Not every band chose their name thinking about the commercial side of the music business. So there are many names that might get people confused about what kind of music they make. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, the meaning of the word Genesis is “the origin of something, when it is begun or starts to exist”. But people who are religious might instantly link the name with the famous “Book of Genesis”.
So that was a problem that the British Progressive Rock band Genesis had in the early days. Because people used to think they were actually a religious group. To make things worse, their debut album was simply called “From Genesis To Revelation” (1969).
So many people believed they were actually a religious group and many records stores placed the album in the religious section. That debut record reportedly sold less than 700 copies and obviously, failed to reach their potential future fanbase.
How Genesis chose their name
The original members of the group were former Charterhouse pupils and they were named by the pop impresario Jonathan King. He was the one who made it possible for them to record many singles and their debut album in 1968. At the time the band was formed by Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford, Peter Gabriel and Anthony Phillips. It was after leaving King’s management that the band signed with Charisma Records and recorded their second album “Trespass” (1970).
In an interview with John Edginton in 2014 (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage), King explained why he gave them the name Genesis. “I gave them the name Genesis because that to me was the start of my production career. I’ve always regarded myself as a record producer more than anything else. That’s how it began,” Jonathan King said.
In the following years the band continued with many changes in their line-up, having a successful first era with Peter Gabriel on vocals. With him they released classic albums like “Nursery Cryme” (1971) and “Selling England by the Pound” (1973). But after he decided to leave the band in 1975, the drummer Phil Collins became the frontman. Their sound started to change but it was after the guitarist Steve Hackett left and only Collins, Rutherford and Banks remained that things really started to change.
Mixing Pop and Progressive Rock the group skyrocketed to the top of the charts and became one of the best-selling bands of all time. So nowadays, millions of people won’t confuse them with a religious group.