Peter Gabriel is a GENIUS. From his beginnings in Genesis, to his solo career, he has written and performed so many amazing songs with DEEP lyrics. His early work with Genesis is absolutely unreal.
I was there at the first ever Top Of The Bill show by Genesis @ Croydon Greyhound Pub.Music Venue with 3,000 others in South East London in 1972 when the original top act "Bell 'n Arc" disbanded on the day before.August,1972.
Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer" is about sex, and the lyrics are loaded with phallic symbols. The innuendo was typical of the blues music Gabriel drew from. Gabriel said regarding the theme of this song: "Sometimes sex can break through barriers when other forms of communication are not working too well."
Peter Gabriel Was the original lead singer for the band Genesis, And drummer Phil collins took over lead vocals for the group This was peter's 1st solo album and his 1st Hit During the height of the MTV music video
It's hilarious to me coming back to this song as an adult. When I first heard this as a young teen in the 80s... wow, it went right over my head. Hahahaha. Now? Whoa.
After leaving the band "Genesis" in 1975, Peter Gabriel launched a solo career with his eponymous album containing the classic hit single "Solsbury Hill". "Games Without Frontiers", another great song from his third solo album, was heavily played on MTV. Gabriel reached superstar status in 1986 with the release of his amazing solo album "So," which includes many classic hits, including "Sledgehammer", "In Your Eyes", and "Don't Give Up". I highly recommend hearing "Don't Give Up" while watching it's accompanying video. This song is an emotional, hard-hitting duet with iconic English singer Kate Bush.
Peter Gabriel is a true pioneer and great human rights advocate. His WOMAD festival of world music is extraordinary. Gabriel helped to bring down apartheid in South Africa, with other great artists, campaigners and musicians. Free Nelson Mandela by the Special A.K.A was also pivotal. Jonny Clegg and his superb group fantastically important . Steve Biko by Gabriel became an anthem to all that the black people lost and ensured. Peter Gabriel songs are amazing from Solsbury Hill to Games without Frontiers to In Your Eyes to his duet with the uniquely talented Kate Bush. Legendary ❤👋
The instrument in the beginning is called " shakuhachi ". It's a Japanese longitudinal, end-blown flute that is made of bamboo developed in 16th century, dates back to similar instruments from the 10th century in China. So you're right: it would very much be used in virtually every other martial arts movie soundtrack 🙂 Peter Gabriel is also known for his "world music" since the 1980ies where he not only uses instruments from around the world in his compositions but more importantly cooperates with musicians of all countries, most notably Africa, Asia and South America. His live performances and concerts are an intense musical experience and I was lucky enough to see the "So" tour back in the days.
PETER IS ONE OF THE MOST AMAZING ARTIST EVER... HE WAS THE ORIGINAL SINGER IN GENESIS WITH COLLINS ON DRUMS HE WAS A VERY IMPORTANT PART IN THE TAKE DOWN OF APARTHEID IN SOUTH AFRICA.... THIS MAN HAS DONE SO MUCH .....
I was there at the first ever Top Of The Bill show by Genesis @ Croydon Greyhound Pub.Music Venue with 3,000 others in South East London in 1972 when the original top act "Bell 'n Arc" disbanded on the day before.August,1972.
A total of 100 hours were spent shooting the music video, with each second of video consisting of 25 unique poses from Gabriel. A major hit on music television, "Sledgehammer" won nine MTV Video Music Awards in 1987, the most awards a single video has won.
During the week-long shoot, Gabriel lay under a sheet of glass while filming the video one frame at a time. The singer’s young daughters, Anna and Melanie, appear at the very end surrounded by a large group of extras.
An intern on the video was a young man named Nick Park. Your children will adore his later work. The adventures of Wallace and Grommet a series of short claymation films about a British inventor and his much more competent dog are hilarious. He also had a hit with Chicken Run and other works.
@@Tsass0 More accurately, it's stop motion animation, since only a few parts of this feature clay. Most of it involves other objects, like fruit, chalkboards, furniture, and so on. Claymation is just stop motion with clay. How I feel about people calling stop motion animation "claymation" tends to be the same way I feel about people calling ANY kind of oldschool special effect "CGI," even though it's actually an optical composite, miniatures, pyrotechnics, cloud tanks, Zoptic, matte work, forced perspective, or literally painting stuff onto the film...
Peter Gabriel was a former member of the band Genesis (as was Phil Collins, but Gabriel went solo first). Other songs by Peter Gabriel you might like: "Games Without Frontiers," "Biko," "In Your Eyes," and "Solsbury Hill."
Sooo… the World premiere of this video on MTV was crazy! I remember being young and at a sleepover! We all just sat there staring and none of us said a single word,(which for pre-teen girls was unheard of!). This was so futuristic for the time we were in complete awe!!
Sounds great but I am not sure I totally believe you after 70 years on this Beautiful Planet:) You are, actually, telling me a group of girls got together and did NOT start talking from the moment they met until the moment they departed? That is quite a stretch of the imagination. LOL
This is the guy who WAS the lead singer of Genesis and who left, leaving them to Phil Collins to take over singing lead singer duties. Gabriel was known for extreme theatrical productions in his concerts, something that helped the split from Genesis…
In the 80s , computer animation, and stop motion clay animation were combined, for the first time ever. MAX HEADROOM , was popular at time on MTV shorts... Gabriel a pioneer in music , and art , combined the two in this video.
This video was leading edge back when MTV first started. Won a bunch of awards. Just the credits at the end tell you how much work went into the video,. Peter spent hours under a piece of glass with dead fish around while they filmed/animated it the old school way frame by frame.
The Peter Gabriel / Genesis rabbit hole has opened. Everywhere else it goes is just part of the circuitous trip. Living it in real time back then was quite the thing.
You might be thinking of Huey Lewis and The News. They sang a few songs in that film. Their voices are a little similar, the both have that grit in their voices. Best wishes from the UK 🎼🎶👍
I notice the reaction video RU-vidrs that came from a hip hip/ rap base. Always look to figure out what the words to these song’s mean literally - like a rap song…..other genres have songs that are meant to create a mood or a concept, no literal meaning intended… even the artists say that when asked what the meaning of their song is- it’s for the listeners interpretation
I always thought this was also about life, starting with the swimmers, and ending with him slumping over in the chair, and when he stands up he is made of stars (he passed away), and goes to whatever's next.
Yes, your understanding of the song is correct. This video was very groundbreaking when it came out because of the technology that was used to make it. Peter Gabriel is a very successful singer and songwriter, but he has actually been even more successful in his technology endeavors. He owns several patents and created (and sold) several technology companies.
I remember how ground breaking this video was when it was shown on MTV for the first time! You should check out his song In your eyes. Needs to be the live version!
I saw Peter Gabriel in 1986 and it was an amazing show. He was part of the Conspiracy of Hope Amnesty International concert series. U2, The Police, Lou Reed, Bryan Adams, Peter Gabriel, and the Neville Brothers. It was an amazing show, and Peter Gabriel was a highlight.
Peter Gabriel was the lead singer in the group Genesis and Phil Collins took over as the lead singer after his departure. Genesis would be a group you would want to check out. They had hit such as. Tonight tonight and Throwing it All away. I'm not sure if you reacted to those already.
I was there at the first ever Top Of The Bill show by Genesis @ Croydon Greyhound Pub.Music Venue with 3,000 others in South East London in 1972 when the original top act "Bell 'n Arc" disbanded on the day before.August,1972.
Peter Gabriel is a musical genius. When he was lead singer of Genesis, they had such amazing musical creations. I highly recommend Dancing with the Moonlit Knight. The keyboard, guitar and lyrics are impactful.
I can’t begin to imagine how long it would have taken to create this video back in the day. I do love this song & Peter Gabriel, reminds me of my teenage years 😊
Peter was with Genisis, which others have already pointed out, until he got a bit too eccentric with his costumes and songs, so he left the band for a solo career. In actuality, he was way ahead of his time. This video was one of the most expensive up to that point to make and was very labor intensive for Peter to make. As a friend, I recommend the song and video off the same album "Steam" which is sadly so underrated and under played.
This is a falsehood. They all reunited for an interview a few years ago (its on RU-vid) & they all say that rumor is NOT true & tell the actual story which very much makes sense when you hear it. Also, Phil Collins played DRUMS on Gabriels First album & some other of his songs. 👍🥂
I love Peter Gabriel, he was the lead singer of Genesis before Phil Collins! He is a well-respected British artist. This song was a huge hit in 1986! I think the song is about love/sex...but that's just me, I guess! LOL!💖💖
Speaking of Back to the Future, u should check out Huey Lewis and the News!! They sang Power of love and Back in time in the movie....They have mad bangers! Heart of Rock and Roll & I want a new drug are two of my favorites!
Love Huey Lewis and the News! Loved cracking up the stereo getting my cleaning done happily while rockin out,lol. Power of Love was definitely a fav.💙🇺🇸
Digging in the Dirt, The Washing of the Water, Steam, Love Town, Burn You Up, Burn You Down, Shaking the Tree, all fantastic songs from the very creative mind of Peter Gabriel.
You got it, like the Doors, Break on Thru to the Other Side -- thats Sledgehammer! And an incredible song, a mile marker for me, that dropped when I was a 20 something stationed in England! Glad u love it as I do!
SHOCK THE MONKEY is your next video. ABSOLUTELY. If you thought thus was wild, I can't wait for your take on this one. And then, you must listen STEAM.
Biko, not just because it;s a great song but because of what is, a Eulogy for Bantu Steve Biko, an anti apartheid activist who was killed in Prison in South Africa in the 70's. The song is amazing and IMO one you really should listen to even if it's not a reaction.
Second vid of yours I have watched today (first was cult of personality). This video was simply groundbreaking ... never to be outdone, from the golden age of music videos - the mid-80's. Just before people stopped making epic vids and Mtv turned to reality TV ... there was SLEDGEHAMMER, released in 1986. Even Peter Gabriel himself failed to top it with his follow up vid for Steam. You may have heard his song "Big Time" ... Peter Gabriel is still performing today.
MTV used to often have "Top 100 videos of all time" countdown shows throughout the 90s that would run all day and night long. THIS was the video that was most often #1. Thriller was up there as well. MTV started in 1981, this was released just 5 years later. It's absolutely shocking how far videos had come in that very short span of time. To say this video was ahead of time is a gargantuan understatement.
The great Tony Levine on bass here using I believe a Chapman Stick. The Chapman Stick has Ten Strings and is played using the Two Hand Tap Method, a very difficult instrument. Back in the day he was on the Cover of Bass Player Magazine with a 3 string Music Man. Tony Levine was in King Crimson. This video won many awards back in the MTV days.
Peter Gabriel was the original singer for the band Genesis. When he left the band Phil Collins (drummer) took over on lead vocals. The talent in that band was something special. Peter's solo efforts were amazing and his creative genius is head scratching. This song is off of his SO album, which was one of the biggest selling albums of 1986. This video was a monster on MTV and was unlike anything else on the video channel. It won video of the year at the MTV music awards. The song is about sex, plain & simple from a penis centered view. The lyrics are filled with phallic symbols throughout - "steam train", "big dipper" and of course "Sledgehammer". Other songs to react to - "In Your Eyes", "Shock the Monkey", "Big Time", "Biko". Many others
Great song. I remembered when it came out. Peter Gabriel was the lead singer of Genesis with Phil Collins on drums and back vocals. Pol became the lead singer after Peter left the band. Both great singers
Glad you are finally getting into the lead singer for Genesis. This has to be one of the best videos ever created before computers and such a classic song. Gabriel's solo work has amazing music, live concerts, and theatrics. I just saw his tour with the new album and he did not disappoint. The more you get into his music the better it gets. A deep well to draw upon.
we are of similar age, so i am sure you remember the eighties as i do. but if this is your first time watching the video then i cannot tell you hoe amazing the video was in 1986. i still rember watching it for the first time and being astounded. oh and peter gabriel was in genesis so you might recall his voice from there
This was one of the most innovative music videos that ever hit MTV. The stop motion animation was very cool. And as for the message, you were spot on. My man wanted that peach cobbler fruitcake... Jackhammer... classic!
He has a lot of great songs but I think the most recognizable one is In Your Eyes!! The song is just so beautiful! I think you’d want it in your playlist.
It is a joy to see your expression at 8 minutes, when you are like "is this his "booty call" language? Cause it's kinda weird!" At the time, the parents were clueless 😂
