• Writers: Tony Banks, Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford
• Producer: David Hentschel and Genesis
• Recorded: Late 1979 at Polar Sound Studios in Stockholm, Sweden
• Released: March 1980
• Players:
  Phil Collins — vocals, drums
  Tony Banks — keyboards
  Mike Rutherford — guitar, bass
• Album: Duke (Atlantic, 1980)
• Also On:
  Three Sides Live (Atlantic, 1982)
  Turn It On Again: The Hits (Atlantic, 1999)
  Genesis Archive Volume 2 1976-1992 (Atlantic, 2000)
• Though it only reached Number 58 on the Billboard Hot 100, “Turn It On Again” has proven to be one of Genesis‘s most durable hits.
• The song peaked at Number Eight on the U.K. pop chart.
• With its references to watching TV and virtual experiences, “Turn It On Again” took some of its lyrical inspiration from the book and film Being There.
• The music for the song grew out of jams that band members Tony Banks, Phil Collins, and Mike Rutherford had in lieu of writing songs separately.
• A favorite during their live shows — it was often the last song of the evening — Genesis took to expanding “Turn It On Again” by tacking on snippets of older rock and R&B hits such as the Rolling Stones‘ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” and Wilson Pickett‘s “In The Midnight Hour.”
• The Duke album came after an atypical two-year break, mostly owing to Collins’ decision to move briefly to Vancouver to try to reconcile with his wife.
• During the break, keyboardist Banks and guitarist-bassist Rutherford released solo albums, while Collins wrote a number of songs, some of which were used for Duke and others which appeared on his first solo album, Face Value.
• The Collins solo hits “In The Air Tonight” and “Missed Again” were among the songs Banks and Rutherford rejected for Duke.
• Genesis had been one of the bands attacked by the growing punk rock movement in Britain, but Banks says the group had no problem weathering the criticisms. “We had been through the punk era and everyone had predicted our downfall, and yet …And Then There Were Three was by far our biggest-selling album. More people listened to us than ever before…We never considered NOT carrying on. Fashions come and go, you know?”
• Duke peaked at Number 11 on the Billboard 200 and was Genesis’ first Number One album in the U.K.
• The profits from Duke allowed Genesis to build their own studio, The Farm, in Surrey, England, where subsequent albums were recorded.

FAST FORWARD:

• After a second divorce and with his solo career booming, Collins announced his decision to leave Genesis in 1996. He later remarried and moved to Switzerland, though that union has also come apart, and he’s now living primarily in New York City. Banks and guitarist-bassist Rutherford carried on with new singer Ray Wilson, but the trio’s first album, 1997’s Calling All Stations, bombed, forcing the group to cancel a North American tour.
• Collins won an Oscar for his work on Disney’s animated feature Tarzan.
• Collins’s music career almost came to an end in 2000 when he suddenly lost his hearing. During a business meeting, Collins was struck with Sudden Deafness, which is a stroke in the ears. The condition also affected his sense of balance, although his brain was able to compensate for the disturbance and he was able to walk after a while. His hearing has since returned.
• Collins was inducted into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame in 2003.