A Glimpse of Peter Gabriel 3: Melt
Gabriel’s third album was released on 30 May 1980
Reason for choice: Gabriel’s third album was released on 30 May 1980 - 44 years ago. The house I grew up in was no. 44, so that’s a solid reason, isn’t it?
The lights fade and continue to reduce their intensity until the room is almost in complete darkness. We hear drums, the pattern that introduces the first song on the album. No symbols. From the rear of the room - flashlights, moving as if being held by people finding their way in unfamiliar surroundings. There are the intruders.
Except - they are not intruders. They are making their way slowly to the stage, toward the sound of the drums. This is the gig.
“I know something about / Opening the windows and doors / I know how to move quietly / Creep across creaky, wooden floors ..” © 1980 Peter Gabriel Ltd/Hit & Run Music Pub Ltd
The gig is Peter Gabriel and band at the Brighton Centre, 15 March 1980, touring in support of his new album - officially just called Peter Gabriel (as were his first two albums, as the next would be too) and, to tell them apart in the absence of a cover image, unofficially called Melt, or PG3. The tour was called ‘The Tour of China 1984’ (there was no actual tour of China, but the programme was a spoof ‘Little Red Book’).
PG3 was released 44 years ago. With this album, Gabriel raised his solo game, offering the drum stool to Phil Collins for a couple of tracks, and working with Kate Bush (not for the last time), Robert Fripp (not for the first time), Paul Weller and Dave Gregory, among others. ‘Games Without Frontiers’ became a hit single, with Bush on processed backing vocals. Later, there would be a less poppy remix of ‘Games’ (poppy is fine) by Massive Attack and a radical live reworking. My memory suggests we get the original arrangement this night, without a guest appearance from Kate Bush (no one had realistic expectations of that, but there’s always hope).
Nor was Phil Collins in the live band. This was no Genesis reunion, although there was one a couple of years later - the ‘Six of the Best’ gig at Milton Keynes Bowl, to bail out Gabriel’s then struggling WOMAD operation. Collins’ absence didn’t affect the sound, because Jerry Marotta is a gifted drummer in his own right, and plays on more of the album than Collins.
PG3 is famous for its drum sound, most notably the gated reverb ‘big room’ effect devised by Gabriel, engineer Hugh Padgham, producer Steve Lilywhite, and Phil Collins - think’ ‘In the Air Tonight’. There was another drumming decision that would affect the aural quality of PG3. No symbols. Gabriel believed creatives work better when they have boundaries - restrictions on their ‘normal’ toolkit.
PG3 arrived sounding fresh. Bassier, darker, louder. As well as driving the sinister ‘Intruder’, Collins produces an extraordinary swarm of drums on ‘No Self Control’ (included in my Gems #036 playlist), yet allowing space for Kate Bush’s vocals to echo the title phrase.
Gabriel’s solo songwriting finds its voice on PG3. On PG1, he was revelling in his post-Genesis freedom, trying different sets of clothes for style. PG2 was part of a Fripp’s MOR trilogy (the others being Fripp’s Exposure and Daryl Hall’s Sacred Songs). With PG3, Gabriel confidently finds a cohesive style - not his style forever (that’s not the way he works, and PG4 would be different again) but consistent enough to make PG3 a great album, as opposed to a collection of songs.
In PG3, Gabriel found his political voice. ‘Games’ is anti-war - satirically so, with the lyrics referencing the madcap television game show ‘It’s a Knockout’ (as it started life in the UK before the cross-European version became ‘Jeux Sans Frontieres’). The closing ‘Biko’ was more overtly political still, in protest at the death of Steve Biko in a South African jail. ‘Biko’ has almost become a traditional song, with great versions recorded by Robert Wyatt, Simple Minds, and Joan Baez among others. The song is still a key part of Gabriel’s live set now; the political message is delivered via a singable chorus inviting audience participation time, creating an atmosphere bordering on the spiritual. To close the song, and his set on the i/o tour, the final words are “The rest is up to you.” For the first, and not the last time on a Gabriel album, there are bagpipes on the studio version, and the real world of African choral chanting.
Gabriel cemented his solo reputation with PG3, one that would grow with the reborn WOMAD and with the massive selling So still to come. For me, 44 years ago, PG3 moved me from interest because he was in Genesis to full-on solo Gabriel obsessive.
Click the cover, above, to listen to PG3 (Melt) on the streaming service of your choice.
Side One Intruder / No Self Control / Start / I Don’t Remember / Family Snapshot / And Through the Wire
Side Two Games Without Frontiers / Not One of Us / Lead a Normal Life / Biko
PERSONNEL
Studio
Peter Gabriel – vocals, piano; synthesizer on ‘Start’, ‘I Don't Remember’, ‘Games Without Frontiers’ and ‘Not One of Us’; drum pattern on ‘Biko’; backing vocals on ‘Intruder’, ‘Family Snapshot’ and ‘Not One of Us’; whistle on ‘Games Without Frontiers
Larry Fast – synthesizer on ‘Intruder", ‘No Self Control’, ‘Start’, ‘Games Without Frontiers’ and ‘Biko’; processing on ‘No Self Control’, ‘I Don't Remember’ and ‘Not One of Us’; bagpipes on ‘Biko’
David Rhodes – guitar on all tracks except ‘Start’; backing vocals on ‘Intruder’, ‘I Don't Remember’ and ‘Not One of Us’
Robert Fripp – electric guitar on ‘No Self Control’, ‘I Don't Remember’ and ‘Not One of Us’
Dave Gregory – electric guitar on ‘I Don't Remember’ and ‘Family Snapshot’
Paul Weller – electric guitar on ‘And Through the Wire’
John Giblin – bass guitar on ‘No Self Control’, ‘Family Snapshot’, ‘And Through the Wire’, ‘Games Without Frontiers’ and ‘Not One of Us’
Tony Levin – Chapman Stick on ‘I Don't Remember’
Jerry Marotta – drums on ‘I Don't Remember’, ‘Family Snapshot’, ‘Games Without Frontiers’, ‘Not One of Us’, ‘Lead a Normal Life’ and ‘Biko’; percussion on ‘Games Without Frontiers’ and ‘Not One of Us’
Phil Collins – drums on ‘Intruder’, ‘No Self Control’ and ‘And Through the Wire’; drum pattern on ‘Intruder’; snare on ‘Family Snapshot’; surdo on ‘Biko’
Morris Pert – percussion on ‘Intruder’, ‘No Self Control’ and ‘Lead a Normal Life’
Dick Morrissey – saxophone on ‘Start’, ‘Family Snapshot’, ‘No Self Control’ and ‘Lead a Normal Life’
Kate Bush – backing vocals on ‘No Self Control’ and ‘Games Without Frontiers’
Steve Lillywhite, Hugh Padgham – whistles on ‘Games Without Frontiers’
Dave Ferguson – screeches on ‘Biko’
Live Band
Peter Gabriel (vocals, keyboards)
Larry Fast (keyboards)
Tony Levin (bass, Chapman Stick, backing vocals)
John Ellis (guitar, backing vocals)
Jerry Marotta (drums, percussion, saxophone)
Production
Steve Lillywhite – producer
Hugh Padgham – engineer
Messages and comments are open …
Video - ‘Biko’ new version for Playing for Change
Recommended reading
I’ve written two previous Glimpses about Peter Gabriel and one about his time with Genesis:
Book
Peter Gabriel On Track: Every Album, Every Song
See you again at the end of the week with the next album-length playlist, Gems #037, and another Glimpse early next week.
Enjoy the music,
Ian
Link rot note: I’ve been using Songwhip.com to link to albums and tracks - this enables you to use the streaming service, or to buy, as best suits you. I received an email a few days ago to say the Songwhip service is closing and, even worse, all the links generated will cease to work in a few weeks. I have found an alternative - Odesli.co - that should work in the same way (and please let me know if you discover any problems). Over time, I’ll replace the links in previous Glimpses and Long Gazes, but in the meantime you can generate your own (free) if you’re exploring the LP archive.
A great Glimpse! PG3 is one of my favourite PG albums. I remember when I first really heard 'Family Snapshot' - haunting. He's really without parallel. And now, of course, this is my soundtrack to work tomorrow!
I'll have to listen to this. I must admit that Gabriel’s music has mostly passed me by, with a few exceptions.