Genesis- Selling England by the Pound 50th- Mike Rutherford, Phil Collins

It has taken a half century of consideration and re-evaluation, but the fifth Genesis album, Selling England by the Pound, has never been held in higher esteem since its September 1973 release, raising eyebrows by being ranked as the #3 progressive rock album of all time on Ultimate Classic Rock.

The preceding 1972 Genesis album, Foxtrot, #7 on that same coveted “best of” list, has long been recognized as a progressive rock high water mark, with the grand “Watcher of the Skies” and epic side-long “Supper’s Ready” giving the band a toehold in the U.S. awareness as well as supplying avant garde frontman Peter Gabriel with fertile stage material to lay a foundation on which his legend as an incomparable performance artist would quickly build. And Gabriel’s swansong with Genesis, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway (#14 all time), may come more quickly to mind due to the ambitious American tour that was mounted to support it. Yet Selling England by the Pound was a much more cohesive work and, with time, seen as the early collective of Gabriel, lead guitarist Steve Hackett, keyboard player Tony Banks, bass player/12-string guitarist Mike Rutherford, and drummer Phil Collin’s progressive pinnacle with “Dancing with the Moonlit Knight”,”Battle of Epping Forest”,”Firth of Fifth”, and “I Know What I Like (in Your Wardrobe)”. Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins are my guests here In the Studio with this classic rock interview marking the golden anniversary of Selling England by the Pound from Genesis. –Redbeard