Peter Gabriel

It's easy to get the rest of the band to talk about Peter Gabriel. 'Everyone knows what he tried to do,' says Anthony Phillips, another ex-member. 'He wanted the band to sell out.' For the first few albums, Peter Gabriel was the quiet, calm leader of the band, keeping time with his impeccable bass drum. But then the inward tensions and strains in the band started to show. 'He wanted to take us in this direction where no one else wanted to go,' says Steve Hackett. 'He was always saying, "We should do more love songs," and "We have to get more girls to come to the shows," and "What the hell is a Can-Utility?" and talking down to us. He used to call me a prat!!' Phil Collins agrees. 'All he ever wanted to write was three minute sugar pop, and when he didn't get his way, he'd yell at us and call us big-head babies. The first album was the only one he ever liked.' Unhappy with Gabriel's increasing control and contrariness, the rest of the band abruptly dumped him by purposefully shoving him into the crowd during a gig. He broke his leg, and even though the band finished the set, they left the stage before Gabriel could follow and drove off without him in his own Volkswagen van. Says Peter: 'What a bunch of f*cking a#$eholes. They're not fit to @#$%en my @#%%ing !@$#^$. And you can @#%ing quote me on that.' Since the unhappy breakup, Gabriel has enjoyed major success as one of a five-member boy band, dubbed 'Gabriel's Angels.' Even Tony Banks puts up his nose at the mention of this group. 'The other four members are recycled every two years, to keep the band under the age limit!' he sniffs, nervously fingering his shirt collar. 'Have you got a drink?' Recently, perhaps in an attempt to add more credibility to his shallow musical image, Gabriel has formed a touring big band jazz band, wherein he plays the bass drum.

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