Hardly anyone has left his musical scent mark on so many well-known colleagues: Phil Collins is now gathering his collaborations with other artists in the four CD retrospective "Plays Well With Others", which covers the years 1969 to 2002.
Not every good musician makes it to a pop star. But Phil Collins combines both. Hardly any pop artist has made it further in terms of success and musical mastery - Collins is Pop XXL and Sideman deluxe. In fact, apart from Paul McCartney, there is no musician who has brought more than 100 million records to customers worldwide, both with a band and as a solo artist. And if you look at the list of those who have secured Collins' services for their own projects, even the ex-Beatle can hardly keep up. The little Englishman became one of the most coveted accomplices of pop, with his stylistic spectrum covering all conceivable varieties of pop, rock, jazz and world music.
A phenomenon that seeks explanation. The fact that Phil Collins, born in 1951, is one of the most experienced drummers of his generation had quickly spread in the rock scene of the 70s. With Genesis, the man from the West of London had become famous. And already in those early years he had used every opportunity to show up with his drumkit at colleagues like Brian Eno, John Cale, Tommy Bolin and Rod Argent. His motivation: "God, this guy asked me if I wanted to play - how could I refuse? These were great opportunities to play with my heroes." So Collins in the liner notes to Plays Well With Others. Chester Thompson, who would later find his permanent place behind the drums of the Genesis tour band, gave Collins a T-shirt with the inscription "Plays well with others" (which gave the current compilation its title).
