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The prog-rocker’s personal nightmare that became an ambient-electro, drum-holocaust sensation… Words: David Cavanagh. Originally published in Uncut's June 2008 issue (Take 133). Picture: Peter Still/Redferns ________________________ At the end of 1980, if you’d been looking for an artist to...
DARYL STUERMER (guitar): Phil played me the demo of “In The Air…” when we were driving back to London from a Genesis rehearsal somewhere in Surrey. I didn’t even know he was a songwriter. It was a really moody piece, just him and a drum machine, and I didn’t know whether the lyric was complete or not. It was very train-of-thought. I remember thinking: ‘Wow, good song, Phil, you’ve got a nice little career ahead of you there.’
My guitar part was done much later, in a studio in LA. I sat in the control room with Phil, and my amp was out in the studio, as loud as I could get it. I hit this chord, which Phil described as the sound of an electric razor. Rrrrzzzzzzzz. People write me emails about that chord, asking what it is. The song’s in the key of D minor, but the chord itself has no minor notes. It’s a low A, and a D, and another A and a D. But it depends how you play it; it has to have that overdriven, distorted sound from the amp. It’s a distant sound, but a distant powerful sound. It’s a sound you imagine being deafeningly loud a mile away.
I suppose “I Missed Again” would have been the obvious commercial choice as a single, but “In The Air…” had something totally different. That recording session was like magic. The more layers we added, the better and better it sounded.
SIMON DRAPER (Virgin Records A&R executive): It was a pivotal time in Virgin’s history. We’d had our first phase, releasing mainly European prog music by people like Mike Oldfield and Tangerine Dream, and then we’d reinvented ourselves with the Sex Pistols. But none of the punk stuff had sold much outside the UK. By the end of the ’70s, we were in trouble and desperately needed some chart action. Hugh Padgham told me about this track Phil Collins was recording at the Townhouse. I thought: “Drummer from Genesis… won’t sell much.” But I went down, listened, and it was fantastic. We pitched heavily to sign him. His advance was steep for the time, and the royalty [rate] was something we’d never paid before. “In The Air…” was absolutely the stand-out, even though it was very long. Phil was very hip at that time. Later, of course, he became the epitome of MOR and was much reviled. But the success of that record really saved Virgin’s bacon.
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FACT FILE
Written by: Phil Collins
Performers: Phil Collins (vocals, synthesiser, drum machine, electric piano, drums), Daryl Stuermer (guitar), John Giblin (bass), L Shankar (violin)
Produced by: Phil Collins, Hugh Padgham
Recorded at: Collins’ house, Surrey; Townhouse Studios, London; Village Recorder, Los Angeles
Released as a single: January 1981 (UK), May 1981 (US)
Highest UK chart position: 2
Highest US chart position: 19
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