"Don't fold that programme!" - A look at the Tour Programmes
produced by the various solo members of Genesis over the years by Alan Hewitt.
With the spate of activity by so many of the solo members of the band at the
moment, I thought it might be interesting to revisit this feature from an earlier
edition of TWR. This time I am focussing on the programmes by Phil Collins and
Steve Hackett and… Anthony Phillips.
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Steve's solo career began in 1978 but it was not until 1981
that a tour programme was produced to commemorate a tour. The tour in question
was a pivotal one for Steve. 1981's Cured album was the big change in terms
of Steve's decision to handle the vocalisations himself. Sadly, no programme
was issued to commemorate any of the shows with Steve's original touring
band but the Cured programme documented the then current line-up admirably.
Sporting a live shot from the 1980 tour on the front cover and the album
cover for Cured on the back; the eighteen other pages contained an informative
text and a nice selection of photographs with biographies of Steve and the
musicians. |
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The following album from Steve; 1983's Highly Strung also
ran to twenty pages incorporating the artwork from the album and an advertisement
for the back catalogue albums along with the usual selection of live photographs
and biographical notes not that much different from the 1981 programme but
an essential addition for completists. |
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Perhaps one of the rarest programmes from Steve was the miniature
poster programme for the autumn 1983 Bay Of Kings UK acoustic tour, which
has a delightful picture of Steve playing the acoustic guitar at home on
the front and the Bay Of Kings artwork on the back along with a dedication
from Steve. Inside there are further photos and a brief text about Steve's
brother John; the tour details and tour credits before folding out into
a live shot of Steve from the Highly Strung tour. This is a very hard to
find programme and much sought after by collectors. |
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A further five years was to elapse before Steve's next tour
and programme for the second acoustic tour in support of Momentum. A further
twenty page brochure style booklet was produced and this is quite a stylish
production with an informative text and illustrations. Another nice addition
for collectors. |
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Another rare programme was produced for the two acoustic gigs
which Steve performed in Malta in 2002. A specific programme for these gigs
was designed spanning sixteen pages of text and photographs including brief
biographical details of Steve, John Hackett and Roger King with full colour
illustrations and cover. A very nice addition to any collection. |
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Steve's most recent programme for the 2003/04 To Watch The
Storms UK/European tours was another basic combination of informative text,
brief biographical details; discographies and other information which makes
a nice addition to any collection. |
Phil Collins' solo career began at the start of the 1980's and for each of
his tours he has produced a tour brochure. These have been of varying quality
and volume.
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His first tour programme was published to accompany the 1982
Hello, I Must Be Going tour. This was a sixteen page combination of studio
and rehearsal photography; and amusing biographies of the key musicians
in the band along with tour information. This, like most of Phil's tour
programmes is relatively easy to find. |
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The 1985 No Jacket Required tour brochure was little more
than a 26 page photo booklet, perhaps the most disappointing of all of Phil's
tour brochures although an essential item in any programme collection and
one which is relatively easy to find. |
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Phil's solo career took an even sharper upward curve with
the release in 1989 of the But Seriously album. The massive world tour of
1990 saw another tour booklet produced to commemorate the event. Fundamentally,
basically another photo booklet based around the stage theme of a circus
performance with the band members attired as various circus acts. Not a
particularly difficult programme to find due to the sheer number of gigs
on the tour. |
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The Both Sides1994/95 tour was another massive affair and
produced a further large scale tour brochure to accompany it. This was the
first one since the 1982 brochure to contain textual information mainly
in the form of biographies of the expanding number of band members in Phil's
mini live orchestra. It is an excellent package and once again, a relatively
easy item to acquire for your collection. |
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Phil's Dance Into The Light tour of 1997 was another extensive
affair and was accompanied by another large format tour brochure. In keeping
with the theme of the stage show which was laid out like the deck of a cruise
liner; the programme was designed as a cruise brochure, sporting a picture
of Phil on the cover looking disconcertingly like Popeye! An excellent selection
of live and promotional pictures and informative and amusing text, make
this the best produced Collins tour programme to-date. Once again, due to
the sheer number of gigs on this tour, this programme is not difficult to
find and is a nice addition to any collection. |
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That brings us up to date with the First Final Farewell Tour
which Phil is undertaking at present, and for which a brand new tour brochure
has been produced. This is a thirty six page affair with a great mix of
informative text, archival and new photographs and a nifty cardboard sleeve
into which it fits. As this is to be Phil's last full-scale tour, this programme
is a fitting souvenir of Phil's amazing solo career and an essential addition
to any collection. |
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OK… so this next item is not a tour programme per-se but
it is nonetheless a highly sought after item. Anthony Phillips has never
performed any concerts since his departure from Genesis. However, in 1984
he and Richard Scott found themselves with a hit musical on their hands:
Alice, a rock version of the Alice In Wonderland story. The musical was
documented by a souvenir programme which is now a highly sought after
item for completists. It featured an artwork cover (illustrated here)
and six pages of informative text, advertisements etc. A nice addition
if you can find a copy! |
That's all for this edition, folks… Next time I shall take a look at the tour
programmes by Peter Gabriel and Mike & The Mechanics.
