Thursday, November 15, 2007

On Not Taking Things At Face Value


It was yesterday's Frida post (Happy Birthday Frida!) that set this off in the end, but it's been weighing on my mind for a while and I need to let it out.

Phil Collins has made some of the worst records I have ever heard, records so bad I would leave the room, cross the road or throw myself off of the proverbial train to avoid hearing; surely that bloody 'Against All Odds' whinge and the sputum-inducing 'Another Day In Paradise' are literally execrable and the whole chirpy cockney geezer and cuddly multi-millionaire Tory-donates-to-charidee schtick is beyond endurance - and, and, AND...! YET....
.
And yet.

1. The man can play the drums (big, muscular, right-through-your-diaphragm thumping, sounds like no-one else).
2. I flipping well love quite a lot of Face Value (and I bet you do too)
3. He gave Genesis some much-needed welly when Gabriel left and they had seriously disappeared up their own harrises (they disappeared back up there again soon afterwards of course).
4. Despite a largely nonsensical lyric, this Philip Bailey track from the PC-produced album of (almost) the same name is a CORKER (a great vocal yes, but those drums! again!!) and a frequent and elatory accompaniment to our good time Friday nights.

Pah! Don't ask me to explain or justify - never explain or justify that's my motto - and please don't burden me with all that guilty pleasures mallarkey (guilty? about music? No, feel guilty about lovers betrayed and violent crimes committed against the person, not about the records you like).

But thank you for listening.

And no, Abacab isn't anywhere.

Philip Bailey - 'Walking On The Chinese Wall' (1984)

(Oh go on then, here's the drumming gorilla too).

13 comments:

  1. Have you been talking to the vicar?

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  2. Amongst the many things he's been talking about posting, he's been talking about posting some phil collins. In fact in a dangerous undermining of the virtual nature of all of this he's sitting about ten feet away from me typing a comment about this now.

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  3. Davy you are a thought stealer.

    And there I was only yesterday shooting the breeze with Crash discussing the attributes of our fine balding friend, with the intention of posting him cos' I thought that no-one else would.

    But I will carry on undiminished. AND I will not flinch at the idea of ABACAB being there. So come on you P.C. fanclub and gorge yourselves at 'The World Wont Listen' (well give me a couple of hours anyway)

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  4. Nothing wrong with this at all, always loved it.

    Love 'Face Value' too.

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  5. i've said it before and i'l say it again. oh my good gawd.
    collins... no.
    genesis... no.
    drummers what do too much drumming... no.
    no no no

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  6. Ah gahhn. You loves it really.

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  7. ...and in PC's defence there's much more to his drumming style than that big sound. If you listen to his 70's stuff did some great jazz style drumming. Dammit I might even do my own post (on Saturday when nobody's looking).

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  8. This is getting out of hand now.

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  9. Well played, Davy. Listening to this track as I type, I'm reminded of a mental note I made to myself to research all the music that was ever used on Miami Vice.

    Re: Phil C: It's all about Ssussudio (sp?) for me. Play that as your house party is peaking and you will hear no complaints.

    Great pan-global comparative mythology in the lyrics to this one, BTW. :)

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  10. It's pan-global comparative mythology a go-go here daily Em.

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  11. Which leads quite naturally to a Genesis post. Ah theng yow.

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