From the Archive. TWR trawls through its archives to bring you a few more interesting bits and pieces.

Steve Hackett interviewed on WNEW Radio on 9th April 1976. Interviewer: Scott Muni. Transcription by Alan Hewitt. Memorabilia: TWR Archive. Photographs: Alan Perry.

INT: Last night was Philadelphia? That’s better than a trip through mid America…

SH: A relatively short hop only 100 miles last night.

INT: How has the tour been going so far?

SH: very well. We’ve just done the Canadian half and the American is just beginning. Philadelphia, we have done Buffalo, New York tonight, New York tomorrow night.

INT: Well, Genesis now has a bit of new flavour and was it your idea to try Canada and see how everything was moving and then when you were all feeling comfortable to come here?

SH: Yeah basically.

INT: How is it working? Will you tell us some of the members and how everything is working out now?

SH: I don’t know if people are aware of the fact but a young drummer called Bill Bruford is now with us. An ex- King Crimson and Yes man and he is supplementing on drums while Phil is taking over the singing role. That doesn’t mean to say that Phil has entirely renounced his drumming position though so we have a double drum battle at various times and there is quite some propulsion that comes from that. I would say the emphasis now was very much more on the music although we haven’t ditched the visual side.

INT: It sounds like an interesting thing, the audience reaction has obviously been good?

SH: It has been very good.

INT: So this is the third show of the American leg, how long are you going to be on the road?

SH: For about another month. There may be a South American but added at the end but we are not sure as it is kind of difficult to organise things there. It might be just a promotional visit.

INT: I was pleased to see that by the advance the first show sold out and you added another one which means that there are a lot of people in New York who are eager to catch Genesis .

SH: It’s nice to have that kind of assurance because we weren’t really sure before we set foot here how things were going to go.

INT: The second show was added, do you know if that has sold out?

SH: I don’t know! (laughs)

INT: Steve, your new solo album, did you use any of the people in the group or did you just do this in your free time when you had any?

SH: Well, we were touring with the last show, The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway for quite some time and so I had a lot of time to write and get it together. I decided to use a couple of guys from the band but mainly I used outside people. I used Phil Collins to drum and sing and Mike Rutherford who wrote some things with me for it. Basically it really worked out quite nicely. There were a few other people who I wanted to work with for quite some time like my brother and Sally Oldfield, sister of Mike Oldfield.

INT: How did you arrive at the title, Voyage Of The Acolyte?

SH: Star of Sirius was taken from a Tarot card actually as were the other tracks on the album, you know the Tarot care the Star which is supposed to represent optimism which I think is the nearest approximation to that. I had an experience with them and that is what turned me on to Tarot cards. It seemed particularly pertinent to me at that particular moment in my life and things were suggested to me, things I would never have come to by myself.

INT: I first saw Genesis at our Christmas concert back in 1972, and I had to really think of that…

SH: Good memories. I think WNEW was the first station to start playing us. This place feels like home, New York.