"Happy Birthday to... Me!" - As your Editor approaches his fiftieth year as a Genesis fan he takes a nostalgic look back at some of the events of those years. Memorabilia: TWR archive. Photographs by Mike Ellison, Alan Perry, Ted Sayers and Alan Hewitt.

It really is hard to believe that on 17 th December this year it will be fifty years to the day since I became a Genesis fan. How can I be quite so specific? Easy, that day is ingrained in my memory as the day that I first heard Genesis. The person to thank for that introduction is the late, great radio DJ Phil Easton whose Great Easton Express Radio Show ruled the airwaves in Liverpool in the Seventies and Eighties. It was he that on 17 th December 1976 played Genesis' latest opus; Wind & Wuthering on his show. The album had been released that day and so, as I listened I found myself fascinated by what I was hearing. We have to remember that this was a period in time where music such as this was very much de rigeur. Melody was out, cacophony was in and yet here was this band producing music of a truly symphonic nature which immediately appealed to my musical leanings – I was hooked!

So, now almost fifty years on from that I will indulge in a bit of a sentimental journey through some of the highlights that both the band and I have shared, I hope you find it interesting.

1977 was the year where it all began for real. For reasons which still elude me, I didn't see Genesis on their magnificent Wind & Wuthering tour, Steve Hackett's swansong with the band, an omission which I still kick myself about even afterall these years. However, I DID manage to catch Peter Gabriel several times on his debut solo tour including a brace of gigs in my home town. Indelibly etched on my mind, As a rookie newbie I had no idea what to expect from Peter but then again, “Expect The Unexpected” used to be one of his tag lines. If I was expecting a remote bizarre clad alien, I was to be disappointed, as Peter returned to normality and was, dressed in a grey tracksuit and later on, his alter ego Rael's leather jacket and jeans. Musically these gigs were so much fun and the start of a musical adventure which has continued for both of us. 1978 and the wait for the BIG ONE (sorry!) ended as I managed to see Genesis in all their glory at that year's Knebworth Festival. In fact, it was the year of “Two Knebworths” as Peter also graced the stage at a second event there in September. Of the two, the former was definitely the better both musically and audience wise. The billing on the second was definitely not to my taste but I had to be there to see Peter, didn't I?

As if that wasn't enough, Mr Hackett also decided to tread the boards and I managed to catch him for the first time at the Apollo Theatre in Manchester and what a wonderful time that was! With two successful albums under his belt, and a third brewing the show was a marvellous mix with a nod to his former bandmates in the shape of a rambling I Know What I Like.

The early 1980's were an increasing round of gigging up and down the country as the band, Peter, Steve and young Mr Collins were soon regulars in my concert calendar. Phil's first gigs in 1982 were memorable for the sheer power of the performances and the strength of the solo material. For me 1982 was also an incredible year beginning with my first overseas trip for a gig – Genesis of course accompnaied by “special guests” King Crimson. I won't dwell on this gig as it has been documented in glorious detail elsewhere in the pages of TWR. That and the legendary reunion gig with Peter Gabriel at Milton Keynes to help bail out his artistically successful but financially disastrous WOMAD festival (more of that elsewhere in this edition). Once again, that day has been documented elsewhere inTWR let's just say it was a tad wet but unforgettable!

The late 1980's were where everything changed. After what proved to be the first of my crazy tours following the band on their massive Invisible Touch tour (forty years ago where has that time gone, eh?) the reluctant decision (yes it was a very reluctant decision on my part) to join in the assemblage of what was eventually called The Waiting Room took place. I look back at that decision now with a mixture of pride and disbelief. It certainly changed the course of my life in ways which I could never have imagined.

A letter arrived early in 1988, another moment which had ongoing repercussions. That letter was from Anthony Phillips in response to a request for an interiew for our fledgling magazine which somehow had survived into its second year of existence. The resulting interview and our first with Mr Hackett both arrived within a couple of weeks of each other. They opened the doors to two friendships which I am proud to say have been ongoing now for thirty eight years. Creating one magazine was crazy enough but in the early Nineties I totally lost control of my good senses and decided to create a second one. Why? As a result of the increasing correspomndence we began to receive about Anthony's career, I humourously suggested the establishment of hos ownfan club to him fully expecting him to laughand question my sanity and say no thank you. The swine didn't he gave me his blessing – cue ten more years of work on The Pavilion alongside The Waiting Room, you really do get lesser sentences for murder! Thankfully I was ably assisted in this endeavour by young Mr Jonathan Dann, an equally crazy individual who has since gone on to be the custodian of what is now Ant's official web site as well as being Anthony's archivist without whom many of those wonderful box set releases from Esoteric Records may not have come to fruition.

As we got into the Nineties things got more involved. By now The Waiting Room was established with a worldwide readership. The band, and more importantly their management began to pay attention and think it worthwhile to provide us with access to one or more of the band for interviews. They also facilitated the increasing number of competition prizes which we were able to off to you, rhe readers. I am very please not to say proud that those working relationships with the people who are effectively the gatekeepers for the band, have gone from strength to strength and I would like to express our sincere gratitude for that here and now.

Of all the interiews TWR has conducted there have been some truly memorable, occasionally hilarious ones but they all have one thing in common; the interview subjects have always been generous with their time. Of course, you remember some more than others such as the first time we were able to chat to Tony Banks. What I thought would be a relatively short affair turned into a marathon three hour session with occasional interruptions for a Test Match update! How can I forget walking in to the room to interview Phil Collins as part of the promo round for his Not Dead Yet book and tour to be be greeted by a smiling Phil whose opening line was... “Well, waddya want, you fuck?” You simply can't forget that now, can you?

Being asked to be part of things also became a part of TWR/The Pavilion. Helping with track selections for albums, transcribing lyrics for Japanese box sets, providing archival material for projects and ultimately being researcher and interview subect on the now infamous Genesis Songbook were all part and parcel of a day's work here at TWR HQ.

Temporary insanity led to my agreeing to travel to Canada to see a Genesis tribute band in 1998. The band in question will be no strangers to you : The Musical Box. It was as a result of encounters in Montreal that I finally decided to have a go at writing a book about the band. We all know how well that went don't we? Seriously I would never have thought it possible, but what do I know eh? And there you have it, some of the fifty years' worth of memories of what has been for me at least a truly remarkable life as a fan of this most remarkable of bands.