I came back from a late lunch today to discover that
Phil Collins is apparently retiring from music. Even though he had a covers album out last year, it wasn't too much of a shock to hear that he may be calling it quits. He's had a bunch of well-documented health problems in recent years, including hearing damage, dislocated vertebra and nerve damage in his hands that has left him unable to play the drums. But in the interview that came out today, Collins sounds downright depressed and convinced that he's hated by music fans for his popular run at the top of the charts during the '80s. Sure, he fell out of favor in the '90s, especially when he had a tour sponsored by Sears, but his music has definitely endured.
Collins got his start as a drummer, joining Genesis in 1970. Peter Gabriel was the band's frontman, dressing up like flowers and taking the band in all sorts of cool proggy directions. When Gabriel left to go solo in 1975, Collins stepped up to take over as lead vocalist. I first became aware of the band in '78 or so when And Then There Were Three came out, with the hit "Follow You, Follow Me."
And Then There Were Three was one of the first rock albums I had ever purchased and I was hooked instantly. Then in 1980, Genesis released Duke, which featured big FM hits with "Misunderstanding" and "Turn It On Again." They were still pretty progressive, but you could see Collins brought a definite mainstream pop sensibility to the fore.
The albums were performed by Collins, Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks, but live, Genesis expanded with other musicians so Collins could sing lead vocals.
Meanwhile, Collins had been writing songs for his first solo album, Face Value. Released in 1981, it was pretty dark, as he wrote the songs while going through a divorce from his first wife. "In the Air Tonight" was the lead single and became Collins' biggest solo hit, with its moody synths and pounding tribal drums with the gated reverb sound that was copied by many artists. It was a hit in '81 on rock radio, but kept popping up again over the years on the pilot episode of "Miami Vice," in tons of other TV shows, commercials and movies, including "The Hangover." It has also been sampled in many hip-hop songs.
Collins also used the Phenix Horns from Earth, Wind and Fire on a few songs, including the awesome "I Missed Again," which is ridiculously catchy. The horns would pop up on the next Genesis album, which probably shocked some of the band's old-school fans.
The album also featured somber songs like "You Know What I Mean" and "If Leaving Me Is Easy" that reflected his breakup with his wife. All in all, the album holds up really well. A few years later, I picked up The Policemen's Other Ball, which featured a September 1981 concert benefit for Amnesty International and had Collins doing strong solo performances of "In the Air Tonight" and "The Roof is Leaking."
The next Genesis album, Abacab, came out in the fall of '81. The horns were back for "No Reply at All," but it was the title track that really did it for me:
Other standout songs include "Man on the Corner," "Keep It Dark" and "Dodo/Lurker," which was a longer track that harked back to their old sound.
Collins kept the momentum going in 1982 with the release of his second solo album Hello, I Must Be Going! The first single was a cover of "You Can't Hurry Love," the old Supremes song, which was a big hit but not a favorite of mine. But the song that jumped out at me was "I Don't Care Anymore," which was another dark divorce-driven song like "In the Air Tonight." Really bitter, angry stuff, just vocals, drums and some synth and guitar.
Although my favorite song on the album might be another angry song, "Do You Know, Do You Care?" People who think Phil Collins is all lightness and hammy Motown covers haven't heard this stuff. Just sheer vitriol:
Dude was going non-stop back in those days, as 1983 saw the release of another Genesis record, this one self-titled. It was quite a diverse effort, with the standout track "Mama," about a boy obsessed with a prostitute. There was some frivolous stuff like "Illegal Alien," which is really rather terrible, and songs like "That's All" and "Taking It All Too Hard" that became hits. "Home by the Sea" and "Second Home by the Sea" were throwbacks to their progressive days.
But "Mama" was the best of the lot, an intense, twisted song that proved that Collins could write atmospheric songs as well as anyone:
The following year, Collins scored a huge hit with "Against All Odds" from the movie of the same name. The song was leftover from his previous album and was a patented Collins ballad, with his by-now patented big drum sound and pleading vocals. The video was one of the first to incorporate scenes from the movie in with Collins singing the song, so you had plenty of shots of young Jeff Bridges, Rachel Ward (yowsa) and James Woods looking all dramatic and stuff. This led Collins into the lucrative world of film soundtracks, where he had several more non-album hits.
Collins also had a big hit with Philip Bailey of Earth, Wind and Fire, as the two teamed up for "Easy Lover" off Bailey's album Chinese Wall, which was produced by...Phil Collins. The song was kind of the result of a merger of EWF and Collins, an upbeat horn-driven romp that featured Collins on drums and Darryl Stuermer on guitar. It ended up going to #2 on the charts.
In 1985, Collins released No Jacket Required, which was his most successful album. It was packed with hits including "Sussudio," "One More Night," "Take Me Home" and "Don't Lose My Number." He could do no wrong at this point. "Sussudio" was another Phenix Horns-driven number that dominated all radio formats (except country, I guess). I was getting into heavier music by this point, but I still had this album. After a while, though, there was no escaping Collins on the radio or TV:
In July 1985, Collins became infamous for playing Live Aid at both its locations, first in London and then jumping on a Concorde to fly to Philly and play with the reformed Led Zeppelin along with Power Station drummer Tony Thompson. It was a pretty huge deal because it was the first time Plant, Page and Jones had played together since John Bonham died in 1980. But the performance was underwhelming and much of the blame was pointed at Collins, however unfairly. He probably should have just let Thompson play, but whatever:
Genesis returned with a new album in 1986, Invisible Touch, which was even poppier than their previous efforts. It his #1 in the U.S. and U.K. and again had a bunch of hits: the title track, "Land of Confusion," "Tonight Tonight Tonight," "In Too Deep" and "Throwing It All Away." Collins was just a force of nature. The band was also putting more energy into its videos and getting huge airplay on the MTV. This video in particular was brilliant:
The band also played "Tonight Tonight Tonight" in a Michelob commercial:
I saw Genesis at the Worcester Centrum on this tour in the spring of 1987, right against the back wall. I don't remember a lot about it, but I do recall having a good time. Collins was a superb showman, and I believe he did a couple of solo songs during the show as well.
In 1988, Collins played the lead role in the movie Buster, which was a comedy-drama about the real-life petty criminal who was involved in the Great Train Robbery of 1963 in England. The movie wasn't a hit, but it did spawn two more hit singles for Collins, "Two Hearts" and "A Groovy Kind of Love."
The following year, Collins released But Seriously, which featured "Another Day in Paradise." Both the song and the album went to #1 on the charts. But I was burned out on the guy and had no interest in the album. In 1991, Genesis released We Can't Dance, which was Collins' last album with the band. But again, by this time I was listening to Nirvana and Jane's Addiction and couldn't be bothered with the increasingly poppy stuff Collins and Genesis was producing. I stopped paying attention and while he continued to have success with solo and soundtrack work, the album sales dropped and Collins became more of a footnote. In 2007, he rejoined Genesis for a reunion tour, but no new music was in the offing. Last year, Collins released a Motown covers album, but apparently his various ailments have him sidelined for good.
Of course, there are plenty of artists who retire and then make comebacks. Collins is 60 and many of his peers are still out there touring and recording, and he's been divorced three times, so he may find himself in need of some extra cash at some point. Whatever the case, there's no denying that Phil Collins has nothing to apologize for. Well, maybe "Illegal Alien." That was pretty bad:
Yeesh.
"Bad News"
