Plays Live | ||||
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Live album by | ||||
Released | 6 June 1983 [1] | |||
Recorded | November–December 1982, United States 1983, Bath, England | |||
Genre | Art rock | |||
Length | 89:53(original version) 66:50 (highlights version) | |||
Label | Geffen (US & Canada), Charisma | |||
Producer | Peter Gabriel, Peter Walsh | |||
Peter Gabriel chronology | ||||
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Singles from Plays Live | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [3] |
Rolling Stone | [4] |
Plays Live is the first live and fifth album overall by English rock musician Peter Gabriel. It was originally issued as a double album and long-play cassette in 1983, with sixteen songs. It was re-released in 1985, as a single CD called Plays Live (Highlights) with only twelve songs, some of which are edited so the album fits on a single disc. It was rereleased in its entirety as a double CD set in 1987. In 2002, a remaster of the Highlights version was issued. In 2019, the complete double-LP version was released on streaming platforms for the first time.
In 2021 the original 2CD version was released in remastered form. The sound recordings copyright (p) date featured on the back of the package suggests this had actually been remastered at the same time as the rest of Gabriel's back catalogue in 2002.
Armando Gallo took the cover photograph. "I was always listening to the music when I photographed a concert," he said. "Somehow my index finger pressed the clicker in time with the lights and the percussion - the heart of the music. I always felt grateful that I could shoot Peter’s entire shows. Once I asked Peter if he didn’t mind me being in the pit photographing his every move. 'No, I love to see a friendly face,' he answered. Making me feel good about it." [5]
The songs for "Plays Live" were recorded at the following venues:
Liner notes by "the producers" admit, "Although this album was compiled from four concerts in the mid-West of the United States, some additional recording took place not a thousand miles away from the home of the artist. The generic term for this process is 'cheating'. Care has been taken to keep the essence of the gigs intact, including 'human imperfection'."
"I Don't Remember" was issued as a single, with an accompanying music video, in the UK only.
In the US and Canada, "Solsbury Hill" was released as a single from Plays Live with "I Go Swimming" on the B-side. This previously unreleased song received airplay and made the US Mainstream Rock charts in 1983. It was initially recorded for Gabriel's third album [6] and was performed on his 1980 tour.
In several European countries, "I Go Swimming" was the A-side.
A live version of "Kiss of Life" from the 1982 tour appeared as the B-side of "Solsbury Hill" in The Netherlands. It was never included in any version of Plays Live although it was included in Gabriel's 2019 compilation Flotsam and Jetsam .
All songs written by Peter Gabriel.
This side was recorded at Memorial Hall, Kansas City, Kansas on 4 December 1982.
Chart (1983) | Peak position |
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Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) [7] | 55 |
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [8] | 21 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [9] | 40 |
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [10] | 25 |
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [11] | 31 |
UK Albums (OCC) [12] | 8 |
US Billboard 200 [13] | 44 |
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer-songwriter and musician. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched a successful solo career with "Solsbury Hill" as his first single. His fifth studio album, So (1986), is his best-selling release and is certified triple platinum in the UK and five times platinum in the US. The album's most successful single, "Sledgehammer", won a record nine MTV Awards at the 1987 MTV Video Music Awards and, according to a report in 2011, it was MTV's most played music video of all time.
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Peter Gabriel is the debut studio album by the English singer-songwriter and producer Peter Gabriel, released on 25 February 1977 by Charisma Records. After his departure from the progressive rock band Genesis was made public in 1975, Gabriel took a break to concentrate on his family life. In 1976, he began writing material for a solo album and met producer Bob Ezrin, who agreed to produce it. Gabriel hired several additional musicians to play on the album, including guitarist Robert Fripp and bassist Tony Levin. The album was later known as Peter Gabriel I or Car, referring to the album's artwork produced by Hipgnosis. Some music streaming services refer to it as Peter Gabriel 1: Car.
Peter Gabriel is the second studio album by English singer-songwriter Peter Gabriel, released on 2 June 1978 by Charisma Records. Gabriel started recording the album in November 1977, the same month that he had completed touring in support of his debut solo release. He employed former King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp, who was part of Gabriel's early touring band, to produce the album and incorporated his use of Frippertronics effects on the co-written "Exposure".
Peter Gabriel is the third solo studio album by the English rock musician Peter Gabriel, released on 30 May 1980 by Charisma Records. The album, produced by Steve Lillywhite, has been acclaimed as Gabriel's artistic breakthrough as a solo artist. AllMusic wrote that it established him as "one of rock's most ambitious, innovative musicians".
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Play: The Videos is a compilation DVD of music videos by Peter Gabriel, released in 2004. The DVD contains remastered audio tracks of songs in DTS 5.1 and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. The new surround sound mixes were created by Daniel Lanois and Richard Chappell.
Secret World Live is a film filmed in two Peter Gabriel concerts in 1993, as part of his Secret World Tour to support his sixth solo album, Us. The show is performed across two stages: a square and a circular stage, bridged by a conveyor belt. It was released on VHS, LaserDisc and DVD. An album of the same title with a similar track listing was also released.
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"Solsbury Hill" is the debut solo single by English rock musician Peter Gabriel. He wrote the song about a spiritual experience atop Solsbury Hill in Somerset, England, after his departure from the progressive rock band Genesis, of which he had been the lead vocalist since its inception. The single was a Top 20 hit in the UK, peaking at number 13, and reached number 68 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1977.
This is the solo discography of Peter Gabriel, an English singer-songwriter, musician and humanitarian activist who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career. His 1986 album, So, is his most commercially successful, selling five million copies in America, and the album's biggest hit, "Sledgehammer", won a record nine MTV Awards at the 1987 MTV Video Music Awards. The song is the most played music video in the history of the station.
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"New Song" is the debut single by musician Howard Jones, released in August 1983. The single reached number three on the UK Singles Chart, spending 20 weeks in the Top 75. On the UK seven-inch single, the song's lyrics are printed in a spiral on the A-side label, with all the credits printed on the B-side. It was released in the US in early 1984, peaking at #27 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The track later appeared on Jones' debut album Human's Lib.
Still Growing Up: Live & Unwrapped is a DVD film by Hamish Hamilton and Peter Gabriel. It features several live performances from Gabriel's 2004 Still Growing Up tour. The film aims to show Gabriel in a more intimate setting, discarding many of the stage antics featured in Growing Up Live. Bonus features include exclusive interview footage of Gabriel and his live band, live rehearsals of "Darkness", "No Way Out" and "Growing Up", as well as live performances of "Father, Son" and "Downside Up" on Later... with Jools Holland.
Memorial Hall, or Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Building, is a multi-purpose auditorium located in Kansas City, Kansas. The 3,500-seat auditorium, which has a permanent stage, is used for public assemblies, concerts and sporting events. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. It was designed by architects Rose & Peterson in Georgian style.
And I'll Scratch Yours is a compilation album developed by the English rock musician Peter Gabriel. Initially slated for release in 2010, the album was released on 24 September 2013. The original concept was that And I'll Scratch Yours would serve as a companion piece to Gabriel's 2010 covers album Scratch My Back. The idea was to give the artists whose songs Gabriel covered on Scratch My Back a medium to reciprocate – And I'll Scratch Yours would feature those artists covering Gabriel's songs. However, three artists declined to record covers of Gabriel's material. Therefore, three new artists contributed covers to the album instead.
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"I Don't Remember" is a song written and recorded by the English rock musician Peter Gabriel, released as the fourth and final single from his third eponymous studio album in 1980. Although originally only released as an A-side single in the United States and Canada, a live version released with the album Plays Live (1983) reached No. 62 on the UK Singles Chart and remained in the Top 75 in Britain for 4 weeks. The song was included in Gabriel's compilation album Shaking the Tree (1990) and two different versions were included in Flotsam and Jetsam (2019).