1981 · Behind the Songs
A nonsense word from a studio whiteboard — and a harder, leaner Genesis sound.
A-B-A-C-A-B
“Abacab” began as a studio working title. As the band arranged the song, its sections were labeled A, B and C on the studio whiteboard — and an early running order of those sections spelled out A-B-A-C-A-B. The nonsense word stuck, and it suited the music: this was Genesis rebuilding their sound from parts, recorded at The Farm, the Surrey studio the band had made their own.
The track is driven by a muscular synth-and-guitar riff and a horn section — Earth, Wind & Fire’s Phenix Horns — an almost unthinkable texture for the band that made Foxtrot. The message was clear: the old Genesis was gone, and the new one was not afraid of muscle.
Charts and legacy
Released as the title track and lead single of Abacab (1981), the song reached No. 9 in the UK and No. 26 in the US. It announced the band’s 1980s direction — rhythmic, direct and built for radio — and remains one of the defining singles of their trio era.
What to listen for
The horns: bright stabs that answer the vocal, completely unlike anything in the band’s 1970s catalog. And the riff itself — simple, insistent and endlessly repeatable, the sound of a band discovering that less could be more.