Writers: Tony Banks, Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford
Producer: David Hentschel and Genesis
Recorded: Late 1979 at Polar Sound Studios in Stockholm, Sweden
Released: March 1980
| Players: | Phil Collins — vocals, drums Tony Banks — keyboards Mike Rutherford — guitar, bass |
| Album: | Duke (Atlantic, 1980) |
Though it only reached Number 58 on the Billboard Hot 100, “Turn It On Again” has proven to be one of Genesis' most enduring hits.
The song did hit Number Eight on the U.K. chart.
With its references to watching TV and virtual experiences, “Turn It On Again” took some of its lyrical inspiration from the book and film Being There.
“Turn It On Again” had originally been part of an album-long suite of songs that loosely told a story about a character named “Duke.” The suite was broken up throughout the album's running order before Duke was released. On the tour to promote Duke, Genesis played the songs in their original order
The music for the song grew out of jams that band members Tony Banks, Phil Collins, and Mike Rutherford had in lieu of writing songs separately.
A favorite during its live shows — it was often the last song of the evening — Genesis took to expanding “Turn it On Again” by tacking on snippets of older rock and R&B hits such as the Rolling Stones' “(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction” and Wilson Pickett's “In the Midnight Hour.”
The Duke album came after an atypical two-year break, mostly owing to Collins' decision to move briefly to Vancouver to try to reconcile with his wife.
During the break, keyboardist Banks and guitarist-bassist Rutherford released solo albums, while singer-drummer Collins wrote a number of songs, some of which were used for Duke and others that appeared on his first solo album, Face Value.
The Collins solo hits “In The Air Tonight” and “Missed Again” were among the songs Banks and Rutherford rejected for Duke.
Genesis had been one of the bands attacked by the growing punk rock movement in Britain, but Banks says the group had no problem weathering the criticisms. “We had been through the punk era and everyone had predicted our downfall, and yet …And Then There Were Three was by far our biggest-selling album. More people listened to us than ever before… We never considered NOT carrying on. Fashions come and go, you know.”
Duke peaked at Number 11 on the Billboard 200 and was Genesis' first Number One album in the U.K.
The profits from Duke allowed Genesis to build its own studio, The Farm, in Surrey, England, where subsequent albums were recorded.
