Spot the Pigeon
| Spot the Pigeon | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| EP by Genesis | ||||
| Released | 20 May 1977 | |||
| Recorded | September–October 1976 | |||
| Genre | Progressive rock, pop[1] | |||
| Length | 13:22 | |||
| Label |
Charisma/Virgin (UK) Atlantic (CAN) | |||
| Producer | ||||
| Genesis chronology | ||||
| ||||
Spot the Pigeon is a 7-inch EP by the British progressive rock band Genesis, released in 1977. Its three songs were holdovers from the Wind & Wuthering sessions, which the band felt did not fit the overall feel of the album.
Upon its release, the EP managed to reach No. 14 in the UK singles charts. Although the EP market never took off in North America, their overseas distributor, Atlantic Records, released Spot The Pigeon in Canada as a 12-inch, on a limited edition blue vinyl.
This was Genesis' final studio release before lead guitarist Steve Hackett's departure later in 1977. His discontent was that he was not able to get more of his songs onto Wind & Wuthering and was further aggravated when "Inside and Out," which he felt was worthy of inclusion on the album, was relegated to this EP.
Although Spot the Pigeon saw a CD release, it has since been deleted. Two of its three tracks, "Pigeons" and "Inside and Out" appeared on the band's 2000 box set Genesis Archive 2: 1976-1992: "Match of the Day" was not included due to the band's dislike of the song. It was eventually made available on CD with the 2007 release of Genesis 1976-1982, thus making the entire EP available for the first time on CD in the U.S. "Pigeons" and "Inside and Out" have been also released on Turn It On Again: The Hits – The Tour Edition.
A music video for "Match of the Day" was made, with Phil Collins singing on the terraces of Queens Park Rangers F.C.. Collins expressed his disdain for the song in 2004, saying "It was also not our finest hour looking back at it now!!! I wrote the embarrassing lyrics and the track featured an attempt to bring some of the hipper grooves of the day into Genesis, with very suspect results."[2]
The EP was reissued on vinyl for Record Store Day 2012 by Audio Fidelity again on blue vinyl playing at 33 1/3 rpm on Side A and 45 rpm on Side B.[3]
Title
The title is a variation on the football-themed spot the ball (the cover resembles a spot the ball competition photo), replacing the word "ball" with "pigeon" so that the title links the themes of the first two songs.
Critical reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
AllMusic's retrospective review praised the songwriting on the EP for returning to the sound of early Genesis album Trespass, but concluded their review with: "Spot the Pigeon has never been a popular or even very accessible release in the U.S. Of course, there's a reason for this: It simply isn't very exciting."[1] The blog site NarrowtheAngle.com commented in 2011 about "Match of the Day," stating "It's a ludicrously naff attempt at conveying the passion and commitment of a football match...There have been an abundance of terrible football songs over the years, but this has an earnest quality to it that makes it all the more offensive. How cheap does that keyboard riff sound?"[2]
Track listing
All songs written and composed by Tony Banks/Phil Collins/Mike Rutherford, except where noted.
Side one
- "Match of the Day" – 3:24
- "Pigeons" – 3:12
Side two
- "Inside and Out" (Banks/Collins/Steve Hackett/Rutherford) – 6:45
Personnel
- Tony Banks – keyboards
- Phil Collins – drums, percussion, vocals
- Steve Hackett – guitars
- Mike Rutherford – guitars, bass guitar
References
- 1 2 3 AllMusic review
- 1 2 "Phil Collins and the Genesis 'Match Of The Day' song he'd rather you forgot all about". Narrowtheangle.com. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
- ↑ "Record Store Day 2012 releases". recordstoreday.com. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
External links
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