Genesis – Mama
The lead single and the first song on Side 1 of Genesis’ 1983 eponymous album, “Mama” has a sinister sound. The sharp, echoed drum machine beat, the haunting, ethereal synthesizer that floats in after almost a minute of that harsh beat intro, and the lyrics referring to a young man’s love, almost obsession with a prostitute he meets, makes this a rather dark themed song, right off the bat. However, it’s also one of the band’s most memorable “forgotten” songs! How’s that for irony!
Phil Collins got his vocal influence from John Lennon’s cover of “Be-bop-a-lula” and the evil laugh from Grand Master Flash and The Furious Five’s hit, “The Message”.
The song became and still remains the band’s biggest single in the U.K., peaking at #4, but here in the states, while it played on Top 40 radio, it only managed to get #73 on the Hot 100.
What a shame.
