Genesis
Follow You Follow Me

THE REVIEW

A banal text and an easy melody, simplify, simplify everything. At the end of the record by the "three who remained" after a series of stories between failed drunkards, lying ancient dames, a handful of western mythology, unusual for the band, the group shyly inserts their first real big hit.

"Follow You Follow Me" is a baffling song and if extracted from "...And Then There Were Three" it is completely misleading about the true nature of the 1978 record. It is a very simple pop song born at the end of the sessions of the material that went into the LP, an improvisation by Rutherford on which Tony's written melody was added along with Phil's rhythmic refinement. Compared to everything the British band had done before, it can be judged as a banal musical confection that oddly wasn't supposed to be included on the record; producer David Hentschel hated it and considered it jarring with the rest of the material. The three Genesis were also substantially convinced that this little song would at best fill the grooves of the B-side of the 45 RPM single "Many Too Many", a song of much greater substance, but when the heads at Charisma heard it, they only said this: "record it because it will become your first hit!" Market logic prevailed and the long-sightedness of the label's big shots proved right, huge success at home and the US singles market conquered for the first time. Now the group is aware that FM radios are within their reach and the climb to become dominators of the '80s has begun. However, the song has the great merit of bringing a new segment of the audience closer to the band, never really touched before, the female audience.

It is thanks to this syrupy song that girls start to take an interest in Genesis and discover what was previously recorded, but the greatest merit is certainly economic; after years of skimping, money starts to really flow into the Genesis's coffers, rewarding them for all their work. But the worldwide hits will truly take over only two years later when the three will extract from a concept album what will become an authentic radio hammer, "Turn It On Again".