Fact #157435
When:
Short story:
Genesis, having been discovered by Jonathan King, release their debut single, The Silent Sun, in the UK, Europe.
Full article:
"It was all right until I went to Charterhouse," says Peter Gabriel. "Then I got fat and spotty."
Reasoning that his pudgy and cratered physog might restrict his chances with the fairer sex, the fourteen year old Pete decided he should join a rock band at his public school and settled himself down to learn the craft of drumming.
Before long, housemaster John Marriott gave Gabriel his first positive review, making an entry on Gabriel's 1964 summer report to the effect that "I very much enjoyed his performance on the drums in the House Musical Evening - it was delightfully spontaneous."
After dalliances in school bands called Milord and Spoken Word, Gabriel eventually got together with the future members of Genesis in an outfit calling itself The Garden Wall. The school magazine, The Carthusian, enthusiastically reviewed one of their shows in November 1966. "This group, formed at the beginning of last Cricket Quarter, claims to be the only true exponent of soul music in the school. With a distinctly earthy quality to their work, they gave some spirited performances … Peter Gabriel's vocalising was a major feature."
The Garden Wall was writing its own material by the time former Charterhouse boy Jonathan King returned to the school for Old Boys Day in 1967. King was now a pop star and entrepreneur, having scored a major hit with Everyone's Gone To The Moon, and having written, produced and published It's Good News week for Hedgehopper's Anonymous.
A friend of the band's gave King a tape of The Garden Wall, which he left on the back seat of his car. "I got these tapes and thought 'How boring', you know? There's nothing worse than an amateur band." Eventually though, King summoned up enough enthusiasm to listen to the tape and changed his mind. "This is really good, these are nice little songs. And I thought the guy had a really nice voice. I was interested in doing more work as a producer because I wanted to become a person in the music industry instead of just another singer. So I called them up … they were really amazed to hear from me, completely staggered and over-excited."
Gabriel's mother recalls that King's phone call came while she, Peter and Garden Wall member Tony Banks were gathered by the family swimming pool. "Peter came running out saying 'We've made it!' He was jumping around for joy."
King funded the band to make some professional demos and signed them to a five year contract which the band's parents astutely insisted on reducing to one year.
There was a brief glitch in the process when King rejected the new demos, saying he much preferred their simpler, earlier material. As Tony Banks recalls, "We felt we were losing King, the only contact we had in the business, so we sat down and wrote a song to please him. As he liked The Bee Gees very much, we wrote a Bee Gees-type number, Silent Sun, and he loved it."
"I tried to sing a bit like Robin Gibb on the second verse," remembers Gabriel. "I'm sure we would have denied it at the time."
At this point, King decided to change the group name to Genesis, because, "We were looking for a new sound, and Genesis insinuated that it was the beginning of a new sound, and a new feeling."
It was recorded during December 1967 at Regent Sound in Denmark Street, London's Tin Pan Alley. "Jonathan got this guy, Arthur Greenslade, to put string arrangements on it and everything, and I think the whole result was rather nice. We thought we were in for a hit."
When Silent Sun was released by Decca on 22 February 1968, Melody Maker called it "one of the better sounds of the week" and influential deejay Kenny Everett played it on Radio One. Even so, Silent Sun never troubled the pop charts.
Although their hopes were dashed, the band now sees that failure in a positive light. "It was a very good thing that we didn't have a hit," says Tony Banks. "We were too young and very immature writers as well."
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Reasoning that his pudgy and cratered physog might restrict his chances with the fairer sex, the fourteen year old Pete decided he should join a rock band at his public school and settled himself down to learn the craft of drumming.
Before long, housemaster John Marriott gave Gabriel his first positive review, making an entry on Gabriel's 1964 summer report to the effect that "I very much enjoyed his performance on the drums in the House Musical Evening - it was delightfully spontaneous."
After dalliances in school bands called Milord and Spoken Word, Gabriel eventually got together with the future members of Genesis in an outfit calling itself The Garden Wall. The school magazine, The Carthusian, enthusiastically reviewed one of their shows in November 1966. "This group, formed at the beginning of last Cricket Quarter, claims to be the only true exponent of soul music in the school. With a distinctly earthy quality to their work, they gave some spirited performances … Peter Gabriel's vocalising was a major feature."
The Garden Wall was writing its own material by the time former Charterhouse boy Jonathan King returned to the school for Old Boys Day in 1967. King was now a pop star and entrepreneur, having scored a major hit with Everyone's Gone To The Moon, and having written, produced and published It's Good News week for Hedgehopper's Anonymous.
A friend of the band's gave King a tape of The Garden Wall, which he left on the back seat of his car. "I got these tapes and thought 'How boring', you know? There's nothing worse than an amateur band." Eventually though, King summoned up enough enthusiasm to listen to the tape and changed his mind. "This is really good, these are nice little songs. And I thought the guy had a really nice voice. I was interested in doing more work as a producer because I wanted to become a person in the music industry instead of just another singer. So I called them up … they were really amazed to hear from me, completely staggered and over-excited."
Gabriel's mother recalls that King's phone call came while she, Peter and Garden Wall member Tony Banks were gathered by the family swimming pool. "Peter came running out saying 'We've made it!' He was jumping around for joy."
King funded the band to make some professional demos and signed them to a five year contract which the band's parents astutely insisted on reducing to one year.
There was a brief glitch in the process when King rejected the new demos, saying he much preferred their simpler, earlier material. As Tony Banks recalls, "We felt we were losing King, the only contact we had in the business, so we sat down and wrote a song to please him. As he liked The Bee Gees very much, we wrote a Bee Gees-type number, Silent Sun, and he loved it."
"I tried to sing a bit like Robin Gibb on the second verse," remembers Gabriel. "I'm sure we would have denied it at the time."
At this point, King decided to change the group name to Genesis, because, "We were looking for a new sound, and Genesis insinuated that it was the beginning of a new sound, and a new feeling."
It was recorded during December 1967 at Regent Sound in Denmark Street, London's Tin Pan Alley. "Jonathan got this guy, Arthur Greenslade, to put string arrangements on it and everything, and I think the whole result was rather nice. We thought we were in for a hit."
When Silent Sun was released by Decca on 22 February 1968, Melody Maker called it "one of the better sounds of the week" and influential deejay Kenny Everett played it on Radio One. Even so, Silent Sun never troubled the pop charts.
Although their hopes were dashed, the band now sees that failure in a positive light. "It was a very good thing that we didn't have a hit," says Tony Banks. "We were too young and very immature writers as well."