Without Frontiers: The Life and Music of Peter Gabriel

by Daryl Easlea

Overview

Peter Gabriel rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career. His 1986 album, So, is his most commercially successful, and the album's biggest hit, "Sledgehammer," won a record nine MTV Awards. He has won various Brits and Grammies and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010. The book details his time as lead singer of Genesis from its inception until he went out on his own in 1975 as a singer-songwriter, soundtrack composer, and innovator in music videos and digital music recording and distribution. It examines how he became well known as an anti-Apartheid activist for his efforts to bring different styles of international music to the attention of the West by establishing the WOMAD (World of Music, Arts and Dance) Festival, his own Real World label and recording studios, as well as the addition of world music performers and styles into his own music. It details his extensive work for Amnesty International as well as many other humanitarian efforts, such as founding his own human rights organization, Witness.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781785588501
Publisher:	Omnibus Press
Publication date:	03/07/2019
Edition description:	Second edition
Pages:	448
Sales rank:	773,141
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.60(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Daryl Easlea began writing professionally in 1999. After graduating in 2000, he became the deputy editor at Record Collector, where he remains a regular contributor. His work has also appeared in Mojo, Mojo Collections, various Q and Mojo specials, Prog Magazine, The Guardian, Uncut, Dazed & Confused, The Independent, Socialism, The Glasgow Herald, The Encyclopedia of Popular Music, 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, and bbc.co.uk.

Table of Contents

Prologue: A Man Who Would Never Compromise His Art For Anything 9

Introduction: A Really Interesting Life 13

Part 1 From Genesis: 1950-1975

1 Lead A Normal Life 21

2 Crying Or Masturbating, Or Both: Charterhouse 28

3 Listen And Cast Your Mind Into The Sound Spectrum 41

4 Christmas Wishes 49

5 The Famous Charisma Label 60

6 If Keith Emerson Likes Them, They Must Be Good 74

7 Always Worried About Something Or Another 90

8 Part-James Brown, Part-Chamber Of Horrors, Part-Camp Seaside Revue 101

9 Love, Peace And Truth Incorporated: Selling England By The Pound 113

10 A Yellow Plastic Shoobedoobe - The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway 127

Part 2 I Will Show Another Me: 1975-1986

11 Walked Right Out Of The Machinery 149

12 The Expected Unexpected 157

13 Keeping It Small 174

14 Happy In The Dark 188

15 A New Age Of Electronic Skiffle: Security 209

16 As Excited As We Were: WOMAD 220

17 Watch The Birdy 233

18 The Tremble In The Hips: So 245

Part 3 To Revelation: 1986-2018

19 Life Is One Big Adventure: So And Its Aftermath 259

20 Unquestionably Rhubarb 278

21 Dark And Sticky 288

22 See It. Film It. Change it. 299

23 A General Feeling Of Beautiful Dread - Up 319

24 Man Of Peace 330

25 That Sort Of Light Footedness I Enjoy Now: Scratch My Back 344

26 Happy Family Snapshot 353

27 Dream Big And Let Your Imagination Guide You 366

Afterword: Peter Is Who Peter Is 381

Peter Gabriel: A Postface by Richard Macphail 387

Discography 389

Acknowledgements 411

Bibliography 414

Index 432