Phil and me

Usually one's interest in a particular song or artist wanes as times goes on. Maybe it's due to changing personal musical tastes, shifts in the genre, or the effects of aging. For me, the Beatles really fall into this category, as does the band Poison. But some things get better with age. For me, some of these things were steak, wine, and tomatoes. And musically, Phil Collins is better than steak, wine, and tomatoes all put together.

What is it about "Another Day in Paradise" that just makes me crazy? Or when Phil jumps in on the drums toward the end of "In the Air Tonight"? And who could ever forget "Sussudio" after hearing it just once?

I will tell you a secret too, Joe Rogan. In my dreams, whenever I die it is in a hail of bullets with the song "I Wish It Would Rain Down" playing as loud as possible. And, oh yes, it is raining hard. Hundred dollar bills are flying around in a penguin tornado also.

In searching for a picture of Phil Collins to put on this very blog, I also discovered that Phil Collins was recently ranked #5 on an about.com list of music for the terminally uncool. Visit the article by Bill Lamb, about.com writer, at: top40.about.com/od/top10lists/ss/uncoolpop_6.htm. To give you an idea of this guy's credibility, guess #10 (Bon Jovi) and #4 (Neil Diamond). Who's #1 on my list of bad about.com writers? You, Bill Lamb.

I'll bet you didn't know that Phil has crossed over into hip-hop. According to Wikipedia's article on Phil, "The hip-hop group Bone Thugs-N-Harmony recorded a remake of the song "Take Me Home" titled "Home" on their album Thug World Order. The song features verses by the group, with the chorus sung by Collins. Though the BTNH-Collins collaboration was criticized in the United States (for example, VH1 rated it #9 on its "top 20 least hip-hop moments in history), it received so much positive reception in the UK that Bone Thugs decided to name Collins an honorary member under the moniker "Chrome Bone".

I also found a tournament underway at Entertainment Weekly for top musical guilty pleasures, and Phil Collins is seeded 11th in the East Regional. He takes on George Michael and Wham in the first round. See the tourney at http://music-mix.ew.com/2009/08/14/guilty-pleasures-bracket/. While this may sell a couple magazines, I do not believe that Phil belongs on the guilty pleasures list. I mean, I never feel guilty when I listen to Phil. I only feel pleasure. OK I feel a little guilty when I hear that song from the Tarzan soundtrack.

What brought the idea of this blog on me was a Chinese buffet at which I ate on Tuesday. They were playing those cheesy piano and wind instrumental versions of American pop songs. Right after "Auld Lang Syne" they played a completely butchered version of "In the Air Tonight." They also had those very gossamer Chinese restaurant pictures, usually featuring a dolphin, waterfall, full moon and clouds. They served "Macaroni and Cheese" at the buffet which was actually pasta alfredo. Their wasabi was reconstituted from powder. And for reasons I still don't comprehend, the lady at the register had to put the credit card in a plastic bag before she swiped it. It was sooooooooooo authentic.

I'm going to go listen to Enya.