The last Rock & Roll Hall of Fame snub I’ll mention is Phil Collins, who is in the Hall as a member of Genesis but not as a solo artist. He’s been eligible since 2007 but never nominated.
It’s hard to argue against Collins based on the stats. His eight studio albums, plus soundtracks and compilations, have sold more than 150 million copies worldwide and 35 million in the U.S. He is a Grammy and Academy Award winner with seven #1 hits and another seven in the top ten.
The week of June 22, 1985, found Bryan Adams topping the Hot 100 with ‘Heaven.’ It was Adams’ first #1 hit, one of four in his career. Interestingly, the other three were all movie themes: ‘(Everything I Do) I Do It For You’ from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, ‘All for Love’ from The Three Musketeers, and ‘Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?’ from Don Juan DeMarco.
Alas, I featured ‘Heaven’ ten years ago during a week of songs by Canadians tied to a family vacation, so you don’t get to hear that banger of a power ballad today.
Phil Collins owned the top spot of the Billboard Hot 100 the week of March 30, 1985, with the first U.S. single from his album No Jacket Required. ‘One More Night’ spent two weeks at #1, giving Collins his second chart-topper, following ‘Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)’ the year before.
I have a soft spot for anything by Phil Collins, and this song certainly goes down easy, but it sounds like it was written in about 15 minutes (which is pretty close to the truth).
Forty years ago today, Phil Collins’ power ballad ‘Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)’ reached #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 for the first of three weeks. The song was written for the Taylor Hackford film Against All Odds, and is probably the most memorable thing about it.
Collins was nominated for the Best Song Oscar for this song, the first of three career nominations. He would eventually win for his work on 2000’s animated Tarzan, but he lost this one to Stevie Wonder’s ‘I Just Called to Say I Love You.’
Continuing a countdown of my favorite albums of 1985…
#7 – No Jacket Required – Phil Collins
The albums I’ve featured this week aren’t records I know by heart. I don’t have a deep enough stable of 1985 releases among my personal favorites.
But each of them has an overall sound and perspective that speaks to me, and three or four songs I really love. Today’s selection is a another great example.
Meet Me In Montauk 