I can feel it going in the air tonight...

[johnr]

...Phil Collins has died.

Well, he hasn't yet, but when he does, this can be the thread.

Here he is, just after joining Genesis in 1971. They advertised in Melody Maker for a rock drummer who was sensitive to acoustic music, and, while he overdoes the hi-hat a bit in the first five minutes, he generally handles it well, trying to keep the 3 acoustics to time whilst offering something interesting. The hi-hat/bass drum/snare interplay in the last section is a sublime example of how to use the drums to increase the dramatic impact of a piece of music. Before that, the single bass pedal work - faster than most double-bass pedals - is astonishing. The occasional vocal backup to compement Gabriel is nice too.

The first in a very occasional series.

[diggedy derek]

I hear on the grapevine that he isn’t as well as he might be, so that first line was a real shock.

[Gerontophile]

This, is not a nice thing to do, however hope-inducing, or hilarious.

Naughty person.

[johnr]

it's a very nice thing to do. I'll be too traumatised when it actually happens to post anything...

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

I thought it was real too, and was going to reply that I've been waiting for this moment all my life.

[Kevin S]

Sorry WFD...

You Can't Hurry Death.

[Disco Child Ballads]

Collins is about to tour the US on the appropriately title 'Not Dead Yet' tour, so I assume he's in good enough health to do that, though I understand he's not physically able to play the drums anymore, which is kind of sad.

I listened to The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway all the way through the other day to see if I could get over my anti-Genesis prejudice. It's not that bad, I suppose, and 'The Carpet Crawlers' is a great track.

[johnr]

The live performances of that album was some of the best drumming he did - always sensitive to the song, whether simple like Carpet Crawlers or very complex like Riding the Scree, or with the explosiveness of the live 'Evil Jam' that was The Waiting Room, extended.

Was gonna be one of my later threads.

[gjw100]

His playing with Brand X demonstrated what a fine and underrated drummer Collins was; more than holding his own in some pretty impressive company.

Although I doubt it will be to everyone’s taste, ‘Nuclear Burn’ from the first album ‘Unorthodox Behaviour’ is a great example of his ability.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJuXt10C3MM

[johnr]

It's very much to my taste, I tried to learn it when young. No chance.

I saw him with Brand X a few days before they recorded this - he had his kit side on, I was at the front of the stage, the syncopation was awesome.

Damn, that's another of my later posts pre-empted. Not going as planned, this...

[Patrick Thistle]

Given the premature readying of thus thread, I guess it's a case of No Casket Required.

[johnr]

Good stuff PT.

This was his first appearance with the band. Great backing vocals, colossal drumming (the double-single bass drumming in the louder bits is something else).

On one of the finest songs ever written.

[johnr]

Here's a better-sounding version, from a year later.

Ooh, I like that,

[ursus arctos]

That album was an essential entry in the soundtrack to my first two years of uni.

[Jah Womble]

'Hello, I Must Be Going!' would surely be the headline.

Or 'Paper Late'.

[hobbes]

I think I might be hallucinating, but I'm sure johnr just described something featuring Phil Collins and Mike Mechanic as "one of the finest songs ever written."

[caja-dglh]

They sing about Ole King Cole being a Merry Ole Soul, hobbes. It is freaking timeless.

[MsD]

I love In the Air Tonight, or whatever it's called. Love it.

[Benjm]

Now I've got a vision of MsD cruising around Clapton in an impounded Ferrari, occasionally stopping to moodily put on/take off expensive sunglasses in front of a violet sunset.

[MsD]

Oh Lord.

[Satchmo Distel]

I thought the single sounded very innovative when it came out and it's probably unfair to taint it by association with his later MOR stuff or his Tory politics.

[delicatemoth]

He wasn't the only ex-progger to embrace winnerism; Yes also came through with the excellent 'Owner Of A Lonely Heart'.

[Jah Womble]

I've always quite liked OOALH (despite the hideous eighties over-production).

I'll also concede that In the Air Tonight had a certain atmos to it.

[slackster]

I didn’t hate The Musical Box, but was never that enamoured by it. Supper’s Ready, on the other hand, I’ve always thought a quite magnificent piece.

I think Collins did a really good job replacing Gabriel’s vocals on Genesis’ earlier tunes, but really couldn’t stomach anything either he, or the band, put out after Gabriel left.

[Sits]

I'm in a minority of one in having a soft spot for the Duke album.