Maybe, or maybe not, your elders had forwarned you that the only thing worse than a horse thief is a dishonest musician. Many of you who've read old interviews of P. Gabriel have seen his lines about never being connected to the drug culture and disdaining the use of them. There are also accounts out there that say Phil Collins once lectured an audience for smoking dope during the concert (Duke Tour, I think).

Yet how many of you recall that moment in the early 1980s when some European drug kingpin was busted, making some international headlines? I can't recall his name, he was either a Dutch or a Danish person. Allegedly he was being investigated for years beforehand, and it was said that alone he supplied (so many) million-dollars worth of hashish and pot to his 3 regular customers - Pink Floyd, ELP and Genesis.

Now at the time of this big supplier getting arrested, Phil was just starting to become a household name, largely due to his escalating solo career. So he was the one who was asked, directly by a reporter, about this pot and hash stuff. Playing the sly fox Phil replied, "We've never heard of him."

And yet, there is a small passage in one his autobiographies where he comments on the all the "grass" he smoked during The Lamb Tour.

Phil Collins 1 and Phil Collins 2. Which Phil is telling the truth (and which one really played drums on "Wot Gorilla?"?)?

All I know is that:

Peter has accepted he smoked pot once and ate a hash brownie somebody left at his house after a party  another thime, but the experience was terrible and he thought he was going to die, so he never usedc them again.

Phil has smoked pot and there are pictures of early Genesis concerts in which he was smoking a joint, I believe Steve Hackett also.

About Tony and Mike, there is no information.

Iván

No big deal. For the sweet music they've given us, they can get as high as they want.

Genesis on drugs? aouch

but if they used only grass does it counts ?

They where against drugs culture, that's the main idea, they didnt say they dont smoke from time to time

i cant imagine Peter Gabriel writing The Lamb on a 100% lucid state

After being wandering in the street and thinking he was going to die because his heartbeats rised over 150 per minute, I can understand he never used drugs.

Besides the best drug is your own imagination.

Iván

Here is the breakdown:

Peter and Tony - never touched 'em. PG tried it once and hated it.

Phil, Mike and Chester - all smoked dope at least. I think Phil even dabbled in coke with his buddy Eric Clapton in the 80s but never made a habit of it. Phil has spoken of a show where he & Chester had some Hawaian pot, and they were warned that "you only need one puff" - Phil says "...so of course, we had two puffs!" and when they went onstage, he almost forgot the lyrics to the opening song ("Deep In The Motherlode" I think it was) until the last second before he was due to sing! Also Phil calls the Lamb tour his "grass tour". Mike also smoked pot a lot in the 70's and did an anti-drug  radio ad in the 80's where he says "Drugs were a very destructive force in my life".

Steve & Daryl - no idea.

Well, okay if you're going to talk about pot like it's some "horor of horrors", how often do you suppose any of them have used alchohol? Do you suppose Gabriel maybe had a couple of drinks during his composing of "Lamb." Does this make him "dishonest?" Do you think maybe Gabriel may be drinks too much? Maybe a bit too much? Gets a pretty good buzz going?

Do you suppose Gabriel or Collins or Hackett drinks some liquor everyday, maybe at night? Do you think it matters? Is it okay? Or is being always lucid the most important quality in a artist's life?