Song:Sledgehammer
Album:So: 25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition
Most music fans probably became aware of Peter Gabriel when he was a founding member and lead singer of Genesis. As a solo artist, he is a world music adventurer. But he showed with the 1986 album So and the smash hit Sledgehammer that he could be commercial if he wanted to do that. It just doesn't interest him much. He was born Feb. 13, 1950 in Chobham, Surrey, England. His mom taught him to play piano. So he co-founded Genesis in 1967 and became known for his crazy onstage costumes. Among Gabriel's musical influences were Family lead singer Roger Chapman and Cat Stevens. Gabriel was thought to be the creative force of Genesis which irked the rest of the band and he left in 1975. Gabriel developed an interest in world music and his early albums reflected that interest. But he didn't have any big hits. With the 1986 album So, Gabriel decided to make a full blown pop record. As with his music for the film Birdy, Gabriel worked with Canadian producer Daniel Lanois who had worked with U2. Gabriel said that Sledgehammer was his chance to sing like Otis Redding. So it was clearly a Stax tribute and the horns were by the Memphis Horns. The music video by Wallace & Gromit creators Aardman was a big part of the song's success. Sledgehammer topped the Billboard Hot 100 in Aug. 1986 and So was certified 5XPlatinum. So is currently available in a 3CD 25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition. The other two CDs are Live In Athens 1987 and it also come with a booklet. Gabriel doesn't seem interested in doing a greatest hits comp. Gabriel could have continued to record pop music but he prefers to explore world music and he continues to do that on his Real World label. He is currently touring to celebrate the 25th anniversary of So. Here's the video for Sledgehammer by Peter Gabriel.
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