The year 1978 left a significant mark on my musical education – that’s when I got my first real tape recorder and began my adventure with recording records (mainly from Polish Radio 3 broadcasts). And yes, it was a legendary four-track Grundig, huge and heavy as a portable rocket launcher, plus a whole stack of 30-, 60-, and 90-minute black tapes, fragrant with music, that opened the door to the world of rock and rock 'n’ roll.
It so happened that two friends were also equipped with similar equipment, and one of them was particularly interested in so-called progressive rock, and it was from him that I played a Genesis album. I remember like it was yesterday the day the first song played, even the thrill it sent through me. Back then, I didn’t know the English song titles; I wasn’t even sure which album it was. Those who knew English at the time and could have spelled the album title correctly, but it’s worth listening to this album on real vinyl for at least the first two songs („Down And Out” and „Undertow”).
The album I’m referring to is …And Then There Were Three…, released on March 31, 1978. Genesis recorded it as a trio, Phil Collins/Mike Rutherford/Tony Banks (which the album title refers to: And Then There Were Three). It was from this album that the band’s first major hit, „Follow You, Follow Me” (in my opinion, not the best track on this album), emerged, which transcended the band’s fan base and captured the attention of a wider audience. The album itself was considered mediocre, serving as the final chord of their progressive sound as Genesis veered towards more mainstream rock (as is clearly evident, for example, in the third track on side one). While I have a few favorite songs on other albums by this band (e.g., „One for the Vine” from Wind & Wuthering), …And Then There Were Three… is a very important album to me, and I decided to add it to my vinyl collection.
Cover
I have the original first British pressing from 1978 (catalog number CDS 4010) with a beautiful gatefold cover.
When unfolded, we receive the lyrics of all the songs and the group’s logo in the form of a glowing neon sign.
Labels
My record has very distinctive labels that only appear on the first pressing:
The second UK pressing has a different label (as below) in two variants: with the Virgin logo (right) and without the Virgin logo (left).
Matrix / Runout
My record has the following matrix numbers: CDS4010 A//4 T 1 6 8 (side 1) and CDS4010 B//5 T 1 4 11 (side 2), but according to Discogs, you can find records with a whole lot of different combinations, such as -1 T / -4 T, -4 T / -1 T, -4 T / -4 T, all the way up to numbers -8 and -9.
My copy also has the word BANG scratched into the end area on side 1.