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EXPLAINED: Tony banks - The Real Truth

“If I’d been sacked, or left over musical differences, I’d have felt a right flunker”: Genesis ex Anthony Phillips on why he really quit – and why he’s not their version of The Beatles’ Pete Best

Amiable co-founder of the prog giants reflects on leaving before the band became huge, and explains why he wishes he’d met his replacement Steve Hackett sooner

Louder

“Some of the public found Genesis with Peter Gabriel a bit too strange. But there was a lot of fear about whether we could carry on without him”: How Phil Collins became the singing drummer and led Genesis from despair to superstardom

“In the end, my wife said, ‘Why don’t you do it, Phil?’”

MusicRadar

"I'm not quite sure what the song is about, but there's a lot of anger, a lot of despair and a lot of frustration." The story behind the global Phil Collins hit that Genesis wish they'd recorded

"There’s always a dispute about this"

Louder

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“I thought it would be fun. That was a big mistake. I underestimated just how difficult it would be”: When Phil Collins made a guest appearance playing drums with a Genesis tribute act – and ended up admitting, “It was horrible!”

Plus: the Collins solo record that Charlie Watts bought

MusicRadar

“Pretentious, perhaps. But let’s call it pioneering instead”: Peter Gabriel called it “knock and knowall” – but five decades on, here’s why we still like Genesis’ The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway

Surreal imagery, crediting classic poets and philosophers, trying to scare each other with freak-out jams, inspiration from mime artists… it’s without doubt the most adventurous music any member the band ever made

Louder

“I cheat, really. I’m not a great technical player at all. Because I was always writing for myself, I could avoid the things I couldn’t play”: Tony Banks says that virtuoso technique was never his priority, but avoiding "lazy" chord progressions was

As for the chances of a Genesis reunion: "don't hold your breath"

MusicRadar

Eight Backup QBs Who Helped Teams to Super Bowl Wins

Several backup quarterbacks have replaced injured starters and led their teams to Super Bowl victories. Could Jarrett Stidham be the next?

Sports Illustrated

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“I was living on my own. Things had gone off the rails a bit, drinking too much”: It was in a weird time signature and their old singer struggled to play it, but this huge hit helped turn a 70s prog band into 80s pop stars

Turn It On Again would be a huge turning point for Genesis

Louder

“I thought no one’s gonna buy this because it’s too long. I thought our label would say, ‘Sorry boys, you’ll be hearing from our lawyers’”: How Genesis wrote one of prog’s wildest epics –with help from a rumoured exorcism

Genesis’ mad 1972 epic is up there with Stairway To Heaven and Shine On You Crazy Diamond

Louder

Genesis made long, complex, instrumentally elaborate rock for hirsute proggers: Then they wrote the song that brought women to their shows

Genesis's first single since becoming a three-piece was a savvy change of tack

Louder

A new Tony Banks biography is to be published in February

Tony Banks: Man Of Spells – The Magician Of Genesis has been written by Genesis biographer Mario Giammetti and will be published in February

Louder

"You can't dance or clap along to it. When we play it live, you can always see the audience getting caught out": How Genesis wrote the career-changing song that confused their fans - and Peter Gabriel

Deceptively straightforward but with a rhythmic banana skin, Genesis's transformation from major cult band to stadium-filling hit-makers started here

Louder

“People say Genesis ended when Peter Gabriel left, or when Steve Hackett left. But he was the anchor that everything else revolved around”: An appreciation of Tony Banks, by John Boegehold

Pattern-Seeking Animals keyboardist praises Banks’ ear, taste and understatement, which he argues is essential to everything Genesis achieved

Louder

“They’re portrayed as unhip, exploitative capitalist men of the rock world. But it’s entirely down to them that the movement can move. And they didn’t get anything out of it”: When Peter Gabriel received death threats, Genesis reunited to help him

Their former leader found himself in serious trouble after his WOMAD festival lost money. So the classic line-up returned to stage their Six Of The Best show in 1982, leaving an indelible mark on prog history

Louder

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Louder

“Marvel again at the ridiculous ambition of the young musicians who came up with this. It gave Peter Gabriel little option but to leave the band”: Genesis’ 50th anniversary edition of The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway is even better than the Rael thing

With its many component parts and forward-thinking modernism, their most celebrated yet debated album finally receives the release it deserves

MusicRadar

“It was the rats you could hear running up and down the air ducts. Either that or it was haunted. Jimmy Page says it was haunted”: Peter Gabriel and Genesis dissect their bonkers but brilliant prog swan song

Album was “a journey into the soul” says singer

Louder

Four-fifths of the Genesis Lamb line-up reunite at Atmos playback in London

Check out our exclusive photos as Tony Banks, Peter Gabriel, Steve Hackett and Mike Rutherford attend a Doly Atmos playback of the new reissue of The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway

MusicRadar

"Tony Banks got wind of it. From then on, we knew that Pete could leave at any time, but we had a 150-show tour to do": Phil Collins discusses his legendary career in far-reaching documentary

Phil Collins: Drummer First revealed the secrets of his sound, his career highs and lows, and the story of that drum fill…

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Louder

"A five-piece Genesis was never going to last, there were too many writing ideas": When Genesis reunited to make a film, it was the same old story

Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford look back on the controversial Genesis documentary Sum Of The Parts

Sports Illustrated

The 2000 NFL Season Was a Strange Year Wedged Between Two Eras

Two middling offenses reached the Super Bowl, teams were still learning to handle free agency and a comedian called Monday Night Football.

MusicRadar

“We were still wearing our ‘More Me’ T-shirts, but we have both matured enough to (very) occasionally ask for ‘Less Me’”: 50 years after leaving Genesis, Peter Gabriel has reunited with Tony Banks for a Dolby Atmos remix of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway

“It brought back many good memories of being in a band,” says Gabriel

Louder

“Great to have a chance to work with my old friend on something from our youth." Genesis confirm September release date for The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway 50th Anniversary box

Genesis's 50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition of The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway will now be released on September 26

Louder

“My hand ran off the keyboard… I ground to a halt, threw my hands in the hair, and everyone looked at me. My father thought I was taking a bow and was very proud!” Genesis’ best and worst moments on stage

Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford on the band’s messy first show, hitting the road without Peter Gabriel, and what makes touring fun

Louder

“You only have to hear the opening sweep to reach for your lighter and wave it in the air”: Tony Banks' greatest Genesis moments

Just some of the co-founding keyboardist’s iconic contributions to an award-winning catalogue of groundbreaking muisic

Louder

“On a frenetic album about consumerism and masturbation, you need your moments of contrast to count": The 10 best Genesis songs, as chosen by Prog readers

Over 28 years the genre giants released 15 albums, achieving over 100 million sales. It’s unfair to boil their work down to just a handful of key songs – but you did it anyway

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