The first of two appearances by Peter Gabriel as a vocalist. This is from his career after leaving Genesis. From prog rock he moved in a far more political direction and championed world music.
It is hard to choose between three of his solo tracks. Biko is about South African anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko. In the early 70s he launched the Black Consciousness movement and became a prominent figure in the movement to rid South Africa of the evil of apartheid, he preached non-violence at all times. He became such a problem to the government that he was subject to a banning order so that he could not travel – he had not actually committed any crime they could imprison him for.
He broke the banning order and travelled to Cape Town in 1977 to meet another member of the movement. On the way back he was stopped at a roadblock and arrested.. Details of what happened at his interrogation have never been fully revealed but even the Police admitted he had been shackled and interrogated for 22 hours non-stop. At some stage he was seriously assaulted and suffered a severe brain haemorrhage from one of three brain lesions. At first a doctor said that there were no sign of injuries, a patent lie. Other doctors then recommended that he was taken to Pretoria prison hospital. This journey of over 700 miles was done with him naked and shackled in the back of a land rover. He died a few days later.
No one was ever punished for his death. Rest in Power Steve Biko.
(Steve Biko, 1946-1977)
The second song is Jeux Sans Frontiers, Gabriel’s political song about international diplomacy being like children’s games (with backing vocals by Kate Bush – she will be on the list again). The title harks back to a seventies (and eighties) TV show. I first remember seeing it one night in our caravan. Mum, Dad, Michael and I often went away and this night I could not sleep. We had a black and white portable TV with a small aerial. On it was a grainy picture from some European city with adults competing in some silly games.
It is hard to describe how exotic transmission from another country in Europe was. The commentary had an electronic quality that has disappeared from overseas broadcasts. The games involved dressing up in silly costumes trying to climb greasy slopes, or get through water, to complete some locally themed tasks. It was presented by the hosts from the country it was in.
There were actually qualifying heats for this under the name It’s A Knockout. These were less exotic, rather than night time in a Swiss town, it would be grey day in Oldham. For a child these were still exciting as they were competing to go into one of these exotic competitions.
I grew out of the show, it was very much a show for children, even though it was on in the evening. There was an awful comeback with It’s A Royal Knockout in 1987, held at Alton Towers. Teams were led by Prince Edward (whose production company were involved – a company that only had success with royally connected shows), Princess Anne (who looked horrified at the whole thing, even though it was for charity), Prince Andrew and Fergie leading the teams. A low point for the Royal Family at the time, though Andrew has managed to drop to unfathomably worse depths with his involvement with Jeffrey Epstein. Allegedly the Queen was more concerned about the TV show than she is about the Epstein connection – if so it is shows a terrible lack of judgement.
Ultimately my favourite is Gabriel’s song meditating on life at the end of Genesis and how he looked to the future, having a revelation on
Solsbury Hill
Five Miles Out 