Peter Gabriel probably deserves (Note to self: Ya think?) the exquisite ribbing he gets in The Life of Rock with Brian Pern, but considering that the great man himself actually participated in the hilarious BBC Four spoof rockmentary series that “affectionately” ridicules his entire life and career, he proves beyond all shadow of a doubt that he must have a wonderful sense of humor.
 

 
Examples of Gabriel’s willingness to allow others a little fun at his expense come early on. I mean look at that fucking haircut! You’d have to have a good sense of humor—nay a great one—to walk into the hairdressers and ask that they make you look like Friar Tuck after he’s had a frontal lobotomy. And in the early 70s to boot. Certainly—along with David Bowie’s Ziggy-era shag and Johnny Rotten’s trendsetting bedhead—Gabriel’s particularly peculiar hairstyle is among a handful of the most iconic hairdos of the decade. Not in a good way like the other two. His hairdo was more of a hairdon’t and as far as I can tell, this cautionary coif was not one that was really copied by too many people. You’d have to be really weird to do your hair like this, eh? It was a brave, if odd, fashion statement to be sure. (If you were a teenage Genesis freak and had this hairstyle, for the love of God, PLEASE post a pic in the comments.)
 

Is there any doubt about who is being “fictionally” portrayed here?

In any case, seen in retrospect, the epic TV appearances and filmed live performances by Genesis—as ripe for Spinal Tap-type bludgeoning as they might be—are (in my opinion at least) the best way to appreciate “early” Genesis. How did they make these sounds? I want to see their hands. Was it a twelve-string guitar there? In these extended clips, you can see all this and more, but besides getting to see the musicians in action, as led by Gabriel, Genesis were arguably the most theatrical rock act of the era other than Alice Cooper. Their stage act was so elaborate that to divorce how it was presented to the audience would be like only ever hearing the soundtrack album of a Broadway musical. Lest you think I’m getting this backasswards—which I am, sort of—yes, of course they toured in support of a particular album with a particular stage show like every other group, but do consider that their 70s tours have been recreated down to the fine details—as if they were indeed works of musical theater, which indeed they clearly were—by the ultimate tribute band, The Musical Box.
 

 
The Genesis fanbase has, over the years, come together in tremendously heroic acts of restoration, digitizing, cleaning up and remastering audio, video and film alike. Names like Hogweeds, Fan Approved Definitive Editions, I4Detail, Coaster Factory, Digital Bros and Bruno Samppa—who recently uploaded this stunning first generation of a performance in Brussels taped on March 20, 1972 for a show called Pop Shop—are well known to Genesis collectors.
“The Fountain Of Salmacis”
“Twilight Alehouse”
“The Musical Box”
“The Return Of The Giant Hogweed”

This is before the theatrics went into overdrive, be patient…
 

 

 
Here’s Genesis performing their epic, seven-movement progressive rock sonata “Supper’s Ready” onstage at Shepperton Studios in 1973. This is a particularly good example of something that was lovingly restored, and in this case it was first transferred from 16mm film and restored more than once, in standard def and then a decade later in HD. That’s dedication.

This is probably the ultimate filmed example of exactly what they did during the Peter Gabriel era. There’s a detailed Wikipedia page about this song, which took up almost all of side two of their Foxtrot album. If you want to download an HD version of this and burn it to Blu-ray, you can do so, gratis, at the Genesis Movement website.

Gabriel called the piece “a personal journey which ends up walking through scenes from Revelation in the Bible…I’ll leave it at that.”

“Old Michael went past the pet shop, which was never open, into the park, which was never closed, and the park was full of a very smooth, clean, green grass. So Henry took off all his clothes and began rubbing his flesh into the wet, clean, green grass. He accompanied himself with a little tune - it went like this…”

“Watcher Of The Skies”
“Dancing With The Moonlit Knight”
“I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe)”
“The Musical Box”
“Supper’s Ready”
 

 
Another generous offering from Genesis megafan Bruno Samppa—and another perfect quality first generation transfer, too—this from French TV’s Melody program. The performance was taped at the ORTF TV studios in Paris on February 12, 1974

I: “Lover’s Leap”
II: “The Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man”
III: “Ikhnaton and Itsacon and Their Band of Merry Men”
IV: “How Dare I Be So Beautiful?”
V: “Willow Farm”
VI: “Apocalypse in 9/8 (Co-Starring the Delicious Talents of Gabble Ratchet)”
VII: “As Sure As Eggs Is Eggs (Aching Men’s Feet)”