I guess his take on "You Can't Hurry Love" was his first happy pop song...less emphasis on the word "his" of course (I don't know or care who originally performed/wrote it, b/c it's not one of my favorite songs, Phil Collins or not).
But I don't think he really got pegged as the "I want to marry you!" type until "One More Night" came out in 1985. I mean, I guess the AGAINST ALL ODDS theme song began the slant, and then "One More Night" pretty much cemented it...idk...
The crazy thing is he'd been a drummer in Genesis since 1971. He was a backup vocalist too, singing lead on "For Absent Friends" on the first album by Genesis that he participated in.
He got a little more notoriety in 1976 when the radio edit of "Your Own Special Way" became a semi-big hit in the UK...I don't think The USA audiences really heard the song, not much anyway...I myself have NEVER heard that song on the radio and I've been actively engaged with music since I was 11 or so, primarily listening to "classic rock" radio, which would have been the most likely to play such a song...except for the fact that classic rock radio is known for playing the same 10 or 20 songs over and over and over and over...basically time-travelling Top 40? Except it's Top 40 Rock, not Top 40 general (Pop).
Anyway. It was 3/4 of a decade after he jumped in the water w/ Tony Banks & co. that his voice became public knowledge with "Follow You, Follow Me", from 1978's ...AND THEN THERE WERE THREE...the first bonafide HIT by Genesis!
It seems surreal to me to think that it took so long for him to become what he did. And then he got bogged down by all the criticisms he's received for being a pop music celebrity...I had no idea he'd been taking it all so hard until I read this article from 2014 or late 2013...I can't remember where it was from, SPIN or Rolling Stone or something, I can't remember...Of course, that guy from Oasis hates everything that eclipses him in popularity and makes it well known with utmost arrogance. And since Oasis had a lot more clout in 1994-1995 than they do now, they got a lot of support in hating Phil Collins.
F*** you, Mr. Gallagher. Just when he's released the best album of his career (1993's BOTH SIDES) you have to go and hurt his feelings. He hasn't quite regained his footing. 1996's DANCE INTO THE LIGHT I guess was an attempt to remain upbeat and poppy while ripping off Paul Simon's GRACELAND/Peter Gabriel/etc...after all, P.G. and P.S.'s GRACELAND are pop but have a lot more respect from prestigious rock listeners/critics than st8 up pop music does. And then he made 2002's TESTIFY which was him appealing soley to his adult contemporary/soft rock listeners, with little to none of the flair that made his music so interesting (IMO).
Since then all we've got is a album full of his childhood favorites (Motown era music) re-done by Phil Collins.
Damn it.
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