Phil Collins recalls early failings as Genesis frontman
- Written by GenesisFan
- Be the first to comment!
Phil Collins onstage with Genesis in 1976
Getty
Phil Collins has recalled his early failings as a frontman when he took over the Genesis limelight from Peter Gabriel.
Drummer Collins took over on lead vocals after Gabriel quit in 1975. And he says it was filling the gaps between songs that he found most difficult.
He tells Uncut: "My main worry was what I was going to say to the crowd as the band are tuning their 12-string guitars between songs.
"You can’t let the dead air settle, you have to fill it, and that’s what Peter became good at."
And when he attempted to tell a humorous story during a show in Spain, Collins realised he was out of his depth.
He adds: "I used to tell little stories. Sometimes it was terribly embarrassing. I concocted this story for The Cinema Show. We were in Spain in a bullring and for some reason I can't quite fathom, the story involved an inflatable doll.
"There was this guy, trying to blow the doll up, and he’s smoking and of course he bursts the doll. It was quite funny on paper.
"But I’m standing there in this bull ring, telling my story, which is written on a bit of paper in my hand, in pidgin Spanish, trying to blow up an inflatable doll. It became quite clear this story was going to take a good half hour."
© Team Rock, by Stef Lach
