Rock N Roll Pantheon
Ugly American Werewolf in London: Genesis - Invisible Touch
Published: 30 May 2026 at 13:00 Europe/London
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Episode notes
By 1986, the Phil Collins machine was in full gear. After coming off big solo success with the diamond selling No Jacket Required and having played on both sides of the Atlantic for Live Aid, the public (and the record company) couldn't seem to get enough of the Genesis drummer turned lead singer. The band sought to capitalize on that momentum by sharing music writing credits (each of them wrote lyrics solo) and starting from scratch in the studio at The Farm. The result would be their greatest popular success including their first #1 in the US and 5 total Top 5 Billboard hits.
But it being the mid-80s, the music wasn't always the only story. They had already had some turns on MTV in the previous 5 years (especially Collins solo work) but videos for their big hits were in regular rotation for over a year, including Land of Confusion which used caricatured masks and puppets from the British show Spitting Image. The unflattering rubber dopplegangers of the band followed the exploits of Ronald Reagan fighting the bad guys as Superman and was nominated for video of the year by MTV (former Genesis frontman Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer won instead). It allowed Genesis the opportunity to sell out arenas and stadiums in the US which anchored over 100 tour dates to support the album.
But does this standout from Phil Collins solo material? While Collins penned tracks like Tonight, Tonight, Tonight and In Too Deep did have eerily similar hallmarks of Phil's solo stuff, Mike Rutherford's Throwing It All Away is right out of Phil's playbook. While the Tony Bank's written Domino shows they didn't completely abandon their prog rock roots, Anything She Does is a flacid attempt at 80s pop with a video that inexplicably featured Benny Hill.
The musicianship is high quality as always but the technology of the day can sound dated and does anyone want to hear Phil play electric drums? Hugh Padgham had the magic touch in the 80s and with Phil but maybe that contributes to the songs sounding generic in some places. We like the album but do we hold it in as high regard as Selling England By The Pound? We try to figure that out...
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