The two musicians Phil Collins claimed outranked him as “the greatest musical evil”
For some unknown reason, Phil Collins has earned himself a reputation as one of the most disliked figures in pop music, and to be perfectly honest, there isn’t a particularly good reason for it.
I’m never going to forget the fact that throughout a period of eight months where I was a regular at a weekly local small town pub quiz, any time Phil Collins would be mentioned, one of the other teams used to erupt into a chorus of disdain for the former Genesis frontman, usually bellowing out the word “twat” at the mere mention of his name. Whether or not the quiz writer did this to deliberately irk them is another matter, but it’s certainly not just this group of four middle-aged blokes who feel the same guttural response to the mention of Collins.
What’s more, Collins became acutely aware of the fact that many people seem to not enjoy his music a great deal, but rather than take it on the chin and accept that by being in the public eye, you’re opening yourself up to a barrage of criticism from all angles, he chose to address his dissenters in a post on his website in 2005, making it abundantly clear that he didn’t quite understand why such vitriol wasn’t reserved for more deserving figures.
Initially, Collins chose to comment on how the UK press, specifically the tabloids, had collectively created some sort of movement against him and his work, choosing to resort to edgy insults about how beige and uninspired his music is, and how those who choose to engage with his work are just as bland and insipid as the material they’re gorging on.
However, while he did seem to accept that he’s bound to have some detractors, he then began to complain that those who choose to hail him as an inspirational figure are opening themselves up to all sorts of ridicule as well. In addition to this, Collins went on to call Coldplay’s Chris Martin “brave” to admit that he was influenced by Collins, as if the British press hadn’t already turned on the band by this point for playing things increasingly safe by this point in their career.
“I have to say that the whole thing that has arisen in recent times of me being the epitome of ‘the great musical evil’ and to be avoided at all costs, is both curious and disturbing to me,” he ranted in his post. “Why I have been chosen for this role is a little beyond me. It seems that it’s started by an anonymous voice and seconded by others without question.”
He then commented on how the praise that he had received in recent years was even becoming back-handed, referencing an article in The Guardian whereby the writer recalled being at a dinner party where they’d met a number of people who admitted to liking Collins’ music, but only in secret.
“Somehow, some way, I have become ‘worse’ than Cliff [Richard] or Barry Manilow,” Collins concluded, referencing how he had inexplicably replaced these two former punching bags for music journalists. “If anyone has any theories as to why, or when this started, let me know.”
He’s absolutely right to call these out as far greater offenders, and I’m sure that at some pub quiz somewhere, people are belting out far worse insults for Richard and Manilow. However, in all honesty, the criticism of Collins is far less significant than the sort that others are on the receiving end of, and if he thinks what he gets is bad, he ought to count himself lucky.
