Phil Collins forced to retire from drumming

[manleywoman]

Very sad to see he seems so bitter about his haters. I for one LOVED a lot of his 80's music, and I'm married to a hard-core early Genesis fan who hated Phil's 80s stuff, but can still appreciate what an amazing drummer and musician he was. Too bad Phil couldn't get recognized for that at least.

Phil has to quit.

Frankly I don't know why anyone would listen to Noel Gallagher of Oasis. He's a tool. What has he done?

Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher famously cut down the drummer in past years, quoted as saying, “You don't have to be great to be successful. Look at Phil Collins.”

[joeperryfan]

...
Frankly I don't know why anyone would listen to Noel Gallagher of Oasis. He's a tool. What has he done?

If it were anybody else I'd shudder but Noel has had to put up with Liam for his entire life so I tend to cut him some slack.

Too bad Phil is retiring ... I was left under the impression the article was quite poor in research, I doubt Phil Collins spends much of his time pondering about the opinions of any of the Gallaghers, it probably has a lot more to do with his age and inability to work the present day system.

[skatesindreams]

What a shame: both that he needs to retire; and cannot enjoy his great career.
I hope that time will allow him to realize that he gave great pleasure to many people through the years.

[orbitz]

A lot of people are successful at their profession aren't "great" by any means. In the music industry you have people like Brittney Spears, Gaga, Bier, etc., selling millions of cds, but no one except crazed fans would put them anywhere near artists like The Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, etc.

[paskatefan]

What a shame: both that he needs to retire; and cannot enjoy his great career.
I hope that time will allow him to realize that he gave great pleasure to many people through the years.

This is so sad. So much wnderful music from Phil, and now this?

[Nan]

I don't get it. The is so much music in the world. Listen to what you like and enjoy it. You don't like a song, a singer, a musician, a style, a genre...move on.

[Jot the Dot Dot]

Now if only we could induce Madonna to quit acting

[PeterG]

Very sad to see he seems so bitter about his haters.

I did not get that tone from the article at all. To me, it seemed to be something said lightly and off-the-cuff. Not dramatic at all.

By the way, the article said he had 13 hits. I checked wikipedia and he has had 21 top 40 hits in the US and 24 top 40 hits in the UK. And that's not counting all the music he made with Genesis.

[BittyBug]

....no one except crazed fans would put them anywhere near artists like The Beatles.....

In some ways, I would draw a parallel between Phil Collins and Paul McCartney. As a member of the Beatles, McCartney was brilliant, but in his solo career, he was pure light-hearted pop that at times bordered on treacle (Ebony and Ivory, anyone?). No, Genesis didn't have the same gravity after Peter Gabriel left, but they still turned out some great pop music, as did Collins during his solo career. And to me at least, it was a lot more interesting and had more depth than anything McCartney did on his own.

Maybe if Collins had been knighted, he wouldn't feel quite so bad.

[manleywoman]

In some ways, I would draw a parallel between Phil Collins and Paul McCartney. As a member of the Beatles, McCartney was brilliant, but in his solo career, he was pure light-hearted pop that at times bordered on treacle (Ebony and Ivory, anyone?). No, Genesis didn't have the same gravity after Peter Gabriel left, but they still turned out some great pop music, as did Collins during his solo career. And to me at least, it was a lot more interesting and had more depth than anything McCartney did on his own.

And you have to remember what a BRILLIANT drummer Collins was. Other drummers aspired to be that good. You may not have loved all the songs, but the musicianship was top quality, which can't be said for a lot of the successful artists today.

From Orbitz: no one except crazed fans would put them anywhere near artists like The Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, etc.

You wouldn't put early Genesis in with those guys? I certainly would. The Peter Gabriel-era Genesis stuff was groundbreaking progressive rock.

[allezfred]

I'd no idea he hadn't retired already.

Just an aside, but my pet peeve lately is when people put down the current generation of musicians by claiming how much better music was in their day.

[BigB08822]

I'd no idea he hadn't retired already.

Just an aside, but my pet peeve lately is when people put down the current generation of musicians by claiming how much better music was in their day.

AMEN! Everything always pales in comparison. You can't compare a present day artist to a legend, it just doesn't make sense. The present day artists havent had time to garner the legendary status. Many many people thought the Beatles and Elvis were pure dreck and going to ruin music.

[MacMadame]

I didn't read the article the way a lot of you did. I read it as he's somewhat disgusted with today's music scene with it's cult of celebrity and that he is somewhat embarrassed that he was a commercial success when it was really supposed to just be about the music.

[overedge]

Er, um, I hate to sound like an old fart, but "back in the day" musicians didn't have Pro Tools, Garage Band on the Mac, AutoTune, etc. etc. to cover up their mistakes or their lack of skill. And it was really expensive to go into a professional-quality recording studio, so you weren't going to go in there if you couldn't play or sing really well and were going to majorly screw up. The Beatles' Sergeant Pepper album was made on a four-track tape machine; now you can get hard-drive recorders that can do up to 92 tracks. If you're only recording on four tracks, any mistakes are going to be that much obvious and that much harder to hide.

I read an interview with some of the members of Blondie where they talked about how when their record Parallel Lines was made, they had a very primitive drum machine to help with their tempo, and everything else on that record was them playing live. If you listen to that record, it's beautifully produced, and yes, it is a pop record and not tremendously "deep", but think of how difficult it would be to play that precisely. IMHO a lot of musicians today would not be able to play that well on their own without studio "help".

And I am no fan of Phil Collins' solo work, but he is one of the best drummers I have ever heard. This is his work on Brian Eno's "Sky Saw". Listen to this and tell me it's not a loss for someone who plays that amazingly to have to retire.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXDrT...eature=related

ETA: I enjoy the Gallaghers, but not for their music which makes me I like the stupidly hilarious things they say.

[BittyBug]

One of my favorite post-PG Genesis songs - great riff, clever lyrics:

Pigeons

[Bailey_]

Sad, Genesis has a special place in my family. And, it's always sad to see someone forced to stop doing something that has brought them pleasure. I hope he enjoys his time now and finds more joy in other things in life.

[Matryeshka]

I'm not a fan of Genesis or Phil Collins, but it's sad when someone has to retire due to health considerations, especially since his are physical and somewhat psychological. I do recognize that he's a great musician, even if it's not to my taste. Noel Gallagher WISHES he (and his brother) had near the talent of Collins. IIRC though, the brothers Gallagher have spent a lot of their careers saying pointless, mean things about all sorts of artists with way more talent and/or success than them. I mean, when it comes to musical talent, I don't think either Noel or Liam has much to criticize. Has Liam *ever* sung anything on-pitch without having to whine his way to the note?

They're like little bullies in the school yard trying to get favor with other kids by cutting someone else down. Someone needs to point out to these brats that the truly great don't need to point it out about themselves--it's already obvious. X infinity.

[Rex]

One of my fave albums is Earth, Wind & Fire alum Philip Bailey's solo debut called Chinese Wall. Phil produced it, and it's wonderful. He plays drums on most of the tracks. Poor Phil, he has made so many contributions to rock and pop. I was wondering why we haven't heard from him in so long.

[Kruss]

Er, um, I hate to sound like an old fart, but "back in the day" musicians didn't have Pro Tools, Garage Band on the Mac, AutoTune, etc. etc. to cover up their mistakes or their lack of skill. And it was really expensive to go into a professional-quality recording studio, so you weren't going to go in there if you couldn't play or sing really well and weren't going to majorly screw up. The Beatles' Sergeant Pepper album was made on a four-track tape machine; now you can get hard-drive recorders that can do up to 92 tracks. If you're only recording on four tracks, any mistakes are going to be that much obvious and that much harder to hide.

I read an interview with some of the members of Blondie where they talked about how when their record Parallel Tracks was made, they had a very primitive drum machine to help with their tempo, and everything else on that record was them playing live. If you listen to that record, it's beautifully produced, and yes, it is a pop record and not tremendously "deep", but think of how difficult it would be to play that precisely. IMHO a lot of musicians today would not be able to play that well on their own without studio "help".

So. Much. Word.

[Kruss]

Sorry, double post.