Plays Live

Plays Live is the first live and fifth album overall by English rock musician Peter Gabriel. Entitled simply Peter Gabriel, it was originally issued as a double album and long-play cassette in 1983, with sixteen songs. It was rereleased in 1985, as a single CD called Plays Live (Highlights) with only twelve songs, some of which are edited so the album fits on a single disc. It was rereleased in its entirety as a double CD set in 1987. In 2002, a remaster of the Highlights version was issued. In 2019, the complete double-LP version was released on streaming platforms for the first time.

Plays Live
Live album by
Peter Gabriel
Released8 June 1983 [1]
RecordedNovember–December 1982, United States
1983, Bath, England
GenreArt rock
Length89:53 (original version)
66:50 (highlights version)
LabelGeffen (US & Canada), Charisma
ProducerPeter Gabriel, Peter Walsh
Peter Gabriel chronology
Peter Gabriel
(1982)		 Plays Live
(1983)		 Birdy
(1985)
Singles from Plays Live
  1. "I Don't Remember"
    Released: June 1983 (UK)
  2. "I Go Swimming"
    Released: 1983 (Europe)
  3. "Solsbury Hill"
    Released: August 1983 (US)[2]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[3]
Rolling Stone[4]

In 2021 the original 2CD version was released in remastered form. The sound recordings copyright (p) date featured on the back of the package suggests this had actually been remastered at the same time as the rest of Gabriel's back catalogue in 2002.

"Plays Live" concerts were recorded at:

Liner notes by "the producers" admit, "Although this album was compiled from four concerts in the mid-West of the United States, some additional recording took place not a thousand miles away from the home of the artist. The generic term for this process is 'cheating'. Care has been taken to keep the essence of the gigs intact, including 'human imperfection'."

Armando Gallo took the cover photograph. "I was always listening to the music when I photographed a concert," he said. "Somehow my index finger pressed the clicker in time with the lights and the percussion - the heart of the music. I always felt grateful that I could shoot Peter’s entire shows. Once I asked Peter if he didn’t mind me being in the pit photographing his every move. 'No, I love to see a friendly face,' he answered. Making me feel good about it."[5]

The album's previously unreleased "I Go Swimming" received airplay and made the US Mainstream Rock charts in 1983. The song was initially recorded for Gabriel's third album[6] and was performed on his 1980 tour.

"I Don't Remember" was issued as a single, with an accompanying music video, in the UK.

Track listing

All songs written by Peter Gabriel.

Disc one
Side one
  1. "The Rhythm of the Heat" – 6:26
  2. "I Have the Touch" – 5:18
  3. "Not One of Us" – 5:29
  4. "Family Snapshot" – 4:44
Side two
  1. "D.I.Y." – 4:20
  2. "The Family and the Fishing Net" – 7:22
  3. "Intruder" – 5:03
  4. "I Go Swimming" – 4:44

Disc two
Side three
  1. "San Jacinto" – 8:27
  2. "Solsbury Hill" – 4:42
  3. "No Self Control" – 5:03
  4. "I Don't Remember" – 4:19
Side four

This side was recorded at Memorial Hall, Kansas City, Kansas on 4 December 1982.

  1. "Shock the Monkey" – 7:10
  2. "Humdrum" – 4:23
  3. "On the Air" – 5:22
  4. "Biko" – 7:01

Disc one
  1. "The Rhythm of the Heat" – 6:26
  2. "I Have the Touch" – 5:18
  3. "Not One of Us" – 5:29
  4. "Family Snapshot" – 4:44
  5. "D.I.Y." – 4:20
  6. "The Family and the Fishing Net" – 7:22
  7. "Intruder" – 5:03
  8. "I Go Swimming" – 4:44

Disc two
  1. "San Jacinto" – 8:28
  2. "Solsbury Hill" – 4:40
  3. "No Self Control" – 5:02
  4. "I Don't Remember" – 4:20
  5. "Shock the Monkey" – 7:40
  6. "Humdrum" – 4:03
  7. "On the Air" – 5:20
  8. "Biko" – 6:50

Plays Live (Highlights)
  1. "I Have the Touch" – 4:47
  2. "Family Snapshot" – 4:47
  3. "D.I.Y." – 4:05
  4. "The Family and the Fishing Net" – 7:38
  5. "I Go Swimming" – 4:54
  6. "San Jacinto" – 8:19
  7. "Solsbury Hill" – 4:41
  8. "No Self Control" – 5:04
  9. "I Don't Remember" – 4:12
  10. "Shock the Monkey" – 7:10
  11. "Humdrum" – 4:21
  12. "Biko" – 6:52

Personnel

Charts
Chart (1983) Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[7] 55
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[8] 21
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[9] 40
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[10] 25
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[11] 31
UK Albums (OCC)[12] 8
US Billboard 200[13] 44

References
  1. "Plays Live".
  2. "Peter Gabriel singles".
  3. Eder, Bruce (2011). "Plays Live – Peter Gabriel | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
  4. Fricke, David (1 September 1983). "Plays Live". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
  5. petergabriel.com subscribers' email, 12 October 2020
  6. Capital Radio interview with Nicky Horne, broadcast 16 March 1980; transcribed in Gabriel fanzine White Shadow (#1, pp10) by editor Fred Tomsett
  7. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 120. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  8. "Dutchcharts.nl – Peter Gabriel – Plays Live" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  9. "Offiziellecharts.de – Peter Gabriel – Plays Live" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  10. "Charts.nz – Peter Gabriel – Plays Live". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  11. "Swedishcharts.com – Peter Gabriel – Plays Live". Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  12. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  13. "Peter Gabriel Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
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