Phil Collins isn't ready to stop asking fans to "Take a Look At Me Now," with a new compilation to finish out his yearlong reissue campaign.
The Singles, due in stores October 14, a week ahead of his autobiography, Not Dead Yet: The Memoir, collects Phil's various A-sides through nearly 30 years of recording. While nearly all the tracks, newly remastered by Nick Davis, have appeared in each batch of his expanded albums, The Singles collects a dozen tracks not included in those sets.
There are a few No. 1s ("Against All Odds (Take a Look At Me Now)," from the 1984 film of the same name; the Phil-produced U.K. chart topper "Easy Lover" with Earth, Wind & Fire's Philip Bailey; the duet "Separate Lives," recorded with Marilyn Martin for the film White Nights in 1985; both "A Groovy Kind of Love" and "Two Hearts" from Collins' 1988 starring vehicle Buster), a handful of oddities (a live take on "Who Said I Would" from 1990's Serious Hits...Live and a cover of Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors" for his first compilation, ...Hits, in 1998) and a fair amount of Phil's latter-day Disney soundtrack work, including four tracks from the Oscar-winning Tarzan (1999) and two from 2003's Brother Bear. Despite this, there's nothing rare or unreleased, so either new fans or die-hard collectors only need apply.
There will be three formats for The Singles: a 3CD, chronological anthology; a 2CD curated set featuring 36 of the 45 singles in unique order; and a 4LP box featuring the contents of the 2CD set. The vinyl and smaller CD set are currently available on Amazon; check back for the 3CD listing.
Phil Collins,The Singles (Atlantic/Rhino, 2016)
Disc 1: 1981-1985
- In the Air Tonight
- I Missed Again
- If Leaving Me is Easy
- Thru These Walls
- You Can't Hurry Love
- I Don't Care Anymore
- Don't Let Him Steal Your Heart Away
- Why Can't It Wait 'Til Morning
- I Cannot Believe It's True
- Against All Odds (Take a Look At Me Now)
- Easy Lover - Philip Bailey & Phil Collins
- Sussudio
- One More Night
- Don't Lose My Number
- Take Me Home
Disc 2: 1985-1996
- Separate Lives - Phil Collins & Marilyn Martin
- A Groovy Kind of Love
- Two Hearts
- Another Day in Paradise
- I Wish It Would Rain Down
- Something Happened on the Way to Heaven
- That's Just the Way It Is
- Hang In Long Enough
- Do You Remember?
- Who Said I Would (Live)
- Both Sides of the Story
- Everyday
- We Wait and We Wonder
- Dance Into the Light
- It's in Your Eyes
Disc 3: 1997-2010
- No Matter Who
- Wear My Hat
- The Same Moon
- True Colors
- You'll Be in My Heart
- Strangers Like Me
- Son of Man
- Two Worlds
- Can't Stop Loving You
- The Least You Can Do
- Wake Up Call
- Look Through My Eyes
- No Way Out
- (Love is Like a) Heatwave
- Going Back
Disc 1, Tracks 1-3 from Face Value (Atlantic, 1981)
Disc 1, Tracks 4-9 from Hello, I Must Be Going! (Atlantic, 1982)
Disc 1, Track 10 from Against All Odds: Music from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Atlantic, 1984)
Disc 1, Track 11 from Chinese Wall (Columbia, 1984)
Disc 1, Tracks 12-15 from No Jacket Required (Atlantic, 1985)
Disc 2, Track 1 from White Nights: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Atlantic, 1985)
Disc 2, Track 2-3 from Buster: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Atlantic, 1988)
Disc 2, Tracks 4-9 from ...But Seriously (Atlantic, 1989)
Disc 2, Track 10 from Serious Hits...Live! (Atlantic, 1990)
Disc 2, Tracks 11-13 from Both Sides (Atlantic, 1993)
Disc 2, Tracks 14-15 and Disc 3, Tracks 1-3 from Dance Into the Light (Face Value/Atlantic, 1996)
Disc 3, Track 4 from ...Hits (Atlantic, 1998)
Disc 3, Tracks 5-8 from Tarzan: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack (Walt Disney Records, 1999)
Disc 3, Tracks 9-11 from Testify (Face Value/Atlantic, 2002)
Disc 3, Tracks 12-13 from Brother Bear: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack (Walt Disney Records, 2003)
Disc 3, Tracks 14-15 from Going Back (Atlantic, 2010)
2CD/4LP Track List
2CD: Amazon U.S. / 4LP: Amazon U.S.
- Easy Lover - Philip Bailey & Phil Collins
- Two Hearts
- Sussudio
- I Missed Again
- Wear My Hat
- Don't Lose My Number
- You Can't Hurry Love
- Something Happened on the Way to Heaven
- We Wait and We Wonder
- Can't Stop Loving You
- Dance Into the Light
- It's in Your Eyes
- Hang In Long Enough
- Thru These Walls
- I Wish It Would Rain Down
- Both Sides of the Story
- (Love is Like a) Heatwave
- Going Back
- In the Air Tonight
- Against All Odds (Take a Look At Me Now)
- If Leaving Me is Easy
- One More Night
- Separate Lives - Phil Collins & Marilyn Martin
- A Groovy Kind of Love
- That's Just the Way It Is
- Do You Remember?
- Everyday
- True Colors
- You'll Be in My Heart
- The Least You Can Do
- Look Through My Eyes
- Another Day in Paradise
- Take Me Home
Mark B. Hanson says
Any sign whether these are the "single versions" for those that differed from the album cuts?
Joe says
Now I see why Phil held back the non-album hits like Against All Odds, Two Hearts, Easy Lover, etc. Instead of putting them on his recent reissues in the proper context. He decided to save these for this compilation. I wish he would have put them on the reissues. I was also hoping that with this news, he would have included those B-sides that he did not include on the reissues ("Man With The Hat", "Rad...."). I just think the reissue series could have been more complete. Sound quality on the remasters is fantastic, however.
Galley says
I haven't analyzed the track list of the 3-CD version, but it looks like everything I need.
Marc says
Be interesting to see if the Japan release of this contains any bonus tracks.
Steve says
"36 of the 45 singles in unique order" - that's a "unique" marketing technique. At least I've never of a cheaper, smaller version of a box set being pitched as such. Well, more power to him--and please get back to health and tour again with Genesis, Phil!