GAMES WITHOUT FRONTIERS

While the three remaining members of Genesis were not working as a band during the most part of 1979, Peter Gabriel was recording his thrid solo album titled "Peter Gabriel" like his previous two solo albums. Phil Collins was working with Gabriel in some of the songs that he was recording for this third solo album, and also appeared with him as guest at the Reading Festival in the same year. Gabriel also was working in the studio with recording engineer Hugh Padgham who specializes in making the sound of the drums very clear and present. Collins saw Padgham`s recording methods during his work with Gabriel and he liked these methods enough to call Padgham when Collins was recording his first solo album titled "Face Value" (1981). This also led Padgham to work with Genesis as recording engineer and later as co-producer in their studio albums from the eighties starting with "abacab" in 1981.

Peter Gabriel`s musical style also began to change with the recording of his third solo album which was released in 1980. Among the changes was a more emphasis in the presence of the drums and percussion, employing some African rhythms and instruments, a thing which became very characteristic from him in the following years. In this third album he also used drum kits without cymbals as an experiment. He also was writing more "dark" lyrics about some "dark" behaviours and some "dark" psychological aspects of people. One of the songs with this kind of lyrics was "Games Without Frontiers", a very good song about the politics of some social interactions and some things "done under the water" during these social interactions. In the song he also employed a bit of programmed drums, and I think that this song has some influences from New Wave music and even from David Bowie. There is a video clip done from this song with scenes acted by children (acting and dressed like politicians) and with also some scenes taken from war films. The video says more things in images than by listening only to the song on the album.

In the "B" side, the single had "Start" and "I Don`t Remember", both songs also taken from his third solo album. And both are presented played one after the other, as in the album. "Start" is an instrumental musical piece played with keyboards, while "I Don`t Remember" has some strange lyrics which maybe are about a person who lost his memory. It has very good playing by Tony Levin on the Chapman stick, a then new instrument.