Genesis recorded "Foxtrot" in August and September 1972 in London at Island Studios. They were set to record with producer John Anthony, who had worked with them on their new song "Happy the Man" earlier in the year, but escalating costs due to the slow progress of completing it caused disagreements among Anthony and Charisma Records, the group's label, so they looked for a new producer. Banks recalled Charisma were anxious for the group to make a hit recording. The group's first choice for producer was Bob Potter, who had worked with Charisma labelmates Lindisfarne with Bob Johnston engineering. The band did not get on with Potter as he disliked their music; he compared Banks's Mellotron opening to "Watcher of the Skies" to the soundtrack to the science fiction film "" and felt the song was better without it. Around this time, the band put an end to these unproductive sessions and undertook an Italian tour in August 1972 before resuming work on the album the following month. The group tried out Tony Platt as a producer, but this was abandoned owing to personality clashes. Genesis then settled with co-producer Dave Hitchcock and John Burns as engineer, who would continue to work with Genesis on their next three albums. Banks felt Hitchcock was not the best replacement for the job and disagreed with him over the album's sound.