Episode 86: Patrick Frey / Genesis [Part 1]

10/19/20 • 203 min

Scot and Jeff discuss Genesis (1967-1975) with Patrick Frey.

Introducing the Band:

Your hosts Scot Bertram (@ScotBertram) and Jeff Blehar (@EsotericCD) with guest Patrick Frey. Patrick has been a blogger of national repute since 2003 and is still committed to the form, even though it has been dead for years. Read his work at Patterico’s Pontifications and follow Patrick on Twitter at @Patterico.

Patrick’s Music Pick: Genesis

We’ve been waiting here for so long to discuss this band, and all the time that’s passed us by? It hardly seems to matter now, because Political Beats is finally tackling the first half of Genesis’s career (the Peter Gabriel years; 1976-1997 will come in our next installment) with the sort of reverent fervor that only happens when one of the show’s two hosts is discussing their single favorite group of all time. No prizes for guessing which of the two co-hosts feels that way about them. During this era Genesis — originally formed by a group of 16-year-olds at a genteel London-area private school — rapidly evolved from a halting group of adolescent pop songwriters (failed pop songwriters, mind you) into one of the biggest progressive rock bands of all time. Later, after the years discussed in this episode, they would also become one of the biggest commercial successes on the planet as well, without ever really losing the core of what made them uniquely Genesis. But for now, buckle up as the gang travels through tales of Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford, Peter Gabriel, Anthony Phillips, Steve Hackett, and a young drummer you might have heard of by the name of Philip Collins. This is some of the best, most well-composed, goofiest, and most profound music ever made during the 1970s, extremely British but also universal in its eternal musical verities. For the next three hours we will enjoy selling you England by the sound.

P.S. Don’t worry, none of you are going to die. But you may need to make a visit to the Doktor when all is said and done. If you think that that’s pretentious . . . well then, you’ve been taken for a ride.

Scot and Jeff discuss Genesis (1967-1975) with Patrick Frey.

Introducing the Band:

Patrick’s Music Pick: Genesis

Previous Episode

Episode 85: Christian Schneider / Ramones

Scot and Jeff discuss Ramones with Christian Schneider.

Introducing the Band:
Your hosts Scot Bertram (@ScotBertram) and Jeff Blehar (@EsotericCD) with guest Christian Schneider. Christian is a reporter for The College Fix, contributor to The Dispatch, The Bulwark, USA Today, and sometimes National Review, and author of 1916: The Blog. Find him on Twitter at @Schneider_CM

Christian’s Music Pick: Ramones
1, 2, 3, 4! In an episode we joked should only last two minutes, to honor the band, the Political Beats crew take a look at the music and career of Ramones. Formed in Queens in 1974, Ramones have been credited as the first punk rock group, and we tackle that question in the course of the conversation. The band’s first four albums are essentially unimpeachable; short, quick melodic tracks, paying deep debt to the rock music of the late ’50s and early 1960s, The Beach Boys and surf music, and, of course, the magic of fast, loud, downstrokes on the electric guitar. We discuss why the band’s songs often are deeper and more complex than on first listen and dismiss the criticism that “all their songs sound the same.” An unfortunate experience with Phil Spector is forgiven, as all of us heap praise upon the somewhat forgotten PLEASANT DREAMS. At some point, the idea of “quality control” does escape the band’s grasp, and some of the band’s drama becomes more interesting than the recorded output. Still, Ramones stand as one of the most influential groups in rock history and continue to inspire despite the early deaths of all four original members. It might not be a two-minute show, but the time will fly by. Gabba Gabba Hey!

Next Episode

Episode 87: Brad Birzer / Genesis [ Part 2]

Scot and Jeff discuss second part of Genesis’s career (the Phil Collins years) with Brad Birzer.

Introducing the Band:
Your hosts Scot Bertram (@ScotBertram) and Jeff Blehar (@EsotericCD) with guest Dr. Brad Birzer. Brad is the Russell Amos Kirk Chair in American Studies and Professor of History at Hillsdale College. He’s the co-founder of, and Senior Contributor at, The Imaginative Conservative. And he’s the author of a number of books, including Neil Peart: Cultural (Re)Percussions. Find him online at bradbirzer.com or @bradleybirzer on Twitter.

Brad’s Music Pick: Genesis
After joining us to celebrate life of Neil Peart and the career of Rush back at the beginning of the year, Brad Birzer returns to discuss his other great musical love, Genesis. We pick up where we left off last time with Patrick Frey, telling the story of Genesis from the departure of Peter Gabriel after The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway to the present day.

And what an amazing musical tale it is, the story of a niche British progressive rock band that was all but left for dead by the musical press after Gabriel’s departure, only to immediately come blazing out of the gates with one of the most impressive albums of the Seventies in 1976’s A Trick Of The Tail. With their diminutive balding drummer (a gent you may be familiar with by the name of Phil Collins) accidentally promoted to the role of lead singer during the sessions for that album, Genesis went on to not only weather the loss of their lead guitarist Steve Hackett, but to improbably ascend to the heights of worldwide commercial superstardom with Phil as their frontman. Genesis was ubiquitous during the 1980s, and in a good way: as Scot, Jeff, and Brad all argue, NONE of these albums have dated much at all, and in fact their stature has grown over the years (not even Patrick Bateman jokes could prevent it). Welcome to Political Beats’ loving conclusion to a tale that spans from Genesis to Revelation, one of the great underdog stories of the rock era . . . a band that spent 30 years making new music, evolving constantly, and never getting lost in a changing world.