Saturday, March 5, 2011

Phil Collins Says 'That's All' ...Again

I read tonight on CNN.com that Phil Collins is retiring from the music business.  Isn't this like the third time that he's made a similar announcement?  I remember a while back reading that he'd never play drums again due to some progressively debilitating condition.  He then went on to record an album of Motown covers on which he played...the drums.  I also remember before that, with Genesis on tour in late 2007,  Collins stated that it would be the band's last tour.  So here we are again with another announcement from the drummer-turned-singer alluding to another chapter closing in his music career.

An article from London's The Telegraph from March 3rd wraps this story up quite nicely in saying:
Is Phil Collins really calling it quits? His interview with FHM certainly sounds very final, but we have heard this before. Collins first announced his retirement at an awards ceremony in April 2008, which came as a bit of surprise to everyone, since most people there seemed to think he had retired already. 
He sounds even more gloomy than usual in the FHM interview, but I am sceptical about whether this threatened retirement will be any more final than his last. Frankly, an interview with a glossy men’s magazine that was presumably carried out a couple of months ago seems a strange way for a superstar to bow out from the world stage. Besides, in today’s veteran-oriented musical landscape, surely the only point of announcing retirement is to facilitate a comeback?

Read the full article here

Check out this performance from Genesis' 1987's Invisible Touch tour of 'That's All' at London's famed Wembley Stadium in front of an impossibly huge crowd.  I really love this tune...for real.  If there is one thing that the post-Gabriel Genesis could do, its write a fantastic pop song.





Bonus Content:  
Two year's earlier, at the same venue, Phil Collins played a daytime set with Sting at the infamous Live Aid charity concert in London.  He was the only performer to play at both the British event and at the simultaneous Philadelphia event by flying between the two cities on the Concord.  His Wembley performance included a solo take on 'Against All Odds' with Collins seated at the grand piano.  He does a beautiful job on the tune, except for one moment (at 1:09 in the video) that you'll have to see in context to truly appreciate.  Phil is visibly disappointed with himself for the misstep he makes in front of 72,000 in person and far more in the international audience watching at home.  If I know Phil Collins like I think I know Phil Collins, he still wakes up in a cold sweat wishing he could have that note back.  If the WeightStaff put together their Top 10 favorite flubs of all time, this would easily be in the top three.  We've gotten some great laughs out of this one over the years!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Last interview I saw he was in a bad place talking about "offing" himself and he would have done it already if it weren't for his kids. I think his neck hurts from carrying around that bloated self important head of his.

That flub is nothing compared to that Bono / dylan disaster from a few weeks ago.

WeightStaff said...

I have to go w/ my colleague on this one: the bum-note at 1:09 is the kind of thing that haunts you your whole life -- esp. when it happens before 72,000 people. If this wasn't Phil Collins, his/her career would be over. (when you mentioned Phil Collins waking up in a cold sweat, I couldn't help but think of puppet-ronald reagan from the Land of Confusion video when he detonates the nuclear bomb -- talk about things that haunt you your whole life -- that shit still freaks me out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zU9lv_WqK6k
(4:56)

-ds

WeightStaff said...

Love the Land of Confusion reference!

DL