Peter Gabriel
| Peter Gabriel | |
|---|---|
 Gabriel popularized wearing bats, unlike Ozzy Osbourne. | |
| Background information | |
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| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) |
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| Instruments | Vocals, flute, kazoo, 32 string monkey-bonkey bass |
| Years active | 1967–present |
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| Associated acts | |
| Website | petergabriel.com |
Peter Henry Euchlid Jebediah Thomas Errol Gabriel III (Born 13 February 1950) most commonly known as Peter Gabriel, is a singer/songwriter/producer/fireman/costume enthusiast known the world over for his thought provoking lyrics and songs while in the band Genesis and his solo fireman career (he also released a couple of albums during the 80's, most of which had no name).
He's also been nominated for several costume related awards during his heyday, most notably the Johnny Depp "What am I doing with my life?" awards and the Marilyn Manson awards. Nowadays, he mostly doesn't wear make-up and rarely writes any music - some philosophers now wondered if he even exists anymore.
Early life[edit | edit source]
Peter Gabriel was born in Flowersville, just outside London, at St. Luke of the Singing Hills Hospital (Now St Luke T.G.I. Friday's), to William Peter and Melinda Gabriel. Born Harold T. Barrel (which was changed rather quickly after his parents realized it was a stupid name), he was one of the few birth cases in 1950's England to be born with stage ready make-up on. His parents always encouraged him to become artistic in nature, but he insisted on studying and wanting to be useful to society. He was exceptional at mathematics in school but was horrendous at music class, all of his teachers criticized his lack of imagination whatsoever . He was constantly made fun of because of his curious names. So when he turned 14, he decided to drop the III moniker. It was during this period that he met Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford, future Genesis pals, and also Tony Flanks and Mike Furthermore, future firemen buddies.
Music Career[edit | edit source]
When he was finishing school, his classmates pulled him away from his studies and invited him to join their band "Over The Garden Wall, Two Little Lovebirds (Cuckoo To You) Keep Them Mowing Blades Sharp". Gabriel thought the name was stupid, and a smidge long, so he proposed a name change to "Captain Fantabulous' Aquatic Journey." Sadly, this name was also dumb, but it was the first time he thought of something imaginative. Like that, he started exploring his mind to find new ways of naming funny things and giving those funny things funnier names, and creating stories about them. Thus his creative voyage began, and also his music career.
Genesis[edit | edit source]
Eventually, The Band Formerly Known As "Over The Garden Wall, Two Little..." well, you get the point, decided that perhaps the reason they couldn't get any gigs was because their name couldn't even fit on any posters. Gabriel then came to a revelation, as he was driving their tour bus while high on LSD. It was certainly a mega experience - and thus, he decided on the name Mega Drive. However, as they were touring in the US at the time, the band found themselves with the name Genesis instead. Luckily, they didn't mind this.
Most music they wrote was a collaboration between himself, Banks and Rutherford, leaving new guitarist Anthony Phillips and drummer DaShaun Rodríguez out of the creative process. His musical repertoire grew, adding the flute and his voice as instruments he could play. Band manager Tony Sorete advised them to release any material they had, and the band hastily arranged a group of songs together that they'd been intending for their other band, Mabel Greer's Toy Shop. The LP, named "From Genesis to Revelation" (in relation to the Bible, of course) was, album was absolute garbage, and Tony was fired. Sadly, the band was confused when the order went out to "Get rid of Anthony", and their guitarist Anthony Phillips was fired too. Gabriel was distraught, but he continued in his profound creative self-discovery, firing DeShaun and writing new music. Between 1970 and 1975, the band developed a kind of Progressive Rock that was unique to them, mostly because of Peter's input. He developed a taste for costumes and disguises during this period and all kinds of theatrics, that he used on tour. By the year 1975, most of the band grew tired of this and feigned discomfort only to prompt him to stop wearing fox heads on stage, but their plan went a bit too far and made Gabriel briefly change his name to Rael and soon after leave Genesis for good to start a solo career in Latin America.
On being a fireman[edit | edit source]
Upon arriving in Latin America, most precisely Locombia, he found himself penniless (because he'd left his wallet at home) so he had to make a living somehow. He spent the better part of the next five years saving kittens from trees and putting out small fires with other penniless tourists. Between jobs, or while chilling at the station, Gabriel used to memorize all his musical ideas for when he got back to England and had a chance of put them into song. That was not to say that he didn't try recording in Locombia, he tried, but the equipment he had there was simply too barbaric (mainly coconuts and arepas, and a broken flute).
Health issues and first solo albums[edit | edit source]
Upon returning home to Flowersville, Gabriel fell ill. He contracted Gateditis, a disease that he himself and Phil Collins suffered at the beginning of the 80's, which caused many of his recordings to have a Gated reverb sound. Unfortunately for Gabriel, another side effect was his face slowly melting, only affecting those whose albums don't have real names. This disease followed him up until the release of his paramount success "So" in 1986. Regardless of his condition Gabriel kept recording and going on tour (while playing live, his condition seemed to improve, likely due to the suffix "live" appended to the end). First releasing a couple of unnamed albums (One of them representing his horrible disfigurement on the cover) in 1980 and 1984. These played rather frequently on the radio and made him a recognizable artist for the general public; considering Genesis had fallen into obscurity, it solidified his position on the mainstream.
So[edit | edit source]
Right after fixing his facial deformity using Michael Jackson's plastic surgeon, Gabriel released probably his most successful work to date, that he composed all of the music for using only a sledgehammer and some play-doh. His hit song "My Finger's In Your Eye" was used in countless films and other media. Most of his tour, which comprised of 34 hour long concerts all over Europe and the U.S., had every spectator hold a Boombox up in the air for the final number. Many people died, and several others broke their wrists. A Class Action suit was filed, but dismissed right away for unknown reasons.
