Mike Rutherford’s two favourite Genesis songs
While their career has now come to a close following a final farewell, Genesis undoubtedly left an imperious legacy on the musical landscape. The progressive rock geniuses tackled the process uniquely, shunning the traditional radio-friendly single-format route. Instead, they focused on creating extensive bodies of work that demanded the listener’s attention.
Although Genesis sold out arenas as an active outfit for most of their time together, they were still somewhat of a cult band despite their extraordinary success. Their army of fans is the definition of devoted, and they respect them for bucking contemporary trends.
At every juncture, Genesis operated in a unique manner, even if it seemed commercial suicide, and their uncompromising nature is why they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010.
For guitarist Mike Rutherford, two creations from their back catalogue stand out as personal favourites for different reasons. These efforts represented landmark moments in Genesis’ career and allowed him to realise they were onto something special.
During an interview with Louder Sound, Rutherford said of the first track: “Oh, that’s a difficult question to answer. It would have to be two: ‘Supper’s Ready’ [from 1973’s Foxtrot] is one of my favourite pieces of music that we ever wrote, so I’d pick that one.”
While Foxtrot was Genesis’ fourth album, and most bands have already refined their sound much earlier, it wasn’t until this point that Rutherford felt they’d reach their desired destination. The 23-minute epic was a realisation for the guitarist and gave him the confidence to continue.
In another interview with Steve Houk, Rutherford noted of the composition: “It was one of the first times that we really worked together like that. Those sort of longer pieces.”
Additionally, ‘Supper’s Ready’ is a personal favourite of Phil Collins. During an interview with Modern Drummer in 1997, he quipped: “This is one of my all-time favourite Genesis pieces. I used to love playing this one on the road because I could go way out with it. I have some tapes of us performing it in concert from around this time that make this version sound simplistic. A great piece of music and great fun to play.”
The next track selected by Rutherford is from the band’s 1980 album Duke. He added: “I’d also nominate ‘Turn It On Again’, because by then we’d learned how to write snappy and catchy songs. So I think that those two songs together really represent the full range of Genesis.”
By this point, they’d had seven years to advance their sound from ‘Supper’s Ready’ and were firing on all cylinders. From a commercial standpoint, Duke was also a breakthrough as they finally achieved a number one album in the United Kingdom at their eleventh attempt. However, the thought of plaques and awards never fuelled Genesis to greatness.
Listen to the two tracks below.
