I was never a Genesis fan - they always seemed to try too hard, too self aware, too smug or middle class too knowing and too smart somehow too ex-public schoolboy . . . . . . I don't know
the best thing Peter G ever did was to leave IMHO and I followed everything he did since leaving and thought this was a song that made me sit up and take notice . . . well most of them did. Look what the band did without him!? The drummer takes over vocals, I guess he has his followers but . . . . . . . pas pour moi. That Mike and The Mechanics should do something worth listening to later, oh so much later, speaks volumes to me

On this day in music history: February 25, 1977 - “Peter Gabriel 1 (Car)”, the debut solo album by Peter Gabriel is released. Produced by Bob Ezrin, it is recorded at The Soundstage in Toronto, Canada from July 1976 - January 1977. Following his departure from Genesis in 1975, Gabriel takes an extended hiatus to spend with his family and write material for what becomes his first solo effort. The album features Gabriel backed by a group musicians that include King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp and bassist Tony Levin. The first single “Solsbury Hill” (#13 UK, #68 US Pop) is an autobiographical account of his feelings about leaving his former band Genesis. The album’s closing track “Here Comes The Flood” is later re-recorded by Gabriel in 1990 for the hits compilation “Shaking The Tree”. The album is released without a title (the first of four that are untitled), it becomes known by fans as “Car” due to the LP’s cover art that features a photograph of the back end of a car (taken by Peter “Sleazy” Christopherson of Hipgnosis) with a photo of Gabriel superimposed in the back window. First released on CD in 1987, the album is remastered and reissued in 2002. It is also reissued as a limited edition vinyl LP by audiophile label Classic Records the same year. Another limited issue released as a double vinyl set mastered at 45 RPM is issued in 2009 by Classic Records. Most recently, another double vinyl 45 RPM set is released on Gabriel’s Real World Records in 2015. “PG 1 (Car)” peaks at number seven on the UK album chart, number thirty eight on the Billboard Top 200, and is certified Gold in the US by the RIAA.

thanks to the most excellent Jeff Harris' blog 'Behind The Grooves