Taking It All Too Hard

1984 single by Genesis

"Taking It All Too Hard"

Single by Genesis

from the album Genesis

B-side

"Silver Rainbow"

Released

June 1984 (1984-06)

Length

3:56

Label

Atlantic

Songwriter(s)

Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford

Producer(s)

Genesis, Hugh Padgham

Genesis singles chronology

"Illegal Alien"
(1984)

"Taking It All Too Hard"
(1984)

"Invisible Touch"
(1986)

"Taking It All Too Hard" is the sixth track from the 1983 album Genesis by Genesis. It is known for Tony Banks' work on his Yamaha CP-70 electric piano. It included the eighth track from the album, "Silver Rainbow," as the B-side.

Background

No music video was made for this single, and the song has never been performed live by the band.^[1] This was the last single for the band until the band's only No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hit, "Invisible Touch", in 1986.

Cash Box said that "Collins’ versatile vocals help make this song another potential mega-hit."^[2]

Personnel

Phil Collins – drums, percussion, vocals
Tony Banks – keyboards
Mike Rutherford – guitars, bass

Chart performance

The single was only released in the US in the summer of 1984; it peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart^[3] and received significant airplay, but stalled at No. 50 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[4]

References

^ The Pet Shop
^ "Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. 9 June 1984. p. 7. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
^ "Taking It All Too Hard" Billboard chart history, Billboard.com. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
^ Whitburn, Joel (2013). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 14th Edition: 1955-2012. Record Research. p. 334.