Phil Collins, "In The Air Tonight" (1981)

[media=https://youtu.be/YkADj0TPrJA]

This, as we used to say, was "the jam". Everybody was turning it up on their car stereo and driving just a little faster when it came on.
What was it about ? Collins said he wrote it while going through a divorce and it was more about his mood than any specific event. But that wasn’t good enough for some fans. The urban legend developed that Collins had witnessed someone let a person drown, and called them out during a concert. ("Totally untrue," Collins insists.)

Nonetheless, the song was badass enough to be used as incidental music on the show Miami Vice during a chase and changed lives in small ways:

A bunch of us became Miami Vice aficionados 🙋🏽‍♀️never missing an episode.

At least two people I know credit the song with their decision to take up the drums.

Larry seriously considered moving to Florida—but we talked him out of it.

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uncalled4 · 56-60, M

I remember that rumor, lots of people thought it was literal, that Phil was the one who let the guy drown. And I swear, someone at college played that out of his window every single day in the fall of '85. It made for a...morose feeling.

However, when Phil was putting together this album, Atlantic Records head Ahmet Ertegun heard the song and "Where's the beat? No one can dance to it if there isn't a beat. Put more drums on it." So the 45 mix has more drums on it. Pft. It was a TERRIBLE idea, not only robbing the song of the impact of the drums dramatic entrance, but also making it sound like the Feds are trying to break into your house.

Here's the thing: I heard this mix exactly once on the radio and I thought I imagined the whole thing. I'd spent all night chatting up the girl who would be my girlfriend that summer. I was on cloud nine, and drove home, and THIS mix was on the radio. No idea why, and no one ever spoke of it.

Here it is:
[media=https://youtu.be/XxT13Swm1k8]
Sorry, Ahmet(RIP). It bites.

bijouxbroussard · F

@uncalled4 I do remember this. Definitely a bit of overkill.