A timeline of the most important musical and
private events
(without any claim to completeness)
1951: June Collins, manager of a wine store, and Greville Collins,
clerk to an insurance company, living in Hounslow, have their third
child Philip David Charles Collins on January 30, 1951, at five minutes
past midnight.
1952: The Collins family moves to Sheen.
1954: The Collins family moves back to Hounslow.
1956: Li’l Phil, aged 5, is presented with his first mini
drum kit.
1957: Grown-sumwhat Phil plays Humpty Dumpty in the Christmas
play Cinderella. The Collins family (with Phil) often performs at the
Richmond Yachting Club. Phil also drums as the rhythm group to an organ
player.
1958: Grown-summat-more Phil wins first place at a talent show
at a holiday camp.
1961: Phil’s mother begins to organize performances and
hirings for the Barbara Speake Stage School as a booking agent. Phil
is booked as a pullover model for fashion or knitting-pattern magazines.
1962: Mistakenly believing it to be his own, Phil swaps his brother
Clive’s model train set for the drum kit of another boy in the
neighbourhood. That same year he passes the exams for secondary education
and is accepted at Chiswick County Grammar School.
1963: Phil is given a new drum kit as a birthday present. An
aunt of his dad’s teaches him some basic terms of playing the
piano and to read music. On August 08, 1963, a gang headed by Ronald
“Buster” Edwards pulls off the legendary train robbery,
an event which was to gain special significance for Phil in 1988. Phil
also buys his first rock records: The Beatles’ Please Please Me
and the first Rolling Stones record.
1964: On March 31, he is one of 350 extras in the Beatles film
A Hard Day’s Night. He earns 15 pounds a week for playing the
Artful Dodger in the Musical Oliver Twist. He will play this role for
seven months at the New Theatre in Martin’s Lane until his voice
breaks (the role includes the song You’ve Got To Pick A Pocket
Or Two). He then enrols at the Barbara Speake Stage School, becoming
an exemplary student there – and meeting Andrea Bertorelli and
Lavinia Lang who between them will keep his heart occupied for many
years to come. In these years he uses his image as the ideal date, and
switches dating them singly or simultaneously…
1965: Phil enjoy big band music by Eric Delaney and Ray McVay.
He takes up drumming tuition. The BBC employs him as an off-speaker
for the Junior Points Of View programme. Phil briefly returns to Oliver
Twist playing the role of Noah Claypole. Somewhere around 1965 a band
called The Real Thing is founded. Phil drums while Andrea and Lavinia
provide backing vocals. Set lists include Tamla Motown songs and soul
classics.
1966: Phil appears on British TV in Stubby Kaye’s Silver
Star Show. He also becomes a regular, helper and club member in Soho’s
legendary Marquee Club at 90 Wardour Street. At Ronnie Scott’s
club, he witnesses an impressive concert by drummer Buddy Rich. He also
worships The Who’s Keith Moon, Yes with Bill Bruford and Jon Anderson,
a band called The Action – and does not care much about school
anymore. Phil meets Ronnie Caryl who plays with The Real Thing for one
song at one gig.
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1967: Phil and Ronnie are both extras
for the musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. They skip school and becomes
really good friends.
1968: Ronnie moves in at Phil’s. They play music and records
on end. Phil plays a major role in the children t.v. production Calamity
The Cow, most of which will be cut out. Right before the final exams
at acting school he throws it all away for the music. He has a number
of unsuccessful band auditions before he is accepted at the Cliff Charles
Blues Band for a while. After that, it’s bands like The Charge,
The Freehold, Zox, The Radar Boys and a job for one John Walker. Phil
and Ronnie play in the backing band of the soulful Gladiators. It is
called The Hickory and will become the basis for Flaming Youth after
they split up.
1969: Phil occasionally drums and sing with a band called Flaming
Youth. With members Phil Collins, Ronnie Caryl, Brian Chatton and Gordon
Smith, they record an album called Ark 2 featuring music by Ken Howard
and Alan Blaikley. When it is released in autumn 1969, the Melody Maker
crowns it “pop album of the month”. Despite this praise
and an ambitious première with an orchestra at London’s
Lyceum success does not turn up. Flaming Youth split up soon after.
Lavinia Lang splits up with Phil who turns all his attention to Andrea
Bertorelli
1970: An ad is placed in the Melody Maker: “Wanted: Drummer
sensitive to acoustic music.” It is Genesis who placed the ad
and invite Phil to audition at the home of Gabriel’s parents in
Chobham, Surrey. Phil gets the job and joins Genesis in August 1970.
His first gig with the band is on August 30, 1970, at the Marquee Club.
His colleagues soon think highly of him as of a musician with a feeling
for the overall sound. Looking back, though, Peter Gabriel also stated:
“I had the feeling that Genesis was not his natural way of musical
expression. […] He helped us to loosen up.”
1971: Genesis release their first album with Phil, Nursery Cryme.
Phil sings Hackett’s composition For Absent Friends. People hardly
notice because Phil’s voice is surprisingly similar to Peter Gabriel’s
1972: Foxtrot is released in October. Phil’s ex-girlfriend
Andrea has a relationship with a Canadian in her hometown of Vancouver.
On August 08, 1972, she gives birth to Joely. In the meantime Phil is
not too happy with Peter Gabriel’s costume theatrics at Genesis
gigs: “I always found it frustrating that people weren’t
listening to the music, but watching it.” Phil’s dad dies
on December 24, 1972.
1973: Genesis Live and Selling England By The Pound
are released in August and October, respectively. Phil sings More
Fool Me, a song he had written with Mike Rutherford.
1974: In January 1974 Phil meets his old flame Andrea again at
a Canadian gig of Genesis North American tour. Old love becomes new
love. After the spring tour Andrea, Phil and little Joely move to Epsom,
Surrey. Former Genesis guitarist Anthony Phillips records his Silver
Song and Only Your Love with Phil and Mike Rutherford.
The songs are to be released as a Collins solo single, but the project
is shelved. In November, the lamb lies down on Broadway...
1975: Peter Gabriel announces that he leaves Genesis in May.
Phil sings a terrific Star Of Sirius on Steve Hackett’s
solo album Voyage Of The Acolyte. Phil and Andrea get married
on September 25, 1975, at St Joseph’s church in Epsom Surrey.
Ronnie Caryl is Phil’s best man. Brand X play their first gig
with Phil as a drummer at the London School Of Economics in December.
Phil’s then wife Andrea had this to say about Phil’s restless
musical energy which he spent on Genesis, Brand X, countless guest appearances
and (later) producer’s jobs: “Something was driving Phil
on and on. Even when we met at acting school when he was 13, he was
totally focused on his goal. And he wanted to achieve them no matter
what.”
1976: After a long unsuccessful search for a successor for Gabriel,
Phil takes up vocal duties with Genesis. The album A Trick Of The
Tail is released in February 1976. It convinces all the critics.
The record features the sophisticated Robbery, Assault And Battery,
written by Tony Banks and Phil. Phil and his pregnant wife Andrea move
to Ealing in spring. London, Ontario, plays host to Genesis’ first
show with Phil Collins as a singer on March 31, 1976. At the drums there
is Bill Bruford of Yes, King Crimson and Brand X. In July 1976 the first
Brand X album Unorthodox Behaviour comes out. Simon Collins
is born on September 14, 1976, at Queen Charlotte’s Hospital,
Hammersmith. Late in December the second Genesis album of the year is
released. Wind & Wuthering contains a Collins/Hackett song,
Blood On The Rooftops and a Banks/Collins instrumental called
Wot Gorilla?. Phil and Andrea have a huge argument on New Year’s
Eve. It is the beginning of a bitter ending ...
1977: Chester Thompson plays the drums with Genesis for the first
time at a live gig at the Rainbow, London, on January 01, 1977. Brand
X release the studio album Moroccan Roll in April. For the
first time, there is a piece with vocals, Sun In The Night,
and a number written by Collins, Why Should I Lend You Mine…
. The instrumental live LP Livestock follows in November. Phil
Collins also sings two songs on Anthony Phillips’ The Geese
And The Ghost. One of them is the delicious Which Way The Wind
Blows. Guitarist Steve Hackett leaves Genesis in autumn, in the
middle of mixing the live classic album Seconds Out. It is
released in October.
1978: In April, Genesis release And Then There Were Three
on which the Banks/Collins number Scenes From A Night’s Dream
can be found. Early in summer, Phil and Andrea move into the newly-bought
“Old Croft” in Shalford, Surrey, in an attempt to save their
marriage. While Phil goes on tour with Genesis, lonely Andrea has an
affair ...
1979: Andrea flees to her mother’s place in Vancouver with
Joely (who had long before been adopted by Phil) and Simon. The final
split takes place in April 1979. Phil is busy recording for Steve Bishop’s
album Red Cab To Manhatton (Eric Clapton is also involved).
He also plays a couple of gigs with Peter Gabriel and John Martyn. In
September, Brand X release Product with the Collins piece …And
So To F… Genesis meet at Phil’s home in the country
to work on the next album. There is room enough for all...
1980: Phil’s marriage is in the past. In March, Genesis
release Duke (which includes Collins’ Please Don’t
Ask and Misunderstanding) and go on tour. At a concert
in Los Angeles on May 27, 1980, Phil meets his later wife Jill Tavelman
at the Rainbow Bar And Grill. Brand X are slowly reaching the end of
their string with Do They Hurt? in April. Former Genesis buddy
Peter Gabriel hires Phil for his third solo album which marks the experimental
birth of the drum sound that is to become Phil’s trademark in
the next years. John Martyn has Phil drum on his album Grace And
Anger.
1981: February witnesses one if not the most important milestone
in Phil’s musical career. He comes to (musical) terms with the
pain of his marriage breaking apart in his first solo album Face
Value. The record writes music history, particularly in the brute
drum break of In The Air Tonight. Divorce, however, cannot
be averted…
Phil’s second collaboration with John Martyn does not only have
Phil on the drum stool but also very audibly in the producer’s
chair. The result is called Glorious Fool. Further important
events of the year are Phil’s first solo appearance at the Secret
Policeman’s Other Ball at the Drury Lane Theatre, London, on September
11, 1981, where he is accompanied by Daryl Stuermer (guitar, banjo)
for In The Air Tonight and The Roof Is Leaking. The
year also marks a change of direction in the music of Genesis. With
Abacab, which was recorded completely at their brand new Surrey
studio The Farm, messieurs Banks, Collins and Rutherford tread new waves
that fans of long standing have trouble following. Phil contributes
Man On The Corner. Then there is a minute reunion when Phil
drums on the album Playing For Time of his former Flaming Youth
buddy Brian Chatton.
1982: Brand X close a chapter in their history in September.
Without meeting again, they release a kind of doggy-bag sampler called
Is There Anything About?. The more important thing for Phil
may well be his productive work with ex-ABBA singer Frida. Her solo
LP Something’s Going On sounds like a Collins album with
a different vocalist.
In June, Genesis release Three Sides Live, while Phil’s
second solo album Hello I Must Be Going comes out in November.
It takes his title from a Charlotte Chandler biography about Jill’s
godfather (!) Groucho Marx of the Marx Brothers. The Supremes classic
You Can’t Hurry Love becomes a huge hit (and a favourite
video) in Phil’s version. Mention must also be made of the one-off
Genesis reunion concert at Milton Keynes on October 02, 1982 to help
Peter Gabriel solve the financial problems resulting from his engagement
for WOMAD.
1983: Phil and Jill are engaged. He drums on Robert Plant’s
The Principle Of Moments, sends shiver up and down listeners’
spines in October with his vocals for Mama, the opening song
on Genesis’ eponymous album. Phil also reworks the Face Value
relic How Can You Sit There into the title song of the movie
Against All Odds and starts working for the British welfare
organization Prince’s Trust.
1984: Against All Odds climbs to the number one position
in the U.S. charts. Philip Bailey of Earth, Wind & Fire decides
to have Phil produce his album Chinese Wall. It contains the
hit Easy Lover that was written jointly by Bailey, Collins
and bass guitarist Nathan East. Phil also produces Adam Ant’s
LP Strip. The Guildford Town Hall and the church in Shalford
witness the beginning of Phil’s second marriage on August 04,
1984. The year ends with Phil drumming on the Band Aid question Do
They Know It’s Christmas?.
1985: Though he is not wearing anything formal, Phil released
his third solo album in April. No Jacket Required lands him
a string of hits: Sussudio, One More Night, Take Me Home and
Don’t Lose My Number climb high in the charts. Less successful
is his collaboration with Eric Clapton, whose album Behind The Sun
contains many overlooked gems. A young lady by the name of Marylin
Martin sings the Stephen Bishop ballad Separate Lives with
Phil. The song is used for the movie White Nights. On July
13, 1985, the Live Aid concert, organized by Bob Geldof, takes place
in London and Philadelphia. Phil performs solo and with Sting and Branford
Marsalis in England, boards the Concorde and also performs in the States
with Eric Clapton and Led Zeppelin. In between Phil obviously finds
enough time to act the role of Phil Mayhew (!) in the Miami Vice episode
Phil The Shill which is first broadcast in the U.S. on December
13, 1985.
1986: … is a Genesis year, marked by the sensational success
of their album Invisible Touch (June 1986). Phil also produces
Howard Jones’ No One Is To Blame and Eric Clapton’s
August.
1987: … is another Genesis year filled with an extensive
Invisible Touch Tour
1988: Atlantic Records celebrate their 40th anniversary in the
Madison Square Guarden. Phil performs solo, with Genesis and with the
Blues Brother’s Band. The first full-scale feature film starring
Phil Collins in the leading role premières on September 15, 1988:
Buster is a film for which Phil writes a considerable amount
of music. The German version opens on November 03, 1988, but loses much
of the film’s charme through the dubbing.
1989: Little Lily Collins and a fourth solo album …But
Seriously make their entrance into this world on March 18, 1989
and in November, respectively. The song Another Day In Paradise
marks the beginning of Phil’s work for the National Coalition
For The Homeless. Phil also appears on Stephen Bishop’s album
Bowling In Paris and on stage as the Uncle Sam for performances
of The Who’s rock opera Tommy in London and Los Angeles.
1990: The live CD Serious Hits… Live!
comes out on November 05, 1990. Fans yearn for a recording of a complete
live concert; their thirst is quenched somewhat by a live video of the
complete gig in Berlin.
1991: For the last time, Phil returns to the studio with Genesis.
They record We Can’t Dance which is released on November
11. Phil produces the song The Quiet’s Too Loud for Lamont
Dozier’s album Inside Seduction; it is a joint work.
He has a cameo appearance as Police Inspector Good in Steven Spielberg’s
Peter Pan story, Hook, starring Robin Williams. Filming of
the movie Frauds begins.
1992: Phil’s marriage to Jill is in trouble. At a Genesis
concert in Los Angeles on June 18, 1992, Phil meets his former girlfriend
Lavinia Lang again after twenty years. It is the beginning of a three
month affair. In the end, Lavinia returns to her husband. Jill and Phil
try to make up – in vain. On November 16, 1992, Genesis release
the live CD The Way We Walk vol.1: The Shorts
1993: Phil works hard at his career as an actor. He plays a small
role as a homosexual sauna manager in And The Band Played On.
He also plays the Jackson Dover, an author of crime novels, in the bizarre
short film Calliope. He finally has a leading role in the above-mentioned
Frauds. This Australian film receives less attention from the
audience than Buster. It turns into a flop, which does not,
however, say anything about its quality. After a benefit concert as
The Ruins Band with Genesis and sundry rock stars from Pink Floyd to
Eric Clapton on September 18, 1993 at Cowdray Ruins in southern England
Phil has the feeling that it is time to quite Genesis. At that point,
he is in the middle of recordings for his intimate solo album Both
Sides. Genesis release The Way We Walk vol.2: The Longs
on January 18, while Both Sides comes out as Phil’s fifth
studio album on November 08, 1993. He recorded it all alone, which is
the trademark and occasional weak of the effort.
Phil produces David Crosby’s album Thousand Roads, which
features the Collins/Crosby duet Hero.
1994: Phil and Jill separate. On April 24, 1994, Phil meets Orianne
Cevey. She has joined the Both Sides entourage as a translator.
During his Both Sides Tour, which started April 1, Phil plays
an Unplugged concert for MTV on August 30, 1994. It is not
broadcast until much later and, unfortunately, much of it was cut out.
1995: Phil takes the Both Sides Tour to South America,
Asia, South Africa and Australia, now entitled Far Sides Tour.
Phil has a speaking role in the cartoon film Balto. He moves to Switzerland
with Orianne.
1996: Phil plays a benefit concert for cancer research in Geneva
on January 27. On March 28, 1996, Phil leaves Genesis – without
a grudge, without much fuss and in all friendship. In July, first concerts
of Phil Collins’ Big Band take place with musicians of the WDR
[a state-wide public TV station in Germany; translator’s note].
They also performs music by Genesis and Phil himself. Phil’s new
state of life shines through in his sixth solo album Dance Into
The Light.
1997: Phil begins work on the soundtrack for Disney’s Tarzan,
drums a third time for John Martyn and participates together with Paul
McCartney, Sting, Mark Knopfler and many others in the Music For Montserrat
benefit.
1998: On June 22, Genesis delight their fans with the long-awaited
4CD box Archive. It contains (partially overdubbed) live, studio
and demo recordings from 1967 to 1975. The whole gang had met once more
(including Collins’ predecessor’s predecessor John Silver)
for a “press conference reunion” on May 11. Phil Collins’
sampler …Hits comes out in October. Despite a cover of
True Colours it is less impressive.
1999: Tarzan premières in Las Vegas on March
11, though it hits cinemas in the U.S. only on July 18. Two new Collins
CDs are released simultaneously in May. One is the Phil Collins Big
Band album A Hot Night In Paris, which, as Serious Hits…
Live! provides only parts of the whole set – fans who had
hoped for Wot Gorilla?, The West Side or Hand
In Hand were frustrated. The other one is Phil’s ambitious
Tarzan soundtrack, a German, spanish, italian and french (!)
versions are released in 1999 and 2000. You’ll Be In My Heart
turns out to be another smash-hit. On July 24, Phil weds Orianne in
Lausanne; celebrations include a Genesis reunion with “live Mechanic”
Jamie Moses playing the guitar. The Genesis sampler Turn It On Again
– The Hits is released on October 25. It features a new recording
of the Lamb classic The Carpet Crawlers which was made while
the first archive box was being prepared. Another première takes
the shape of Simon Collins’ first CD All Of Who You Are (released
on September 20). Phil “Pops” Collins supports his son singing
backing vocals on Pride.
2000: Phil takes some time off for acting. When
The Pipers Play, a film about the development of the bagpipe, premières
on February 02. In autumn there is a “little
reunion” at an event to honour Tony Smith. Genesis, consisting
of Phil, Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford and Daryl Stuermer, play a brief
set. Peter Gabriel is in the audience. He joins them on stage for a
photo shooting afterwards. The second Genesis Archive
box set is released in 2000. Reunion rumours appear and fade away
2001: During the recordings for his new album Phil suffers an
aural attack. On one ear, he does not regain his hearing completely.
Phil announces that he will perform only sporadically. On April 21 Phil’s
wife gives birth to another son, Nicholas.
2002: In summer, Phil drums for almost all musical guests (amongst
them: Annie Lennox, Ozzy Osbourne and Queen) at the Queen Jubilee concert
in the garden of Buckingham Palace. In autumn, he releases his new album
Testify. Its quality and sales figures are not up to previous
releases. Phil plays only two shows in London and Hamburg
to promote the album.
2003: Phil’s second Disney soundtrack Brother Bear
is released in a number of languages, even in Japanese. Phil also wrote
the background music for the film. The BBC documentary A
Life Less Ordinary is released on DVD. Critics and fans are
enthusiastic. In autumn, Phil announces that he is going to tour one
final time..
2004: The year is filled with his First
Final Farewell Tour. Phil repeatedly confirms that this will
be his last tour. It does not end with tours in Europe and the United
States. A tour DVD called Finally…
The First Farewell Tour appears, as does another “best
of” compilation called Love
Songs. In summer, Phil does his first interview with the German
Genesis Fanclub it. His son Mathew Thomas
is born on December 01.
2005: Phil is working on the musical version of Walt Disney’s
Tarzan. In the meantime, a second Tarzan film has come out.
It features two new Collins songs, but no new soundtrack. Phil joins
the cover band The Musical Box in Geneva
for one of the encore songs, The Musical Box. In autumn, Phil
returns to Germany for two more concerts. The third leg of his Farewell
Tour takes him to Eastern Europe, the Near East and some places
in Germany and the UK. The farewell continues...
2006: Tarzan is premiered on
Broadway. Phil announced that he and Orianne have parted ways. Being
asked about a Genesis
Reunion, Phil says that "something will happen". Phil,
Tony and Mike have booked studio time for the autumn 2006...
Authors: Bernd Vormwald (until 2000), Christian Gerhardts (2000 and
beyond)
Translation by Martin Klinkhardt
Last Update: August 2006
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