“Phil Collins played the drums then did his backing vocals. I said, ‘I don’t suppose you’ve ever thought of going solo?’”: Trevor Horn’s fun adventures with Yes, Genesis and Mike Oldfield, and sneaking prog into the pop charts
In a 2019 interview, veteran music producer Trevor Horn, co-founder of the Buggles, reflected on his career shaping some of pop and rock's most notable recordings, including his work with progressive rock acts Genesis and Yes. He recalled recording the classic Genesis line-up, including Peter Gabriel, for their 1999 reworking of "The Carpet Crawlers", and travelling to Switzerland to record Phil Collins separately for the track.
Horn shared fond, light-hearted memories of the session, including jokingly asking Collins whether he had ever considered going solo after hearing his vocal take. He also praised the individual personalities within Genesis, describing Gabriel as "the slightly crazy one" and Tony Banks as the group's core, while naming their 1976 album "A Trick Of The Tail" among his all-time favourites. The interview also touched on his work producing Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells II" in Los Angeles.
- Trevor Horn recalls producing Genesis's "Carpet Crawlers 1999" reworking
- He joked with Phil Collins about going solo after a vocal take
- Interview also covers Yes and Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells II"
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Trevor Horn is a British record producer best known for co-founding the pop duo the Buggles in the late 1970s and for producing hit records across several decades. He also has a long history working with progressive rock bands, including Yes and Genesis, and has been credited with bringing elements of prog rock's more ambitious, complex style into mainstream pop music.
Genesis, one of the acts Horn worked with, is a British rock band whose best-known members include Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins and Tony Banks. Gabriel was the band's original frontman before leaving to pursue a solo career, after which Collins took over as lead singer and later became a hugely successful solo artist himself; Banks remained a core songwriting figure throughout the band's history.
This background matters because it explains the world Horn is reminiscing about in this 2019 interview: his behind-the-scenes work recording Genesis, Yes and Mike Oldfield, and how his career sits at the crossing point between progressive rock's musicianship and pop's commercial appeal.