Defend Phil Collins

I like "Against All Odds", no matter how schmaltzy it may be, although it may be because I had a thing for Rachel Ward when I was a teenager.

He is a decent actor, and probably one of the top hundred-thousand drummers in the world.

I think that the fact the song has actually spawned an urban legend speaks to how powerful it is....

Don't know much else about his music and frankly don't care.

Sure, he's a good drummer, but I recall hating him for his skin-work on the re-made version of Howard Jones' 'No One Is To Blame' - the original was far better.

He is indeed pretty funny in interviews. Very self-affacting. I think he'd be an OK guy to have a pint with. Although the conversation with Peter Gabriel would be far more interesting. Sting can blow himself. (sorry - did an interview with Sting recently and I'm struggling BADLY to finish the article)

http://www.snopes.com/music/songs/someair.htm

Fritz, I didn't know he was in a Bone Thugs video?? Which one??

Also, imagine the possibilities that appearance brings up in a game of "Six Degrees of Phil Collins"....it probably means you could connect say, Mase and Marianne Faithful in less than 4 degrees....like Bone Thugs worked with collins, they worked with Biggie on Notorious Thugs, Biggie worked with Mase, then Phil subbed for drums with Zeppelin at Live Aid (I think) and probably John Paul Jones did some arranging for Marianne I bet back in the mid-60s....(I'm not sure about all these facts, just speculating, but the possibilites like this are endless.)...

Isn't this what we praise Joy Division for?

This may not have been you, but I once head John say in an interview that Phil Collins had stolen the PiL drum sound! Apparently, after hearing the drum sound on 'Flowers' Collins requested the same engineer that PiL used and set up the drums exactly the same! Is this true? Was it you!

Yes, this is true, and it was me. John is correct but there is a bit more to it. I learnt how to get that "kind" of drum sound by watching Hugh Padgham record in the same Stone Room at the Townhouse. Hugh recorded Peter Gabriel's 3rd album and if you listen to a song called 'Intruder' you will hear what I'm talking about. When It came to doing the PiL album I used similar methods to achieve a similar sound. During the making of the 'Flowers of Romance' I bumped into Phil Collins in the corridor of the Townhouse, I had worked as an assistant on his first LP, and he was very inquisitive about how I was surviving working with the evil Johnny Rotten! I told him John was a top class geeza, and promised to introduce them if he was keen.

Later that day me and John went to the Townhouse canteen to eat boiled cabbage and mash, and in walked Phil so I introduced them. Much to all our surprise they got on like a house on fire! Anyway back to the drum story... Much later Phil was producing a Chris Bailey (of Earth Wind and Fire) album, and he wanted THAT drum sound, but Hugh was off working with the Police. Phil had by then heard snippets of the PiL album. So, the day we were in mastering the 'Flowers' single remix at the Townhouse cutting rooms next door, I got a call from Phil saying HELP! So I went in for an hour or so and dialed it up!

Pardon granted for: Squonk

There is lots of Phil Collins-associated music that I like, and lots that I loathe. I generally find him to be unbelievably smarmy, though, so it's hard to like even the good stuff.

(this, btw, would also fit into the ILE "funniest things said while having sex" thread)

"No really, Gail, he was there and John Martyn was on guitar, and he talked him into playing and John Stevens said halfway through one improv piece "Right you lot, Phil and I are gonna have a little chat on the drums now so the rest of you cunts can just shaddup, alright?"

"Yes, that sounds like good old John," sighed G. Four-second pause. "Dirty old man that he was..."

(according to G, every Brit improv legend is or was a "dirty old man" heheh).

Anyway, as a drummer the boy Collins dun good on the John Cale Island trilogy and also on Bob Fripp's Exposure. The latter, come to think of it, is not currently available on CD either except as an expensive and not recommended import.

Has no one noted what a brilliant 'video actor' Phil Collins is? Not every artist puts their *all* into their visual performance (nevermind exact proper lip-synching) as Phil Collins does. Like, in the video for 'Mama', he literally looks like he's going mad with rage, hatred and desire, and you really believe it, you can't take your eyes off him... It is hard to believe this is the same guy who's being all cheery and silly in some of his other videos. That's what I love about Phil Collins, he is so multifaceted, as well as multi-talented. I don't claim to love *all* his songs (some of them I downright can't stand) but I don't turn my nose up at him as a musical artist. It takes talent to write a good pop tune, and that Phil Collins has written so many well-loved hits is testament to his song-writing skill, on top of being a brilliant drummer, a very decent keyboardist, and emotive vocalist. Now that I think about it, Phil Collins was the first pop artist I ever got into as a teenager. Ah, memories! :)

Haha that was me, babbling about "Domino"!

So what about that New Toyota Ad with Phil Collins?

-- Fabrice

Yes. I used to have a copy, but I left it on my desk and it was the victim of office theft. It's hillarious, and again the word here is 'unintentionally'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5C7-RmSIvY

"Interesting. What is your take on the tactical soundness of the "We Can't Dance" infantry formation?"

I'll tell you what I see. I see the arrogance of Psi-Collins.

The justified arrogance. See, the XCOM games famously have an inverse difficulty curve. They start off nightmarishly hard and get easier as they go along. By the end they're a cakewalk. Which is enormously gratifying. After hours of suffering you finally get a chance to kick the media in the face and scream "I didn't like Sia anyway!" at the top of your voice. And no-one can cancel you! No-one can cancel you any more.

Because... I'm talking about XCOM. XCOM. When Julian and Nick Gollop designed the original game they thought that players would rush to defeat the aliens as quickly as possible, so they scaled the baddies accordingly - but there's nothing to stop a player stalling and building up their soldiers until they're godlike. The aliens cap out at a certain level but XCOM's troops just keep getting better, and that's a tradition that continues with the modern games.

As mentioned passim Collins and his bandmates in Genesis would probably be psionic soldiers, because music is a form of mind control. I can't think of any other way to explain the decision I have made in my life. I have made some terrible decisions, sometimes irrational decisions, and yet here I am, because the music protects me. It takes me on the scenic route. From the moment music entered my life I have allowed it to take me on the scenic route. I own a motorcycle and I can't remember why. I will get there, I know it.

By 1991 Collins, Rutherford, and Banks had mastered soulfire. They had mastered solace. They had mastered null lance, mind control, soul steal, schism, fuse. At that point in their careers they didn't have to take cover. Psi-Genesis versus a standard enemy pod would have been a slaughter. Which might explain why they split up. Where could they go?

There comes a point when you're just delaying Earth's salvation for your own amusement, as in Watchmen. Every time you go off on a mission there are people dying in the background. I have the impression Collins et al were aware of that, so they rushed Cydonia and ended the game. Now they are playing second wave, or they're going for the achievements. Such as an all-mech squad, or an all-female squad, or fifty shootdowns. Whatever.

That's my take on Phil Collins, and when I say Phil Collins I mean XCOM, but also Phil Collins. He has found peace.

Phil Collins was 34 when Don't Lose My Number came out btw

People who should not lose a number:

1. Nikki

2. Billy

People who probably wish they had a different one:

1. Jenny

* Rikki, dammit

That Brand X stuff rips so hard

"What’s up with these covers with Phil looking older ? Am I listening to the original albums?" I oppose this kind of revisionism but on the other hand I dont care

SAme thing with THE THE Mind Bomb etc!

every time that live video of "take me home" gets posted i have to watch it. incredible stuff. does anyone know if that live version or something similar to it was ever released?

ha i see that it has! https://www.discogs.com/release/13145381-Phil-Collins-Serious-HitsLive

Mention of "Take Me Home" makes me think of

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoooMQZdGW0

ah shit that's great

Psyched about this, though it will be sad to see Phil talk about being a drummer while being unable to play drums:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwghnDpB2hk

Interesting array of (mostly drummer) interviews: "Featuring: Nic Collins, Chad Smith, Mike Portnoy, Leland Sklar, Tommy Aldridge, Eloy Casagrande, Billy Cobham, Matt Cameron, Daryl Stuermer, Luis Conte, Dom Famularo, Simon Phillips, Todd Sucherman, Jonathan Moffett, Jordan Rudess, Brann Dailor, Liberty DeVitto, Chad Wackerman."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdGmydR715Q

https://i.postimg.cc/m2fNS1qZ/IMG-0129.png

Literally just occurred to me for the first time this weekend that he is a drummer named Phil. Obviously there are a lot of drummers named Phil, but it's just funny, because that's what drummers do, play fills.

Yes that is why his children's names are such a disappointment.

He's supposed to have two daughters, both named Anna (Anna 1, Anna 2).

And two sons, both named Tom.

Tom Collins.

Cymbeline Collins would actually be a pretty decent name.

Bodhran Vibraphone Rototom Collins likewise.

Bubba Collins

Kit

Colin Collins would be an even better name but sadly it was not to be

https://vhistory.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/phil-collins-7.jpg

Heh. This is a pretty good read:

https://thesundae.net/2021/01/21/talking-nonce-sense-in-praise-of-paedogeddon/

I had no idea that

Tricking people into making erroneous or embarrassing statements on TV like this was actually illegal in the UK at the time, and the subsequent amendment to the broadcasting standards that permitted such deceptions in future for entertainment purposes is commonly known as the Brass Eye clause.

Was just thinking how perfect it would be if he's called his album Butt Seriously.

Haha, even better with a typo, I'm sober

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEWCawEYUis