Synopsis

Genesis perform "A Trick of the Tail" in a brightly colored studio arranged around an upright piano. As the song progresses, Phil Collins appears in miniature, moving across the piano and Steve Hackett's guitar through simple optical effects. The playful presentation turns the band's first album with Collins as lead vocalist into a deliberately whimsical performance piece. In the closing moments, all four members are reduced to miniature figures on the piano keyboard, reinforcing the video's surreal sense of scale.

Factoids & Trivia

• The 1976 promotional clip was one of three videos made to promote the album, alongside "Robbery, Assault and Battery" and "Ripples." It marked an early move by Genesis toward using filmed promos as part of their television promotion.

• "A Trick of the Tail" was the first Genesis single to feature Phil Collins as lead vocalist. The video therefore helped introduce the post-Peter Gabriel lineup visually as well as musically.

• The miniature Collins was created with chroma-key effects, placing him inside the open piano and on Hackett's guitar. The technique was simple by later music-video standards, but its deliberately handmade look suits the song's playful fantasy.

• The title track's lyrics were inspired by William Golding's 1955 novel "The Inheritors." The song follows a fantastical outsider who leaves his own world, is captured by humans, and ultimately outwits them.

• Collins later described the clip as one of the most embarrassing and cringe-worthy videos of his career. That reaction became part of the video's legacy, although its eccentricity is also what makes it memorable among Genesis' early promotional films.

• The album was released in February 1976 and became Genesis' first major post-Gabriel statement, with Collins handling lead vocals while continuing to play drums.