During his career, it became clear that Phil Collins had a remarkably wide range of musical influences, spanning Progressive Rock, R&B, and Jazz. He was able to showcase those influences in Genesis, but especially during his solo career, where he experimented with many different styles while maintaining his own musical identity.
Although he was not yet able to fully display all those aspects of his songwriting during his early years in Genesis, Collins often spoke about the many other artists and bands he admired. That became especially evident in 1978, when he selected some of his favorite songs to be played on Worcester’s WAAF radio station (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage) and explained why he was so fond of those tracks.
9 songs Phil Collins listed as some of his favorites in the 70s
Santana “Promise of a Fisherman”
“Santana with a track from ‘Borboletta’ called ‘Promise of a Fisherman’, which is a very joyous piece of music, to my ears at least,” Phil Collins said. Curiously, Collins later revealed that this song was an inspiration for “Los Endos”, Genesis track from their album “A Trick of The Tail” in 1976.
“‘Wot Gorilla’ on ‘Wind & Wuthering’ was my baby, and ‘Los Endos’ on ‘A Trick Of The Tail’. Again, it was about ideas and arrangements. I’d heard the Santana album ‘Borboletta’, and there’s a tune on it called ‘Promise Of A Fisherman’. If you’ve got it on your iPod, have a listen and think of ‘Los Endos’. That’s where it came from – I was more involved in that,” he told Prog in 2016.
“Borboletta” was Santana’s sixth studio album and is one of their most “Jazz-Funk-Fusion” oriented ones. When released, the album peaked at number 18 on the United Kingdoms albums chart and 20 on the United States Billboard Top LPs & Tape.
Brian Eno “No One Receiving”
“I played on this track, actually. I’ve done a couple of albums with him and he is very fresh to work with. He’s got a lot of good ideas and a lot of strange ideas. He really should be listened to, because he is doing some very nice things. He works in (those) two minute soundtrack moods, which is a lot of what we’re about, I think, Genesis. So I feel very strongly about what he’s doing. (He is) another one of the underdogs,” Phil Collins said.
The song mentioned by Phil was part of Eno’s “Before and After Science” album. Collins collaborated with Brian extensively in the 1970s, having played on four of his solo albums. The first time was on “Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) (1974), followed by “Another Green World” (1975), “Before and After Science” (1977) and “Music for Films” (1977).
Eno is one of the most prolific musicians of his generation and first achieved fame as a member of Roxy Music. Over the decades he collaborated with many other artists like David Bowie, John Cale, David Byrne. He also produced albums by U2, Coldplay, Peter Gabriel, Grace Jones and Damon Albarn.
The Tubes “Got Yourself a Deal”
“The Tubes, from ‘Got Live if You Want It’, which is a good live album and one of the better bands around, The Tubes,” he said. Actually, the album name mentioned by Collins was from a Rolling Stones record, The Tubes release he was referring to was “What Do You Want from Live”, released in 1978.
Collins was a big fan of the American band and curiously, by 1978 they had yet to record their biggest hit. When the live album was released, Phil noted that the band had only three studio albums to its name. It wasn’t until 1983, with the release of “Outside Inside”, that “She’s a Beauty” arrived.
The song peaked at No. 1 on the US Top Rock Tracks chart and reached No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. Other famous songs by the group are “Talk To Ya Later” and “White Punks on Dope”.
Herbie Hancock “Good Question”
“This is from Herbie Hancock’s new album which features him singing. But I had took the advice that we’re gonna listen to him playing instead of singing. Tony Williams is on this track and so is Jaco Pastorious and Bill Summers on percussion. It’s rather nice, called ‘Good Question,” he said.
He had the chance to play with Herbie Hancock at least once, during rehearsals for the jazz tribute that took place at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. However, alongside other drummers such as Tony Williams and Buddy Rich, Collins left the rehearsal after a while because he didn’t feel he should be trying to play with musicians who were far more accomplished in that style of music.
Herbie first gained notoriety when he joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he played a crucial role in redefining the role of a Jazz rhythm section. His best-known compositions include “Cantaloupe Island”, “Watermelon Man”, and “Maiden Voyage”.
The Beatles “I’m Only Sleeping”
“Another one of those things that usually don’t get played but nice song,” he said. Collins has been a Beatles fan since he was a kid and at the age of 13 he even was part of the recording of “A Hard Day’s Night” as an extra, although he didn’t make it into the final cut.
“Well, no collection would be complete without one or two Beatles records. I mean, The Beatles were the reason I’m in this business. Really although I’ve been playing the drums since I was five, it was The Beatles that suddenly gave a purpose,” he told BBC Radio back in 1993.
“I’m Only Sleeping” was part of the praised Beatles album “Revolver”, released in 1966. Curiously, Phil Collins is alongside Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson one of the few musicians who sold an estimated amount of more than 100 million records worldwide both in a band and on their solo careers.
Brand X “Sun in the Night”
“Next we got a bit of Brand X, because it doesn’t get enough airplay. It’s called ‘Sun in the Night’. I think that should have been a single, I think. Anyway the powers that be didn’t want it, so it wasn’t a single,” he said.
Brand X was formed in London in 1974 and Phil Collins joined them in 1975, being their drummer until 1979, between his commitments with Genesis. He played on the albums “Unorthodox Behaviour” (1976), “Moroccan Roll” (1977), “Livestock” (1977), “Product” (1979), and “Do They Hurt?” (1980).
Phil once recalled how he ended up becoming a member of the band. “I was listening to quite a lot of fusion stuff. One day I got a phone call from Island Records, saying ‘You fancy coming down to the studios? Because we got a good band that needs a drummer.’ I went down another day and sat in with them and just played all afternoon. This music wasn’t fashionable at all, so we just did very few shows.”
“But I did aspire to them playing in America, so we did go to America once. We played at the Roxy in Los Angeles and we had a curtain. So we put on a tape (20th Century Fox Fanfare). The curtain would rise and it would lower again. It was mayhem, chaos. Then one of the guitar players got bored, the singer got fired and we became the Brand X that those people do know about it,” he said in an interview with Drumeo (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage).
The only members of the band who were part of every lineup throughout the years were Percy Jones (Bass) and John Goodsall (Guitar).
George Duke “Movin’ On”
“The track was called ‘Movin’ On’. What’s (the name of the album)? ‘Don’t Let Go’, yeah, the new album by George Duke. Another guy that no one seems to hear much of. He changed record labels, right? (He went to) Epic, which we’re all crossing our fingers for good old George. He’s done some nice music,” Phil Collins said.
George Duke was an American composer, songwriter, singer, keyboardist, and producer. He was extremely prolific throughout his career, releasing 32 studio albums. The final one, “DreamWeaver”, was released in 2013, the same year he passed away at the age of 67. Other famous songs from his career are “Sweet Baby”, “Reach Out”, “Born To Love You” and “You”.
Van Morrison “The Eternal Kansas City”
“Now we got a song from Van Morrison which is called ‘The Eternal Kansas City,'” he said. Both Collins and Morrison were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame on the same day in 2003.
“The Eternal Kansas City” was released on Van’s ninth studio album “A Period of Transition” in 1977. Van Morrison first achieved fame as the frontman of Them, formed in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1964. They scored hits like “Gloria”, “Baby Please Don’t Go”, “Here Comes The Night” and “Mystic Eyes”. The singer quit the band in 1966 and started a successful solo career, having recorded famous songs like “Brown Eyed Girl” and “Moondance”.
Ace “How Long”
“Ok, my favorite single. This is by Ace, ‘How Long’,” he said. The track was the debut single of the British band Ace, which was part of their 1974 album “Five-A-Side”. It peaked at No. 3 in both the United States and Canadian charts, although it was less successful in its home country, reaching No. 20 on the UK charts.
The band was formed in Sheffield, England, in 1972 and remained active until 1977. It was fronted by the renowned singer and keyboardist Paul Carrack, who, besides having a successful solo career, was also a member of Squeeze, Roger Waters’ band, and Mike & The Mechanics, led by Genesis guitarist Mike Rutherford.
During his career, he also worked with artists such as Linda Ronstadt, Diana Ross, Tom Jones, and Michael McDonald. In addition, he served as a session or touring musician for acts including Elton John, Roxy Music, Ringo Starr, B.B. King, The Pretenders, The Smiths, and Madness.