The great American composer who inspired a UK Top 40 hit by Peter Gabriel

Peter Gabriel : No Self Control

[Purchase]

On May 11, 1980 Peter Gabriel's new single "No Self Control" entered the UK charts at #58. The song, released weeks before Gabriel's third album Melt, would peak at UK#33. Inspired by the sounds of Steve Reich's Music for 18 Musicians, and recorded with Robert Fripp, Phil Collins and Kate Bush, the song has been described as "a compelling construct of synths and riffs, of hooks and descent, echoes and loops, beautifully structured and subtly aggressive," by Quietus writer Chris Roberts 

As for the Reich influence, Gabriel cops to it on his website:

One of the other influences at that time was some of the ‘Systems Music’ that was beginning to evolve. Steve Reich had done this wonderful record called ‘Music for Eighteen Musicians’, which involved marimbas and I think, of all the ‘systems’ composers, his work had a lot of textures and colours and grooves to them that I really responded to. So I tried to involve elements of that in the work. I also worked with a wonderful percussionist Morris Pert and ‘No Self Control’ would be one track, which integrated some of those things and a band sound as well.