Pushing 30 years later, I'm still not in a mood to see "Sledgehammer" or "Big Time". MTV just about killed my liking for Gabriel, no matter how inventive his videos were at the time. What - they showed each one at least twice an hour for 7-8 months.....only at the times they weren't playing John Waite's "Missing You". UGH.
But Gabriel, for me, years before started to define music video with his "Shock the Monkey" clip. That was going to be my choice - but the version done in German.
I remember going to 'ten cent wing night' at BW3, well, because wings were a dime and they had cable tv and music videos. For you youngsters, cable didn't always exist and us college kids couldn't afford it, so we saw it where we could. But that is where I saw "Shock the Monkey".
But my other choice was going to be "Solsbury Hill" - which is a song I still adore to this day.
Gabriel actually solidified his cred with me with two collaborations: "Excellent Birds" with Laurie Anderson (the version on her Mister Heartbreak is better than the one on his album, So), and "Don't Give Up" with Kate Bush.
As you may remember, Anderson and Bush were the first two artists I purchased on compact disk. They hold a special place in my heart. ....you know, if I had one.
Yet, yesterday while in yoga, the instructor (great class btw), put on "Mercy Street", which I possibly had not heard for 20 years. I just don't play So that much anymore - clearly.
There are stronger similarities to "Don't Give Up" in some of the music than I think I realized. Maybe I shouldn't be surprised, since they were recorded for the same album and possibly written around the same time.
It was an enjoyable six minutes or so as we attempted a variation of pigeon (I still don't believe it is, but I'm not a certified instructor). Both David and I commented on what a great song it was after the class was over (and a good selection for class) - so I changed my mind on which Peter Gabriel song I would select.
Now you have it - "Mercy Street".
1 comment:
I never noticed how much of a Genesis feel some of his music has/had, especially this song. Granted, with Gabriel as one of the original founding members, I guess that's to be expected when he went solo.
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