Phil Collins: My Life in 15 Songs
March 1, 2016 4:48 AM   Subscribe

Genesis, "Invisible Touch" (1986)---This is one of my favorite Genesis songs. There was a Sheila E. record out at the time, I think it was Glamorous Life, and I wanted to write my own version of that. I had decided to stay in the band even though my solo career had taken off. When you're in a band, it's family. There's the road crew and their families to think about. If you just flippantly say, "I'm leaving," they're like, "We've just bought a house with a mortgage." You can't do that to people.
posted by josher71 (49 comments total) 15 users marked this as a favorite
 
1976 Phil Collins as 2016 hipster (via Twitter)
posted by gwint at 5:03 AM on March 1, 2016 [10 favorites]


A little disappointed that he didn't mention "Mama", which is very different from the rest of his catalog--it's almost an anti-hit, and my favorite of his work.
posted by Halloween Jack at 5:07 AM on March 1, 2016 [15 favorites]


Is it Phil Collins day again? I thought we just had that.
posted by w0mbat at 5:15 AM on March 1, 2016 [1 favorite]


Well, his solo career seems to be more commercial and therefore more satisfying, in a narrower way. Especially songs like In the Air Tonight and Against All Odds.


had to
posted by lmfsilva at 5:20 AM on March 1, 2016 [3 favorites]


I was worried about catching an earworm from that article. Phil Collins's music is like a supervector for them. I can feel Sussudio circling right now in the back of my mind, trying to find a crack to squeeze through.

That said, in this TAL story about a break up he comes across as really nice, so I've forgiven him for his contribution to the misery that was my youth in the 80s and 90s.
posted by sively at 5:20 AM on March 1, 2016 [11 favorites]


Did Phil Collins make a Spinal Tap joke halfway through that article? If so, bravo Phil.
posted by Sphinx at 5:31 AM on March 1, 2016 [5 favorites]


+1 for the Spinal Tap joke, -1 for the casual misogyny, so it's a wash. And now I'm going to have "In the Air Tonight" stuck in my head all day, but it might drive out the Salt-N-Pepa that's been in there since the "Deadpool" closing credits this weekend.
posted by wintermind at 5:38 AM on March 1, 2016 [4 favorites]


I was a kid when this song came out. I really liked it, but I was certain that the words went: "She sees the hat - invisible touch, yeah!" I figured it must mean that the invisible touch, like he said, was something she could use to get whatever she wanted, like a particular hat. I was well into adulthood before I heard the line properly.
posted by Countess Elena at 5:39 AM on March 1, 2016 [11 favorites]


Did Phil Collins make a Spinal Tap joke halfway through that article?

Ha! I saw that too. Also how can he not like Sussudio?? Which is now embedded in my brain for at least 24 hrs...
posted by billiebee at 5:41 AM on March 1, 2016 [1 favorite]


I unabashedly like Genesis, all the eras for different reasons, plus Phil's solo career (up to a point -- He sort of lost me after Both Sides, but to be fair, I didn't give those later albums much of a chance). I find it interesting that this interview seems to imply that Phil himself didn't pick the 15 songs? I would have maybe liked to have had him pick them.

Genesis up through the departure of Peter Gabriel after Lamb, it's such a wonderful world to crawl around in. Pieces like the emotionally cathartic The Musical Box or the ridiculous but obsession-worthy Supper's Ready were competing with tracks like More Fool Me across this period, and Genesis' particular brand of prog is one that I found appealing, even at a precociously young age.

And then Peter left and A Trick Of The Tail is released and it is one of the true gems of the Genesis catalog. Of course Hackett was still with them at this point. As a trio, I think Phil's divorce was a gift, as it gave us both Duke and Face Value, a pair of albums that are both of them well planned and well executed.

Third period Genesis, starting with the eponymous album, is what a prog band does once it learns the formula for writing songs that will chart. The albums are great and not great, annoying and wonderful. It was interesting to read in the article where Phil says that the No Jacket Required era was him pretending to be someone he wasn't. I wonder if he felt more at home with Genesis during this era, or Brand X, or nowhere at all?

Phil solo was never as adventurous as Phil with Genesis. We'd never find Tonight, Tonight, Tonight on a Phil solo album. But then, it's important to remember... at its core, Genesis has always been Tony's band. It's his keyboards which dominate, not the guitars. It has always been Tony's band. Phil had a solo career. Mike did too, as did Peter, and Steve... That band has always been Tony's.

Still, I'd love to see a full production modern technology reunion tour of Lamb before I die.
posted by hippybear at 5:47 AM on March 1, 2016 [19 favorites]


My dishwasher (one of those 29 dB models that you often can't even tell it's running) makes a very quiet series of noises in the same rhythm and relative pitches as the "and-two-and" notes of Tonight, Tonight, Tonight.

I unabashedly love Invisible Touch and the eponymous album. First taste of weird stuff for my pre-adolescent self.
posted by notsnot at 6:08 AM on March 1, 2016 [6 favorites]


I unabashedly love Invisible Touch and the eponymous album. First taste of weird stuff for my pre-adolescent self.

Ha! Endearingly, this is almost the opposite of my own teenage Genesis experience - I started with the "Shapes" album, the one with "Mama" on it, which came out when I was 13. I also had Phil's solo stuff to play with, but it still wasn't enough, so I started working my way slowly back through the Genesis catalog - "What came before this one? ....okay, what was before that one?"

And so by the time 1986 rolled around I'd listened my way through Abacab and Duke and Trick Of the Tail and Wind and Wuthering, and so then Invisible Touch came out and I got it and had a listen, and was therefore somewhat expecting to hear something like Eleventh Earl of Mar and instead I got "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" and was a little let down.

....I don't hate it, but gimme Duke over Invisible Touch any day.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:26 AM on March 1, 2016 [3 favorites]


I've said it before here, but I'm absolutely dying for him to re-record a double album of his goodies without all the brutally schlock 80s production and with real actual instruments and humans. Or better electronics and patches. I'd love to hear lots of those songs "clean."
posted by nevercalm at 6:28 AM on March 1, 2016 [5 favorites]


I live about 5 blocks away from the room where that gated drum sound was invented (those famous drum fills from In The Air "dum dum DUM DUM da dum da dum DUM DUM").

Classic Drum Sounds In The Air Tonight

Its now for sale as £2 million luxury flats, but I hope the ghosts of heavily compressed tom-toms haunt the new residents.

Townhouse Studios History

I feel like such a geek to be mourning studio rooms like extinct wildlife but that's sort of what they have become.

The accidental creation of Phil's solo career from those drum fills out of his prog rock life is amazing. Also, I think its amazing that Phil has gotten back together with his last ex-wife, apparently they both feel the divorce was a mistake.
posted by C.A.S. at 6:42 AM on March 1, 2016 [5 favorites]


Still, I'd love to see a full production modern technology reunion tour of Lamb before I die.

As would a lot of us. I think the closest we're ever going to get is The Musical Box's full stage remounting of The Lamb tour (which was amazing the one time I got to see it) but doesn't seem to part of their repertoire anymore.

Gabriel (but not Hackett) was approached about joining the Genesis reunion tour back in the mid-aughts but said he would only do so if they were to work on new material, not being interested in mounting a nostalgia tour.
posted by KingEdRa at 6:48 AM on March 1, 2016


> When you're in a band, it's family. There's the road crew and their families to think about. If you just flippantly say, "I'm leaving," they're like, "We've just bought a house with a mortgage." You can't do that to people.

One of the (many) sad things you read in Peter Guralnick's two part biography of Elvis is that this issue was one of the reasons (along with, it is implied, Colonel Parker's gambling debts) he could never get off the road, which had a terrible effect on his mental and physical health. Making it worse is that he'd surrounded himself with a lot of parasitic sycophants who really couldn't have cared less about him as long as the money and gift train kept rolling.

On the subject of Phil Collins, back in the mid-'90s the brother of one of my best friends in university went to school in Ottawa. One night during a terrible blizzard, he and a friend were walking home from the bars, extremely drunk, when the friend decided to cross a busy road doing the "I Can't Dance" walk and got hit by a car. When the brother ran out to help him, he got hit by a different car. Fortunately, conditions were so bad that everyone was inching along and neither of them were seriously injured.
posted by The Card Cheat at 7:15 AM on March 1, 2016 [7 favorites]


I never find it less odd/amusing/charming/weird that since effectively retiring from music, Phil Collins occupies himself as one of the world's leading collectors and amateur historians of Alamo artifacts.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:30 AM on March 1, 2016 [5 favorites]


Okay, I give up - what's the Spinal Tap reference, the "interesting color of beige"?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:48 AM on March 1, 2016


Okay, I give up - what's the Spinal Tap reference, the "interesting color of beige"?
"One day I was working on a piece in D-minor, the saddest [key] of all."
posted by dfan at 7:57 AM on March 1, 2016 [4 favorites]


I sadly, cannot "forgive him for his contribution to the misery that was my youth in the 80s and 90s." I just cannot let it go! Even now, every time I walk into a store Phil Collins is playing. Recently a friend posted that he heard Television when he was in Stop and Shop. Why doesn't that happen for me? My neighbor recently interviewed Collins and when he returned from his home in Switzerland, he tried to convince me to feel sorry for him. Sorry, Phil, no can do. You had plenty of fans back in the day. You don't need me. Also, please leave me alone to do my grocery shopping.
posted by Saddy Dumpington at 8:15 AM on March 1, 2016 [1 favorite]


It would be great if Rolling Stone's menu and header didn't follow me through the whole article on my mobile browser, taking up half of my screen.
posted by Evstar at 8:28 AM on March 1, 2016 [2 favorites]


Needs more Nuclear Burn.
 
posted by Herodios at 8:43 AM on March 1, 2016 [3 favorites]


Lookit how young he looks!
posted by parki at 8:43 AM on March 1, 2016


The pull quote in the title is amazing for its ultimate 80s attitude about appropriation, genre and baby boomers.

Imagine if, like Chris Cornell heard Trap Queen and was like "Hey I want that!" and recorded a song exactly like it and it was a HUGE HIT. The 80s were so awful. (but of course I love Phil, and 80s Genesis, way way more than the boring prog they were slinging in the 70s, cheesy production and all (actually I'd argue that PCs solo stuff managed to take a lot of the worst offenses of new recording techniques and make them cohesive at least--he used gated drums and cheap casino effects like Kanye uses autotune (Jk kinda))).
posted by Potomac Avenue at 8:44 AM on March 1, 2016


+1 for the Spinal Tap joke, -1 for the casual misogyny, so it's a wash.

I misread the original quote from the article and had a slight giggle. Collins says, "The first thing that comes to mind is the size of Rachel Ward's breasts. I thought they were fantastic. I like Jeff Bridges, too." I read it as: "I like Jeff Bridges', too."

He's also brilliant in this episode of This American Life as the master of the break up song.
posted by Quaversalis at 9:24 AM on March 1, 2016 [3 favorites]


Phil Collins is the world's greatest Peter Gabriel impersonator.
posted by enjoymoreradio at 10:20 AM on March 1, 2016 [1 favorite]


To me, Peter Gabriel's solo career is the more adventurous, genre-pushing effort of all of the Genesis members. He just seems to have more heart, more grit, more interest in bringing diversity to his work. I always just felt like Phil Collins and 80s Genesis were schlock pop. But this interview makes me at least respect the guy in that his commentary seems genuine and you can tell there's a real love of music there. The only Phil Collins song that I 100% unabashedly love and think is a classic is "I'll Hold You Like China". I could listen to that forever. I wish Peter Gabriel would allow his music on Spotify. There's so much great stuff in his catalog.
posted by spicynuts at 10:34 AM on March 1, 2016


+1 for the Spinal Tap joke, -1 for the casual misogyny, so it's a wash.

I misread the original quote from the article and had a slight giggle. Collins says, "The first thing that comes to mind is the size of Rachel Ward's breasts. I thought they were fantastic.


Hey, everyone likes breasts. Even straight women and gay men look for excuses to squeeze them.
posted by w0mbat at 11:00 AM on March 1, 2016 [2 favorites]


"I Don't Care Anymore" (1982)

this is where I finally lost it for the guy, pretty much for good.

Loved-loved-loved him as the Genesis drummer (and always spot on backup vocalist), didn't mind him at all as the Genesis singer and drummer, though I was starting to have my doubts by the time And Then There Were Three came along, and then even more so with Duke. But Face Value (on the face of it) was a pretty solid solo album, a valid presentation of where he was genuinely coming from. I didn't necessarily LOVE some of it (not really getting the r+b stuff, the Earth Wind + Fire horns) but how do you NOT respond to In The Air Tonight (and Hand in Hand was a pretty nifty jam).

But then came solo album #2 and I Don't Care Anymore, the first thing I heard from it. I remember thinking, there's nothing new here. He's pounding the drums hard and shouting at the appropriate point (around half way through). It's In The Air Tonight part-2, and not near as good. In fact, all those mailed in Ohh-ooo-ohhs! make me want to hurt something. Because if he so emphatically doesn't care, why the fuck should I?

So I checked out. And given the magnitude of similarly unessential radio-friendly-unit-shifting noise that would continue to flow from the man through the balance of the decade in question -- I still rate that as one of the wiser decisions of my young adult life.
posted by philip-random at 11:20 AM on March 1, 2016


A little disappointed that he didn't mention "Mama"

"Ha-Ha HA" (Nelson/Collins)
posted by hal9k at 11:42 AM on March 1, 2016 [1 favorite]


Had the exact opposite experience to "I Don't Care Anymore." For 13 year-old sheltered me who needed an outlet for my increasing anger at my home life, shouting along to this song in our suburban living room was very cathartic.
posted by papercake at 11:46 AM on March 1, 2016 [4 favorites]


I liked him as an actor. He was like a happy little Bob Hoskins.
posted by maxsparber at 11:52 AM on March 1, 2016 [4 favorites]


"cheap casino effects"

That constant ringing of slot machines drove me quite mad also.
posted by Chitownfats at 12:24 PM on March 1, 2016


In the mid-80s I was at a sushi/teppanyaki restaurant in Williamsburg, VA when Phil Collins walked in with Bruce Hornsby. They ended up sitting right next to us and caused a bit of a commotion as people were staring at Phil and a couple of folks ended up asking him for an autograph. I felt a bit sorry for Bruce, but I guess he was a common enough sight in town that no one much paid attention to him. We ended up chatting with them for a few minutes when our orders got confused and in a show of solidarity for local folks, I asked for an autograph. Phil mistakenly thought I meant him and kindly agreed; I looked confused and handed my menu to Bruce. Phil's soon-to-be wife giggled the entire time as I happily collected my autograph and walked out. A few years later, I was invited to a political fund-raiser at Bruce's house and I told the story and he laughed and said that actually they gave Phil grief about it the rest of the weekend.
posted by Lame_username at 12:47 PM on March 1, 2016 [21 favorites]


That's just the way it is.
posted by MartinWisse at 1:35 PM on March 1, 2016 [7 favorites]


Just putting a placeholder in her to stop the inevitable Patirick Bateman album review.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 1:39 PM on March 1, 2016 [2 favorites]


I liked him as an actor. He was like a happy little Bob Hoskins.

I swear to God I read some little puff-piece article once where Phil said that he'd love to do a movie where him, Bob Hoskins and Danny DeVito all played brothers or something.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:49 PM on March 1, 2016 [3 favorites]


In 1997 I had just moved to Seattle and there was a dollar theater downtown. I got drunk and had no friends and was walking around one night and saw the dollar theater was advertising "Buster". I thought "Holy shit! That movie with Phil Collins! That's worth a dollar just to see what the fuck is up with that movie!". So, I paid my dollar went inside and it turns out that it was actually "Ghostbusters". It was a pretty heavy disappointment.
posted by josher71 at 2:57 PM on March 1, 2016 [1 favorite]


The breakup of PG era Genesis was a boon to music lovers. It gave us a better Genesis and, more important, PG solo.
posted by persona au gratin at 3:06 PM on March 1, 2016 [2 favorites]


hey we said no Patrick Bateman
posted by soundguy99 at 3:29 PM on March 1, 2016 [3 favorites]


@Halloween Jack, on a documentary on TV recently He explained where the laugh from Mama came from

I have to say if it weren't 2am, I'd be playing I don't care any more very loud.
posted by Dub at 6:20 PM on March 1, 2016


to stop the inevitable Patirick Bateman album review

Too late.

I've had a Home By the Sea earworm the whole day. And I enjoyed it.
posted by mubba at 6:31 PM on March 1, 2016


We'd all taken our Fine Young Cannibals pills, imitating the way that Roland Gift sings...

So happy to read this. When FYC came out with "She Drives Me Crazy," I confidently told everyone in earshot that this was the new sound of rock 'n' roll and its future. (I also confidently told everyone in earshot that this World Wide Web thing was just a fad. The fuck did I know about anything?)
posted by bryon at 10:13 PM on March 1, 2016 [3 favorites]


We'd all taken our Fine Young Cannibals pills, imitating the way that Roland Gift sings...

When FYC came out with "She Drives Me Crazy," I confidently told everyone in earshot that this was the new sound of rock 'n' roll and its future . . .


Turns out it's just that he'd stopped at McDonalds on the way to the studio that day; had a vanilla shake and couldn't get rid of the bubble in his throat.

The rest is history.
 
posted by Herodios at 6:08 AM on March 2, 2016 [1 favorite]


I still think both of FYC's albums are pretty solid pop.
posted by The Card Cheat at 6:25 AM on March 2, 2016 [3 favorites]


I'm not used to the blue, I don't know the rules but am I allowed to just post that I think he's as hot and sexy as fuck? Because I do.
posted by ihaveyourfoot at 6:40 AM on March 2, 2016 [3 favorites]


But then came solo album #2 and I Don't Care Anymore, the first thing I heard from it. I remember thinking, there's nothing new here. He's pounding the drums hard and shouting at the appropriate point (around half way through). It's In The Air Tonight part-2, and not near as good

If you can't listen to the changes in the middle of "I Don't Care Anymore" (roughly about the spot where "Well, I don't care now what you say/'Cos ev'ry day I'm feeling fine with myself" happens) and not get chills, then there's something seriously wrong. Sure, he starts yelling and shouting and falling apart after that, but that was kind of the point (maybe?). His cover of "You Can't Hurry Love," which was the so-called hit, is not awful, but it's bland and way too chipper and cheery and forced and badly misses the darkness and desperation of the original. "I Cannot Believe It's True" is an awesome piece of blue-eyed soul that's absolutely the equal of anything on Face Value. The rest of the album is kind of tossed-off and thrown away, but it isn't anything that makes me want to check out or burn the album or whatever. So there's nothing new. Big whoop. Most pop albums in the 1980s were that way -- one hit, maybe one other "deep" cut, the rest total garbage. And perhaps at this point that's the formula he was following. Besides, from the sound of it, he wasn't a particularly happy dude at that stage ("If my first album was 'I'm divorced and I'm miserable,' my next one was 'I'm going to kick this fucker to bits'").
posted by blucevalo at 7:23 AM on March 2, 2016 [1 favorite]


I also like Roland Gift as an actor.
posted by maxsparber at 12:10 PM on March 2, 2016


I can forgive Phil Collins most anything else because of this live version of Afterglow.
posted by vers at 3:12 PM on March 2, 2016


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