Monday, March 14, 2011

Who Gave the Drummer a Microphone? Part 3

The last installment in our singing drummers series features one of the decade's most successful artists, Phil Collins.  Collins began the decade as the lead vocalist and drummer for the band Genesis, but it wasn't until he went solo that he would find Top 10 success as a singing drummer.

All hail, the king of the Singing Drummers!
Collins' first album, 'Face Value' (1981), featured the haunting song "In The Air Tonight"; despite the song's popularity, it would reach no higher than #19 in the US.  A year later, Collins issued his second solo album, 'Hello, I Must Be Going'.  It would take a cover version of a former #1 by the Supremes to get Phil into the Top 10:  his cover of "You Can't Hurry Love" would reach #10 in 1982.

Collins would sing and drum on a number of Top 10 (and several #1) hits throughout the decade.  As a solo artist, his Top singing/drumming hits include "One More Night", "Don't Lose My Number", "Take Me Home", "Against All Odds", and a host of others.  He would reach the Top 10 as a singing drummer with Genesis as well, cracking the Top 10 with "That's All", "Invisible Touch", "Land Of Confusion", and several others.

If there are other singing drummers that hit the Top 10 in the US during the 1980s, I've yet to find them. Peter Criss sang and drummed on Kiss' Top 10 hit "Beth", but that was in 1978.  Jimmy Marinos would sing and drum on the Romantics' 1980 hit "What I Like About You", but it wouldn't even crack the Top 40, let alone the Top 10.  Any other 80s singing drummers out there?

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