"Record Mirror" described "Geno" as "a turgid eulogy with few redeeming features", stating that they believed Dexys Midnight Runners had missed the opportunity to have the same success as Madness and the Specials.Similarly, Robbi Millar from "Sounds" wrote in March 1980 that "the most boring band of 1979 burst forth again with this erratic and timeless tribute to their hero, Geno Washington, who would probably keep his earplugs in if he heard it".