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The Verge Playlist: Phil Collins

The Verge Playlist: Phil Collins

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I inherited a lot from my mom: writing skills sufficient to merit employment, a profound appreciation of red wine, and absolutely terrible taste in music. She used to listen to this local radio station, Lite 96 FM, that played a consistent rotation of adult contemporary hits — Elton John, Celine Dion, Jon Secada, Eric Clapton, Mariah Carey. She loved all of it, and so I loved it too. There was nobody we loved more than Phil Collins — prolific hit-maker, master of the overwrought love song lyric, and (in our opinion) handsome-as-fuck bald dude.

As I got older and tried to get hipper, my musical inclinations eventually branched out to incorporate some (but not much) cool person music. But to this day, for every indie jam on my playlists (indie is cool, right?) there’s at least one Phil song to balance out the mix. I love Phil Collins because his melodies are catchy as hell. I love him because his lyrics are often unintentionally hilarious and he just owns them anyways. I love him because that 3:40 drum crash on "In The Air Tonight" gets me every damn time.

Mock me all you want. After all, this isn’t a salute to the prowess of Deadmau5 or Pharrell or some other musical act you won’t be ruthlessly derided for appreciating. But guess what? Phil Collins makes catchy tunes, catchy tunes are fun to listen to, and you’re probably not as cool as you think you are anyways. So pour a glass of wine, close all the curtains, and get ready...to dance into the light.*

*Some of these are slow jams, so a dance partner is strongly encouraged.

  1. In The Air Tonight
  2. You Can't Hurry Love
  3. I Don't Care Anymore
  4. Against All Odds
  5. Sussudio
  6. Don't Lose My Number
  7. Take Me Home
  8. Another Day In Paradise
  9. A Groovy Kind Of Love
  10. Both Sides of the Story
  11. Everyday
  12. Can't Stop Loving You