Not Leaving 'Till It's All Over

[omorka]

So apparently Phil Collins is retiring from pop music. Presumably, this isn't all that surprising - he sort of semi-retired once already, back in '08, and it's been a long time since he's been relevant apart from the rest of Genesis. (Arguably, it's been a while since Genesis was relevant, although I might be inclined to argue about that.)

I have mixed feelings about a drummer who uses a drum machine on some of his biggest top 40 hits, to be sure. But I have found his music more than enjoyable for, oh, geez, coming up on 30 years, and I'm sad to hear that the job's banged him around so much.

I have used him before as an example of the distiction between an Artist and a Craftsman, with Peter Gabriel playing the part of the Artist (it works better than Lennon/McCartney for a number of reasons, not least of which is that McCartney fell out of bed and wrote "Yesterday," which is not a very craftsman-ly thing to do no matter what his later catalogue sounds like). I, for one, enjoy a well-crafted pop hook, even if it lacks the spark of true artistry.

So - here's to you, Phil. Thanks for "Sussudio," "Don't Lose My Number," "Take Me Home," "Something Happened On The Way To Heaven," "Another Day In Paradise," "Invisible Touch," "No Son of Mine," "Jesus He Knows Me," and a couple dozen others. And know that at least one fan will miss you, after all.

Comments

[scarfman]

I know someone whose go-to comparison for the distinction between craftsman and artist is William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy.

[bassfingers.livejournal.com]

I would argue that Genesis was relevant right through "We Can't Dance", but that was released 20 years ago now. They've recorded one album (without Collins) since then, and a couple of reunion shows in my opinion don't really add up to much.