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Tony Banks (musician)




Banks attended Charterhouse School in the mid- 1960s , where he met fellow student Peter Gabriel in 1965 . Together with drummer Chris Stewart they formed a band called The Garden Wall. This band merged with another called Anon, which included Rutherford and Anthony Phillips , and they recorded a set of demos which ultimately led to the formation of the band that became Genesis.

In its early progressive years, Banks' songwriting heavily influenced Genesis' musical direction, and his elaborate keyboard solos — such as the piano intro to "Firth of Fifth" and the instrumental section of "The Cinema Show" — were one of the hallmarks that established the band's larger-than-life sound. Notable Banks-penned songs from Genesis' repertoire include "Mad Man Moon," "One for the Vine," and the anthemic ballad "Afterglow," which remained a popular live song for years.

After Gabriel's and Steve Hackett 's departures from Genesis, Banks was the first member of the group to release a solo album. But unlike bandmates Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins , who saw great solo success, Banks' solo efforts usually sold only to a core audience of Genesis' devotees. He seemed unable to break out into mainstream success, as if he needed the framework of Genesis to make the public receptive to his songs.

Despite this, he remains one of rock's most respected — by critics and peers — songwriters and instrumentalists.

Banks has also created some '' by director Peter Hyams . After Genesis dissolved, Banks created some elaborate orchestral pieces, which he began recording in 2002 .

In 1998 , some fans pulled together a tribute band called Strictly Banks, and performed a set of Banks' solo songs, marking the first time most had been performed before a live audience.


TONY BANKS SOLO DISCOGRAPHY



EQUIPMENT USED BY TONY BANKS OVER THE YEARS



From Genesis to Revelation - 1969


  • Acoustic Piano



Trespass - 1970




Nursery Cryme - 1971




Foxtrot - 1972




Selling England By The Pound - 1973




The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway - 1974


  • Acoustic Piano on album only - Steinway - used on intro to The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway amongst others

  • Hammond L-122 tonewheel organ

  • RMI Electra 368 Electric piano

  • Mellotron M400 - with the 3 violins, 8 voice choir and Brass tape sets

  • ARP Pro-Soloist analogue synthesiszer

  • ARP 2600 analogue synthesizer (modified)



A Trick of the Tail - 1976




Wind and Wuthering - 1976




And Then There Were Three - 1978




Duke - 1980




Abacab - 1981




Genesis - 1983




Invisible Touch - 1986




We Can't Dance - 1991




The Way We Walk (We Can't Dance Tour) - 1991 - 1993



Tony used these synths to also control his 2x 20HE rack units with the following stuff in it:

  • E-mu Emulator III digital 16 bit sampler in rack form

  • Kurzweil 1000PX digital piano module

  • E-mu Proteus /2 XR sample playback modules (four units with Tony's own samples, one with Proteus presets)

  • Voce DMI-64 MkII digital organ module (two units)

  • Yamaha TX7 synth module - DX7 in a rack


All of the above are mixed into 2 Roland M480 mixer and put through Yamaha SPX90 effects and a Roland SDE3000 reverb unit. All midi routings done by 2 MidiTemp MMP88 patchbay. Audio routings from te mixer trough te effect units done with the Yamaha PLS1 line switcher which is also used to extract the JD800 audio and send it to the main PA desk.

Also used was a Midi Gate unit (brand unknown) which is used for the song Mama which they performed 5 times in the USA leg of the WCD tour.


Calling All Stations - 1997




Calling All Stations Tour - 1997 - 1998



These are then linked into 2 Opcode Studio 5 LX MIDI processor and 2 Custom-made MIDI mixers and used to control these rack units:


All of the above are mixed into a Mackie LM3204 line mixer then put through Yamaha SPX1000 effects processor (four units)and Roland SRV-2000 effects processor. A Yamaha PLS1 line selector sends this to a Chiddingford Mixer for his Shure SM600 transmitter to his ear monitor.