Then there was Genesis. I was introduced to their music by my mother, who worked in the record department of a department store called Korvette’s. She brought this album home from work one day and gave it to me, because she thought I’d like Tony Banks’ keyboards in the song Abacab, which she described as “A pulsing conversation starter” in the middle of the LP version of the song. I was amazed: she called it, like Babe Ruth’s famous shot in the 1932 World Series. I also found myself liking Phil Collins’ drumming, especially with how well it complimented Tony’s playing. I can still feel my mother’s smile, growing on my neck like an August sunrise when I played the album, French poodle paw prints blooming on the living room window like strange, sweaty flowers.
