Phil Collins (And Other Genesis Types)

[Bibliogryphon 9,571]

I quite like some of the stuff on Tony Banks' solo albums Bankstatement and Still where he uses a range of guest vocalists including Nik Kershaw and Fish. A lot of hit and miss but some really good tracks.

I like Still but not Bankstatement. A Curious Feeling and Strictly, Inc. are probably his two best solo albums, though, IMHO. I used to be a big fan of Tony's as he was the person most responsible for som great Genesis songs from Firth of Fifth and most of the music on Wind and Wuthering through to some of the more interesting 1980s material like Me and Sarah Jane, Evidence of Autumn, Domino and The Brazilian. I have gone off him a lot though due to the cheesiness of some of his synth sounds and the morbidity of a lot of his lyrics (says I, a DeathLister!) especiallywhat he was composing on And Then There Were Three but even some of his more modern doom-'n'-gloom-fests too.

 

I think that Tony's biggest problem is that a lot of what you refer to as doom n gloom fests effectively come across as a little whingy. He was born into privilege and has been successful from quite an early age. So what comes across is middle class angst rather than an expression of the futility of existence. I still think he is a very clever writer and some of the early Genesis mythological tracks owe him an awful lot.

yes, maybe that is another way of looking at it. I don't think he's that great a lyricist, anyway. Occassionally, he will come out with a good line like "If races always ran to form, they never would be run" in A Curious Feeling but those moments are fairly far inbetween. Come to think of it, after Peter and Steve left, the band didn't really have any good lyricists at all. Phil was able to write those "confessional love letter" songs to his ex-wives that apparently touched many people but when he tried to move beyond that into social criticism or other subjects he just didn't have the skill (I don't blame him too much since he had a limited education through acting school and apparently didn't read for all the years he was on the road) but Mike and Tony went to one of England's top elite schools and they still come out with banal drivel... Sigh...

 

Yes Tony was probably striving to be existenitalist but just came across as a morbid old whinger.

 

I think the problem might be the relationship between the music and the lyrics. Tony can often try to fit two many words into the line which really jars with Phil Collins' 'drummer' singing where the rythym is everything.

 

However songs like Madman Moon, Burning Rope and Fountain of Salmacis (which is lifted almost word for word from Ovid) there are some amazing results.

 

"Beware the fisherman whose casting out his line into a dried up river bed,don't you try to tell him cos he won't believe you so , throw some bread to the ducks instead, its easier that way. Heathaze

 

A Trick of the Tail is probably in my top 10 Albums.

 

My problem with the later albums is when Phil Collins came out from the drums for the jamming sessions that lost a lot of the rythym.

[Davey Jones' Locker 1,324]

I quite like some of the stuff on Tony Banks' solo albums Bankstatement and Still where he uses a range of guest vocalists including Nik Kershaw and Fish. A lot of hit and miss but some really good tracks.

I like Still but not Bankstatement. A Curious Feeling and Strictly, Inc. are probably his two best solo albums, though, IMHO. I used to be a big fan of Tony's as he was the person most responsible for som great Genesis songs from Firth of Fifth and most of the music on Wind and Wuthering through to some of the more interesting 1980s material like Me and Sarah Jane, Evidence of Autumn, Domino and The Brazilian. I have gone off him a lot though due to the cheesiness of some of his synth sounds and the morbidity of a lot of his lyrics (says I, a DeathLister!) especiallywhat he was composing on And Then There Were Three but even some of his more modern doom-'n'-gloom-fests too.

 

I think that Tony's biggest problem is that a lot of what you refer to as doom n gloom fests effectively come across as a little whingy. He was born into privilege and has been successful from quite an early age. So what comes across is middle class angst rather than an expression of the futility of existence. I still think he is a very clever writer and some of the early Genesis mythological tracks owe him an awful lot.

yes, maybe that is another way of looking at it. I don't think he's that great a lyricist, anyway. Occassionally, he will come out with a good line like "If races always ran to form, they never would be run" in A Curious Feeling but those moments are fairly far inbetween. Come to think of it, after Peter and Steve left, the band didn't really have any good lyricists at all. Phil was able to write those "confessional love letter" songs to his ex-wives that apparently touched many people but when he tried to move beyond that into social criticism or other subjects he just didn't have the skill (I don't blame him too much since he had a limited education through acting school and apparently didn't read for all the years he was on the road) but Mike and Tony went to one of England's top elite schools and they still come out with banal drivel... Sigh...

 

Yes Tony was probably striving to be existenitalist but just came across as a morbid old whinger.

 

I think the problem might be the relationship between the music and the lyrics. Tony can often try to fit two many words into the line which really jars with Phil Collins' 'drummer' singing where the rythym is everything.

 

However songs like Madman Moon, Burning Rope and Fountain of Salmacis (which is lifted almost word for word from Ovid) there are some amazing results.

 

"Beware the fisherman whose casting out his line into a dried up river bed,don't you try to tell him cos he won't believe you so , throw some bread to the ducks instead, its easier that way. Heathaze

 

A Trick of the Tail is probably in my top 10 Albums.

 

My problem with the later albums is when Phil Collins came out from the drums for the jamming sessions that lost a lot of the rythym.

What do you interpret that line from Heathaze as meaning? Is the fisherman Jesus, or am I overthinking it? Is he just saying go through some bread to the ducks because it is pointless to try anything else?

 

Yes, Trick of the Tail is, probably, objectively their best album as it contains the artiness of the Gabriel years with a slightly lighter, poppier touch and an injection of jazz fusion to make it that bit less ponderous.

 

I understand what you sayabout him coming out from the drums but I read somewhere he said having the drum machine helped them make the music with more space/less cluttered arrangements from Abacab onwards. I think it does help, for although Duke is probably the more accomplished album I prefer the lack of clutter on Abacab and Invisible Touch.

[Bibliogryphon 9,571]

 

 

I think the problem might be the relationship between the music and the lyrics. Tony can often try to fit two many words into the line which really jars with Phil Collins' 'drummer' singing where the rythym is everything.

 

However songs like Madman Moon, Burning Rope and Fountain of Salmacis (which is lifted almost word for word from Ovid) there are some amazing results.

 

"Beware the fisherman whose casting out his line into a dried up river bed,don't you try to tell him cos he won't believe you so , throw some bread to the ducks instead, its easier that way. Heathaze

 

A Trick of the Tail is probably in my top 10 Albums.

 

My problem with the later albums is when Phil Collins came out from the drums for the jamming sessions that lost a lot of the rythym.

What do you interpret that line from Heathaze as meaning? Is the fisherman Jesus, or am I overthinking it? Is he just saying go through some bread to the ducks because it is pointless to try anything else?

 

Yes, Trick of the Tail is, probably, objectively their best album as it contains the artiness of the Gabriel years with a slightly lighter, poppier touch and an injection of jazz fusion to make it that bit less ponderous.

 

I understand what you sayabout him coming out from the drums but I read somewhere he said having the drum machine helped them make the music with more space/less cluttered arrangements from Abacab onwards. I think it does help, for although Duke is probably the more accomplished album I prefer the lack of clutter on Abacab and Invisible Touch.

 

You are way overthinking that. I always take it to be about the futility of arguing with seriously deluded people. I do think Steve Hackett added some beautiful melodies which come to the fore on TotT and W&W but after he left there was a harder edge to the music.

 

I had heard that comment by Collins but always took it as his opinion not musical truth.

[Davey Jones' Locker 1,324]

I think the problem might be the relationship between the music and the lyrics. Tony can often try to fit two many words into the line which really jars with Phil Collins' 'drummer' singing where the rythym is everything.

 

However songs like Madman Moon, Burning Rope and Fountain of Salmacis (which is lifted almost word for word from Ovid) there are some amazing results.

 

"Beware the fisherman whose casting out his line into a dried up river bed,don't you try to tell him cos he won't believe you so , throw some bread to the ducks instead, its easier that way. Heathaze

 

A Trick of the Tail is probably in my top 10 Albums.

 

My problem with the later albums is when Phil Collins came out from the drums for the jamming sessions that lost a lot of the rythym.

What do you interpret that line from Heathaze as meaning? Is the fisherman Jesus, or am I overthinking it? Is he just saying go through some bread to the ducks because it is pointless to try anything else?

 

Yes, Trick of the Tail is, probably, objectively their best album as it contains the artiness of the Gabriel years with a slightly lighter, poppier touch and an injection of jazz fusion to make it that bit less ponderous.

 

I understand what you sayabout him coming out from the drums but I read somewhere he said having the drum machine helped them make the music with more space/less cluttered arrangements from Abacab onwards. I think it does help, for although Duke is probably the more accomplished album I prefer the lack of clutter on Abacab and Invisible Touch.

 

You are way overthinking that. I always take it to be about the futility of arguing with seriously deluded people. I do think Steve Hackett added some beautiful melodies which come to the fore on TotT and W&W but after he left there was a harder edge to the music.

 

I had heard that comment by Collins but always took it as his opinion not musical truth.

yes, I love Steve's contributions such as Blood on the Rooftops, Entangled, Inside and Out and Can-Utility and the Coastliners. I am not so keen on his solo work though.

 

I agree with Phil's opinion in the case of the drum machines and adding space to the music.

 

Thanks for your thoughts on the Heathaze lyric!

[Bibliogryphon 9,571]

One of my colleagues is going to see Steve Hackett in a couple of weeks.

 

Looking at the pictures of the group from the recent documentry I thought he had not aged as well as Peter, Tony & Mike.

[Davey Jones' Locker 1,324]

One of my colleagues is going to see Steve Hackett in a couple of weeks.

 

Looking at the pictures of the group from the recent documentry I thought he had not aged as well as Peter, Tony & Mike.

Hope he enjoys it. Just to clarify, I do like Steve's acoustic/classical albums. They are beautiful. It is his later rock stuff I am not so keen on.

 

That actually brings me to one final point: I think Genesis often shot themselves in the foot and that is one of the things that will harm their legacy. Their early strengths did lie in the fact that they were a very good acoustic band and Phil, in his early days, was a virtuoso drummer. So what do they do? Instead of playing to that strength, they became a synth-and-drum machine band. As I said earlier, I do like Abacab and some of the material on Invisible Touch and I agree with Phil that the drum machine helped them compose music with more space, but in terms of performing the songs, they weren't really playing to many of their core strengths.

 

Tony can play the grand piano beautifully (some examples are the start of Firth of Fifth and the afore-linked Island in the Darkness) yet on the later Genesis albums this is never heard. Instead, we have his synth and keyboard sounds, some of which are very dated now.

 

A few years ago, the band did another documentary called "the Genesis Songbook" and in the DVD special features, they do acoustic versions of No Son of Mine, Afterglow and Follow You, Follow Me and they sound amazing and fresh. I think they started to realise that themselves as they also did an acoustic set in the middle of the Ray Wilson concerts. Had they ever done an MTV Unplugged-style album, I think it could have been a classic. On the off-chance they ever do another studio album, I hope that is the direction they take.

 

Okay, better change the subject back to the likelihood of Phil Collins drinking himself to death soon, before the neighbours lose patience with us....

[Bibliogryphon 9,571]

In this

Phil is compared in appearance to a number of celebrities

 

Mel Smith (d.2013)

Bob Hoskins (d. 2014)

Eddie Shah (......

 

Just saying...

[maryportfuncity 10,645]

Re all the Genesis furore at the moment around their 3CD best of, it's clear that the band themselves recognise seven genuine members, the five in all the pictures and promotion - Collins, Gabriel, Rutherford, Banks and Hackett - plus Chris Stewart and Anthony Philips. A few of the others - like Chester Thompson - were always extra session and stage muscle, but it seems they want nothing to do with the badly reviewed Calling All Stations and that singer Ray Wilson (still a mere 46 and very healthy), was never an official member.

[Bibliogryphon 9,571]

Re all the Genesis furore at the moment around their 3CD best of, it's clear that the band themselves recognise seven genuine members, the five in all the pictures and promotion - Collins, Gabriel, Rutherford, Banks and Hackett - plus Chris Stewart and Anthony Philips. A few of the others - like Chester Thompson - were always extra session and stage muscle, but it seems they want nothing to do with the badly reviewed Calling All Stations and that singer Ray Wilson (still a mere 46 and very healthy), was never an official member.

 

If you go back to your wife you do not keep a framed photo of your mistress.

[Davey Jones' Locker 1,324]

Re all the Genesis furore at the moment around their 3CD best of, it's clear that the band themselves recognise seven genuine members, the five in all the pictures and promotion - Collins, Gabriel, Rutherford, Banks and Hackett - plus Chris Stewart and Anthony Philips. A few of the others - like Chester Thompson - were always extra session and stage muscle, but it seems they want nothing to do with the badly reviewed Calling All Stations and that singer Ray Wilson (still a mere 46 and very healthy), was never an official member.

 

If you go back to your wife you do not keep a framed photo of your mistress.

Poor old Ray Wilson!

[maryportfuncity 10,645]

Re all the Genesis furore at the moment around their 3CD best of, it's clear that the band themselves recognise seven genuine members, the five in all the pictures and promotion - Collins, Gabriel, Rutherford, Banks and Hackett - plus Chris Stewart and Anthony Philips. A few of the others - like Chester Thompson - were always extra session and stage muscle, but it seems they want nothing to do with the badly reviewed Calling All Stations and that singer Ray Wilson (still a mere 46 and very healthy), was never an official member.

 

If you go back to your wife you do not keep a framed photo of your mistress.

 

Aye, but...unlike the other hired hands Wilson was brought in to write as well as perform, wasn't he. It might have got slated as a formless puddle of keyboard-noodling shite, but those are Wilson's lyrics on Calling All Stations, right?

[Davey Jones' Locker 1,324]

Re all the Genesis furore at the moment around their 3CD best of, it's clear that the band themselves recognise seven genuine members, the five in all the pictures and promotion - Collins, Gabriel, Rutherford, Banks and Hackett - plus Chris Stewart and Anthony Philips. A few of the others - like Chester Thompson - were always extra session and stage muscle, but it seems they want nothing to do with the badly reviewed Calling All Stations and that singer Ray Wilson (still a mere 46 and very healthy), was never an official member.

 

If you go back to your wife you do not keep a framed photo of your mistress.

 

Aye, but...unlike the other hired hands Wilson was brought in to write as well as perform, wasn't he. It might have got slated as a formless puddle of keyboard-noodling shite, but those are Wilson's lyrics on Calling All Stations, right?

I believe the only song on CAS for which Wilson wrote the lyrics was Small Talk.

[Bibliogryphon 9,571]

Re all the Genesis furore at the moment around their 3CD best of, it's clear that the band themselves recognise seven genuine members, the five in all the pictures and promotion - Collins, Gabriel, Rutherford, Banks and Hackett - plus Chris Stewart and Anthony Philips. A few of the others - like Chester Thompson - were always extra session and stage muscle, but it seems they want nothing to do with the badly reviewed Calling All Stations and that singer Ray Wilson (still a mere 46 and very healthy), was never an official member.

 

If you go back to your wife you do not keep a framed photo of your mistress.

 

Aye, but...unlike the other hired hands Wilson was brought in to write as well as perform, wasn't he. It might have got slated as a formless puddle of keyboard-noodling shite, but those are Wilson's lyrics on Calling All Stations, right?

 

I think he was brought in to try and make it look like the Genesis dynamic still existed. It was probably more a case of him being allowed to contribute to the writing rather than expected to.

It should probably be put down to a failed experiment.

It is still on my iPod though.

[Davey Jones' Locker 1,324]

Re all the Genesis furore at the moment around their 3CD best of, it's clear that the band themselves recognise seven genuine members, the five in all the pictures and promotion - Collins, Gabriel, Rutherford, Banks and Hackett - plus Chris Stewart and Anthony Philips. A few of the others - like Chester Thompson - were always extra session and stage muscle, but it seems they want nothing to do with the badly reviewed Calling All Stations and that singer Ray Wilson (still a mere 46 and very healthy), was never an official member.

 

If you go back to your wife you do not keep a framed photo of your mistress.

 

Aye, but...unlike the other hired hands Wilson was brought in to write as well as perform, wasn't he. It might have got slated as a formless puddle of keyboard-noodling shite, but those are Wilson's lyrics on Calling All Stations, right?

 

I think he was brought in to try and make it look like the Genesis dynamic still existed. It was probably more a case of him being allowed to contribute to the writing rather than expected to.

It should probably be put down to a failed experiment.

It is still on my iPod though.

Wilson was hired late in the writing process so he didn't contribute much to the album - Banks and Rutherford have to take full blame for it, I am afraid. Having heard some of Wilson's solo stuff, it could have actually been worse had he been involved...

 

I remember at the time it came out, many fans were expecting Calling All Stations to be somewhat like And Then There Were Three, since both albums were basically just Rutherford-Banks co-writes and, in the sense that both are dreadful, so they are. (Okay, to be fair, I rather like Side 2 of And Then There Were Three but I think Side 1 possibly surpasses Calling All Stations for sheer awfulness.... )

[Toast 16,131]

I only liked them when Peter Gabriel was in it.

[CarolAnn 926]

Pretty cool thing Phil Collins did.

 

http://time.com/3544883/phil-collins-alamo-artifact-texas/

[Bibliogryphon 9,571]

Re all the Genesis furore at the moment around their 3CD best of, it's clear that the band themselves recognise seven genuine members, the five in all the pictures and promotion - Collins, Gabriel, Rutherford, Banks and Hackett - plus Chris Stewart and Anthony Philips. A few of the others - like Chester Thompson - were always extra session and stage muscle, but it seems they want nothing to do with the badly reviewed Calling All Stations and that singer Ray Wilson (still a mere 46 and very healthy), was never an official member.

 

If you go back to your wife you do not keep a framed photo of your mistress.

 

Aye, but...unlike the other hired hands Wilson was brought in to write as well as perform, wasn't he. It might have got slated as a formless puddle of keyboard-noodling shite, but those are Wilson's lyrics on Calling All Stations, right?

 

I think he was brought in to try and make it look like the Genesis dynamic still existed. It was probably more a case of him being allowed to contribute to the writing rather than expected to.

It should probably be put down to a failed experiment.

It is still on my iPod though.

Wilson was hired late in the writing process so he didn't contribute much to the album - Banks and Rutherford have to take full blame for it, I am afraid. Having heard some of Wilson's solo stuff, it could have actually been worse had he been involved...

 

I remember at the time it came out, many fans were expecting Calling All Stations to be somewhat like And Then There Were Three, since both albums were basically just Rutherford-Banks co-writes and, in the sense that both are dreadful, so they are. (Okay, to be fair, I rather like Side 2 of And Then There Were Three but I think Side 1 possibly surpasses Calling All Stations for sheer awfulness.... )

 

I quite like individual tracks on ATTWT Burning Rope in particular Snowbound, Scenes from a Nights Dream, Say its Alright Joe, The Lady Lies and sometimes when I am in the mood Ballad of Big. However I tend not to listen to it as an album.

[Bibliogryphon 9,571]

Pretty cool thing Phil Collins did.

 

http://time.com/3544...artifact-texas/

 

Strange thing for an East End Boy to collect though.

 

Money > Sense

[Magere Hein 1,400]

Pretty cool thing Phil Collins did.

 

http://time.com/3544...artifact-texas/

Strange thing for an East End Boy to collect though.

 

Money > Sense

 

Collins' sense of sense may be questionable, but his sense of making money isn't. I'm not much of a collector (apart from sins, supposedly), so I see little difference in strangeness in collecting Alamo memorabilia compared to, say, cigar bands. I do wonder how many original Bowie knives owned by Jim Bowie during the Battle of the Alamo exist, though.

 

regards,

Hein

[Davey Jones' Locker 1,324]

Re all the Genesis furore at the moment around their 3CD best of, it's clear that the band themselves recognise seven genuine members, the five in all the pictures and promotion - Collins, Gabriel, Rutherford, Banks and Hackett - plus Chris Stewart and Anthony Philips. A few of the others - like Chester Thompson - were always extra session and stage muscle, but it seems they want nothing to do with the badly reviewed Calling All Stations and that singer Ray Wilson (still a mere 46 and very healthy), was never an official member.

 

If you go back to your wife you do not keep a framed photo of your mistress.

 

Aye, but...unlike the other hired hands Wilson was brought in to write as well as perform, wasn't he. It might have got slated as a formless puddle of keyboard-noodling shite, but those are Wilson's lyrics on Calling All Stations, right?

 

I think he was brought in to try and make it look like the Genesis dynamic still existed. It was probably more a case of him being allowed to contribute to the writing rather than expected to.

It should probably be put down to a failed experiment.

It is still on my iPod though.

Wilson was hired late in the writing process so he didn't contribute much to the album - Banks and Rutherford have to take full blame for it, I am afraid. Having heard some of Wilson's solo stuff, it could have actually been worse had he been involved...

 

I remember at the time it came out, many fans were expecting Calling All Stations to be somewhat like And Then There Were Three, since both albums were basically just Rutherford-Banks co-writes and, in the sense that both are dreadful, so they are. (Okay, to be fair, I rather like Side 2 of And Then There Were Three but I think Side 1 possibly surpasses Calling All Stations for sheer awfulness.... )

 

I quite like individual tracks on ATTWT Burning Rope in particular Snowbound, Scenes from a Nights Dream, Say its Alright Joe, The Lady Lies and sometimes when I am in the mood Ballad of Big. However I tend not to listen to it as an album.

I like every song on the album from Many Too Many onwards. The first half is a real slog though, due to my aforementioned disdain for Tony Banks' morbid gloom-fests and the synth-pop country-themed songs. I have to admit that Snowbound's charming though. I like it in the same way I really like Harlequin on Nursery Cryme - as a light, good-hearted acoustic piece that breaks up the stuff around it.

[Davey Jones' Locker 1,324]

Well, judging by this article he is still in denial.

 

""I'm getting up and watching cricket, turning on the television at 11am and having a bottle of wine," he says.

"I was never an alcoholic; I just got to be doing that most days."

 

http://tvnz.co.nz/entertainment-news/phil-collins-reveals-extent-his-alcohol-struggles-6095948

 

 

He seems to be killing himself from lack of motivation and boredom - then again, Genesis' lack of motivation on some of their last few albums (We Can't Dance in particular) nearly killed us from boredom too so maybe it is just karma....

Phil's going to give a one-off concert: http://www.france24.com/en/20151002-phil-collins-give-career-one-more-night

 

Let's see if booze really has affected him that much.

[maryportfuncity 10,645]

 

Well, judging by this article he is still in denial.

 

""I'm getting up and watching cricket, turning on the television at 11am and having a bottle of wine," he says.

"I was never an alcoholic; I just got to be doing that most days."

 

http://tvnz.co.nz/entertainment-news/phil-collins-reveals-extent-his-alcohol-struggles-6095948

 

 

He seems to be killing himself from lack of motivation and boredom - then again, Genesis' lack of motivation on some of their last few albums (We Can't Dance in particular) nearly killed us from boredom too so maybe it is just karma....

Phil's going to give a one-off concert: http://www.france24.com/en/20151002-phil-collins-give-career-one-more-night

 

Let's see if booze really has affected him that much.

 

 

Yeah, and let's see who turns up!

[maryportfuncity 10,645]

 

 

Well, judging by this article he is still in denial.

 

""I'm getting up and watching cricket, turning on the television at 11am and having a bottle of wine," he says.

"I was never an alcoholic; I just got to be doing that most days."

 

http://tvnz.co.nz/entertainment-news/phil-collins-reveals-extent-his-alcohol-struggles-6095948

 

 

He seems to be killing himself from lack of motivation and boredom - then again, Genesis' lack of motivation on some of their last few albums (We Can't Dance in particular) nearly killed us from boredom too so maybe it is just karma....

Phil's going to give a one-off concert: http://www.france24.com/en/20151002-phil-collins-give-career-one-more-night

 

Let's see if booze really has affected him that much.

 

 

Yeah, and let's see who turns up!

 

 

 

Game on, then, the man is back:

 

http://www.nme.com/news/phil-collins/89340

[DevonDeathTrip 2,358]

 

 

 

Well, judging by this article he is still in denial.

 

""I'm getting up and watching cricket, turning on the television at 11am and having a bottle of wine," he says.

"I was never an alcoholic; I just got to be doing that most days."

 

http://tvnz.co.nz/entertainment-news/phil-collins-reveals-extent-his-alcohol-struggles-6095948

 

 

He seems to be killing himself from lack of motivation and boredom - then again, Genesis' lack of motivation on some of their last few albums (We Can't Dance in particular) nearly killed us from boredom too so maybe it is just karma....

Phil's going to give a one-off concert: http://www.france24.com/en/20151002-phil-collins-give-career-one-more-night

 

Let's see if booze really has affected him that much.

 

 

Yeah, and let's see who turns up!

 

 

 

Game on, then, the man is back:

 

http://www.nme.com/news/phil-collins/89340

 

 

Take a look at him now...

[Bibliogryphon 9,571]

 

 

 

 

Well, judging by this article he is still in denial.

 

""I'm getting up and watching cricket, turning on the television at 11am and having a bottle of wine," he says.

"I was never an alcoholic; I just got to be doing that most days."

 

http://tvnz.co.nz/entertainment-news/phil-collins-reveals-extent-his-alcohol-struggles-6095948

 

 

He seems to be killing himself from lack of motivation and boredom - then again, Genesis' lack of motivation on some of their last few albums (We Can't Dance in particular) nearly killed us from boredom too so maybe it is just karma....

Phil's going to give a one-off concert: http://www.france24.com/en/20151002-phil-collins-give-career-one-more-night

 

Let's see if booze really has affected him that much.

 

 

Yeah, and let's see who turns up!

 

 

 

Game on, then, the man is back:

 

http://www.nme.com/news/phil-collins/89340

 

 

Take a look at him now...

 

 

I think I preferred the empty space.