Plays Live is the first live and fifth album overall released by British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 musician Peter Gabriel

Peter Gabriel

Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...

. This album was originally released as a double album

Double album

A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....

 and longplay cassette, with sixteen songs and a running time of over 80 minutes. It was eventually issued as a double CD set, and, in 1985, as a single CD version Plays Live – Highlights with only twelve songs and some significant track time alterations. It was remastered and reissued in 2002, the Highlights version was released in the US

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, while the full double-CD set, containing all the songs, was released in the UK.

The album's one previously unreleased song, "I Go Swimming," received airplay and made the US charts in 1983. (The song was initially performed by Gabriel during his 1980 world tour, in support of his third album). "I Don't Remember" was issued as a single, with an accompanying music video, in the US as well.

Side one

1. "The Rhythm of the Heat
   The Rhythm of the Heat
   "The Rhythm of the Heat" is a song by Peter Gabriel from his 1982 album, Security. The song is based on the experiences of Carl Jung in Africa....
   
   " – 6:26
2. "I Have the Touch
   I Have the Touch
   "I Have The Touch" is a song by Peter Gabriel from his album Security. Peter Gabriel and Robbie Robertson remixed the song for the 1996 film Phenomenon. As a result, it charted 14 years after it was first released...
   
   " – 5:18
3. "Not One of Us" – 5:29
4. "Family Snapshot
   Family Snapshot
   "Family Snapshot" is a song written and performed by British musician Peter Gabriel, appearing on his third eponymous album. The song was inspired by An Assassin's Diary, published in 1973 and written by Arthur Bremer, who attempted to assassinate George Wallace, a politician who supported racial...
   
   " – 4:44

Side two

1. "D.I.Y." – 4:20
2. "The Family and the Fishing Net" – 7:22
3. "Intruder
   Intruder (song)
   "Intruder" is a song written and performed by English musician Peter Gabriel. It starts off his third eponymous album with the description of a break-in told through the eyes of the burglar, or "Intruder"...
   
   " – 5:03
4. "I Go Swimming" – 4:44

Side three

1. "San Jacinto" – 8:27
2. "Solsbury Hill
   Solsbury Hill (song)
   "Solsbury Hill" is a song by British musician Peter Gabriel, about a spiritual experience atop Solsbury Hill in Somerset, England. Gabriel wrote the song after his departure from the progressive rock band Genesis, of which he had been the lead singer since its inception, explaining the reasons...
   
   " – 4:42
3. "No Self Control
   No Self Control (Peter Gabriel song)
   "No Self Control" is a song written and performed by British musician Peter Gabriel. As with the other songs on the album, the lyrics are very dark, discussing what could be interpreted as either intense greed and lust or mental instability and decay of the psyche...
   
   " – 5:03
4. "I Don't Remember" – 4:19

Side four

This side was recorded at Memorial Hall, Kansas City, Kansas

Kansas City, Kansas

Kansas City is the third-largest city in the state of Kansas and is the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri, and is the third largest city in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. The city is part of a consolidated city-county government known as the "Unified...

 on 4 December 1982.

1. "Shock The Monkey
   Shock the Monkey
   "Shock the Monkey" is a 1982 song by Peter Gabriel. It was released as a single and peaked at number 29 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 1 on the Billboard Top Tracks chart. The song was Gabriel's first Top 40 hit in the US. In the UK, the song charted at number 58. It was included on...
   
   " – 7:10
2. "Humdrum" – 4:23
3. "On the Air" – 5:22
4. "Biko
   Biko (song)
   "Biko" is a protest song by British rock musician Peter Gabriel. The song was included on Gabriel's third album, Peter Gabriel . It is about Steve Biko, a noted black South African anti-apartheid activist. Biko had been arrested by the South African police in late August 1977...
   
   " – 7:01

Disc one

1. "The Rhythm of the Heat
   The Rhythm of the Heat
   "The Rhythm of the Heat" is a song by Peter Gabriel from his 1982 album, Security. The song is based on the experiences of Carl Jung in Africa....
   
   " – 6:26
2. "I Have the Touch
   I Have the Touch
   "I Have The Touch" is a song by Peter Gabriel from his album Security. Peter Gabriel and Robbie Robertson remixed the song for the 1996 film Phenomenon. As a result, it charted 14 years after it was first released...
   
   " – 5:18
3. "Not One of Us" – 5:29
4. "Family Snapshot
   Family Snapshot
   "Family Snapshot" is a song written and performed by British musician Peter Gabriel, appearing on his third eponymous album. The song was inspired by An Assassin's Diary, published in 1973 and written by Arthur Bremer, who attempted to assassinate George Wallace, a politician who supported racial...
   
   " – 4:44
5. "D.I.Y." – 4:20
6. "The Family and the Fishing Net" – 7:22
7. "Intruder
   Intruder (song)
   "Intruder" is a song written and performed by English musician Peter Gabriel. It starts off his third eponymous album with the description of a break-in told through the eyes of the burglar, or "Intruder"...
   
   " – 5:03
8. "I Go Swimming" – 4:44

Disc two

1. "San Jacinto" – 8:28
2. "Solsbury Hill
   Solsbury Hill (song)
   "Solsbury Hill" is a song by British musician Peter Gabriel, about a spiritual experience atop Solsbury Hill in Somerset, England. Gabriel wrote the song after his departure from the progressive rock band Genesis, of which he had been the lead singer since its inception, explaining the reasons...
   
   " – 4:40
3. "No Self Control
   No Self Control (Peter Gabriel song)
   "No Self Control" is a song written and performed by British musician Peter Gabriel. As with the other songs on the album, the lyrics are very dark, discussing what could be interpreted as either intense greed and lust or mental instability and decay of the psyche...
   
   " – 5:02
4. "I Don't Remember" – 4:20
5. "Shock The Monkey
   Shock the Monkey
   "Shock the Monkey" is a 1982 song by Peter Gabriel. It was released as a single and peaked at number 29 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 1 on the Billboard Top Tracks chart. The song was Gabriel's first Top 40 hit in the US. In the UK, the song charted at number 58. It was included on...
   
   " – 7:40
6. "Humdrum" – 4:03
7. "On the Air" – 5:20
8. "Biko
   Biko (song)
   "Biko" is a protest song by British rock musician Peter Gabriel. The song was included on Gabriel's third album, Peter Gabriel . It is about Steve Biko, a noted black South African anti-apartheid activist. Biko had been arrested by the South African police in late August 1977...
   
   " – 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

• Peter Gabriel
  Peter Gabriel
  Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
  
   – synthesiser
  Synthesizer
  A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
  
  , piano
  Piano
  The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
  
  , vox
• Jerry Marotta
  Jerry Marotta
  Jerry Marotta is a drummer currently residing in Woodstock, New York. He is the brother of Rick Marotta, who is also a well-known drummer and composer....
  
   – drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  , percussion
  Percussion instrument
  A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
  
   & b. vox
  Backing vocalist
  A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
  
  
• Tony Levin
  Tony Levin
  Tony Levin is an American progressive rock musician, specializing in bass guitar, Chapman stick and upright bass ....
  
   – bass
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  , stick
  Chapman Stick
  The Chapman Stick is an electric musical instrument devised by Emmett Chapman in the early 1970s. A member of the guitar family, the Chapman Stick usually has ten or twelve individually tuned strings and has been used on music recordings to play bass lines, melody lines, chords or textures...
  
   & b. vox
• David Rhodes – guitar
  Electric guitar
  An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
  
   & b. vox
• Larry Fast
  Larry Fast
  Lawrence Roger 'Larry' Fast is a synthesizer expert and composer. He is best known for Synergy, his 1975–1987 series of synthesizer music albums, and for his contribution to a number of popular music acts, including Peter Gabriel, Foreigner, and Hall and Oates.- Biography :Fast grew up in...
  
   – synthesiser, piano

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1983	Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... Pop Albums	44
1983	UK	8

Singles

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1983	"I Don't Remember"/"Solsbury Hill"/"Kiss Of Life"(on 12")(All live)	UK	62
1983	"I Go Swimming"	Billboard Mainstream Rock	38

External links

• Plays Live at Discogs.com
• Plays Live - Highlights at Discogs.com