Monday, January 17, 2011

Musical Super Villains: Phil Collins


You know, I'm pretty sure Phil Collins is a nice guy. When I was thirteen I thought the Invisible Touch and self titled Genesis albums were pretty nifty. I grew out of that pretty quick but I still play air drums when the iconic drum fill in In the Air Tonight kicks in - everytime. Sure, there was that rumour about him informing his wife by fax of their impending divorce and really, there was no excuse for I can't dance but Phil Collins has never really done anything more offensive than make except middle of the road adult rock (c'mon, someone's got to do it). Except...

EXCEPT when I was a kid I watched Live Aid and remember clearly that Phil Collins played in London and then flew, by Concorde, to Philadelphia to play in the closing sets in the US. As a child that seemed pretty amazing. But as I've grown older and with an increased understanding of the logistical and resource implications of flying a drummer in a high speed jet to another continent so he can appear on both sides of the Atlantic makes me feel really quite queasy. I mean, a benefit concert for the starving children in Africa and you're sipping champagne on concorde so you can play drums for Eric Clapton in Philly? Are there no drummers in the USA who can sit in for ERIC CLAPTON? Maybe in the excess of the 80's, it seemed like an awesome idea but now it just appears be antithesis of what the day was about. I mean how many starving children can you feed with a concorde's jet fuel? Or the Moet? Now if it had been Freddie Mercury, I think I'd be more forgiving but a fucking drummer? I don't think so.

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