Much like attempts we have talked about before where traditional rock acts tried to ape the new wave sound for their own purposes (like Alice Cooper and Cheap Trick), we have Genesis with "Mama."
The song, released in the summer of 1983, and later followed by the self-titled Genesis album (also known as the 'shapes' album) represented a change in the band's sound, and a lean toward more progressive, mainstream, and yes, some might say new wave music. Most notable is the use of synthesizer, reverb and lead vocalist Phil Collins' voice as a percussive sound itself.
Genesis was an art rock band that had been around forever, and had never been radio friendly, at least not outside of old school FM radio and college music heads. Former lead singer Peter Gabriel as a solo act had been making in-roads with the new wave crowds, so perhaps this spurred the rest of the band to give it a shot.
Genesis quickly became pop music as the decade wore on, Collins becoming bigger as a solo star himself.
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