The 1960s legend Phil Collins called out of touch: “Not what the public wants”
Phil Collins has been around more than enough to see the music world change a few times.
He would have never guessed that he would have been one of the most celebrated artists in the world when MTV kicked in, but life can be unpredictable in a business that was all about keeping people guessing every single time they turned on the TV. And while Collins was willing to do whatever he could to keep himself on the right track, he could be incredibly candid about some bands that he felt had fallen by the wayside.
Granted, it’s not like Collins could be unprofessional about the matter, either. He knew that there were plenty of people that were trying their hand at getting a few hits on the radio, but what he was doing came so naturally to him. He genuinely loved the sounds of soul music that he was pulling from back in the day, and even if he was working with Genesis, he tended to have a good idea of what the 1980s were supposed to sound like.
After all, he had accidentally stumbled upon the idea of what the 1980s drum sound turned into when making records with Peter Gabriel, but he knew that the song was what mattered. He needed to have a good melody to wrap everything around whenever he worked on a new song, and while that’s a lot easier said than done, having people like The Beatles and the greatest names in Motown as your model isn’t a bad place to start.
But it’s not like all of the Fab Four were delivering juggernauts anymore. John Lennon had passed away far too soon in 1980, and while Ringo Starr was willing to keep himself afloat by any means necessary, Paul McCartney seemed like the one person who actually cared about staying relevant. George Harrison couldn’t have cared one way or the other, but Macca did have a few moments where he felt like he could be put in the same category as the other legends from around that time.
No one was doubting the fact that he could write a good tune, but Collins felt that McCartney didn’t have the same kind of staying power as he used to, saying, “When McCartney has balls, he’s great. There was some talk of my producing him. I liked the idea. I thought, Just to get a bit of balls into the production. I’m sure he’s got it in him. It’s just that some-one’s not bringing it out. The Beatles were probably the best band ever. Now he wants to do what he wants to do and, unfortunately, that may not be what the public wants to hear from him.”
And while McCartney could have happily retired from music, the idea of him being a bit out of touch wasn’t exactly inaccurate. Press to Play from around the that time is by far one of the more faceless albums that he ever made, and even if he tried to make a pivot towards something new when working with Elvis Costello on Flowers in the Dirt, songs like ‘Motor of Love’ feel far too lethargic to fit in with what the rest of the late 1980s bands were doing.
But McCartney is always one to adapt, and even if some of his songs met a deaf ear, he was willing to turn it around and make something else that no one had heard before. The same goes for Collins when he stepped out of the pop star mold for a little bit, but McCartney had a lot more experience whenever it came to making records that he felt would last longer than he would.
So while Collins has remained radio silent when it comes to writing new music for decades now, McCartney’s track record is proof that his adaptability is one of the best parts of his sound. It doesn’t work out all the time, but even if he’s out of touch at one point in his life, it didn’t take long for him to switch up his style again and come up with a song as beautiful as ‘Calico Skies’ or ‘Days We Left Behind’.
