Talk:Peter Gabriel

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More information about this article... The following comments have been left for this page: I took a look at this article and it looks like a good, solid overview of Peter Gabriel's work. It could use some more references, though. The albums themselves would serve as the references to the personnel involved, but there could be some more referenceable material as far as his career progression. --Elkman - (Elkspeak) 16:08, 19 October 2006 (UTC) (edit)

[edit] Musicians and Collaborators

I have deleted the first line of this paragraph,

While the gaps between his studio album releases have become longer and longer (six years between So and Us, ten between Us and Up),

because it is demonstrably false. Gabriel's next studio album after "So" (1986) was not "Us" (1992) but "Passion" (1989). Similarly, Gabriel's next studio albums after "Us" were "Ovo" and "Long Walk Home" in 2000, and not "Up" as stated. Given that introducing qualifiers into the first would seem to amount to nit-picking, I thought it better to get rid of it altogether. --Justificatus (talk) 20:57, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] New Album Title???=

I am a little confused about the "Recent work and appearances" section of the article. It states that "... Peter Gabriel has announced that he will release his next album in the U.S. without the aid of a record company. Gabriel ... has raised £2 million towards recording and 'shipping' his next as-yet-untitled album in a venture with investment boutique Ingenious Media..."

The very next paragraph notes that "Gabriel's new album, Big Blue Ball, will be launched in America thanks to a venture capital trust initiative..." Is "Big Blue Ball" the official title of the album? Why does the previous paragraph state it is still untitled?

As a side note, I am a Gabriel fan but I have not been following the news recently. The last I heard, the new album was to be titled I/O (Input/Output), keeping up the tradition of two-letter words for the titles. Is "Big Blue Ball" the new name for I/O or is it an entirely different project? Thanks! 210.50.56.103 04:07, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

Further to what I wrote above, it seems Wikipedia has web pages for I/O and Input/Output (!) but none for "Big Blue Ball". Here are the links

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Input/Output_%28album%29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I/O_%28Peter_Gabriel%29

Is "Big Blue Ball" a reference to a Zorb ball by any chance????  ;-) 210.50.56.103 04:17, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Links

Sorry, I don't know where to put this. But, on his page, the links on the left side are messed up. Specifically the "Main Page" link looks different.

Does this piece need the five external links? And if it does, how about some text explaining what they are? It seems a bit silly - and typical of music entries in here - that people just add links but there's no indication of their content or value. --138.37.188.109 11:17, 9 Jun 2004 (UTC)

I fail to see how Gsl link to Peter Gabriel lyrics is classified as spam. Steven 07:10, 5 September 2005 (UTC)

(I think you want 195.50.201.11, not me. Geoff/Gsl 06:03, 2 October 2005 (UTC))

[edit] Bipolar disorder...

Well, as far as I'm aware, this bipolar disorder story was never confirmed... It's just a rumor and, despite some claims, the man never confirmed it. So, I think the sentence "It has been reported that he has bipolar disorder." does not belong in an encyclopedia, which needs to get its facts straight. For instance, the article could mention that he's known to be a vegetarianm although he recently admitted enjoying fish every now and then.

• I removed the cat. that suggested Gabriel is Bi-Polar. I have been a fan for 20 years and have never read or heard of anything that even suggests this. In my opinion it's nonsense and any cat. addition or entry that states this, should be supported with some facts, references or links Stephenjh 22:39, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

There's a lot of speculation out there to that effect (googling 'peter gabriel bipolar' will pull up dozens of examples), probably fuelled by some of his lyrics, but I don't know of anything solid enough to justify categorisation here. --Calair 00:42, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

Yes, but Googling something doesn't make it true. Just finding Gabriel's name on a list doesn't make it worthy of encyclopeadic entry. I would be more interested in finding this Bipolar issue in print in a newspaper, or magazine (and therefore archived on the net). I'm rather surprised to see it listed at www.IMDB.com too. I think it's just "net rumour" and / exaggeration. Stephenjh 08:38, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

Anybody can submit information for IMDB's 'trivia' sections, and AFAICT that stuff doesn't get checked very carefully. (You'll note that the same section also claims he's Phil Collins' cousin, which also seems fairly shaky.) I'm not arguing that the claim that PG is bipolar is true or that it should be included in the article, just that it's a fairly common piece of speculation and I'm surprised you haven't encountered it before.

Gabriel has certainly alluded to depression of some form; this Evening Standard article states that "[PG] has, in the past, talked at length about his own depression in his forties", and in this Yahoo interview he says "I have a depressive part of my nature and a hopeful, energetic side... It still oscillates between moments of depression and moments of joy and happiness." Combining such comments with his work patterns and some of his songs, there's plenty of fodder for speculation there.

That said, I am completely in agreement with you that the category doesn't belong on this article without stronger evidence than that. Articles should not be categorised on the strength of speculation, and IMHO people should not be categorised as bipolar unless we have evidence that they've been diagnosed as such by a competent psychiatrist. --Calair 11:38, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

Agree with the above. I believe Gabriel was included in a list in a book by Kay Redfield Jamison, stated as the primary source of a list much reproduced on the internet, but don't have a copy to hand. Gabriel has spoken publicly of psychotherapy, but not as far as I know of bipolar or explicitly manic states. --195.248.116.49 (talk) 20:32, 13 March 2008 (UTC)

With respect, the comments he made are an observation of himself, and one that we could all make to a greater or lesser degree depending upon our own self awareness. As humans, we all have mood swings and experience 'opposites', how we define and discuss them is subjective. Unless Gabriel specifically stated he's Bipolar, or it's been printed (unchallenged) in the press, I wouldn't want to see him defined as Bipolar on a Living Person Wiki Bio. Stephenjh 12:36, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

I'm not sure we're actually disagreeing on anything here :-) --Calair 13:22, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

No we're not :) But, as I deleted the cat. I thought it important to state why, add some discussion here, and check the consensus. Sometimes these things end up in unnecessary conflicts. Stephenjh 16:59, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

Birthday? Martin C. Strong's Great Rock Discography says PG was born May 13th, not Feb.

I have seen his birth certificate, it states Feb. 13 DisneyFreak96 05:49, 20 January 2007 (UTC)

To prevent No Original Research I am linking you to Real World Studios which mentions his birthday gifts in early March. "3-Mar-2007 This update brings talk of an emptier, more 'stripped-back' approach to audio in his current studio work, birthday gifts and high praise for the meastro of the upright bass Danny Thompson"--DizFreak ^{talk Contributions} 05:14, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

Any speculation obviously doesn't meet WP:V, and we should be careful to cite WP:RS in a WP:BLP, especially for a guy who admits to reading Wikipedia...-h i s ^{s p a c e} _{r e s e a r c h} 22:43, 27 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Vatche Housepian

I removed this section because it is off-topic and nearly unparsable. In nearly any album there are quibbles over credts. Why is this notable? If there is some notable dispute the reason it's meaningful needs to be clear, and I'd suggest it needs to go in the album article rather than here anyway. Jgm 15:47, 16 Feb 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Sub-headings

This article needs more sub-headings; but may require restructuring in order for them to be meaningful. Andy Mabbett 4 July 2005 20:54 (UTC)

The birthday is definitely Feb.

I'm new so I don't want to go trying to edit stuff on the main article but it was the Holmes Brothers and not the Blind Boys Of Alabama who sang on "Burn You Up, Burn You Down."

[edit] Musical Criticism

Just wondering if this could be a forum for musical criticism. The essay is great as far as it goes, and scholarly discussions of some of Gabriel's more enigmatic works would be a great addition.

For example, I was just listening to Kiss that Frog (for about the 100th time), and I was struck with the (obvious?) idea that while the song speaks to the general theme of transformation and rebirth (as implied in the main essay), it could also easily be read as pretty blunt metaphor for oral sex, with the frog representing male genitalia. This type of writing is exactly what we see in “Sledge Hammer.” "Come Talk to Me" also arguably contains allusions that are pregnant with similar meanings. An essay on this topic would examine lyrical themes and how they relate to musical themes, and would include supporting quotes and references.

(text below moved by Calair

re== Musical Criticism == first of all that is not musical criticism. He even said sledge hammer was an inuendo. [link to copyvio website removed] second "Come Talk to me" was about about the difficulty he had communicating with his daughter. [link to copyvio website removed] Kiss the frog was NOT about oral sex either. You need to do more research. Peter Gabriel is not some sick man who sings about stuff like that,except in sledgehammer of course ;).

Although you're probably right, be careful with using songfacts.com as a source for accurate information. For example, one of the facts on that Sledgehammer link says that Genesis had a #1 with "Invisible Touch" a few weeks after Gabriel, when really it was Genesis who was number one, and the following week, Gabriel knocked his former bandmates from the top spot. Only time that happened in Billboard history, too.--Ataricodfish 16:47, 14 April 2006 (UTC) (end moved material - --Calair 02:17, 18 April 2006 (UTC))

Sexual themes, positive and negative, are actually quite common in PG's songs. For instance:

• 'Sledgehammer', as above;
• 'Steam' (if the lyrics seem ambiguous, watching the video clip will settle any doubts on that score);
• 'Barry Williams Show' ("My SM lover hurt me, my girl became a man...");
• 'Counting Out Time', a Genesis-era song about a young man learning to make love from a book ("Erogenous zones, I question you/ Without you, mankind handkinds through the blues...";
• The end of 'Big Time' ("Look at my circumstance/ And the bulge in my big big big..." - while he doesn't complete the rhyme, the intent is obvious);
• 'Intruder' ("I know where to find precious things in all your cupboards and drawers... I like the touch and the smell of all the pretty dresses you wear...");
• 'Blood of Eden' - "In the blood of Eden/ Lie the woman and the man/ The man in the woman/ And the woman in the man". There are other ways that could also be taken, but it's hard to imagine that he didn't recognise the sexual interpretation.

FYI, the iTunes album review cites Kiss That Frog as a "fellatio ode" ... 18.220.1.58 03:33, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

I would actually be fairly surprised if PG hadn't realised that 'Kiss That Frog' could be taken sexually; it comes across as tongue-in-cheek to me. But Wikipedia isn't the place to conduct original research, including literary criticism and analysis; the most we can do here is summarize and point readers to pre-existing discussion on these topics. --Calair 02:17, 18 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Cousin to Phil Collins?

IMDB trivia and an Amazon review claim PG is Phil Collins' cousin - neither of those are really convincing sources, though. Anybody seen this mentioned elsewhere?

I've never heard such a thing. 10-20 years ago I picked over Gabriel/Genesis trivia pretty carefully. It's possible, I suppose. In the early 1980s a number of people made observations like "Peter Gabriel sure sounds/sings a lot like Phil Collins." But in fact Collins had been the drummer doing background vocals for several years behind Gabriel, and Collins' singing was heavily influenced for many years as a result. You can hear Collins in (for example) "The Colony of Slippermen" singing with Gabriel and he sounds very similar. By the time of Security and Abacab, Gabriel and Collins didn't sound that much alike anymore. Maybe this is the sort of thing that leads people to think they are related. Joseph N Hall 11:17, 1 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Name That Tune

A couple of years ago, I saw a video on VH1 for a song featuring Peter Gabriel's vocals on a track by some techno/eletronic group whose name I can't place. Anyway, the video is basically a guy falling out of the sky, hitting the earth, burrowing deep through the earth, coming out the other side, entering the earth's atmosphere, then (you guessed it,) falling back down to earth again and repeatin the process ad infinitum. Does anyone know the name of the track or the group he did this song with?

Radical AdZ

Afro Celt Sound System, "When You're Falling", IIRC --Calair 22:53, 15 January 2006 (UTC)

Freeman of London

Peters father is a Freeman of London. This gives the holder and the inheritor via old London corporation law certain rights. The title is usually passed down the male line.

[edit] Discography link

Hey all, while adding "see also" links on the Genesis discography page, I wanted to include links to both Phil Collins' and Gabriel's discographies. However, I was surprised to see there wasn't a separate page for Gabriel's. I've decided to be bold and create a separate article for Gabriel's discography, copying much of the information already on this page for the discography as it's primarily a list at this time making the article look unprofessional. I think just including the albums and perhaps a few most popular singles for this page would be most appropriate. Let me know what you think. Thanks! --Ataricodfish 02:15, 14 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Fan Site Links

Is there a need for all the fan site links? And if so, perhaps we should make it clearer which link is which? --DisneyFreak96 06:43, 21 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] German songs?

How does Peter Gabriel speak German? Where has he learn it? Dr.Poison 12:25, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

With an atrocious English accent. He think he learned it at school, like me, but unlike me he kept up on it. --Fantailfan 12:34, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

I agree with you (I am an Italian and I learned German and English at school). I always hated German because I thought it was too difficult, but after hearing Gabriel singing in German I started to appreciate it... I think that the sound of his music and the sound of his personal way of pronouncing German words are very well coupled...--Condor33 08:49, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

I see in Secret World Live he is speaking Italian at the start of "Steam." I know (from somewhere else, I don't know) that his French is excellent. Fantailfan 13:51, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] SEX Scene in music video

ok, listen to this. i was just watching the video for games without frontiers (its a dvd so no link) and i swear i can see a girl giving head in the movie. its at the part where peter says jane plays with lotti, lotti plays with jane and on the t.v. in the background theres a girl giving head. am i going crazy or can anyone else see it? if its there worth mentioning... - unsigned comment by 69.158.109.88 on 00:32 (UTC), August 19, 2006

I believe you are in error. I saw no such scene. What is displayed on the television monitors is the cycle of images of Peter playing with his face- the same sort of images that are full screen just before he starts to sing. link-[1] - Jeffrywith1e 09:23, 19 August 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for the YouTube link. That's just stunning. Gabriel said repeatedly in the 80s that he would never include the video for Games without Frontiers in a collection. That is in fact the first time I've ever seen it. It got extremely limited airplay. Do you know where that interview+video is from? Joseph N Hall 11:06, 1 September 2006 (UTC)

I suspect that's a re-edited video, and not the original. The version I'm more familiar with is available here. - EurekaLott 18:08, 2 September 2006 (UTC)

That interview segment is from the DVD - PLAY (with the introduction option turned on). - Jeffrywith1e 19:28, 2 September 2006 (UTC)

The video you posted is quite different in parts. I wonder if there was an issue with any of those children and release forms or something. Thanks for the link. - Jeffrywith1e 19:35, 2 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Gabriel + Laurie Anderson Live on MTV on New Year's Day, 198?

Gabriel and Laurie Anderson performed live at around midnight, New Year's Day, on MTV. I don't remember the year. Maybe it was 1985? They performed a very sparse setpiece-like version of "Excellent Birds." I was watching, saw it, et cetera. Does anyone remember this and/or have a reference for it? Joseph N Hall 11:31, 1 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Obligatory Twain quote here

Reverted edits by 69.142.21.24 claiming that PG had died on September 4 2006 as apparent vandalism (Googling turned up nothing by way of substantiation). --Calair 07:50, 4 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Photo

A more actual photo would be better. --141.43.142.156 16:12, 5 October 2006 (UTC)

While I'm not 100% sure what "a more actual photo" means, I think a current photo needs to be used in the infobox. The older photo can be used later in the article, but a date, or at least year, of the photo should be given. I did some looking around but I couldn't find any good photos, hopefully someone can find a better photo. Naufana : talk 22:03, 26 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Recon

Peter Gabriel starred in a short (very short) film called Recon. You can see it here;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1v5YAuooeo

Here's the blurb from YouTube;

"Peter Gabriel starred in a student film written and directed by Breck Eisner, son of Disney boss Michael Eisner. PG plays a cop named John Grant who pursues villians via technology, it was filmed in the LA Subway system in 1994. It was never released to the public. It was only shown at some film festivals. From The Box issue 3.1 (December 1994): 'Peter Gabriel has recently taken the lead role in a short film produced by Wild Track Productions in Hollywood. In the film, entitled "RECON", Peter plays the character of future cop John Grant, a man with no face, on a criminal investigation which takes him across the boundaries of time. The original screenplay was written by Director Breck Eisner and producer Steven Cantor. Music composed by Jonathan Elias. Filming took place in October on location in the new LA subway system. The experience was described by Peter as "exciting, and lots of fun, but exhausting!""--DizFreak ^{talk Contributions} 05:25, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

I'm not sure how accurate this is...certainly Gabriel's character has a face, but regardless it's an interesting project for him and I'd like to know more about it.

Mattcolville 18:34, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

It is accurate. PBS mentions it when they discuss Cantor's career including the film RECON. Last I heard the only way to see the actual film is to get a bootleg or You Tube. It was a college project for Eisner and Cantor.--DizFreak ^{talk Contributions} 05:25, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] The reference to gated drum sound

... Gabriel's third album is generally credited as the first LP to use the now-famous "gated drum" sound, invented by engineer Hugh Padgham and Gabriel's old Genesis band-mate Phil Collins.

I don't actually know what the gated drum sound is. Please can someone post a sample of audio demonstrating the gated drum sound.

Klynchk 12:56, 16 January 2007 (UTC)

Think of the drums in the transition to chorus in Collins' "In the Air Tonight". Electonically gated refers to how the analog sound of the drum beat is abruptly distorted at the end of the beat in a noticeably electronic fashion. But "talking about music is like dancing about architecture", isn't it? Piperdown 03:58, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

FWIW, there's a sample of that here. --Calair 09:42, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

The 'gated drum' thing piqued my interest so I followed the link which goes to 'gated reverb.' That article discusses 'gated drum' and Hugh Padgham but nothing about XTC's "Drums & Wires." So what's the real story? We've got an apparent bit of 'gated drum history' in two separate articles, and they don't fit together to give me a whole picture.

Influences:

[edit] Headline text ==

Quoting from this existing wiki on Peter Gabriel: "A lover of soul music, Gabriel was influenced by many different sources in his way of singing, mainly Nina Simone, Gary Brooker of Procol Harum and Cat Stevens. He also played the flute on Stevens' Mona Bone Jakon album in 1970."

I strongly believe this list should include Otis Redding. Many years ago I read a quote from P. Gabriel saying something like: (only a paraphrase) Otis Redding is the greatest singer ever recorded." Or something similarly superlative. Sgsmith, nola 19:49, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Peter Gabriel a fan of Wikipedia?

This article claims that Peter Gabriel is a fan of Wikipedia.

Another article by Gabriel himself in the news recently mentions Wikipedia, and another article related to Gabriel gives Wikipedia a passing mention.--h i s s p a c e r e s e a r c h 01:09, 12 May 2007 (UTC)

If so, then a big hello to Peter from an Australian fan of Genesis and his solo albums! :-) 210.50.56.103 04:13, 19 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Place of birth

Quite a few other source indicate Woking as Gabriel's place of birth (most recently, this Guardian interview: http://music.guardian.co.uk/pop/story/0,,2106277,00.html ), while Chobham's only mentioned as the place where he lived & went to school. So which is it?

Yes, which is? Encyclopaedia Britannica says Woking while Grove Music says Cobham but everywhere else it's (C(h)obham with no consensus. Hazel75 11:02, 13 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Big Blue Ball

I saw an edit to the article that included this title and Googled it (http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002950818) the resulting Billboard article is nearly a year old. I know Gabriel doesn't rush, but is this release still planned?

Yes, his latest song that was released on the Long Way Down soundtrack ("Whole Thing") is said to be the first single from it.70.247.40.231 (talk) 15:12, 10 February 2008 (UTC)