Track of the Week 6: 'Follow You Follow Me' by Genesis
Released 25th February 1978
In celebration of the fact that today is Genesis guitarist Mike Rutherford's sixty seventh birthday, this week's Track of the Week is 'Follow You Follow Me', a song released by Genesis in 1978. According to Rutherford, not only was the melody based up a chord sequence which he composed, but he also wrote the lyrics to the track in a mere five minutes. The song itself- taken from the album 'And Then There Were Three...' and the first by the band after the departure of long-time guitarist Steve Hackett- saw the band take a step away from the complex, often-cynical progressive rock style of previous LP 'Wind and Wuthering', and move towards a more soft rock, commercial sound. Obviously the transition paid off for them; at the time of its release, 'Follow You Follow Me' was the band's most successful single (reaching no. seven in the U.K. charts and no. 23 in the US). It also opened up several doors in terms of audience and accessibility that enabled them to become, at one point, the most popular band in the world.
