"The story of Genesis. Part 14: Three Sides Live" - By Peter Morton. Photographs courtesy Ted Sayers, Mike Ainscoe, Robert Ellis and Alan Perry. Memorabilia, TWR archive.

After another highly successful year for Genesis, 1982 saw the release of the final four songs left over from the Abacab sessions. The first, Submarine, ended up on the B side of the Man On The Corner single released in March 1982. The limited edition blue vinyl is very collectable and can easily command a price of £25. The other unreleased tracks came out in May 1982 as the 3x3 EP. These were; Paperlate, You Might Recall and Me And Virgil. The cover idea being a very clever send-up of The Beatles’ Twist & Shout EP cover. Paperlate, the lead track, once again featured the Earth, Wind & Fire horn section. It reached number eight in the UK singles chart, and gained the band another appearance on Top Of The Pops. Also released in 1982 was a one-sided green flexi disc of The Lady Lies which was given away with the June edition of Flexipop Magazine (the track itself had been recorded way back in 1978 at the band’s Knebworth Park gig).

Although the year didn’t produce a new studio album by Genesis, it did produce a double album and video called Three Sides Live, recorded on the previous years’ tour. Released in June 1982, the double album made it to number two in the album charts. UK fans were in for a special treat with the album, as the fourth side included additional live performances from some of the band’s previous tours. For the rest of the world, the fourth side was made up of the 3x3 tracks as well as Evidence Of Autumn and Open Door, both of which were previously only available on single B sides here in the UK.

A short (by Genesis’ standards) American and European tour followed the release of the album during August and September, with the band resurrecting some of their earlier classics such as The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, Watcher Of The Skies and Supper’s Ready. The live set ran as follows…

Dance On A Volcano/Behind The Lines/Follow You Follow Me/ Dodo-Lurker/Abacab/ Supper’s Ready/Misunderstanding/Man On The Corner/Who-Dunnit?/In The Cage-Cinema Show-Raven-Afterglow/Turn It On Again/Los Endos/The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway/It/Watcher of The Skies (Instrumental only)/I Know What I Like.

The Earth, Wind & Fire horn section appeared on stage with the band to perform No Reply At All and Paperlate at the band’s gigs at Forest Hills in New York on 22nd August.

The end of September saw Genesis perform some memorable shows in the UK including one at the famous Marquee Club in London on September 27th under the alias “The Garden Wall” which fooled nobody! During these final shows, Genesis also played a trio of gigs at Hammersmith Odeon and during the afternoon of each gig, took time to rehearse with Peter Gabriel for the forthcoming Six Of The Best reunion show at Milton Keynes Concert Bowl on Saturday 2nd October. This was originally going to be a charity show by Genesis as a way of helping Peter pay off some of the debts incurred by the artistically successful but financially disastrous WOMAD Festival which he had become involved with. Peter although not liable for these debts, felt honour bound to help repay them and thus the idea of the reunion gig finally took shape. So, the 1982 tour culminated with the show that many Genesis fans had always dreamed of; Genesis playing with Peter Gabriel once again!

Nobody could predict that the weather was going to be as bad as it was on the day but the fans didn’t mind as there was enough classic material to keep the 60,000 or so who attended extremely happy! A guest appearance by Steve Hackett or the final encores made this a very special day. The set list was different to the rest of the tour as well and ran as follows…

Back In NYC/Dancing With The Moonlit Knight/Carpet Crawlers/Firth of Fifth/Musical Box/Solsbury Hill/Turn It On Again/The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway/Fly On A Windhsield/Broadway Melody Of ’74/In The Cage/Supper’s Ready/I Know What I Like/The knife.

The year also saw the release of Mike Rutherford’s second solo album: Acting Very Strange, and also Phil Collins’ second solo album: Hello I Must Be Going and Peter Gabriel’s fourth solo album confusingly titled; Peter Gabriel! So, here endeth another hugely chapter in the history of Genesis. In part 15, another studio album, singles and a lengthy spate of touring all appear….