Phil Collins
Phil Collins' ascent to the status of one of the most successful pop and adult contemporary singers of the '80s and beyond was probably as much a surprise to him as it was to many others. Balding and diminutive, the Genesis drummer-turned-vocalist was almost 30 years old when his first solo single, "In the Air Tonight," became a number two hit in his native U.K. (the song was a Top 20 hit in the U.S.). Between 1984 and 1990, Collins had a string of 13 straight U.S. Top Ten hits.
Long before any of that happened, however, Collins was a child actor/singer who appeared as the Artful Dodger in the London production of Oliver! in 1964. (He also has a cameo in A Hard Day's Night, among other films.) He got his first break in music in his late teens, when he was chosen to be a replacement drummer in the British art rock band Genesis in 1970. (Collins maintained a separate jazz career with the band Brand X as well.)
Genesis was fronted by singer Peter Gabriel. They had achieved a moderate level of success in the U.K. and the U.S. with elaborate concept albums, before Gabriel abruptly left in 1974. Genesis auditioned 400 singers without success, then decided to let Collins have a go. The result was a gradual simplifying of Genesis' sound and an increasing focus on Collins' expressive, throaty voice. And Then There Were Three... went gold in 1978, and Duke was even more successful.
Collins made his debut solo album, Face Value, in 1981, which turned out to be a bigger hit than any Genesis album. It concentrated on Collins' voice, often in stark, haunting contexts such as the piano-and-drum dirge "In the Air Tonight," which sounded like something from John Lennon's debut solo album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band.
During the '80s, Collins was enormously successful in balancing his continuing solo work with his membership in Genesis. In 1992, Genesis released We Can't Dance and began an extensive tour. Upon its completion, Collins released Both Sides in 1993, and the record became his first album not to produce a major hit single or go multi-platinum. In 1995, he announced that he was leaving Genesis permanently. The following year, he released Dance Into the Light. Although the album didn't chart highly, its subsequent supporting tour was a success. The Hits collection followed in 1998, and a year later Collins made his first big-band record, Hot Night in Paris. The song cycle Testify arrived in 2002, and his next studio-recorded solo release was 2010's Going Back, which saw him revisiting the Motown hits that so influenced him and featured three of the surviving Funk Brothers -- guitarists Eddie Willis and Ray Monette, and bassist Bob Babbitt.
After some time spent out of the spotlight, much of it spent recovering from physical ailments, Collins returned in 2014 to play a couple of songs at his sons' school and to write songs with Adele. Soon after he began work on reissuing his solo albums, sorting through the archives for demos and live recordings to flesh them out. Beginning in early 2016, Warner Music Group began releasing the discs in pairs, with new portraits of Collins on the covers in place of the original images. While rumors of autobiographies and world tours swirled, Collins did actually return to the stage in March of 2016, performing at Little Dreams Foundation Benefit Gala in Miami.
Author's Shows
Questions & Answers
Callboard
-
Gift packs and awards all ready for tonights Schools on Stage presented by City of Casey (VIC). Wishing all participating schools the very best. How special to gather together in person once more to celebrate the joy of making theatre! #cityofcasey #schoolsonstage #theatreeducation #joyoftheatre #studentsrock
View on Instagram -
The Red Velvet Cake War by Jones Hope Wooten In this riotously funny Southern-fried comedy, the three Verdeen cousins - Gaynelle, Peaches, and Jimmie Wyvette - could not have picked a worse time to throw their family reunion. Their outrageous antics have set tongues wagging in the small town of Sweetgum (just down the road from Fayro) and the eyes of Texas are upon them, as their self-righteous Aunt LaMerle is quick to point out. Having "accidentally" crashed her minivan through the bedroom wall of her husband's girlfriend's doublewide, Gaynelle is one frazzled nerve away from a spectacular meltdown. Peaches, the saucy number one mortuarial cosmetologist in the tri-county area, is struggling to decide if it's time to have her long-absent trucker husband declared dead. And Jimmie Wyvette, the roughhewn store manager of Whatley's Western Wear, is resorting to extreme measures to outmaneuver a priss-pot neighbor for the affections of Sweetgum's newest widower. But the cousins can't back out of the reunion now. It's on and Gaynelle's hosting it; Peaches and Jimmie Wyvette have decided its success is the perfect way to prove Gaynelle's sanity to a skeptical court-appointed psychologist. Unfortunately, they face an uphill battle as a parade of wildly eccentric Verdeens gathers on the hottest day of July, smack-dab in the middle of Texas tornado season. Things spin hilariously out of control when a neighbor's pet devours everything edible, a one-eyed suitor shows up to declare his love and a shocking high-stakes wager is made on who bakes the best red velvet cake. As this fast-paced uproarious romp barrels toward its surprising climax, you'll wish your own family reunion was this much fun! License today! #joneshopewooten #dramatistplayservice
View on Instagram