Monday, February 27, 2012

"Missed Again" by Phil Collins - February 27th 80's Quest Song/Band of the Day

Admittedly I am not a huge fan of Phil Collins (or his previous band Genesis).  I find a lot of his solo stuff to be a little bit accessible, mainstream, and dull, but I LOOOOOVE this song.  I am a sucker for a good horn section, so I think that's what has always done me in on this song, as well as the big crescendo when he sings, "I can feel it comin' at me.  Yes, I can feel it coming at me....OR DID I MISS AGAIN" - I love the build up to that big part.

Lyrics:
So you finally came right out and said it girl
What took you so long
It was in your eyes, that look's been there for too long
I'm waiting in line
Would you say if I was wasting my time

Or did I miss again
I think I missed again oh

I think about it from time to time
When I'm lonely and on my own

I try to forget and yet, still rush to the telephone
I'm waiting in line
Would you say if I was wasting my time

Or did I miss again
I think I missed again oh
Or did I miss again
I think I missed again oh

Well it feels like something you want so bad
Then you think you've got it, but it's something you already had
You can feel it all around you, but it's something you just can't touch
And I feel it coming at me
I can feel it coming at me

Or did I miss again
I think I missed again oh
Or did I miss again
I think I missed again

I'm waiting in line, but would you say if I was wasting my time

Or did I miss again...

Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins was born in 1951in Chiswick, London, England.  His mother June was a theatrical agent, and his father Greville was an insurance agent.  When Phil was 5 years old he was given a drum kit for Christmas, and never looked back.  He played on a makeshift drum set that his uncle made him, and then progressed to complete drum sets that his parents bought him. 

At age 14 he entered into a foray in acting and began attending the Barbara Speake Stage School. He became an actor and model.  His first major part was in London as The Artful Dodger in the play "Oliver".  He was an extra in The Beatles movie "Hard Days Night" (one the hundreds of screaming teenagers running around in the film during a concert sequence), he was in the movie "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", but his portion was cut from the movie.  He was also one of the last 3 finalists for the part of I.Q. one of the Bugaloos, from the show of the same name.

Collins' first love was music, and he returned to it.  He began drumming for a band called Hickory.  They changed their name to Flaming Youth and released an album, Ark 2, in 1969.  They toured for a year, but then broke up due to tensions and lack of commercial success.  In 1970 Collins played percussion on former Beatle George Harrison's song "The Art of Dying".

In 1970 Collins answered an ad for a drummer that he had seen in the English music newspaper, "Melody Maker" by the band Genesis.  His audition (with several other drummers) occurred at Peter Gabriel's parent's house.  Collins arrived early, swam in Gabriel's parents' swimming pool, and listened to the other auditions that were going on to learn the part he had to play.  He won the audition.

The first Genesis album he played on was Nursery Cryme.  He started out being the drummer and backing vocalist for the band, but later in 1975 when Peter Gabriel quit to pursue a solo career, Collins stepped up to be the lead vocalist and recorded many more albums with Genesis. 

Collins began his solo career around 1981.  Collins had been married to a Canadian, Andrea Bertorelli since 1975.  They met as students in a drama class in London.  They had a son together, Simon, and Collins had adopted Bertorelli's daughter, Joely.  Bertorelli started an affair with their painter and decorator, which led to the couple's 1980 divorce. The divorce and ensuing emotions fueled Collins' writing and was the major theme and influence of his first two solo albums.

The first was 1981's Face Value, which contained the hits "I Missed Again", "If Leaving Me is Easy" and "In the Air Tonight".  During a performance of "In the Air Tonight" on the BBC show "Top of the Pops" Collins performed the song with a paint and brush positioned near his piano (his wife had cheated on him with a painter/decorator, after all).  Collins said that this was coincidental, but most think he was sending a message.

In 1982 Collins produced ABBA's , Ani-Frid Synni-Lyngstad-Fredriksson Anderson's (otherwise known simply as Frida) solo album including her hit song "I Know There's Something Going On".

In 1982 Collins released his second solo album, Hello I Must Be Going".  His divorce again influenced the songs on this album including "I Don't Care Anymore", and "Do You Know and Do You Care".  In the book "Turn It On Again:  Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, and Genesis" Collins was quoted as saying of his divorce, "I had a wife, two children, two dogs, and the next day I didn't have anything.  So a lot of these songs were written because I was going through these emotional changes."

In 1984 Collins wrote a single called "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" for the movie "Against All Odds".  This became his first solo-single to reach #1 on the American charts.  Also in 1984, Collins produced Phillip Bailey of Earth Wind and Fire's debut solo album, Chinese Wall, and accompanied Bailey on a duet called "Easy Lover" (see January 16th 80's Quest post).  He also participated in the English mega-group Bandaid's song to raise charity funds for the famine in Ethiophia, "Do They Know It's Christmas" (see January 20th 80's Quest Post). He sand and played drums on that song.

In 1985 Collins released his next album, No Jacket Required, which contained the hits "Sussudio", "One More Night", "Take Me Home" and "Don't Lose My Number".  Sting, Peter Gabriel, and Helen Terry contributed as back-up singers on some of the tracks.  The album was very successful and won a Grammy Award for Album of the Year.

In 1985 Collins also recorded a song for the movie White Nights with singer Marilyn Martin entitled "Separate Lives".  As mentioned earlier Bandaid (a project undertaken by Bob Geldof of the band The Boomtown Rats - see February 4th 80's Quest post - and Midge Ure of Ultravox) evolved into a mega-concert on two shores (London, England and Philadelphia in the U.S.) to raise money for the famine in Africa.  Collins was invited to perform, and was in fact the only performer to appear at both the UK concert at Wembly Arena and in the US at JFK Stadium because he performed early in the morning at Wembly (both solo, and with Sting) and then hopped on The Concorde to fly to the US where he also performed his solo material and drummed for Led Zeppelin and Eric Clapton.  To round out the year 1985 Collins also performed two more singles "Two Hearts" and a cover of the 1965 song by Manchester, England band The Mindbenders, "Groovy Kind of Love" for the soundtrack for the movie "Buster".

Collins released another album in 1989 entitled, ...But Seriously, which included the hit "Another Day in Paradise" (which David Crosby of Crosby, Stills, and Nash performed the backing vocals on).  The song hit #1 on the charts and the song won the 1991 Grammy Award for Record of the Year.  Eric Clapton also played guitar on the song "I Wish It Would Rain Down" on this album. 

Sales began to drop with Collins' 1993 album Both Sides.  This album was more experimental.  Collins performed all of the vocal and instrumental parts all on his own at his own studio.  In fact, his record company did not even know he was working on an album until he showed up at their offices and delivered the completed album.  The album's singles included "Both Sides of the Story" and "Everyday", but did not do well on the radio.   His 1996 album Dance Into the Light went Gold, but sold much less than his previous albums had. 

Collins released another song called "You'll Be In My Heart" for the animated Disney movie "Tarzan" in 1998.  It won an Academy Award for Best Song.  In 1998 Collins also released a greatest hits album called Hits. In 2000 Collins lost hearing in his right ear due to a viral infection. In 2002 he released Testify.  In 2003 he announced his last solo tour.    In 2007 he reunited with Genesis bandmates Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford for a tour of Europe and North America.

Collins has a lifelong fascination with The Alamo, and collects memorabilia related to it.  He narrated a light and sound show about the 1836 batle in San Antonio, Texas at The Alamo, and speaks at various events in relation to it.

In 2009 Collins dislocated vertebrae in his neck which affected his hands enough so that he could not play the drums.  He had an operation, but for awhile his hands were still not functioning normally. 

In 2010 Collins released an album of Motown cover songs called Going Back. Collins was able to play the drums on this album despite his previous ailments; however in March 2011 he announced he would be retiring from his career and taking more time to focus on his family life.

After his first divorce in 1980, he met Jill Tavelman the same year.  They were married from 1984 - 1996 and had a daughter, Lily in 1989.  They ended up getting divorced too.  This cost Collins 17 million pounds as a settlement.  He married a third time to Orianne Cevey in 1999, after having dated for 5 years.  They had two sons Nicholas and Matthew, but this marriage didn't last either.  Collins got his third divorce which cost him 25 million pounds.  The family had relocated to Begnins, Switzerland on Lake Geneva, so after the divorce Collins wanted to stay in Switzerland to be near his children.  He now resides in Fechy, and also maintains homes in New York and Dersingham, England.  In a 2010 London Telegraph interview,  Collins stated that he has no intention of marrying again.

Lyrics:

So you finally came right out and said it girl
What took you so long
It was in your eyes, that look's been there for too long
I'm waiting in line
Would you say if I was wasting my time

Or did I miss again
I think I missed again oh

I think about it from time to time
When I'm lonely and on my own

I try to forget and yet, still rush to the telephone
I'm waiting in line
Would you say if I was wasting my time

Or did I miss again
I think I missed again oh
Or did I miss again
I think I missed again oh

Well it feels like something you want so bad
Then you think you've got it, but it's something you already had
You can feel it all around you, but it's something you just can't touch
And I feel it coming at me
I can feel it coming at me

Or did I miss again
I think I missed again oh
Or did I miss again
I think I missed again

I'm waiting in line, but would you say if I was wasting my time

Or did I miss again...

1 comment:

  1. Phil Collins is one of those guys who you have wonder, after a certain year, whether he either didn't actually have anything to do with his own records or if he suffered some horrible head injury that destroyed an essential region of his brain.

    All of this happened sometime in 1982. Because Because Phil Collins' records with Genesis -- if you like that kind of thing -- from 1982 and before are really great. Likewise, his first solo record, Face Value. His second solo record gets a little hammy, and you begin to suspect that the wheels are about to fly off the wagon.

    After that all hell breaks loose, and it's pretty much horrifyingly unlistenable.

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