Genesis Anything She Does — Genesis Anything She Does

JUL 01 1986 · 12:00

Genesis Anything She Does — Genesis Anything She Does (1986) Director: Jim Yukich Era: Mid-80s Pop Mainstream Crossover (1986–1987) - Genesis at commercial peak; Invisible Touch era marks final transition from art-rock to radio-ready pop, coinciding with MTV's dominance and the rise of high-concept narrative music video production. High. A rare documented case of a major-label non-single music video designed primarily for live-event use rather than broadcast promotion, featuring a legendary comedian in a fully scripted comedic narrative. Preserves both a key moment in Genesis's commercial peak and an authentic record of Benny Hill's working methods—including his personal frame-rate specifications—making it valuable for both pop music history and British comedy heritage archives. Context: Released in 1986 as a non-single album track from Genesis's thirteenth studio album Invisible Touch—their most commercially successful record—'Anything She Does' represents the band's full embrace of mainstream pop-rock at a moment when MTV had made the music video an essential promotional and artistic medium. The choice to build the video around Benny Hill, a titan of British slapstick television comedy internationally syndicated throughout the 1970s and 80s, signals a deliberate self-deprecating humor—unusual for arena rock—while also gesturing toward the song's lyrical subject matter (pin-up and tabloid culture). Its function as a pre-show introductory film during the Invisible Touch Tour rather than a broadcast single promotion gives it a unique dual identity as both a standalone comedic short film and a live-event production artifact. Director notes: Directed and co-produced through FYI – Flattery Yukich, Inc., with producer Paul Flattery. The video features English comedian Benny Hill performing his signature 'Fred Scuttle' character as a bumbling concert security guard who repeatedly fails to keep uninvited fans from sneaking backstage. Intercut with footage of the band rehearsing, the clip functions as a six-minute musical Benny Hill sketch, including his trademark undercranked 'Running Gag' chase sequence near the end, and a rewind-effect gag used for the hospitality room cleanup. The video was not made to promote a commercial single—'Anything She Does' was never released as a single—but was instead repurposed as the introductory clip screened before Genesis performances during the Invisible Touch Tour (1986–87). Benny Hill is documented to have brought his own props and personally instructed the production on the correct frame rates needed to achieve his trademark sped-up comedy gags.