b. 30 January 1951, Chiswick, London, England. During the 80s and early 90s, this former child actor established himself as the world’s premier singing drummer. His broad public appeal was not unlike that bestowed upon the Beatles in their heyday, and Collins also earned the respect of his fellow musicians as a technically brilliant drummer.
The appearance of the self-confessional Face Value in 1981, immediately confirmed Collins as a songwriter of note, outside of his existence as vocalist/drummer with the highly successful rock band Genesis. The record focused on Collins’ distinctive voice, something that had previously been underrated and underused. Collins, who had spent a number of years as their drummer had also recorded with Brand X. He came out from behind the drum stool in 1975 and took over the vocals previously handled by the departed Peter Gabriel. Collins’ vocal delivery owed much to Gabriel. Face Value was recorded during and after the collapse of his first marriage and he conveyed all the intense emotional feelings of that crumbled relationship into most of the compositions. Face Value contained such stand-outs as the melancholic ‘If Leaving Me Is Easy’, the stark, yet beautiful piano accompanied, ‘You Know What I Mean’ and the soulful ‘It Must Be Love’. The album’s main axis was the hauntingly powerful ‘In The Air Tonight’. A song that slowly builds until it reaches a climax that explodes with such a clamour of drums that the listener cannot fail to be moved. The single narrowly failed to make the top spot in the UK singles chart, while the album became a worldwide success. In the UK it became a number 1, and spent over five years in the charts.
Following Face Value’s extraordinary success and media interest, Collins went to great lengths to insist that he would not be leaving Genesis, and went on to make a further five albums with them. Collins’ next solo work, Hello, I Must Be Going, was similarly successful although the angst had disappeared now that Collins was happily ensconced in relationship with his future wife. The excellent cover version of the Supremes ‘You Can’t Hurry Love’ was another worldwide hit in 1982, reaching the top spot in the UK. Collins continued with a gruelling schedule of work, which he managed to complete with enthusiasm and King Midas-like success. He became a highly successful record producer and session drummer, working with such artists as John Martyn, Robert Plant, Adam And The Ants, Frida, Eric Clapton, Brand X and Howard Jones. Additionally, his specially commissioned film soundtrack song for Against All Odds reached the top of the US charts and narrowly missed the top spot in the UK. A few weeks later he appeared on television giving a confident performance as an actor in one episode of Miami Vice, resulting in a glut of film scripts being sent to him. He played drums on the famous Band Aid single, ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’, which spent the early weeks of 1985 at the top of the charts. A few weeks later he was again near the top of the US charts duetting with Philip Bailey on the infectious ‘Easy Lover’ (a UK number 1), and, barely pausing for breath, released No Jacket Required which topped the charts in most countries in the world, for many weeks.
Collins made history on 13 July 1985 by appearing at the Live Aid concert twice, both at Wembley, and, following a dash to catch Concorde, in Philadelphia. Incredibly, he found further energy a few hours later to play drums with Jimmy Page and Robert Plant and Eric Clapton. A second duet and film soundtrack, this time with Marilyn Martin for the film White Nights made ‘Separate Lives’ his fourth chart-topper in the US at the end of a phenomenal year. Collins had a comparatively quiet time during 1986, spending part of it touring the world as drummer with Eric Clapton’s band. The following year was spent filming for his starring role as a great train robber, Buster Edwards in Buster, which was released the following year to mainly good reviews. Collins enjoyed UK hit singles with two songs from the soundtrack, reaching number 1 with his cover version of Patti LaBelle’s ‘A Groovy Kind Of Love’ and number 6 with ‘Two Hearts’. His fourth solo album was released in 1989 and immediately topped the charts, spawning further hit singles including the widely criticised ‘Another Day In Paradise’.
In the 90s, in addition to continuing with Genesis, Collins contributed to David Crosby’s album Thousand Roads, co-writing the hit ‘Hero’ and starred in the movie Frauds. Both Sides in 1993 was a return to the stark emotion of Face Value, and contained one of the singer’s best hit singles, ‘Both Sides Of The Story’. Collins, although he stated in interviews that he was a happily married man, opened old relationship wounds with powerful lyrics. He was rewarded by the album debuting at number 1 in the UK chart and finding similar success in the USA and most countries in the world. There seemed little else left to achieve for the teenager who played the Artful Dodger in Oliver! onstage in 1964. However, his untarnished image suffered a major setback when it was revealed that his highly publicised second marriage was over, following his defection with a much younger woman. Collins relocated to Switzerland leaving his wife alone together with the almost unanimous support of the UK public and press, and allowing the lyrical intensity of Both Sides to be viewed in a different light.
Collins left Genesis in March 1996, and when the underwhelming Dance Into The Light was released later in the year, the singer went to great lengths during interviews to regain credibility with his public. The Hits compilation restored Collins to the top of the UK charts in October 1998, and broke into the US Top 20. The following year Collins composed the songs for the Disney movie Tarzan, enjoying particular success with the ballad ‘You’ll Be In My Heart’, which later won the Oscar for Best Original Song. He recorded a big band live album, which was ignored by the rock press, but given a fair hearing from the quality media. Testify was Collins’ first album of new songs for a number of years, and one which the singer was hoping would re-establish his credibility. A workmanlike cover version of Billy Nicholls’ hit for Leo Sayer ‘I Can’t Stop Loving You (Though I Try)’ was the advance single.
