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Mama (Genesis song)
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Wikipedia article
"'Mama'" is a song by the English rock band Genesis, released as the first single in 1983 from their self-titled album. It is recognisable for its harsh drum machine introduction composed by Mike Rutherford, which leads into minimalist synthesizer lines in a minor tonality and finally Phil Collins' reverb-laden voice. It remains the band's most successful single in the UK, peaking at No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart. It also made the top 10 in Switzerland, Austria, Norway, Ireland and the Netherlands. It was less popular in the US, only reaching No. 73 on the 'Billboard' Hot 100. A 1992 re-release of the single managed to reach the Top 40 in Germany.
The song resurfaced in 2007 as part of the Turn It On Again tour, albeit transposed down a whole tone to account for the deepening of Phil Collins' voice.
Theme
The song's theme involves a young man's longing for a particular sex worker. On the DVD 'The Genesis Songbook', the band and producer Hugh Padgham revealed that the inspiration for Collins' laugh came from rap music pioneer Grandmaster Flash's song "The Message".
From the 1983 Genesis 'Three into One' Wavelength 3-LP vinyl radio show interview:
Recording
The Linn LM-1 rhythm was programmed by Mike Rutherford, rather than drummer Collins. It was fed through an AMS RMX-16 reverb on the gated reverb setting and then into a Fender amplifier (though Mike Rutherford remembers it was a Mesa/Boogie model) with a large amount of distortion. The signal from the amp was mixed with a direct signal from the Linn to give the drum sound some character. Tony Banks used a Synclavier, ARP Quadra, E-mu Emulator, and Sequential Circuits Prophet-10 in the recording. The Quadra's rhythmic pulses were triggered by the 16th note hi-hat pattern coming from the Linn drum machine. A low E drone was recorded on the Prophet-10 through most of the song. A koto, which happened to be in the studio one day, was sampled into the Emulator and used in the song because it was felt that no other sound worked in the section.Banks, Tony. "Tony Banks & the Evolution of Genesis". Interview by Dominic Milano. 'Keyboard Magazine', November, 1984.
Music video
The music video for the song plays out the lyrics, showing Collins singing to a mysterious woman while Banks and Rutherford play in the background. The video is shot in a sepia tone until halfway through when colour fades in.
Versions and live performances
There are at least four versions of the studio recording of "Mama": the original, full-length cut (7:27, released as a 12" single and later as a CD single, backed by the full-length 6:27 version of "It's Gonna Get Better", also in a shortened version on the 'Genesis' album); a somewhat early-faded version (6:46, released on the 'Genesis' album itself); an edited version (6:07, released as a 7" single and on the compilation album 'Turn It On Again Best of '81'83'); and a heavily edited version (5:18, released on the promotional video, promo DJ 7" and 12" singles, and the 1999 compilation album 'Turn It On Again: The Hits'). An extremely rare 3:30 and heavily edited version was released on a 1983 Italian promo 7-inch. A 10:43 "work in progress" take from the 1983 sessions is included at the end of the third disc of 'Genesis Archive 2: 19761992'. This demonstrated how Genesis would try out new songs; the band would play while Phil Collins would just sing anything that came to mind, normally without actual words.
The song was played live during the Mama Tour, Invisible Touch, We Can't Dance,(only for the first shows) Calling All Stations (with Ray Wilson on vocals), Turn It On Again and The Last Domino? tours.
A live version appears on their albums 'The Way We Walk, Volume One: The Shorts' and 'Live Over Europe 2007', and their DVDs 'Genesis Live at Wembley Stadium' and 'When in Rome 2007'. The song also appears on the 1985 home video release 'The Mama Tour'.
The song was heard in its entirety in the Magum PI episode "Death and taxes" from 1986.
Personnel
* Phil Collins vocals, drums
* Tony Banks keyboards
* Mike Rutherford Gibson SG electric guitar, bass guitar, Linn LM-1 drum machine
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
Cover versions
"Mama" was covered by the band Magellan on the 1996 Genesis tribute album 'Supper's Ready'. The song was also covered by the French extreme metal band Carnival in Coal and released on their album 'French Cancan' (1999). Brazilian power metal band Angra covered the song on their EP 'Hunters and Prey' (2002). "Mama" was covered by the Finnish heavy metal band Tarot as the second track on the single for "Undead Son", the only single release from their 2003 album 'Suffer Our Pleasures'.
References
Category:1983 singles
Category:1980s ballads
Category:Genesis (band) songs
Category:Rock ballads
Category:Songs about prostitutes
Category:Songs written by Tony Banks (musician)
Category:Songs written by Phil Collins
Category:Songs written by Mike Rutherford
Category:Song recordings produced by Hugh Padgham
Category:1983 songs
Category:Atlantic Records singles
Category:Vertigo Records singles
Category:Virgin Records singles
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