Thursday
Apr282011
by 
Bishop Hill
Bishop Hill Here Comes the Flood
Apr 28, 2011 Climate: WG2 Music The first gig I ever went to was at Guildford Civic Hall in roughly 1981 - it was a charity show by the ex-Genesis guitarist, Steve Hackett. At the end, Peter Gabriel appeared and did two or three numbers including a rock version of Reach Out I'll Be There and a very memorable rendition of Here Comes The Flood. It was quite a show for one's first introduction to a live rock band.
Simon W in the comments points to this YouTube video of a version of the latter song - one I've not heard before, featuring Gabriel and Robert Fripp of King Crimson. Listen to the introduction...
Anyone know who is speaking?
Reader Comments (21)
J.G. Bennett
But the info could be wrong.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_G._Bennett
The voice immediately made me think of Jacob Bronowski - no idea where it's from tho.
It is also attributed to John G. Bennett on this lyrics page He appears on a number of other Fripp related tracks.
Saw a number of bands there, and especially remember Hawkwind about 1973.- complete with Statuesque Stacia the Stripper. They were LOUD! I think my ears stopped ringing about 4 days later. Also remember the madcap dash down the High Street afterwards to get the last Reading line train home.
Genesis (in Peter Gabriel days) used to play regularly at nearby Farnborough Tech on a Saturday night. And a b...y good band they were then...inventive, exciting and fun. Fantastic to watch live and close-up. Then all of a sudden they became a famous stadium bnad, Peter G left and the magic just dropped a bit. Still an excellent and much admired Young Person's Beat Combo..but without quite the same intensity.
Others may recollect GCH hosting Stackridge occasionally. Sadly they no longer command such dizzy heights of a venue as the top of Guildford High Street, but they will be playing Farncombe at the end of May. Maybe see some of you there...with or without rhubarb.
Peter Bocking lives.
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Love how he states there will be a massive ice age AND the oceans will rise and flood out London.
Where will all that water come from if so much is locked up as ice over northern hemisphere?
Somebody flunked Geomorphology 110.
So where did Bennett get the idea that "the north part of the world all frozen like it used to be" would result in "the oceans will rise" ?
Classic Frippertronics
I wish to counter the disinformation being paraded on this website. It's all too common that people cherry pick their statistics and facts to suit their opinions so it's up to all of us to stand up and give a balanced view of the situation in the face of propaganda and distortion.
Genesis got better when Peter Gabriel left, or they did until Abacab.
First band I ever saw live - Led Zeppelin - and they didn't give a toss about any forthcoming ice age.
This is the version from Fripp's solo album, Exposure. According to my old vinyl copy, the speaking voice is indeed J.G. Bennett; Fripp was keen on Gurdjeff's thinking at the time, and Bennett was something of a disciple.
As PeterJ says, from the album Exposure, of which I too have an old vinyl copy :)
Gabriel continued to improve after losing the rest of Genesis, whereas after Trick Of the Tail, it was downhill all the way for the remainder of the band ;)
David Whitehouse is perhaps comparing Genesis's studio work and suggesting that Gabriel's departure coincided with an improvement. Perhaps in the techncial aspects ...better equipment more time etc. But his absence from the live performances definitely reduced the theatricality and 'wow' factor.
Here's just a taste from that great period.....the intro still sends a tingle up my spine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBwVo27KJ1I&feature=related
Well I saw Genesis at the Melody Maker annual awards concert at the Oval in autumn 1972. Way too much theatre for me. Mind you they were genius compared to ELP - simply dire. Wishbone Ash stole the day followed by Focus.
Is there a strong correlation between being a Genesis-whatever-era fan and being able to keep one's senses about climate change?
Latimer is right. Personally I prefer the 76 -82 period, though I can see how good peter gabriel was, and is.
Question is. Is it a coincidence that Peter Gabriel's departure coincided with the start of the recent warm period?
Thinking about it, and after extensive study, I conclude the temperature went up after Kate Bush arrived on the scene.
That's right, blame everything on Bush!
Not sure, I think Bennett was an earlier track - although it all sounds a bit weird, apparently a 40 minute lecture was compressed into 7 seconds, which put the frequencies above human hearing. It appeared to be seven seconds of silence to the casual listener, who didn't appreciate the "art". The intro to Here Comes the Flood was somebody else.
No, it's definitely Bennett. Fripp samples him more on the rather fabulous "League of Gentlemen" LP (featuring the keyboard player from XTC and Sara Lee (bass) from the Gang of Four). I would have loved to have seen that band.
I didn't really rate Genesis before or after Gabriel, but "Salisbury Hill" is terrific.
@James Lane
Ah yes, I'd forgotten that Bennett was on that League of Gentlemen album as well. Well worth seeking out.
@LatimerAlder
I saw Genesis on the same tour as that link you posted, and a few other times around the same time. Electrifying stuff.
And I now recall that I saw Peter Gabriel's solo tour for the first album he did, with Here Comes the Flood on the setlist. Fripp refused to appear on stage on the tour, and played from a stool hidden in the wings.