Someone recently started a petition to the United Nations urging singer, drummer and songwriter Phil Collins to abandon his plans to come out of retirement. I’m not joking; indeed, over four thousand people apparently signed it. I am disgusted by this entire charade and all those who gave their name to it. Phil Collins is a talented man who deserves better than this nonsense.
Over his long career in music, Phil Collins has been an unabashed soul and R&B music fan and has occasionally covered songs in that genre or written his own. A personal favorite is “Easy Lover,” a track from 1984 that Collins wrote and performed with Philip Bailey of Earth, Wind and Fire and which appeared on Bailey’s solo album that year. It’s an inspired collaboration, with the two seamlessly merging their voices and their respective rock and R&B influences. The track reached number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and sold over a million copies in the U.S. alone. So take that, all ye in the madding crowd of Phil Collins detractors! And welcome back, Phil.
By Robb Patryk