Phil Collins bade an emotional farewell to Genesis fans alongside bandmates Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks in London on Saturday – as the iconic band played their final ever concert.
London’s 02 provided the backdrop for the band’s last show on their The Last Domino? Tour – with frail frontman Phil, 71, telling the crowd he will now have to get a real job.
Phil, who performed the show sitting down due to suffering from a number of different health conditions in recent years, later joined Mike, 71, and Tony, 72 for a standing ovation.
…Collins, who has a history with back problems, has been sitting down for all the concerts on the tour and his son, Nic Collins, 20, has stepped in for him on drums.
…Original member Peter Gabriel, 72, did not join the trio for this set of shows, and neither did guitarist Steve Hackett , 72, who was in the band from 1971-1977.
Phil Collins’ declining health has him contemplating retiring from the road.
“I’m kind of physically challenged a bit, which is very frustrating ’cause, you know, I’d love to be playing up there with my son,” he shared in a rare interview on “BBC Breakfast” with his Genesis bandmates on Thursday.
“I can barely hold a stick with this hand, so there are certain physical things, which get in the way,” the musician added.
‘The Phil Collins Effect’: Older Pop Stars Given Hope by Former Genesis Singer’s Cultural Resurrection
Before I get to the links and excerpts, I wanted to say how strange I find it that today’s teens and college kids apparently do not seek out older music!
When I was a teen in the 1980s, I would’ve given my right arm to have technology such as You Tube or Spotify, which would allow me to listen to all genres of music from any year FOR FREE.
But no! Back then, if I wanted to hear different genres, older music, and so on, I had to borrow the cassette tapes or vinyl albums of friends and family.
Buying a new album back then was around $9.00 or so, which to me at that time, was a lot of money.
But today’s kids don’t seem to be using You Tube and streaming services to sit and look up music from the 1940s onwards – they all seem to be listening to the non-melodic, entirely forgettable bilge that today’s 20-something bands and singers keep pumping out.
If you have the availability of something like You Tube, which allows you to look up and listen to many types of older bands and singers for free, why not use it?
He was hailed in the Eighties as a breath of fresh air but derided in the Nineties as naff personified.
Phil Collins has found favour, however, with a younger generation of music lovers transfixed by the drum fill that lifts In The Air Tonight.
The rapid trajectories of the former Genesis drummer’s popularity have led academics to refer to the Phil Collins Effect (PCE) as a phenomenon worthy of study that can apply to other veteran recording artists.
The “Phil Collins Effect” has been identified by academics after a return to popularity for the former Genesis drummer and frontman.
The highly-influential musician, who appears to attract equal levels of admiration and derision, became one of the best-selling artists of all time during a hugely successful solo career in the eighties.
Rap-loving Twins React to Phil Collins’ “In The Air Tonight” 1981 Hit
August 8, 2020 – I am Gen X – currently over the age of 40 as I blog this – and the older I get, the more strange I find it that people younger than myself are not familiar with any of the songs, bands, singers, or gadgets that I grew up with.
It’s strange to me to think that the two twin brothers mentioned in these articles, Fred and Ted Williams, didn’t hear the Phil Collins song “In The Air Tonight” until July of 2020 (or some time recently, I’m not sure exactly when they first reviewed it).
A photo of singer Phil Collins
I was in grade school when that Phil Collins song was first released, and I remember at the time, it was on TV everywhere back then – I think the song may have been used in an episode of NBC’s show “Miami Vice”.
I seem to remember hearing this Phil Collins song not just on the radio but in commercials in the early to mid 1980s, and in movies. That song was huge – it was every where for a few years after its initial release.
I do appreciate the fact that the teen brothers are taking the time to listen to older songs.
When I was a teen in the 1980s, I loved music – but of course back in the 1980s, when I grew up, we did not have You Tube, Spotify, iTunes, and so on.
So if you wanted to hear music back then, you either had to listen to the radio all day, spend a small fortune on buying new albums or tapes (which meant getting someone to drive you to a store to buy the music), or borrow music off older siblings or friends.
I would’ve given my right arm back in the 1980s when I was a music- loving teen to be able to listen to any and all types of music and bands FOR FREE via You Tube, Spotify, or similar services, including songs that were decades older than me…
I do not understand why so many people currently under the age of 35 do not avail themselves of this tech to listen to and research older music.
Phil Collins had many other good songs, not just “In The Air Tonight.” After his stint with the band Genesis, he went on to release some really good pop songs as a solo artist in the 1980s, including “Don’t Lose My Number,” “Two Hearts,” “Sussudio,” a remake of “You Can’t Hurry Love,” and several other songs.
But again, I am glad to see that Ted and Fred Williams are willing to listen to older music of all genres and give it a try. I wish more young people did so.
When I was a teen in the 1980s, I used to listen to music from the 1950s, and I enjoyed Swing music, which was from the 1930s – 1940s. Good music has no expiration date.
“In the Air Tonight” currently sits at No. 3 on the iTunes song sales chart, trailing only the brand new releases “WAP” by Cardi B featuring Megan Thee Stallion and “Beers and Sunshine” by Darius Rucker.
It’s not just a passing single-day phenomenon, either. Numbers provided by Alpha Data show that “In the Air Tonight” was the fourth biggest selling song of the week ending Aug. 8, up from No. 185 the week before.
…“TwinsthenewTrend” now have 350,000 subscribers for their YouTube channel, which is about a year old. They told CNN they initially stuck with hip-hop reaction videos, then took a suggestion to try out Frank Sinatra, and have delved into multiple genres since then. They’ve reacted to everything from Kansas’ “Dust in the Wind” to Pantera, Lauryn Hill, Rage Against the Machine, the Carpenters, A-ha, the Allman Brothers Band, Marvin Gaye and Queens of the Stone Age.
“Because we’re Black,” Fred Williams told CNN about the popularity of their videos, “and they don’t expect us to listen to that type of music.” Added Tim, “It’s just rare to see people open these days. People don’t open to step outside their comfort zone and just react to music they don’t know.”
There’s nothing quite like the feeling of discovering an amazing new song — just ask twin brothers Tim and Fred Williams, who have been documenting their first-time reactions while listening to classic hits on YouTube.
The 21-year-old siblings, who post under TwinsthenewTrend, have gone viral in recent months for their “First Time Hearing” video series, where they have recorded their priceless reactions and commentary while discovering music by icons such as Dolly Parton, Stevie Wonder, and Queen.
In late July, the Williams brothers — who grew up mostly listening to rap — posted a particularly memorable clip of themselves listening to Phil Collins’ 1981 debut single “In the Air Tonight” for the first time.
Gen X Playlist 
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