"In the Air Tonight" | ||||
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Single by Phil Collins | ||||
from the album Face Value | ||||
B-side | "The Roof Is Leaking" | |||
Written | 1980 | |||
Released | 9 January 1981 [1] | |||
Studio | Townhouse (London) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length |
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Label | ||||
Songwriter(s) | Phil Collins | |||
Producer(s) |
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Phil Collins singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"In the Air Tonight" on YouTube |
"In the Air Tonight" is the debut solo single by English drummer and singer-songwriter Phil Collins. It was released as the lead single from Collins's debut solo album, Face Value ,in January 1981. It was selected as the second single from the album in the US and Canada after "I Missed Again".
Collins co-produced "In the Air Tonight" with Hugh Padgham,who became a frequent collaborator in the following years. It reached No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart behind the posthumous release of John Lennon's "Woman". [5] It reached No. 1 in Austria,Germany,Switzerland,and Sweden,No. 2 in Canada,and the top 10 in Australia,New Zealand,and several other European territories. It reached No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States,and reached No. 2 on the Rock Tracks Chart,later certified gold by the RIAA,representing 500,000 copies sold. The song's music video,directed by Stuart Orme,received heavy play on MTV when the new cable music video channel launched in August 1981.
"In the Air Tonight" remains one of Collins' best-known hits,often cited as his signature song,and is especially famous for its drum break towards the end,which has been described as "the sleekest,most melodramatic drum break in history" and one of the "101 Greatest Drumming Moments". [6] [7] In 2006,the song was ranked at number 35 in VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the 80s". [8] In 2021,it was listed at No. 291 in Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". [9]
Collins wrote the song amid the grief he felt after divorcing his first wife Andrea Bertorelli in 1980. In a 2016 interview,Collins said of the song's lyrics:"I wrote the lyrics spontaneously. I'm not quite sure what the song is about,but there's a lot of anger,a lot of despair and a lot of frustration." [10] In a 1997 BBC Radio 2 documentary,the singer revealed that the divorce contributed to his 1979 hiatus from the band Genesis,until they regrouped in October of that year to record the album Duke . Collins remembered playing the song to Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks but he felt it was too simple for the group. [11]
"In the Air Tonight" has been described as being "at the vanguard of experimental pop" in 1981 and "a rock oddity classic", having been influenced by "the unconventional studio predilections of Brian Eno and Peter Gabriel". [2] It has also been described as a "soft rock classic." [3] Musically, the song consists of a series of ominous chords played on a Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 over a simple drum machine pattern (the Roland CR-78 Disco-2 pattern, plus some programming); processed electric guitar sounds and vocoded vocals, an effect which is increased on key words to add additional atmosphere. The mood is one of restrained anger until the final chorus when an explosive burst of drums finally releases the musical tension and the instrumentation explodes into a thunderous crescendo. Composed in D minor, it has a moderate tempo of 96 beats per minute. [12]
Collins has described obtaining the drum machine specifically to deal with personal issues relating to his divorce through songwriting, telling Mix magazine: "I had to start writing some of this music that was inside me". [13] He improvised the lyrics during a songwriting session in the studio: "I was just fooling around. I got these chords that I liked, so I turned the mic on and started singing. The lyrics you hear are what I wrote spontaneously. That frightens me a bit, but I'm quite proud of the fact that I sang 99.9 percent of those lyrics spontaneously". [14]
The song is famous for its use of the gated reverb drum sound. Fellow musicians and journalists have commented on its use in the record. Black Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne called the drum fill "the best ever – it still sounds awesome", [15] while music critic and broadcaster Stuart Maconie was quoted:
Musically, it's an extraordinarily striking record, because almost nothing happens in it ... It's the drum sound in particular that's amazing. You don't hear it at all for the first two minutes of the song ... then there's that great doo-dom doo-dom doo-dom comes in, and the drums come in half way through the song, setting the template for all the Eighties drum songs after that. [16]
The original single version of "In the Air Tonight" features extra drums that play underneath the song until the signature drum crash (referred to by fans as the "magic break") appears. These were added at the suggestion of Atlantic Records head Ahmet Ertegun. In 2007, Collins wrote:
Ahmet came down to the final mix in the cutting room in New York ... The drums don't come in until the end but Ahmet didn't know that at this point, because on the demo the drums hadn't come in at all; it was only drum machine all the way. And he was saying, "Where's the down beat, where's the backbeat?" I said, "The drums come in in a minute." "Yeah, you know that and I know that, but the kids don't know that; you've got to put the drums on earlier." So we added some drums to the mix and put it out as a single. [17]
Speaking about the song's rapid ascension in the music charts, Collins wrote the following in 2007:
It was a surprise. The single came in at No. 36, I did Top of the Pops with Dave Lee Travis, and in one of the down moments he said, "This record is going to be a top three." I didn't believe him, because it had been made so haphazardly, but the next week, there it was at No. 3. And then Mark Chapman shot John Lennon and that was that. [17]
Record World called the song "futuristic pop that's also rhythmically captivating." [18]
An urban legend has arisen about "In the Air Tonight", according to which the lyrics are based on a drowning incident in which someone who was close enough to save the victim did not help them, while Collins, who was too far away to help, looked on. Increasingly embellished variations on the legend emerged over time, with the stories often culminating in Collins singling out the guilty party while singing the song at a concert. [19] Collins has denied all such stories; he commented on the legends about the song in a BBC World Service interview:
I don't know what this song is about. When I was writing this I was going through a divorce. And the only thing I can say about it is that it's obviously in anger. It's the angry side, or the bitter side of a separation. So what makes it even more comical is when I hear these stories which started many years ago, particularly in America, of someone come up to me and say, "Did you really see someone drowning?" I said, "No, wrong." And then every time I go back to America the story gets Chinese whispers, it gets more and more elaborate. It's so frustrating, 'cause this is one song out of all the songs probably that I've ever written that I really don't know what it's about, you know? [20]
The urban legend is referenced in the song "Stan" by Eminem. [21] The reference is contained in the following lyrics:
You know the song by Phil Collins, "In the Air of the Night" [ sic ]
About that guy who coulda saved that other guy from drownin'
But didn't, then Phil saw it all, then at a show he found him?
The music video (directed by Stuart Orme) animates the photograph of Collins's face from the cover of the Face Value album, slowly fading in through the introduction until it fills the screen, singing the first chorus. The video then cuts to Collins sitting in an empty room at night. Twice a spectral figure appears in the window, but only the second time does Collins get up to look at it, then is shown walking to the one door of the room.
Collins's face returns for the second chorus. He is then shown leaving the room and entering a hallway full of doors. The first one is locked, then the second opens and Collins sees himself looking at the window again, only now the spectre has turned into his own reflection.
The third door is locked, but as the fourth one opens, the drum break sounds and the viewer is returned to Collins's face again, this time in thermal coloring, which gradually reverts to black and white. His reflection from the window is briefly superimposed on the face, this time seemingly reflected in water. Collins recedes into the darkness as the song repeats and fades.
In 1983 the music video was released on the home video Phil Collins available on VHS and LaserDisc which received a Grammy nomination for Best Video, Short Form. [22]
"In the Air Tonight" remains a popular selection on classic rock radio stations. It is the song most often associated with Collins' solo career, and he has performed it at many events, including Live Aid, where he played the song on a piano on the same calendar day in both Philadelphia and London. [23] He also performed the song at The Secret Policeman's Ball , which was his first live performance as a solo artist. "I remember doing 'In the Air Tonight' at Live Aid," he recalled, "and [Pete] Townshend saying, 'Are you going to do that fucking song again?' as if it was the only one I ever played." [24]
The song appeared as part of the soundtrack for the 1983 movie Risky Business and plays when the characters played by Tom Cruise and Rebecca De Mornay have sex on a subway train. [25]
In 1984, the song was memorably used in a scene from the first episode of the television series Miami Vice , which film and television critic Matt Zoller Seitz cited as why the song has been stamped as "Property of Michael Mann" (the series' executive producer) for years, rarely being used in other screen works due to its indelible use in the series, akin to Martin Scorsese's signature use of songs by the Rolling Stones for his films. [26] "In the Air Tonight" received a new wave of attention thanks to its use in the series, enough for it to rise in sales outside the Billboard Hot 100 at number 102.
The song was remixed in 1988 by Ben Liebrand for his weekly appearance in the Curry & Van Inkel radio show on Dutch radio. The mix was completed and then taken by Liebrand to be part of a mix showcase at the DMC Mixing Championship Finals in London, attended by 3500 worldwide deejays. [27] The mix was picked up by Virgin Records for an official release, which hit Number 4 in the UK charts. [28]
David Wise, composer for the 1995 video game Donkey Kong Country 2 , has said that the track "Bayou Boogie" was inspired by "In the Air Tonight", adding that he was "trying to get the SNES to sound like the Roland CR78" Collins used on the track. [29]
The song gained notoriety again when it was used in a 2007 Cadbury's Dairy Milk advert featuring a man in a gorilla suit warming up and playing the drum fill towards the end of the advert. [30] Upon seeing the advert, Collins stated in a BBC interview that he thought the advert was 'fantastic'. [31] The song eventually reached[ clarification needed ] number 14 in the UK Top 40 charts and appeared on the 'Now That's What I Call Music 68' UK CD.
In July 2020, a video reaction to the song by TwinsthenewTrend increased the sales and streaming of Collins's original version. The TwinsthenewTrend first-listen video was viewed 4.9 million times in its first two weeks online. [32] Continued popularity brought new traffic to the Collins song which rose to number 3 on Billboard's Digital Song Sales chart in August 2020. [33]
On November 15, 2024, the song was used by Jake Paul as his entrance song in his boxing match against Mike Tyson, the first live event to be broadcast by Netflix. [34]
VSK102 UK Single Release (Martin H)
Sleeve includes a black and white 12-page cartoon storyboard drawn by Collins' brother Clive Collins.
(catalogue 2292-57672-2)
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
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Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [70] Digital single | Platinum | 90,000‡ |
Germany (BVMI) [71] Physical single | Gold | 250,000^ |
Italy (FIMI) [72] Digital single | Platinum | 50,000‡ |
New Zealand (RMNZ) [73] Physical single | Gold | 10,000* |
New Zealand (RMNZ) [73] | 4× Platinum | 120,000‡ |
Poland (ZPAV) [74] | Gold | 25,000‡ |
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [75] | Platinum | 60,000‡ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [76] Physical single | Gold | 500,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [77] Digital single | 2× Platinum | 1,200,000‡ |
United States (RIAA) [78] Physical single | Gold | 500,000^ |
United States (RIAA) [78] Digital single | 3× Platinum | 3,000,000‡ |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
This section needs additional citations for verification .(January 2024) |
"In the Air Tonite" | ||||
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Single by Lil' Kim featuring Phil Collins | ||||
from the album Urban Renewal | ||||
Released | 1 July 2001 | |||
Genre | R&B, hip hop | |||
Length | 4:07 | |||
Label | WEA | |||
Songwriter(s) | Kimberly Jones, Phil Collins | |||
Lil' Kim singles chronology | ||||
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Phil Collins singles chronology | ||||
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"In the Air Tonite" is a reworking of Phil Collins' 1981 single "In the Air Tonight" recorded by American rapper Lil' Kim for the R&B/hip hop Phil Collins tribute album Urban Renewal . The song, promoted as a duet between Collins and Lil' Kim, was released in 2001 as the second single from the album. The song's accompanying music video combines scenes from the original video with new scenes featuring Lil' Kim. It was featured in The Box Netherlands HitMix 2001. The single has been certified Platinum in Germany by the IFPI. [79]
Chart (2001) | Peak position |
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Australia (ARIA) [80] | 91 |
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) [81] | 8 |
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) [82] | 7 |
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia) [83] | 19 |
Canada (Nielsen SoundScan) [84] | 18 |
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100) [85] | 17 |
Germany (GfK) [86] | 3 |
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) [87] | 33 |
Netherlands (Single Top 100) [88] | 30 |
Polish Airplay Chart [89] | 23 |
Scotland (OCC) [90] | 45 |
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan) [91] | 27 |
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) [92] | 11 |
UK Singles (OCC) [93] | 26 |
UK Dance (OCC) [94] | 18 |
UK Hip Hop/R&B (OCC) [95] | 3 |
Chart (2001) | Position |
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Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) [96] | 73 |
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) [97] | 65 |
Germany (Official German Charts) [98] | 28 |
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) [99] | 65 |
Chart (2002) | Position |
Canada (Nielsen SoundScan) [100] | 177 |
No Jacket Required is the third solo studio album by English drummer and singer-songwriter Phil Collins. It was released on 18 February 1985 by Virgin Records in the UK and by Atlantic and WEA internationally.
...But Seriously is the fourth solo studio album by English drummer and singer-songwriter Phil Collins. It was released on 20 November 1989 in the United Kingdom by Virgin Records and by Atlantic Records in the United States. After Collins finished touring commitments with the rock band Genesis in 1987, the group entered a four-year hiatus, during which Collins starred in the feature film Buster (1988). By the spring of 1989, Collins had written material for a new solo album, which addressed more serious lyrical themes, like socio-economic and political issues, as opposed to his previous dance-oriented album, No Jacket Required (1985).
"You Can't Hurry Love" is a song originally recorded by the Supremes on the Motown label. It was released on July 25, 1966 as the second single from their studio album The Supremes A' Go-Go.
"Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" (also titled "Against All Odds") is a song by English drummer, singer and songwriter Phil Collins. It was recorded for the soundtrack to the 1984 film of the same name. It is a power ballad in which its protagonist implores an ex-lover to "take a look at me now", knowing that reconciliation is "against all odds", but worth the gamble. The single reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, the first of seven US No. 1s for Collins in his solo career. "Against All Odds (Take a Look At Me Now)" also topped the charts in Canada, Ireland, and Norway, while peaking at No. 2 in the United Kingdom.
Testify is the seventh solo studio album by English musician Phil Collins, released on 11 November 2002. The album debuted at No. 30 on the US Billboard 200, which was also the album's peak position. It was the second Phil Collins studio album where no track peaked within the American top 40 singles chart. It was also his lowest charting album in the UK, becoming his only solo effort not to reach the top 5. However, the album achieved success in some countries of Continental Europe. It is his second album not to be co-produced by Hugh Padgham, who co-produced Collins' most successful albums.
"One More Night" is the first single in the United States and second in the United Kingdom from Phil Collins' third studio album, the Diamond-certified No Jacket Required. "One More Night" was Phil Collins' second U.S. No. 1 single, following "Against All Odds", and was his fourth single to reach the top ten in the UK, peaking at No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart. In the U.S., the single entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 50 on the chart dated 9 February 1985. It hit number one seven weeks later and remained on top for two weeks. In the UK, the single was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry. It was also his first No. 1 on the U.S. Adult contemporary chart.
"Take Me Home" is a song written and performed by English drummer, singer and songwriter Phil Collins. It is the tenth and final track on Collins' third solo album, No Jacket Required. Collins co-produced the song with Hugh Padgham and released it as a single in the UK in July 1985 and the U.S. in March 1986. It did moderately well in the UK, peaking at No. 19. While it was not as successful as other singles from the album, such as "Sussudio" or "One More Night" in the US, it still reached the top 10, peaking at No. 7.
"I Missed Again" is a song from Phil Collins's debut solo album, Face Value. It was selected as the lead single from the album in the US and Canada, although in most other countries "In the Air Tonight" was released as Collins' first solo single, followed by "I Missed Again". The song features a tenor sax solo from British jazz musician Ronnie Scott.
"Thru' These Walls" is a song by the English drummer Phil Collins. It was released as a single in October 1982, being Collins' fourth single. The song is also the seventh track and first single release from Collins' second solo studio album, Hello, I Must Be Going!, released in November of the same year. The song is dark, which follows a vast majority of songs from the album, and is about a man listening through the wall to his neighbours partaking in sexual activities.
"I Don't Care Anymore" is a song written, performed, and produced by the English drummer Phil Collins. It was the second US single from Collins' second solo studio album, Hello, I Must Be Going! (1982). It became a moderate US hit, peaking at number 39 on the Billboard Hot 100. It did not see a UK release; however, it was released as the third single in various other countries such as Germany and Australia.
"True Colors" is a song written by American songwriters Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly. It was both the title track and the first single released from American singer Cyndi Lauper's second studio album of the same name (1986). Released in mid-1986, the song spent two weeks at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, being Lauper's second and last single to occupy the top of the chart. It received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
"Easy Lover" is a song performed by Philip Bailey of the band Earth, Wind & Fire and Phil Collins of the band Genesis, jointly written and composed by Bailey, Collins, and Nathan East. The song appears on Bailey's solo album, Chinese Wall. Collins has performed the song in his live concerts, and it appears on both his 1990 album, Serious Hits... Live!, and his 1998 compilation album, ...Hits. It is Bailey's only US Top 40 hit as a solo artist.
"Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" is the second track on the 1986 album Invisible Touch by the English rock band Genesis, released in January 1987 as the fourth single from the album. It peaked at No. 3 in the US and No. 18 in the UK.
"We've Got Tonite" is a song written by American rock musician Bob Seger, from his album Stranger in Town (1978). The single record charted twice for Seger, and was developed from a prior song that he had written. Further versions charted in 1983 for Kenny Rogers as a duet with Sheena Easton, and again in 2002 for Ronan Keating.
"I Know There's Something Going On" is a song recorded in 1982 by ABBA singer Anni-Frid Lyngstad (Frida). It was the lead single from her solo album Something's Going On.
"Sussudio" is a song by English singer-songwriter Phil Collins. It was released on 14 January 1985 in the United Kingdom by Virgin Records as the lead single from his third solo studio album, No Jacket Required (1985). The song served as the second single from the album in the United States, being released on 30 April 1985 by Atlantic Records, following "One More Night". The song’s title is a pseudoword Collins randomly came up with during a practice session.
"Something Happened on the Way to Heaven" is a song by English drummer Phil Collins, released in April 1990 from his fourth studio album, ...But Seriously (1989). The song peaked at No. 4 on the US Billboard Hot 100 the week of October 6, 1990 and No. 15 on the UK Singles Chart. A live version also appears on the Serious Hits... Live! album. The song is often identified by the recurring hook of "How many times can I say 'I'm sorry'?", however, the title of the song is essentially the 2nd line of the 2nd verse.
"Do You Remember?" is a song by the English drummer and singer-songwriter Phil Collins. It was released in April 1990 as the fourth single from his fourth solo studio album ...But Seriously. It was produced by Collins and Hugh Padgham and features singer-songwriter Stephen Bishop on the track as a backing vocalist. The song had minor success in European countries but went to number one on both the Canadian and US Adult Contemporary charts. It also peaked at number four on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming his 14th and last top-ten hit.
"It's in Your Eyes" is a single performed by Phil Collins and released in 1996 as the second single from his album Dance into the Light.
"I Can't Stop Loving You (Though I Try)" is a song written by singer-songwriter William Nicholls and first recorded by his short-lived project, White Horse – a collaboration between himself, Kenny Altman, and Jon Lind – and featured on the group's 1977 self-titled album.
the single's place in 1981 at the vanguard of experimental pop
... Phil Collins' 1981 soft-rock classic 'In the Air Tonight.'(subscription required)
Mellencamp loved "In The Air Tonight," the haunted 1981 synth-rock masterpiece from Genesis drummer Phil Collins.