Biography

March 31, 1961 · Coventry, Warwickshire, England, UK

Music critic for the Daily Telegraph.

Popular music was in its infancy - with the talents compressed into that group they pulled it in every possible direction. There is a lifetime of music in The Beatles. If you like popular music of the modern day, to say that you don't like The Beatles is kind of absurd. It is the fount of popular culture.

For some commentators, his cheeky chappy persona and highly produced, almost plastic soul music had long been a byword for middle of the road musical blandness. But such an assessment is patently unfair. Collins (Phil Collins) was an outstanding drummer, Genesis were a daring and groundbreaking band (certainly in their early career) and, after Gabriel (Peter Gabriel) left, he stepped up to prove himself a charismatic frontman with a very distinctive vocal character. In black urban American music, Collins is a much sampled legend, in part for his hugely distinctive Eighties drum sounds, and in part because they appreciated his very British take on soul music. But it is a strange thing about stars, and perhaps about artists in general, that they are a sensitive bunch, who tune into the backchat of criticism even in the face of their commercial popularity, and allow the pithy put downs of a few to drown out the encouraging roar of the many.

Famous people seem to struggle to grasp that fame doesn't mean more people love you, it just means more people have an opinion about you.

Mojo is a magazine that focuses on retro music, its annual editorial struggle being to find a way to get 12 covers featuring variations of only half a dozen artists: The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd.