The culutral significance of Phil Collins, Anthropomorphic Gorillas, and that Guy From Jerry MacGuire
Hello all. First, thanks to the benevolent Benom for the invite to the RTP party. I’m all a-flutter.
Per some correspondence with RevDave today, I thought the following probably warranted a post. Phil Collins has been called many things. “Pop icon.” “Underrated drummer.” “Bald person.” “Phil.”
But everyone’s second-favorite lead singer of Genesis has seen a resurgence of sorts in recent weeks. First there was this BRILLIANT episode of This American Life, which prominently features the wit and wisdom of Mr. C. Seriously, Act I is probably my favorite story ever to air on this show.
Then there was this promo for the new ABC program Carpoolers.
Not bad.
And lastly, I found this chocolate ad yesterday (via Lindsayism).
What are we to make of this?
Let’s compare and contrast the two TV spots.
Video 1. Okay, everyone’s heard In the Air Tonight and rocked out with a wicked air drum solo. There is a universal truth here that we can all enjoy as we nod knowingly and gaze into the eyes of our loved ones. My only problem might be that these guys aren’t quite rocking hard enough. You can’t half-ass the preeminent drum break of our time and get away with it, no matter how cleverly you juxtapose it against dead-eyed commuters. I’m looking at you, Jerry O’Connell (or Jerry O’Connell’s twin brother who is also an actor, whichever one of you it is).
Video 2. Okay, you can’t go wrong with a closeup of a gorilla. Phil it up with the ominous intro music, and we’re off to a good start. And the gorilla looking skyward, smashing the tar out of those drums like they’re Tarzan’s parents in Greystoke? Sublime. But to get from the cool intro to the awesome drums in time allotted for a commercial spot, they had to edit the hell out of the song. The genius of that part of the song is the building tension from the verse (It’s all been a pack of lies!) being released when Philbert comes down on his kit like Thor having a temper tantrum. They cut the buildup out, so it’s more unexpected, but not as satisfying. It’s also less funny because I saw this one second.
In other words, Carpoolers gets the first half right, the gorilla gets the second half right.
And yes, I guess I could have just said that to begin with and saved us all a lot of time.
Up next-
“Sussudio: What the Hell Is THAT All About?”
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Best first post ever.
So good, in fact, that I’m considering making you a mix tape.
You like Phil Collins, right?
Your answer: “I have two ears and a heart, don’t I?”
We also briefly debated how to make that gorilla ad better. We decided if either Phil Collins or Ringo Starr could rip off the mask at the end that it’d sell infinitely more chocolate bars.
Which brought up our tertiary discussion: Who wins in a fight with Phil Collins vs. Ringo Starr.
My money is on Phil Collins. His back catalog of music isn’t making him nearly as much money and I bet he’s full of rage.
Phil Collins is the new cool. scroll down to see something familiar.
http://www.pajiba.com/do-you-understand-the-words-that-are-coming-out-of-my-pajiba.htm