Should We Really Blame Phil Collins for Our Hatred of Sussudio?

Ari Shapiro: You write about the great timeless music that attracts you — the jazz, the R&B. Many people strongly associate your music with a particular time. I wonder whether you are proud of being a voice of a particular time or whether you're still trying to be the timeless artist that you admire so much in others?

Phil Collins: There was a time when I wasn't particularly happy about being the whipping boy for the '80s — which I didn't think I necessarily deserved, because I always say, you may have heard "Sussudio" a hundred thousand times, but I only wrote the song once, and I only recorded it once. The fact that people play it is not really my fault, you know?

From “In Phil Collins’ New Memoir, Candid Reflections on Family and Fame” by Ari Shapiro for NPR; Photo by Neal Haynes (@neal_haynes)

#pop #music #musician #philcollins #intheairtonight #sussudio #saytheword #80s #ilovethe80s #flashback #timeless #jazz #memoir #book #icon #portrait #story #stories #thestorybar