-documented, btw). Good stuff, Charles! I'm glad I turned you on to something new, like early visual Genesis!
Tommy Bolin! wow, talk about dying too young. I have his solo albums, loved his work on Spectrum, and saw him live with Purple. That's hilarious about Gabriel's costumes getting in the way of singing. Sheesh. Not sure what the "Typically David" reference is about....?
David was my lead guitarist I mentioned in the article. He was the one who turned me on to Genesis, and he was the one who always tried to "pass off" all those strange, proggy bands on me!
Ah. Ok, just missed that.
No thang, Charles....you'll find out all about David, shortly. I'll be dropping the story of my early-'70s Brimstone years this summer, only to Paid Subscribers, of which you're one! So, stay tuned!
Wow!! I got into early Genesis only recently when I lived in France near Spain! They have a huge following in this part of the world, hence the Hackett concert. Anyway, I would drive my family crazy playing “Supper’s Ready” while driving up a nearby mountain, but it was an experience not unlike playing “Darkside of the Moon” and Watching the beginning of “Wizard of Oz!” I would was scouring YouTube for early Genesis films, videos, footage, etc. I thought I had seen everything, but this version of “Musical Box” is amazing!!
I'm sure I related my "gob-smacked-ness" in the article, but you don't know HOW amazing! I had been into Genesis for a couple years, and watching Midnight Special every week since its debut. "WHAT!?! Genesis on MS?" Especially "Watcher of the Skies"----especially America! I kept thinking people must be thinking Martians have landed!!
My lead guitarist turned me on to them in '71 or '72..."Foxtrot." I just dropped a Paid-only article about my years fronting Brimstone out of my Houston high school. I'll drop the link here out of shameless self-promotion: https://bradkyle.substack.com/p/1i-was-a-teenage-lead-singer-the
Glad you like this one.....it'll be cool to see these as "The Midnight Special" producers keep rolling them out!
I didn't start watching The Midnight Special until around 1978 (my folks wouldn't let me stay up late enough for it before then) — and while I dug it, most of the featured acts were lip-synching by then. So to see these earlier TMS episodes where the musicians are actually playing has been a total revelation.
I didn't realize "MS" stooped to synching at any point, but, by '78, I can imagine the cynicism and $-grabbing becoming more prevalent....sadly, I'm guessing part of the dynamic was a greater ease in procuring talent by convincing them they didn't have to actually perform, other than synching their hands and mouths to make it LOOK like they were "live"! Shameful...but, not surprising, to various degrees.
Odd your folks "forced you to bed" on a Friday night. That was, I think, a lure for the network to be attracted to that time slot...kids could see it. But, I'm glad you're able to catch up now, of course, but really glad that whomever owns the rights is now officially releasing the original source tapes! Fun stuff! I'll be awaiting their release of The New York Dolls footage (and, we'll do this kind of spotlight again)!
Oh yeah — 11 pm was my official weekend bedtime until I was about 12. Occasionally I'd be allowed to stay up on Saturdays to watch SNL, but that was it...
Kinda weird how much the music landscape has changed. We have youtube now, which puts practically everything at our fingertips, from "live" music to music videos, but it's interesting how big TV used to be in the music promotion equation. Ed Sullivan, American Bandstand, Midnight Special, etc. were all before my time, but they were the next best thing to actually seeing a band in person at the time, and depending on the act, could be appointment television. I was around for the prime of MTV, which was probably more focused on music videos, but also featured its fair share of live music. But that went out the window a long time ago. Now, pretty much the only live music on TV are competition shows. I'm not bagging on them, but not really my thing, and definitely not the same. Like I said, youtube offers more sfuff than ever and more conveniently, but I do think we've lost something. Rare that a great performance posted on youtube, no matter how good, is going to have the same kind of cultural impact of Genesis on MS or the Doors on Sullivan or even Nirvana unplugged on MTV.
Not trying to be an old man yelling at a cloud here. I'm not saying we're worse off or that it rises to the level of tragedy. Merely noting the loss of something and admitting that I miss it, even though I wasn't even around for a lot of the stuff we're talking about. So maybe I'm not doing a great job of illustrating what I'm saying, but I think you get my drift.
I get it.......you're totally right on the money! It was all really an embarrassment of riches back in the early-to-mid-'70s, regarding music on TV. I think we knew it at the time, but had nothing to compare it to until it all was gone, and in its place was a wall of static videos called MTV in '81, which was nothing more than visual radio with more artists someone else would choose if we hear their music or not!
The gang was all there in the early '70s...."In Concert," "Don Kirshner's Rock Concert," "Midnight Special".....And, such was the landscape that an occasional Genesis would manage to sneak thru the "MS" AM radio pablum! Even the NEW YORK DOLLS made an "MS" appearance!! Here they are, with the official "MS" release still to drop. Imagine this parlay: "That was David Essex with 'Rock On.' And, now, ladies and gentlemen, The New York Dolls!": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCLu32WVPyM
It’s good that you credited the Substack writers that provided the Genesis for this piece....;)
Reading this to the end was all the more fun getting to see your “Home By The Tea” Kofi button.
Keep ‘em coming and never hold back on the wordplay.
I don't understand your last 5 words.....I mean, at all! I've never seen them in that order before!😉Every tip button will have a custom, punny call-to-action! It's how we roll, yo. Which reminds me of the peculiar audition I once attended. I had to read my sides while standing on my head. "Why am I doing it this way?" I finally asked. "That's how we role," was her response, "drole"-ly.
Such a great piece (as always). I love reading your stories because they always take me back to moments and places I haven't lived but feel almost as if I could -- through your words! Amazing that you "discovered" Genesis so early on, and that you could see the magic happen there and then. Of course their legacy is there and it's never too late to discover great artists. But there's something truly special and magical about discovering legends before they become legends!
You nailed it, Andy! And, I never take my perspective for granted. I was fortunate to be raised in a house where 20,000 LPs and 78s shared space, and that I was a curious music lover! The happy accident of having a lead guitarist, David, who dug such "progressive" music, and he shared it with me.....I sometimes wonder how/when/where I would've otherwise heard/heard of Genesis. The next day? Week? Year? At all?
I'm glad you'll be on board this summer when I tell the story of Brimstone. If it had a movie trailer, you might hear Don LaFontaine intone in low, dulcet timbres, "In a world where music and feelings come together, something's gotta give. And, this time, it's personal............"
It’s great you don’t take it for granted because it’s experiences like the one(s) you mention that give you a unique perspective. So keep remembering, please, and I will keep enjoying!! Thanks once again for sharing all these gems with us!
You get me! Will do, Andy! As long as the noggin keeps performing, I'll keep scribbling my manic missives!🥰
I have finally lived too long and my teenage years are now history , written about by folks whos parents are possibly too young to have been there . Midnight Special certainly was not aimed at housewives while they vacuumed ! The show aired late night for starters ... Before In Concert and Midnight Special we never saw these acts on television . Todd Rundgren did his career altering peacock outfit segment , Poco wasnt exactly regular tv fare etc and so on . We take Youtube for granted now . There was nothing like it back then of course . Even Ed Sullivan had left the airwaves . Midnight Special did have more of a top 40 feel than In Concert , but tv was still a pretty special treat when it came to rock music .
Point well-taken, Bob! Early- to mid-'70s, rock TV was pretty incredible, and we were lucky! While "MS" may not have, indeed, "been aimed at" housewives ("with hit radio--not 'Midnight Special'--playing while they vacuumed," as the article mentions), it did mean that we hippies (and subversive musical types) had to fairly "endure" the Olivia Newton-Johns, Mac Davis's, Helen Reddys, and their Top-40-ilk to finally get to "the good stuff"!
Thanks Brad for the re-post. Seeing that MS Special gig with The Musical Box - that's what piqued my interest in diving back into a few articles I saw on his new releases. for i/o. BTW, comments in the video YouTube post of that broadcast pretty much said: THANK YOU and YES!!
Gotta love that Substack serendipity! When I saw your Thursday post of the new Gabriel music, I had to make sure it capped off THIS article! Incredible memories for me, and astounding video evidence of footage very few fans of "In Your Eyes" and Phil's "Against All Odds" have ever seen (and will be stunned to witness)!