Watcher of The Skies - Genesis | The Midnight Special
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- Опубліковано 4 чер 2023
- Genesis performed on The Midnight Special January 25, 1974
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This Friday we will be releasing Episode 7 hosted by Paul Anka as a Live Premiere at 8pm EST 5pm PST. We look forward to meeting everyone in the live chat and enjoying the episode together. Hope you can make it!
So these are performances that were never included on the released DVD`s? I have all of them not including more78, more79, more80.
I love the way you guys are releasing the old show in episodic format in exactly the way it was broadcast back in the day.
For a young man like me, it's the closest I could possibly get to actually seeing the show live in 1973. Means a lot to me. Big love.
Please please release the... JIMMIE SPHEERIS Performance!!! so many of his fans are desperate to view this from the Midnight Special!!! 🤩
@@TheKingInHiding Go Jim Dandy!
Thank you!
after years of watching the blurred copy... just a HUGE thanks from all Genesis fans
Now they need to find the negatives of In Concert from 1976 and do a 4K scan
@@LemopalmThe original filmmaker has those and has been extremely stubborn about releasing them.
@@Fygee I wonder why? They're not making him any money sitting on a shelf
i think id rather watch the blurred copy. Is this for real, its like some 6th graders made a halloween special at school
@@verginithe It's 1973. This was something back in the day.
Peter Gabriel, Phill Colins, Mike Rutherford, Steve Hacket and Tony Banks, the best Genesis lineup ever!
The one with Anthony Phillips isn't bad either
Unfortunately they all got tired of Peter Gabriel theater costumes .
The best lineup, no doubt!
Agreed! ❤
. @jollcheist1443 It was unfortunate. I love PGs costume performances and I don't think they detract from his singing, quite the opposite; Genesis lost a vital something when they lost Peter.
❤ This will sound corny, but I'm sitting here sobbimg uncontrollably. This performance changed my life. Literally, as literally as could possibly be. Let me tell you a story. It's very long and will probably only be of interest to Peter, Gabriel, Kate Bush & Happy Rhodes fans, but please bear with me. I was a 17-year-old, just married woman, with a baby on the way. One night my then- husband and his brother, his brother's wife and I were sitting around watching television and I looked in the TV Guide and I saw that a group named Genesis was going to be on Midnight Special. I'd never heard of them. I could swear the TV guide said Todd Rundgren was going to be on too but I could be wrong. In any case something compelled me to watch. The second this song started. I was completely mesmerized. I'd never seen anything like it. At the time I was into more rock, like James Gang and also Black Oak Arkansas. By the second song I knew that this band was my favorite band in the universe. I knew that they were the ones. The people with me all loved them too, but no one was affected the same way I was. I was so obsessed by them that I was afraid to tell the people I was with just how much they were affecting me. I didn't want anyone else to think I was crazy.
We found out that they were coming to concert in Kansas City, Missouri, about 40 miles away from where we lived. We all agreed that we were definitely going to go. If they hadn't been interested. I would have hitchhiked the 80 mile round trip. We did a road trip to a record store where we knew that tickets were being sold and bought the tickets. I knew that I wanted the album. I say the album because I assumed they only had one. I went to the Genesis section and found that there were several! I was in a quandary. I had no idea which one to get because I had no idea what the names of the songs were. I closed my eyes, reached in, grabbed an album and pulled it out. It was Foxtrot, which I later found out had Watcher of the Skies on it. Boy, did I luck out, since not only did it have Watcher Of the Skies it had Supper's Ready, and all the other wonderful songs that are on it.
A digression, between the time I saw the Midnight Special and bought the album I'd had my baby. I named my son Adrian Gabriel. I had no idea until I saw the album credits that the lead singer who had mesmerized me so much was named Peter Gabriel.
The concert was phenomenal, and I played that record To Death. I listened to it over and over and over and over again, all the time. So many times. I had to stop playing it when my husband was home because although he liked them he didn't want to hear the same thing over and over again. I did. I learned that album by heart. Other trips to the record store for other things allowed me to snag the other albums that they had too and I did the same thing with them, played them over and over and over again.
When they came in concert for The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway tour I hadn't yet had a chance to learn the album so I didn't realize it was a concept album. But still the concert was amazing and of course I learned the album by heart after seeing the concert.
My marriage didn't last, but my love for Genesis did. When Peter left I was heartbroken, but I stuck with both Peter and Genesis. I especially loved Peter's music. Around the time of Peter's third album I became a huge, huge huge Kate Bush fan, when a fellow Gabriel fan sent me a mix tape and I fell in love immediately. Because I was a Kate Bush fan, I met my current husband. We met in 1982 when he put an ad in a local music paper called the Penny Pitch saying "Kate Bush fan with records, videos would like to meet other Kate Bush fans..." and I flipped. I had been a fan for 2 years and had not seen a Kate Bush video, which is probably hard to believe for British and European fans since she was so well known for her many videos. So I met this wonderful guy in December 1982 and he showed me the white dress version of Wuthering Heights, and the official version of The Man With the Child in his Eyes. We fell in love almost immediately and have been together ever since. Because of him I've been to England three times, including being able to see Kate Bush live in 2014. I've been on so many adventures and seen so many wonderful things and met so many great people. I was a trailer park girl from Kansas, so I probably wouldn't have been able to see any of the things I've seen if not for him.
Another thing Kate (and Peter) has done for me is introduce me to Happy Rhodes. A fellow Kate and Peter fan sent a mixtape of this artist I had never heard of. Happy is a very obscure singer-songwriter but I've been a fan for over 30 years. She has 11 albums, a phenomenal four-octave voice and a worldwide following. She has been retired for 15 years. My streak of having a pretty great life kind of ended last October, when I was diagnosed with Stage 4 small cell lung cancer. I figured I didn't have anything to lose so I wrote Happy and I said, you've never played Kansas City, would you please come here and perform a concert for me? She said yes! The concert was in April and it was amazing. People came from all over the United States and Canada to hear Happy perform her own music again and it was awesome, especially since I helped choose the playlist. Also nice was that everybody wore a mask out of respect for me.
That's not all. Happy started a GoFundMe so that I could take a bucket list trip. A little girl from the plains of Kansas who was obsessed by mountains got to take a dream come true trip to Alaska! I might even get to go to Hawaii too. Those are the last two states I haven't been in, because my parents were big travelers and I used to be a truck driver.
Every single bit of this is because I watched TV one night. My husband and I were just watching the versions uploaded to UA-cam, and I started sobbing. I just could not stop crying. I told my worried husband, I never would have met you if I hadn't watched this. I tried to lighten the mood by saying you might have been better off, but I wouldn't. My entire life is thanks to this video. Okay, not the cancer, but maybe that's because I watched something else. Just kidding. I don't know.
For those who've made it all the way through this story, thank you. Please forgive any typos I might have missed.
Blessings
I’ve been obsessing all morning on early Genesis, and I’m so glad I took the time to read your comment. I appreciate your story so much. Music is creation, and creation is life. It lives forever. Wishing you comfort for as long as humanly possible until you, until all of us, find ourselves keeping company with the Watcher. Peace.
Wow, what an amazing story! Thank you so much for sharing that. Sending love through the twinkling lights of the internet to you, and a big hug.
Weird: I almost named my son either Adrian (after Belew) or Gabriel (after Peter)...
Hi Vickie, here from the Hoffman forums. Wishing you all the best!
Watching this on Jan 25, 2024 ... exactly 50 years later. I remember those days. I miss them.
Life was so much simpler and better then.
Ditto...
Can we just give Phil the credit he deserves for being one of the very best drummers in rock history..
Yeah, but now he's just In Too Deep.
We do.
Amen,,,,,creativity personified
more than that. a prophet as well with Duke. I have so much to share with you damned, enslaved mankind if your freely created bodies and minds.
This is actually 1 of the few songs that Collins did a great job with when he took over.
Who travelled back in time for these masters? Anyway, whoever it was, THANK YOU!
i love how these young kids in their 20s can create such great work
I’m ever grateful these guys found each other.
I’ve always ignored Genesis, I’m 60 and I’ve always loved British psychedelic music but never found a connection with what they were doing. Yesterday I bought “Selling England by the Pound” on vinyl and listened to it last night and I loved it! I’ve never been into jazz until my son introduced me to it and now I get what’s going on here. I also appreciate the stage craft they used. Now I have a lot of exploring to do.
I always ignored genesis, I'm 59 & back in that period it was hawkwind king crimson & elp for me, but listening to this track " watcher of the skies " has severely enlightened me.
Really? This is a bunch of self indulgent slop. I'm watching at this point in disbelief. 😁
@@stutzbearcat5624 each to there own, i guess, I dont like gay country & western music nor do i like the " village people", but i dont go & slag them off. Perhaps if you stick with something thats more suitable & less taxing on your intellect such as Taylor swift or 1 direction.
Never too late to discover Genesis. I'm 57 and I bought selling England by the pound 40 years ago. It's my favourite. I was lucky to see Steve Hackett last summer playing foxtrot in the 50 aniversary tour. Genesis of the 70's forever...
keep exploring bud am 60 soon been into genesis bout 2 years
One of the best prog rock bands of all time...🎼🎵🎶🎶🎵🎶🎶🎶🎵🎵
Peter Gabriel is such an extraordinarily gifted artist. He is a talent that has been under appreciated. This man deserves a museum show to display his costumes, lyrics, and wildly creative videos. A concept artist of multiple facets should be honored for doing the work to maintain the Creator energy within them. Having the inner balance to meet the Divine energy in the middle requires courage and strength to stand out in a crowd and be not afraid of their judgement. This is a true artist. I am honored to be in a world where this Gabriel has incarnated to teach us about acceptance.
Genesis before Peter Gabriel left and Genesis after he left are absolutely not the same band. Gabriel's whimsical and ebullient creativity was their X factor and he took it with him when he departed. Leaving was Gabriel's choice and I know the split was mostly amicable, but for the remaining members to continue on as "Genesis" after Gabriel was gone was ultimately disingenuous. All of the members of Genesis were/are fantastic musicians, but Gabriel is all at once a minstrel, a sage, and a wellspring of provocative artistic ideas. He was their identity.
Umm, 'watcher' lyrics are Rutherford/Banks. Just sayin'.
Never a song like this one or band like original Genesis; that ending soaring vocal by Peter is thrilling.
I remember watching this live. Never thought we would ever see this again from the broadcast masters. Thank You!
I envy you for that
Peter Gabriel mask before Kiss
It's staggering to me how great this looks. The copies online always looked a little like they were taken from a VHS, but this right here, it's like I'm hovering over it and right in this with them.
my very thought
Because they were from VHS copies but it wasn’t until of course a few years ago that a better copy emerged which made me believe the masters from this show were lost but thank goodness it wasn’t
This version does not have the two video glitches that traders have had to deal with for years. This video is so clean and crisp!
What were the alledged glitches?
@@lmp9726 Around 1981 I traded for a VHS tape of the 1973 Genesis performance from The Midnight Special and got a third or fourth generation copy of this broadcast. I was thrilled to have it in the days before quick and easy access to videos, when the occasional photo in a music mag was about as close as you could get to seeing a Genesis show back then. The beginning of Watcher of the Skies started with wobbly tape that distorted the video and audio for about three seconds. There is another glitch when Peter sings "Come ancient children, hear what I say" that interrupts that line. The final, longest glitch occurs when Peter sings his silent scream at the end of the tune, and the audio and video come back in time for what I believe is canned studio audience cheering. That was followed by a pretty flawless, though blurry version of The Musical Box. Every trader I know had this same version, and my generation was one of the better versions available. It is glorious to see this moment of music history in such fine quality. On the day of the original performance, my Dad heard me tell my girlfriend that I was going to come home early from my restaurant job to see Genesis on The Midnight Special, but he was having none of it and I missed the show. Pf course, that was back when parents had authority over their children.
@@mikemicrael5749 What a glorious tale, and thank you so much for taking the time to share it with everyone!
@@mikemicrael5749 My dad pulled the same shit on me when I learned George Harrison was going to be on the Smothers Brothers in '68; "No, you're too young to stay up that late; go to bed..." I never forgave him for that (though it was really an anticlimactic appearance... perhaps I should have... nah; he's a dick)
Tony is so underrated. He's very imaginative. The Genesis' keys intros are awesome.
Just incredible. Gabriel was so ground breaking and theatrical. He's a real original. Love this song.
Just colossal greatness!.....Peter G. in all his weirdness...Love it!
When I listen to and watch music from the 70's and 90's, it is amazing that this type of music could be popular (in a good way). I can't help but think that it was a blessed time in music history.
I've seen both Genesis clips in perfect quality now. I can die happy. Thank you, Midnight Special.
Enjoy!
The image is unbelievably good for a footage over 50 years old. Brilliant!
Welcome to AI editing!
You can count on one finger the number of times Peter blinked during closeups, and that was barely a blink as he turned away from the camera. Peter sold his characters and costumes at a time when even Bowie was being mocked for his stage personnae.
Even Bowie didn't commit to the character like Peter did, with the costumes and hair etc.
Bowie was pretty outrageous. And he messed with people's heads with his sexuality before it was the "woke" thing to do.
Bowie was theater and Peter was too but was a real method singer lol
It's a shame that he bowed to the pressure and 86'd his look. It takes brass balls to shave a giant part in the top of your head and wear a bat winged collar and cape. Gotta love the late great Gabriel Genesis! Thank goodness we still have Steve Hackett touring these days with an incredible group of musicians, doing all the old Genesis stuff. Peter Gabriel is also sounding magnificent these days.
It is almost creepy
I loved The Midnight Special shows. I'd be at a party and find a room with a TV. Kids would be downstairs playing air guitar to Smoke On The Water. I was so cool, in my opinion.
Classic lineup! That drummer might become something one day. Always loved their progressive/ psychedelic era.
Yes, there is something about that drummer. I can feel it in the air. Tonight, in fact.
@@jonathanbeatrice8317 Hey man, it's a job he does lol
Classic Genesis clear as crystal....awesome band
KEEP THE OLD GENESIS COMING! WE WANT IT ALL!!
Wow! Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins! Excellent classic Genesis!
their voices sound alike. phil should thank his lucky stars for that. when peter left the group phil took over.
@@karlhelm875 That's why I like Phil's vocals on Trick of the Tail, because they were part of the band. Before Phil became PHIL.
6:22 When Gabriel used the tambourine to represent the singular watching eye of totalitarianism he couldn't have been more right or more current in his artistic expression.
I've spent my whole life wishing I'd seen this. Now I have, it feels like Christmas!
Phils great vocal doubles. Uncanny.
Amazing
Omg what a voice 😮 ONE & only Peter Gabriel
this was performed on the day i was born! january 25th 1974. too cool
Incredible that a piece so complex performed live flawlessly. Thanks 😊
Absolutely mesmerizing! The Midnight Special is quickly becoming my favorite UA-cam Channel! Genesis from this period are without a doubt one of the most unique and amazing bands to ever exist!
This was a real show. No music like this today 4 sure!😔
Good grief, the only thing redeemer here is Phil Collins.
Dick Cavett also had a bunch of amazing performances. Same time period. Wish shows like that still existed
The tone, power and look of the classic Rickenbacker bass guitar 😍
You can hear how well Peter & Phil’s voices blend. So it only made sense Phil took over vocals when Peter left.
Just awesome performance .No auto tune !
get off the autotune stuff. You could have es easily given a "just awesome performance" as that is so true!! but you have your political slant... All the other effects that change the voice is okay?? Tape speed, chorus, echo, reverb, distortions, ... it is all just a tool. The beatles ABUSED the tools to change the voices... OFTEN. They drove innovation because they wanted to CHANGE the vocal to something not natural... they get away with it>>>? Don;t blame the tool, blame the carpenter.
@@morbidmanmusic But all those effects are to creat the sound .Does not mean the guitar player or the sound engineer is incompetent .I understand vocals is a difficult thing and everyone has their good and bad days .I had the pleasure to watch some 70S era bands less than 20 feet from the stage .I got to watch one of the most underrated guitar players 6 feet away from him and he could still belt it out !aThe Randy Bachman at the hard Rock Cafe in Toronto ..His voice is his voice .Him no auto tune .But I digress I can't rag on some performers but how many performers we caught lio syncing .or use recordings ..Compression ,echo reverb digital delay whatever .There is some genius involved in the coloration and spacial effects .Doesn't make the performer any less talented .what is the greater evil lip sync or auto tune ?????
@@morbidmanmusic You're right in that there is creativity in post editing, but there's also a vague rule for performing bands to not record things they can't recreate live. You can also abuse post editing to make yourself sound more skilled than one may actually be.
There are many audiences and demographics to market all different styles and types of music to, including audiences who wants to be wowed by complex arrangements and great technical ability. It isn't uncommon for bands who perform at this level to almost seem like they hold back in the studio and instead put on extraordinary performances.
There is a respect to be had for bands who perform complex material at peak levels without computers, and post editing is also an art form unto itself, when used ass such. Both are correct in my opinion.
So wonderfully weird and beautiful, sophisticated and engaging. I freaking loved then and still do. Peter is a real showman.
Now 50 years old (though the song is even older). Must have been mind-blowing to see this at the time.
It was... Auditorium Theater in Chicago w/ my sister in our platforms and shiny clothes. Good times.
I just love the unmistakable sound of the rickenbacker ❤
Phil's drumming is phenomonal.
The classic Genesis lineup.
The best.
intergalactic drumming!
There is a kind of magical Crystaline purity out of that drum kit..
None can compare, utterly unique, true genius.
INCREDIBLE. there's a HUGE shortage of high quality Pete era Genesis on youtube. You just made my month. thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This was the track they opened with at Sheffield City Hall, England when I first saw them live in 1973. The costume was exactly how I remember it and the opening chords still send a shiver down my back, after all this time.
Amazing Genesis at the times of Peter. Thanks ❤
Absolutely INCREDIBLE. It looks so much better than I ever imagined.
Try "Topaz Video Enhancer". You can take this video and make it even better than this. The technology is only going to get better.
Outstanding performance. Genesis one of the few bands who could up the quality from a very high bar even more live .
Absolutely. Probably the tightest band ever!!!
STILL ahead of its time! Genesis was amazing!
Can we pause a moment to appreciate Phil's drumming here? Spectacularly sophisticated.
Honestly, how great is this. Just fantastic and really next level doing these songs live. They should've been on TV every week back then.
I saw this when I was 14 years old laying in a bean bag in a dark room by myself with my face about 4 feet from the tv.
with in-ear headphones bass drum sounds godly
Watcher of the skies in glorious quality, thanks Midnight Special ! We all had been waiting for years to see this in high quality. It was worth the wait.
Stunning.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The vocals and drums are out of this world astonishing. I come from a long line of musicians, singers, drummers, performers. Those unbelievable key changes, coupled with the time signature shifts are crazy difficult to play and sing. Masters of their art, no band comes close to this level of musicianship.
Jethro Tull played right along.
I remember watching this just a few months before seeing Genesis live. Can't believe it is almost 50 years. I am old
Anch'io 😂😊
Well, being old beats the alternative...
@@paulm749 the alternative being a Yes fan
@@madpeddler8263 Well, in addition to being an old Genesis fan I'm also an old Yes fan and I just checked my pulse... Yep, still alive and kicking!
This footage is amazing.
Thanks Midnight Special. This is another brilliant performance brought back to life and in perfect condition.
Our pleasure!
This is absolutely amazing 😍 The best Genesis years finally on HD and with better sound.
outstanding. no other words needed. a very happy genesis fan.
Extraordinary! Rock theater at its apex! And perhaps eerily prophetic: “This is the end of man’s long union with Earth.”
70' are brilliant years for music
That period was incredible.
Damn! This song still stirs me 50 years on. These guys were brilliant beyond words, and they could pull off their music even live. What an incredible gift!
I remember when this aired in the US, everyone I know of, sat there with their mouths open, mesmerized at this performance, sat in shock when the commercial break came up, we asked each other ... "What the fuck did we just witness?"
It was actually scary, imho.
Never heard this until now. I am Obsessed!!!!!
Still remember seeing this. Bought their first Live album when I first saw it. Still think its the greatest song Genesis ever played.
The amazing thing about early Genesis is how young they were. This video is from 1974 when all of them were between the ages of 23-24 years old. The fact that they wrote such deeply complex songs and displayed prodigious musical ability at this age is simply stunning. I can't imagine today's bands made up of 24-year-olds coming even close to this type of rare talent.
Agree, but other musical genius at that age could be found during this era. Members of Yes during Roundabout were 22-24 too, and also several other super groups. Today? Well, there's not much new musical genius around...
@@MrGozieBoy Thanks for the info!
There is a modern band called black midi who are pretty damn close to the quality of the 70s prog/avant rock and they are all in their early 20s
Yeah it's 1974. They recorded Musical Box in 1971 and this song in 1972, released early 73.
Rush has entered the chat…
This is splendid.. Peter at his best. The costumes, and his voice are totally unique. Superb live performance. 💯❤
Simply, nothing like it.
Brilliant.
Simply stunning. My love for this band, in this era is harder than egyptian algebra.
There was a local band in my neighborhood that covered this song, back when it first came out in the mid 70s. Most bands played straight rock, but these guys covered bands like this. In any case, at one of their concerts we sat their mesmerized and in shock. It was the most incredible think any of us had ever seen...and this was a cover. I think for most of us it was the reason we became musicians.
There was nothing better than this era of Genesis. Fantastic ❤
Just so amazing!
I sure miss this show. Each week would bring a different genre and fabulous live performances!
I mean...epic. Gabriel and the band brought so much show with minimal lighting or effects. Musically and visually captivating. Brilliant.
They are on another level, just amazing. I’m so lucky my ears get to hear them.
Brilliant Genesis. Love Gabriel's voice. Uk 🇬🇧
W O W. It's like being there. Quality is great. And, then, well, the talent and performance is nothing short of stunning. Just stunning. Art & musicianship at a super high level. Creating, daring, moving the line. Bravo - and thanks!
Legendary performance
I remember like it was yesterday watching this "live" and my mind being blown.
Que maravilla poder rememorar la era más gloriosa del rock con estos monumentales temas del inolvidable e insigne grupo Genesis. Gracias, gracias!! 🙏 😘🙏👌
Peter Gabriel ... the man is brilliant.
Genesis featuring a young Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins amongst others. It shows how far they've come since then.😊
OH MY GOD....PETER!!!! THE DEFINITION!!! THANK YOU SO SO MUCH!!!
So much talent on that stage! I didn't know who Peter Gabriel was until the "Shock the Monkey" video came out when I was a little kid--I'd recognize that voice anywhere of course. It's crazy to see him and Phil Collins standing side-by-side. This music, image, everything is very brave and pioneering, and must have been mind-blowing in '74! It's amazing they were able to get on a huge show like this that must have been competing for viewership with much more mainstream shows like American Bandstand. This must have looked and sounded like they just beamed down from Mars!
1974! I am going to see Peter Gabriel for the second time this coming October! Amazing artist. Genesis was awesome. Thank you for posting this video.
This phase of Genesis was my favourite. I was 13 when my sister bought the 'Genesis Live' album and played it to me. I didn't need much persuading and have been in love with it for the past 50 years. And, you know what? I don't see a time when I'll be too old that it becomes boring!!!
Great dynamics. Whole band so tight
Incredible to see this. I had no idea Genesis appeared on Midnight Special twice. One of the favorite Genesis songs perform life. Live Mellotron!
What a treasure! So glad y'all are sifting through the vaults!
Mesmerizing oldie , and a goodie !
Cara, simply WONDERFUL 🛸
What a band!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Absolutely brilliant.
This performance is a little tiny bit slower than the one on the record which I know by heart.
The funky groove that Collins lays down, swinging juuuuust a little in there, but enough to be noticed... how he manages to pull that off in such a kooky time signature, that's just absolute brilliance there. I'm completely blown-away, and I've been listening to this song for thirty years.
This video will hit 1M in no time. This is rare Earth.