By 1978,
Phil Collins had been a member of English
progressive rock band
Genesis for almost eight years. After spending the first five as their drummer, he reluctantly accepted the role of frontman of the group in 1975 following the departure of the band's original singer,
Peter Gabriel. Three years later, after departure of guitarist
Steve Hackett, Genesis' nine-month world tour to promote
...And Then There Were Three... (1978) became problematic for Collins' wife, Andrea, who complained that he was not at home enough and should he commit to the full tour, she would not be there when he returned. Collins maintained that the band were on the cusp of their international breakthrough and the tour would pay dividends for the future. At the end of the tour, Andrea decided to take their two children to her parents in
Vancouver, Canada. In an attempt to save his marriage, Collins moved to Vancouver, but the attempt failed. Collins returned to England in April 1979, with Andrea having agreed to return with the children. With Genesis members
Tony Banks and
Mike Rutherford working on their solo albums through 1979, Collins used some of his spare time to write songs. He told
Modern Drummer early that year: In his home in
Shalford, Surrey, named Old Croft, Collins set up a
Sequential Prophet-5 synthesiser, piano,
Roland CR-78 drum machine, and an 8-track tape machine in his bedroom, and recorded a collection of demos with backing tracks and early lyrics. He did so to "leave the nest" and to ensure he could maintain full creative control over the music. Collins also felt that releasing the album on Charisma Records, the same label as Genesis, would have harmed its success due to the preconceived notions people have about bands and labels. Virgin gave Collins a £65,000 advance on the album. ==Production==