Not Dead Yet

Not Dead Yet - by Phil Collins

What a great book this is!

I’m always a bit cautious whenever I read an autobiography by a celebrity.  Just because they can sing or act, doesn’t make them an interesting writer. Collins is the exception. Whether or not he had help writing this thing, I have no idea. I don’t care either. I was hooked and didn’t want to put the book down.

Although Collins has been in the business now for over 45 years, I would argue that his commercial peak was between 1980 – 1992. I was 12 in 1980 and 24 in 1992, so I could easily make the argument that I grew up with Phil Collins. And, yes, Phil Collins was everywhere during this time. Now, there are those that don’t look back at the 1980s with fondness, and since Phil Collins was arguably the most popular artist of the decade, he’s an easy scapegoat.  But I have a good memory, and I can tell you that during this period, EVERYBODY loved Phil Collins. His music was so diverse, that whatever your taste, you could find something in his vast array of songs to suit your palette.  It’s impossible to look back on my youth and not have fond memories that this man helped create.

This book is about 350 pages, and since the man did so much, you won’t find many of your favorite memories described in too much detail.  Many of his Genesis albums, for example, get maybe a page of detail before he moves the narrative along.  Sure, Collins COULD have given us an entire chapter to, say, the making of “Abacab”, but that would have easily pushed this volume into an excess of more than 1,000 pages.  Plus, it’s not like the man bores us with inconsequential events of his life. As far as rock stars go, Collins doesn’t fall prey to many of the popular excesses of the lifestyle.  There are no dressing rooms filled with groupies, no motorcycles being thrown off hotel balconies, and no cookie jars backstage filled with cocaine.  Unfortunately, though, Collins DOES have one damaging addiction.  Phil Collins is addicted to work.

I never thought a human being could be capable of doing all of the things this guy does.  I mean, I became exhausted just READING about all his projects. He bounces from Genesis album, to producing a friend’s album, to performing Live Aid on one continent, performing Live Aid on the OTHER continent (on the same day), to acting in a TV show, acting in a movie, to making his OWN solo album, and on and on and on. Sadly, this addiction, like other addictions, destroys his family life. This is one area that Phil just can’t come out ahead. We see him go through three marriages, two extramarital affairs, and five children with his three wives.  He’s not proud of this, nor does he shrug the whole thing off. He’s pained by this, and desperately tries to repair whatever broken relationship he happens to be in at the time. From a selfish standpoint (speaking as a fan, here), you could argue such heartbreak produces some of his best songs. However such profit seems to come at too high of a price. 

Once we move into the 90s, Collins is still selling out shows everywhere, even if his records aren’t quite selling as well as they once did. He becomes a bit more somber during this time as well (I remember seeing him in concert in 1994. It was a great show, but he definitely lost much of the levity he had a few years prior). His schedule doesn’t seem quite as hectic,  yet he still struggles with obligations as a husband and father. After his farewell solo tour in 2004, a successful reunion tour with Genesis in 2007, and a recording of old Motown songs in 2010, he now finally seems ready to retire.  It’s probably for the best. He’s mostly deaf in one ear, and his battered body has so much nerve damage that he can’t even hold a drumstick let alone play the drums.

But retirement doesn’t gel well with a workaholic. Nor does it seem to help mend broken relationships with girlfriends, ex-wives, and children.  So Phil Collins starts to drink. This is where the book really gets sad. He literally almost drinks himself to death, and hindsight shows that it’s a miracle he survived.  Such events are guarded against the enquiring public, so when all of this happens around 2013-2014, most of us on the outside are (thankfully) somewhat in the dark.  Most of what was in this book wasn’t exactly new to me, but this chapter certainly was. Fortunately, he recovers from his alcohol dependency and even gets back together with his third wife. This is where the story ends.

Although this incident might make you feel as though the book is awfully dark and depressing, it really isn’t.  Collins makes many humorous quips throughout this narrative, and I found myself literally laughing out loud at times. Particularly memorable are such stories as his second wife walking into a Scotsman’s hotel room, and another where Phil is watching Sting get out of a swimming pool. You’ll just have to read about it.  He also devotes an entire chapter to an incident when he was nineteen and “accidently” ended up playing percussion on George Harrison’s first solo album. That chapter is a hoot, and you’ll definitely want to read the chapter again once you’ve finished the entire book.   The “Led Zeppelin” story from Live Aid was also quite revealing – even though it wasn’t as happy.

Even if you’re not a huge fan like I am, I imagine you’ll enjoy this book. Especially if you were alive and kicking during the decade of the 1980s. This man gave us so much great music, made so many great memories, and helped so many of us through tough times. It was such a joy to revisit and relive those times once again.  We’re left to believe that we won’t see much more of the entertainer, but that’s o.k.  We can all hope and pray that his soul (if not his body) can continue the healing process during, what might be, the fourth quarter of his life.  He’s definitely, as the title of the book implies, not dead yet.