Fans of both bands tend to be mutually exclusive as well. The millions upon millions who picked up on Genesis in the 80s as a succession of world-wide hits dominated the airwaves had little idea of the band’s legendary progressive rock past. "In the later years there were people coming to our concerts who didn’t know that I drummed,” laughs Collins.
 
And the fervent cult following that nurtured Genesis as they became progressive rock legends in the 70s perversely drifted away as the band’s popularity increased. "I think that happens with every band that becomes successful,” reflects Mike Rutherford. "It’s just the way it goes.”
 
But both bands have the same core membership. Keyboard player Tony Banks and guitarist Mike Rutherford were ever-present from the first Genesis single in 1968 to the last in 1997. And Phil Collins can claim 26 years continuous service with the band from 1970 to 1996. Indeed from 1978 when they released the appropriately titled album …And Then There Were Three…, Genesis consisted of just Banks Collins and Rutherford for nearly 20 years.
 
For them of course, there is an obvious continuity between the two bands, summed up by Collins: "The spirit of the way we write songs has never really changed. A lot of the older fans think that Genesis should be a brand name for progressive rock or whatever, but actually Genesis is the name for a group of songwriters who have always done whatever they felt like doing under that banner.”
 
Banks is more specific: "We’ve always liked something to be distinctive about a song, even a simple song. There is usually an element of quirkiness about a Genesis song and that’s important to us.”

 
Nevertheless they don’t argue with the fact that 70s Genesis were a very different band to 80s Genesis. That difference can be attributed to Peter Gabriel, the original singer who personified 70s Genesis. When he left in 1975 it was widely assumed to be the end of Genesis. What nobody realised was that the songwriting and lyrics had always been very much a collaborative effort within the group.
 
Gabriel’s departure did not change the core musical style they had developed up to that point. But it did change the presentation and gradually set the band on a different course. This in retrospect seems like a very smart move. After all, the late 70s and the onset of punk was no time to be waving your legendary prog rock credentials in people’s faces.
 
Not that Banks, Collins or Rutherford will take the credit. They were simply rolling with the changes, making the most of what they had and persevering. That in itself was no guarantee of success but there was a chance they could tilt the odds a bit. The fact that it succeeded so spectacularly is something they can’t really explain.
 
Not only is 70s Genesis different from 80s Genesis. Both are different from other rock bands. Their origins couldn’t be less rock ‘n’ roll. They were formed in 1967 in the elite public school environment of Charterhouse in leafy Surrey, where the sounds of Swinging London were struggling to make an impact. To the teachers, even the acoustic guitar was regarded as a subversive instrument.
 
Classmates Peter Gabriel and Tony Banks bonded over a piano where they would pick out pop songs of the day when they thought the teachers weren’t listening. In the year below, Mike Rutherford and Anthony Phillips furtively strummed their guitars. They formed ad hoc bands in various combinations and even dared to play a school concert where announcements between songs were strictly forbidden.