[6] The five were members in either one of the school's two bands; Phillips and Rutherford were in Anon with singer Richard Macphail, bassist Rivers Jobe and drummer Rob Tyrrell, while Gabriel, Banks and Stewart made up Garden Wall.

[6] In January 1967, after both groups had split, Phillips and Rutherford continued to write together and proceeded to make a demo tape at a friend's home-made studio, inviting Banks, Gabriel and Stewart to record with them in the process.

[10] From August to December 1967,[11] the five recorded a selection of potential singles at Regent Sound Studios in Denmark Street, London, where they attempted longer and more complex pieces, but King advised them to stick to more straightforward pop.

[12] In response Banks and Gabriel wrote "The Silent Sun", a pastiche of the Bee Gees, one of King's favourite bands, which was recorded with orchestral arrangements added by Arthur Greenslade.

[14][22] After the album was recorded, the band went their separate ways for a year; Gabriel and Phillips stayed at Charterhouse to finish exams, Banks enrolled at Sussex University and Rutherford studied at Farnborough College of Technology.

[51] As they had not found a new guitarist, Genesis resumed as a live act with Rutherford adding bass pedals and Banks playing lead guitar lines on a Pianet through a distorted fuzz box amplifier in addition to his keyboard parts, something that he credits in helping him develop his technique.

[52] In November 1970, after a second audition with Caryl fell through, Dave Stopps, owner of Friars club in Aylesbury, suggested they use Mick Barnard of The Farm, who joined the band for their gigs; which included Genesis's television debut on BBC's Disco 2.

[54] In December, Gabriel spotted a Melody Maker advert from Steve Hackett, formerly of Quiet World, who wanted to join a band of "receptive musicians, determined to drive beyond existing stagnant music forms".

[56] After Hackett joined in January 1971,[57] Stratton Smith organised a UK tour with Genesis opening for fellow Charisma acts Lindisfarne and Van der Graaf Generator.

Gabriel surprised the other members of the band at the National Stadium in Dublin on 28 September 1972 by wearing a costume on stage, following a suggestion by Charisma booking agent Paul Conroy.

[80] In December 1972 Stratton Smith organised the band's first gigs in the US, with a show at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts and one at Philharmonic Hall in New York City with openers String Driven Thing, in aid of the United Cerebral Palsy Fund.

[82] Gabriel's costumes expanded in the following months to include fluorescent face paint and a cape fitted with bat wings for "Watcher of the Skies", several guises throughout "Supper's Ready" and a mask of an old man for "The Musical Box".

[97] He proposed to the band a less fantastical and more complicated story involving Rael, a Puerto Rican youth living in New York City who embarks on a spiritual quest to establish his freedom and identity while meeting several bizarre characters on the way.

[110] He wrote a statement regarding his departure to the English press that was published in August 1975 titled "Out, Angels Out", explaining he had become disillusioned with the music industry and wanted to spend extended time with his family.

Collins proceeded to teach selected applicants the songs; Witches Brew frontman and flautist Mick Strickland[118] was invited into the studio to sing, but the backing tracks were in a key outside of his natural range and the band decided not to work with him.

[137] The band's growing popularity in North America led to television appearances and concerts organised in larger venues than previous tours, including Madison Square Garden in New York City.

[140] News of Hackett's departure coincided with the band's double live album Seconds Out, recorded in Paris on the A Trick of the Tail and Wind & Wuthering tours and released in October 1977.

[150] In the search for a new touring guitarist, Rutherford tried out Pat Thrall and Elliot Randall,[151] followed by Alphonso Johnson of Weather Report, but he was primarily a bassist and could not play Hackett's lead guitar parts comfortably.

"[154] Banks and Rutherford decided to put Genesis on an extended break and make their respective debut solo albums, A Curious Feeling and Smallcreep's Day, at Polar Studios in Stockholm, Sweden.

Each member contributed two songs for the group to develop: Banks put forward "Heathaze" and "Cul-de-Sac", Rutherford used "Man of Our Times" and "Alone Tonight" and Collins had "Misunderstanding" and "Please Don't Ask".

[181] Rutherford formed his group Mike + The Mechanics, Banks worked on his solo album Soundtracks and Collins released No Jacket Required, which achieved worldwide success and increased his popularity as a result.

"[182] In June, Collins spoke of the band's intention to start work on a new album that year,[183] ending rumours to a false announcement that aired on BBC Radio 1 suggesting Genesis had split.

[260] Selling England by the Pound contains references to English culture of the time including "Aisle of Plenty", where four British supermarket chains are referenced to reflect the album's theme of commercialism.

"[267] Banks said that a common way of developing songs throughout the band's career was for Collins to play the rhythm, Rutherford to set up a groove and riffs and for him to add the harmonies and melodies on top.

He cited the "Apocalypse in 9/8" section of "Supper's Ready", "The Cinema Show" and "Domino" as examples of this and says the restrictions it gave him allowed the group to produce straightforward pop songs such as "Invisible Touch" and "Land of Confusion" in later years.

[292] Likening his background to that of the punk artist Joe Strummer, who had become a "people's hero" musician, Gabriel stated in 2013, "To this day, we've never outgrown the snotty rich-kid thing ... we were always very straight about where we came from, and we were middle-class, not aristocratic.

[297] Retrospectively, The New Rolling Stone Album Guide critic J. D. Considine documented how the band had been "largely ignored" by the music press and public in their earliest years, before being "derided as middlebrow throwbacks still in thrall to the pomposities of art rock" in the late 1970s and then dismissed as "easy-listening lightweights" in the 1980s.

"[302] On their legacy, Q reviewer Andy Fyfe wrote in 2007 that "little of the band's output has aged well" and "transcends in the way real classics do", stating they would "remain perennial whipping boys for decades to come".

[303] The Daily Telegraph chief rock music critic Neil McCormick said that Genesis were "a daring and groundbreaking band (certainly in their early career)", described Collins as "an outstanding drummer" and stated that "after Gabriel left, he stepped up to prove himself a charismatic frontman with a very distinctive vocal character".

[308] Iron Maiden founder Steve Harris cited Gabriel-era Genesis as one of his main influences, describing "Supper's Ready" (along with Jethro Tull's song "Thick as a Brick") as one of his two favourite pieces of music of all time in an interview with Prog.