This is what they want!

I mentioned yesterday in my piece about Phil Collins that Genesis were once interrogated on Tiswas by Sally James in one of her Almost Legendary Pop Interviews. That's right, Tiswas - home of the custard pie, Spit the Dog, Compost Corner, and the (many, many) buckets of water. There was something quite satisfying in seeing earnest/smug/unsuspecting (often all three) musicians being, quite literally, blindsided by the Phantom Flan Flinger - with Chris Tarrant bellowing from the side-lines: ''This is what they want!''

In a classic case of role reversal here we see the tables turned on Ms. James - appearing as a somewhat nervous contestant on a skit they called Plastermind. See what they did there? Good times.

It's PC gone mad

I've noticed people are treading very carefully around Phil Collins at the moment. He's been through the wringer of late, that's for sure; last time I looked him up on Wikipedia he's still an 'is' and not a 'was'. Always a good sign. The Sunday Times brought him in from the cold this weekend by, seemingly, bestowing national treasure status upon him. Maybe they've all forgotten his pointless/overblown trip on Concorde in 1985 from London to Philadelphia just to sabotage the Led Zeppelin reunion. Or the time he divorced the latest Mrs. Collins via his fax machine - classy. What a twerp.

However, I do try and cut the fella some slack. In no particular order, I did like his autobiography - his spoken word on the audiobook rang true - as if he'd written it. Maybe he had? I loved Sally James' almost legendary pop interview on Tiswas she did with him and the other two gadgies in Genesis just after Peter Gabriel had jumped ship. And getting Mic Murphy and David Frank from The System to play on and produce Sussudio was a masterstroke. Oh, and I can remember buying I Missed Again on 12'' and couldn't stop playing it.

But it's his on/off jazz fusion pickup band Brand X that I keep coming back to. Maybe he should too...

Brand X - And so to F (1979)