Maybe you remember him best as the round-faced overlord of progressive rock innovators Genesis at their most commercially successful? Perhaps it’s his guise as an MTV favourite behind ‘80s pop hits as big as Diet Coke advertising budgets? For Disney fans, it might be his Oscar-winning turn on the soundtrack to ‘90s animated flick Tarzan that’s your pick of the bald little chap’s oeuvre. Whatever your favourite Phil Collins moment might be, there’s an awful number of interesting places the drummer has popped up in the public eye over the years, dating back more than 50 years. Here’s our second batch of surreal Phil sightings we’ve collated...
1. PHIL COLLINS AND THE BEATLES
After starring as The Artful Dodger in London performances of Oliver! – the same Charles Dickens character also played by Monkees singer Davy Jones - during the early 1960s, Phil Collins appeared alongside The Beatles in their 1964 debut film, A Hard Day’s Night. Despite the blink and you’ll miss it crowd scene featuring the youngster, the London extra’s later acclaim saw him interviewed in a behind the scenes documentary included on A Hard Day’s Night’s DVD release in 2000. Just six years after the film was released in the midst of Beatlemania, Collins had graduated to playing drums on a solo Beatle’s album, appearing on George Harrison’s 1970 triple album All Things Must Pass.
2. PHIL COLLINS AND PRINCE CHARLES’ 2005 WEDDING
Having already proven his commitment to Queen and country during the 2002 Golden Jubilee, in 2005 Phil Collins showed his regal allegiances by stopping by Prince Charles’ nuptials to Camilla Parker Bowles, the Duchess of Cornwall. The eclectic gaggle of celebrities at the event included Sting’s wife Trudie Styler, late belligerent US talk show host Joan Rivers and UK comic stalwarts Stephen Fry and Rowan Atkinson. Collins’ friendship with His Royal Highness The Prince Of Wales went all the way back to the 1980s, when he invited Prince Charles and Princess Diana to the premiere of his film Buster (he later retracted the invite to allegedly save the Prince embarrassment over attending a film which glorified crime. Ungenerous critics might suggest it also saved the Prince embarrassment over attending a film starring Collins). "I get on very well with him, because I like him,” Collins has said of his friendship with the first royal in line to the British throne. “I was flattered to be invited to the wedding."
3. PHIL COLLINS AND US HIP HOP
While Phil Collins has been a regular whipping boy in the English music press over the last 30 years, in the US R&B and rap realm his legacy remains robust. Some of hip hop’s most popular hard men have an unwavering affection for the man behind hit singles Sussudio and Against All Odds. “The first time I was aware of it was when I watched a documentary on Ice-T,” Phil mentioned in an interview in 2014. “This smug UK journalist looking at his record collection said, ‘What’s with all the Phil Collins stuff?’ Ice-T said, “Don’t mess with my Phil’…” Any remaining doubts about Collins’ status in the R&B community were removed with 2001’s Urban Renewal tribute album, which featured artists such as Lil Kim, Ol’ Dirty Bastard and Kelis taking some of Collins’ biggest hits down to the ghetto. While Urban Renewal made little impact in global charts, Eminem’s single Stan fared far better. Australia’s sixth highest selling single of 2001, Stan referenced Phil Collins and his 1981 hit In The Air Tonight, reiterating a famous urban myth that the song was about a witness to a drowning. Collins has attempted to quell this rumour multiple times, acknowledging it was actually about his first divorce. While In The Air Tonight reached number three in the Aussie charts, Eminem’s tune referencing Collins’ hit made it to number one.
4. PHIL COLLINS AND MIAMI VICE
In The Air Tonight didn’t just make an impact with Eminem – it was also included in the very first episode of Miami Vice. The 1984 pilot for the classic detectives-in-pastel-suits series made strong use of synth-rich tunes, with the show creating a synchronisation between music and television that set a new standard. Other Collins songs were also successfully used in later episodes of the show, with the drummer himself featuring in the second season’s Phil The Shill. Clad in an awful glittery purple suit and surrounded by a bevy of lovely ladies in bikinis and tight-fitting dresses, Collins revelled in playing an English cad. Considering Don Johnson’s Miami Vice’s character was named Crockett, sharing a name with Collins’ beloved Alamo hero, Collins must surely have found the acting opportunity prescient.
5. PHIL COLLINS AND A GORILLA
After years of being beaten into the role of musical pariah – second only to Sting in terms of the media’s depiction of him as the rich British soft rock star it was acceptable to loathe – Collins’ 2007 social resurrection came via an unlikely source. Six years after Eminem name-checked In The Air Tonight in Stan, the song and its creator came back into favour in 2007 thanks to a bizarre television commercial. Putting a new spin on the term ‘guerrilla marketing’, a Cadbury advertising campaign featuring a drumming gorilla took In The Air Tonight back into the music charts, even hitting number one in New Zealand (beating its original 1981 high of number six). The furry primate’s rendition of In The Air Tonight not only brought Collins public goodwill and financial success, it snared awards for the ad’s director Juan Cabral, who also had a big hit with his Sony Bravia superball commercial. When asked about the gorilla’s skills, Collins was quoted as saying, “Not only is a better drummer than me, he also has more hair than me!”
Extended and remastered editions of Phil Collins’ studio albums are available now as part of his retrospective Take A Look At Me Now reissue campaign, inspiring a major rediscovery of his back catalogue & allowing fans to discover new aspects to his work. Find out more at philcollins.com
- Scott McLennan
