Genesis formed when 2 separate bands at the Charterhouse School in Surrey split and a new one was formed. One band, Aon contained Mike Rutherford and Anthony Phillips while the other, called Garden Wall, featured Peter Gabriel and Tony Banks. After Aon and Garden Wall split, Rutherford and Phillips asked Banks and Gabriel to join them to help record some demos. They submitted the demo tape to Jonathan King, a Charterhouse old boy who had been enjoying some success as a singer and producer. King loved the demo and signed the band to the Decca record label. They discussed various names, including a suggestion from King that they call themselves Gabriel’s Angel, but ended up deciding on Genesis to signify the beginning of their recording career. Their first single, called ‘That’s Me’, was released in February 1968. Despite some airplay, it failed to sell. An album followed but also failed to sell, apparently because when record shops saw the name Genesis on the record, filed it under the religious music section. After their 3rd single flopped, they departed company with King. They then took a break from the band to concentrate on their studies but regrouped in 1969 and eventually members of the band Rare Bird, who Genesis had supported, recommended them to the Charisma record label. After seeing them at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in London, the Charisma execs decided to take a chance on them. They recorded the album ‘Trespass’ which would top the charts in Belgium, but only got to number 98 in the UK. At this point Phillips left the band and they fired John Mayhew who was the drummer. They advertised for a new drummer and although Roger Taylor, who would later go on to huge success as the drummer for Queen, turned them down, they did find a new member in Phil Collins. As a five-piece made up of Gabriel, Banks, Rutherford, Collins and Steve Hackett, they recorded ‘Nursery Cryme’, their 3rd album which saw them reach number 39 in the UK. Their next album, ‘The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway’, would be their last with Peter Gabriel as a member. He left to forge a successful solo career and the band continued on as a four-piece with Phil Collins taking over on lead vocals. Their success was undiminished by the departure of Gabriel, in fact they saw better peaks on the UK album charts with their post-Gabriel material that they had seen before he left. By 1980 they had slimmed down to a trio with Steve Hackett moving on. They have seen 31 UK chart hits (best peak of 4 with ‘Mama’) and 22 US chart hits, hitting the top spot with ‘Invisible Touch’. Collins would also have a very successful solo career, Rutherford would see success with his band Mike & The Mechanics while Tony Banks would release some solo material.
| Date of entry | Song | Peak (weeks at 1) | Weeks |
| 25-Dec-1981 | Abacab | 3 | 15 |
| 13-Apr-1984 | That’s All | 27 | 4 |
| 24-Aug-1986 | Invisible Touch | 17 | 8 |
| Total hits | 3 | ||
| Total weeks | 37 |
| Biggest climber awards | 2 |
| Star rater climbs | 3 |
| Biggest fallers | 2 |
| Weeks with oldest in the charts | 0 |
| Longest run in the charts (weeks) | 15 |
| Weeks with more than 1 in the charts | 0 |
| Biggest gap between hits (weeks) | 119 |
| Top 30 points ranking | =459 |
| Top 20 points ranking | =516 |
| Top 30 points | 372 |
| Top 20 points | 168 |
Phil Collins solo hits:
| Date of entry | Song | Peak (weeks at 1) | Weeks |
| 05-Jun-1981 | In The Air Tonight | 2 | 11 |
| 18-Mar-1983 | You Can’t Hurry Love | 9 | 15 |
| 25-May-1984 | Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now) | 9 | 21 |
| 22-Feb-1985 | Easy Lover | 6 | 14 |
| 31-May-1985 | One More Night | 21 | 6 |
| 09-Mar-1986 | Separate Lives | 22 | 5 |
| 12-Jan-1989 | A Groovy Kind Of Love | 1 (2) | 7 |
| Total hits | 7 | ||
| Total weeks | 79 |
Apart from producing all the Genesis hits and all but ‘Against All Odds’ of his solo hits, Collins also had production credits on the following hit:
| Song | Song | Peak (weeks at 1) | Weeks |
| I Know There’s Something Going on | Frida | 5 | 14 |
| Total hits | 1 | ||
| Total weeks | 14 |
Peter Gabriel had left Genesis before they had any SA chart hits and Mike & The Mechanics never made the SA charts despite having hits on the Radio 5, Capital 604 and Radio 702 charts.
Total involvement by the band and its members:
| Number of hits | 10 |
| Weeks | 116 |
| Number of No. 1’s | 1 |
| Weeks at 1 | 2 |
SA Singles Charts 