Day 22269

I found myself down an internet rabbit hole the other day and ran across a comment on reddit or some other site giving Phil Collins a hard time. The comment made was that Collins had oversaturated the music market in the 1980s with his horrible pop songs.

It may be a fair assessment if you believe that, but usually these comments come from people who weren’t even born; who are looking at Collins’s music in hindsight. The implication was that he sold out. This crime is compounded by the fact that Phil Collins is considered one of the best drummers in the rock era.

It’s a battle of Drummer Phil Collins versus Pop Star Phil Collins. In the minds of many, Pop Star Phil Collins is an abomination. In truth, the battle is a draw. There was nothing wrong with his pop songs. As a solo artist, Collins released eight albums that sold more than 33.5 million units. He won eight Emmys, six Brit Awards, four Billboard Music Awards, three American Music Awards, two Golden Globes, and a fucking Oscar.

There’s a good reason why someone win these sort of awards. People liked his music and they bought his music. I have a hard time understanding why that is a bad thing. In my mind, I like Drummer Phil Collins as much as Pop Star Phil Collins. Gensis’s album “Duke” will forever be one of my favorites and Collins gives a master class on drumming.

On the flip side, I may not care for a lot of his pop star songs, especially the Disney songs he did for “Tarzan,” but “In the Air Tonight” and “Against All Odds” are great songs.

One thing I find baffling is that Collins gets shit for selling out, but Prince is considered a genius despite every other song on the radio from 1984 to 1996 was written by Prince.

For those of us of a certain age, the soundtrack of our youth is littered with Prince, Michael Jackson, George Michael, Bon Jovi, AC/DC, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Whitney Houston, and, yes, Phil Collins. But if anyone gets any shit for selling out, it is always Phil Collins.

With the exception of maybe Michael Jackson and Bon Jovi, the above artists have produced at least one song that I’ve really dug. “Little Red Corvette” is awesome, “Faith” is a great tune to dance to as is “I Want to Dance With Somebody.” AC/DC is the soundtrack for dorm parties circa 1986, and baby, I was born to run. And even though there has never been much about Madonna’s music that appealed to me, I have always liked “Like a Prayer.”

The wonderful thing about music is that it is fluid and changing, and if there is something you don’t like, just wait, the next song might be better and speak to something in your soul.

In the end, Phil Collins, like everyone else mentioned, was just a musician making music. In my book that’s a win, even if “Sussudio” is best forgotten.