Defend Phil Collins

watching other people play video games is pretty darn relaxing

speedruns are a visceral thing

I get more insight into the music from Lost in Vegas than I do from a lot of printed music crit.

I haven't actually watched this Phil Collins thing, though.

he watched some guy let another guy drown

OK, that was definitely more basic but they have heart.

The kids with Phil Collins are the first good reaction video in history because you have the tension of knowing what's going to happen and waiting for it.

pitching a Youtube series of reaction videos to historical world events - teens see the Zapruder film for the first time!

I think reaction videos are more like unboxing videos? I do like watching speed runs and people playing video game, so my anecdotal survey of one, me, implies those are different things, but I can't say why. Maybe it's more like watching a sporting event or something?

how are GenZers so fucking chilled out and comfortable being on camera is what I want to know

It's their social life, how they communicate, afaict. Even my kids (for example) seem hyper-attuned to the nuances of presentation/selfies, and the aesthetic approach of various streamers/youtubers.

i played Sussudio to some teens and they beat the shit out of me

— blaine capatch (@blainecapatch) August 8, 2020

haha

every reaction video looks incredibly fucking fake and stupid to me, but this was alright, though it still looks fake; they swear none of them are though.

Yeah I thought it was good and seemed genuine, scrolled thru a few of their others... wondered how the tracks are chosen though? Like if they’ve truly never heard the songs, how do they know which would be good for the channel?

someone needs to do a reaction to a reaction to a reaction video sort of thing

anyways -- back to the topic at hand -- i think phil collins is on the cusp of critical recognition as a GOAT, not to the same degree as like hall and oates or steely dan but there's something about his catalog that really touches a lot of different people and features some pretty indelible all-time hooks

yeah I watched Taylor Swift's recent-ish Live Lounge & she heavily praised & played one of his songs that I'd never heard---"Can't Stop Loving You". it was ok I guess but I hadn't heard it before. now I see that before Collins it was a Leo Sager song!

watching these kids try 'superstition' for the first time is amusing
"i didn't know stevie wonder was an r&b singer or a rapper or whatever"
i agree that their repeated pausing of the song throughout is entirely reasonable cause for thoughts of murder

"isn't she love-"

'you know, I'm not really feeling this song yet. I expected something a bit more immediate"

"lyyyyyyy-"

'now I can see where this song draws its hype from. and it's about a baby or somethin? killer."

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/rabbit-holes/the-addictive-joy-of-watching-someone-listen-to-phil-collins

I've watched several of their videos in the past and enjoyed them a lot but I'm not sure why this is the one that blew up?

The Steely Dan one is ok

went to see phil collins in '82 and it was great but when he started playing "in the air tonight" he put a big spotlight on me and then the cops came and arrested me. turned out i'd murdered somebody a couple years previously and phil saw the whole thing and wrote the song about me, and i wound up doing twenty for it, so i never saw the end of the show.

the phenix horns were great that night, though.

― rushomancy, Sunday, September 13, 2015 3:10 AM bookmarkflaglink

Phil is worth it for these LOLs alone

another day in paradise?

I've watched several of their videos in the past and enjoyed them a lot but I'm not sure why this is the one that blew up?

― Gerneten-flüken cake (jed_), Sunday, August 9, 2020 11:30 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

Because Something in the Air Tonight is already meme-fodder.

Something in the Air Tonight

Rare Harrison / Collins collab

lol whoops.

Can't be posted enough:

“So I went down to Abbey Road and Harrison was there and Ringo and Billy Preston and Klaus Voormann and Phil Spector, and we started routining the song,” Collins recalled in an interview with Classic Rock. "Phil Spector would say: 'Let's hear guitar and drums,' or 'Let’s hear bass and drums'. And I'm not a conga player, so my hands are starting to bleed.

"And I'm cadging cigarettes off Ringo – I don’t even smoke, I just felt nervous."

Despite two hours of Collins' enthusiastic conga contributions, it was all seemingly a wasted effort when Phil Spector asked the congas to be played – and everyone realised Collins' microphone had been turned off for the entire two hours he'd just been playing. "And just after that they all disappeared – someone said they were watching TV or something – and I was told I could go," Collins added.

"A few months later I buy the album from my local record shop, look at the sleeve notes and I’m not there. And I’m thinking: 'There must be some mistake!' But it's a different version of the song, and I’m not on it."

And just when you think it couldn’t get worse for Collins – it does.

Years later when Collins bought former F1 driver Jackie Stewarts house, it transpired that Jackie and George were friends.

"Jackie told me George was remixing All Things Must Pass," Collins continued. "And he said: 'You were on it, weren’t you?' And I said: 'Well I was there'. "Two days later a tape's delivered from George Harrison with a note saying: 'Could this be you?'"

Collins rushed off to listen to the tape, and instantly recognised what he was hearing. "Suddenly the congas come in – too loud and just awful," he said. "And at the end of the tape you hear George Harrison saying: 'Hey, Phil, can we try another without the conga player?'

"So now I know, they didn't go off to watch TV, they went somewhere and said: 'Get rid of him,' cos I was playing so badly."

But all was not as it seemed. Not long after Collins found himself on the phone to Harrison – thanks to their mutual friend Jackie – who was keen to hear if the tape had arrived.

"'Did you get the tape?' And I said: 'I now realise I was fired by a Beatle.' "And he says: 'Don’t worry, it was a piss-take. I got Ray Cooper to play really badly and we dubbed it on. Thought you’d like it!"

"I said: 'You f***ing b*stard!'"

lol. Poor Phil.

It hurts me when reaction channels pause the music.

It's necessary to avoid a copyright strike and having the video pulled down, but even that doesn't always work.

That Harrison anecdote takes up like a half-hour or so of his audiobook

It's necessary to avoid a copyright strike and having the video pulled down, but even that doesn't always work.

To me it seems quite the opposite - if I want to listen to the song played straight through I can just go do that.

Reaction videos are not a big component of my watching habits, but if the idea is to actually listen and react to and talk about music, I makes sense to pause while you talk about it - even at the level of "damn, man, that guitar tone is NASTY!" "Yeah, it's sick, bro." - rather than talk over the music and potentially miss the next interesting moment.

Lol @ Harrison punking Phil.

xp - yeah, if they just played the track straight thru while nodding their heads or something (and injecting an occasional “reaction”), I can see why it would be hard to defend as fair use.

lmao that is a great story

https://variety.com/2020/music/news/phil-collins-twins-reaction-video-in-air-tonight-hit-sales-1234730673/

But, of course, none of these charts don’t take into account the number of listens that “In the Air Tonight” is getting just from fascinated viewers enjoying Tim and Fred Williams’ reaction video — which, as of this writing, is up to 3.2 million views.

jfc hire an editor

Editors are expensive!

They should make reaction videos

Something in the Air Tonight

Rare Harrison / Collins collab

― vitreous humorist (Ye Mad Puffin)

they had to get together sooner or later, because the revolution's here

They should make reaction videos

― rob

that would be a fantastic pivot

“In the Air Tonight” currently sits at No. 3 on the iTunes song sales chart, trailing only the brand new releases “WAP” by Cardi B featuring Megan Thee Stallion and “Beers and Sunshine” by Darius Rucker.

....

Another entry in the "News items from 2020 that would make utterly no sense to a time traveler from 2010" file.

Like "President Trump denies he's involved in getting Kanye West on the presidential ballot."

Darius Rucker has been having #1 country albums since 2008

"Beers and Sunshine" was a #2 stream...

also a cure for Covid-19

-Chuck D

Because Something In the Air Tonight is already meme-fodder.

― peace, man, Monday, August 10, 2020 10:32 AM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

See? It continues.

Not sure who to thank for this, but it’s brilliant. Volume up. pic.twitter.com/q4OjWl4XXx

— Mark (@markaduck) August 10, 2020