On 05-21-97  14:47, waiting for 22, David Marheine said:
 DM> --- Sez Frank Swarbrick to Marla Romesburg ---
 
 MR> Don't leave yet! I am trying to think of the song that was written to
 MR> a guy  who killed one of the band members' friends...
 
 FS> The song you're think of is "In The Air Tonight".  It was a Phil
 FS> Collins solo song from his first album _Face Value_.
 FS> In any case, I believe that story is apocryphal.  In other words, not
 FS> true.  But it does make a good story...
 DM> I heard that "ITAT" was written while Phil was dealing with emotional
 DM> fallout related to an impending D-I-V-O-R-C-E (sing it, Tammy) and
 DM> because he found a good drum sound, of course.  If you want
 DM> apocryphal, can we discuss whether he announced his terminal marital
 DM> intentions to his wife via fax machine?
I don't know what the actual inspiration for the song was, but I do
believe that the album was written around the time of his divorce.  I
don't own the album so I can't comment on the other songs.  "Please
Don't Ask" from the Genesis album _Duke_ sounds quite divorce
influenced, and was I believe from around the same time period.  _Duke_
was released in 1980.  Not sure exactly about _Face Value_.
 DM> But on the subject of "In The Air Tonight", is there a version with
 DM> additional instrumental bits tacked on at the beginning before the
 DM> (album version of) the song kicks in?  A guy at work says he's heard
 DM> something like that on the radio but hasn't been able to locate...
Not sure I've ever heard of that...
        Frank
now playing:  "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight" --Genesis
... "Peace -- through superior firepower."
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