This tweet and video, posted by a great dude I went to high school with, took me mildly aback.
Oh the irony. #PhilCollins is still rocking even if he’s not walking. #Genesis pic.twitter.com/STH1CIbm4H
— Danny Rosin (@DannyRosin) November 20, 2021
As Danny is wont to do, he found the beauty in the sadness. He saw Phil Collins, once one of the most vibrant and proficient kit men/front men in rock and roll, relegated to a chair onstage. He saw the strength and defiance, the middle finger in the face of health challenges and old age.
I have to admit this... I first watched it and saw the wilt. Heard the wither. Maybe it's just that I dig Genesis a lot but don't enjoy that song. Maybe I just fail the gheorghey test on this one. Maybe I missed again.
Phil Collins and Genesis take a bit of heat from the rock intelligentsia, and they've got some of that coming to them. There was at least a modicum if not an abundance of edge to this band way back when. That faded into the ether along the way. Rock/pop became pop/rock, and then they dispensed with that pesky rock part. So be it, they made the kind of wealth that such moves sometimes beget, and Phil needed it down the stretch, what with the three divorces and such. (Unrelated: Anybody listen to Billy Joel's Glass Houses lately?)
Patrick Bateman and I have lots in common, which you probably realized right off the bat. This monologue is precisely as I see the world of Genesis. In the beginning. "I really didn't understand any of their work. Too artsy, too intellectual." Alas, Mr. Bateman goes a little crazy after that. You know, when he says, "I think Invisible Touch was the group's undisputed masterpiece." I formally register my dispute.
If there is a masterpiece album of the trio era of Genesis, it's either Abacab or the s/t album from '83. But there's little need in scurrying down that particular squirrel hole. If you look at the body of work between 1980 and 1986, both with Rutherford/Banks and solo, there's a treasure trove of singles worth bopping along to:
Take a listen to these old tunes again, and really listen to the drums -- more than you would otherwise. It's fairly distinctly Phil Collins. And it's some good shit, I'm telling tell you.
Actually, if you want to learn more about Phil the Shill's worth as a drummer... well, other people more in the know have written it better than I ever could. He's no Keith Moon but his fills kick a bit of ass. He hasn't Neil Peart's virtuosic skill but he has his respect. He ranks #43 on stupid Rolling Stone's stupid list of the best drummers of all time. Doesn't sound that good, but it's higher than Mick Fleetwood, Max Weinberg, AVH, and may more.
So what happened to Phil Collins? After his songwriting and recording career slowed to a stop, he'd still hit the road now and then with or without Mike and Tony. But then he had a spinal injury, two not-so-great words that don't go great at all together. Back surgeries. Nerve damage. Falls. Fractures. Oh, and pancreatitis and diabetes. There are plenty of tabloid stories as well, if you're Marls and read the NY Post.
He can't hold a drumstick. He can't play piano. He has to sit onstage. He can barely sing, it seems.
He'll never go back into the stu-stu-studio. But he has fought through it enough to get out there and do it on a Genesis tour called "The Last Domino." Technically, there's a question mark that follows that last word. But is there really?
Who knows? He's pushing harder and doing more than most folks would have figured by looking at him. And he doesn't care anymore. He's out there. Against all odds.
Danny was right.
But also... also... did you know??? Phil Collins played drums on a host of other people's songs. Listen for the PC sound.
Phil Collins played on a number of songs with his old bandmate. "Intruder" is another great one. This one crushes, especially the fills after "swarm of bees"...
I had no idea...
I really had no idea...
Howard Jones did the drums himself on the album version. Then wised up for a re-release of this single with PC manning the kit.
I really REALLY had no idea...
It's the day after Thanksgiving, so this is fair game.
That's all.
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