Singer, songwriter Phil Collins tells German newspaper he’s not playing the drums for now
By AP
October 19th, 2009

Phil Collins not pounding the skins

HAMBURG — Phil Collins is drumming no more, for now.

The former singer and drummer for Genesis told a German newspaper that since he had surgery in April to repair a dislocated vertebra in his neck, he doesn’t have feeling in his fingers and isn’t able to pick up his sticks.

The 58-year-old musician was quoted by Hamburger Abendblatt on Monday as saying the only way he could drum is if he were to “glue drumsticks to my hands.”

But that’s not stopped his recording aspirations. He told the newspaper he plans a new CD that will feature covers of 30 songs from the Motown label in 2010.

“I want the songs to sound exactly like the originals,” the paper quoted him as saying.

Collins, who lives in Switzerland, was in Hamburg to celebrate the first anniversary of the debut of “Tarzan” the musical. The show features music Collins composed for the 1999 animated Disney film, including the Oscar-winning song “You’ll Be in My Heart.”

The man, the myth, the legend that is Phil Collins has announced that his next effort, Going Back, will be released in September. It's the bald one's first studio album in eight years. Where ya been, Phil?

Collins is gearing up to play a string of very special live concerts at New York City's Roseland Ballroom from June 22 through 25, which are billed as "Up Close & Personal: Phil Collins Plays 60s Motown & Soul." The shows will be devoted to material from Going Back as well as other R&B gems. Collins is taking it back to a simpler time, as the performances will be presented as an "old school" style, standing-room-only dance concert. So bring a pair of sensible shoes.

Supporting Collins will be an extraordinary 18-piece ensemble of musicians and vocalists, with Motown's legendary session players among the ranks.

In a statement, Collins said, "It shouldn't really be a surprise to anyone that I've finally made an album of my favourite Motown songs. These songs – along with a couple of Dusty Springfield tracks, a Phil Spector/Ronettes tune, and one by the Impressions – make up the tapestry, the backdrop, of my teenage years. I remember it as if it was yesterday, going to the Marquee Club in London's Soho and watching The Who, The Action, and many others, playing these songs. In turn I'd go out the next day to buy the original versions." On his renditions of these songs he loves, Collins said, "My idea, though, was not to bring anything 'new' to these already great records, but to try to recreate the sounds and feelings that I had when I first heard them. My intention was to make an 'old' record, not a 'new' record."

The album will feature songs by The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Marth and the Vandellas, Dusty Springfield and The Miracles.

Are you psyched to hear Phil Collins take on Motown tunes?

Here are the tracks to be included on Phil Collins' "Going Back":

“Girl (Why You Wanna Make Me Blue)" (The Temptations)
“Papa Was A Rolling Stone” (The Temptations)
“Going Back” (made popular by Dusty Springfield)
“Some Of Your Loving” (made popular by Dusty Springfield)
“Uptight (Everything’s Alright)” (Stevie Wonder)
“Blame It On The Sun” (Stevie Wonder)
“Never Dreamed You’d Leave In Summer” (Stevie Wonder)
“(Love Is Like A) Heat Wave” (Martha and the Vandellas)
“In My Lonely Room” (Martha and the Vandellas)
“Jimmy Mack” (Martha and the Vandellas)
“Standing In The Shadows Of Love” (the Four Tops)
“Something About You” (The Four Tops)
“Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever” (The Four Tops)
“Talking About My Baby” (Curtis Mayfield and The Impressions)
“Do I Love You?” (The Ronettes)
“Going To A Go-Go” (Smokey Robinson & The Miracles)
“Love Is Here” (The Supremes)
“Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me A Little While)” (Kim Weston)

A total of 29 songs have been completed and recorded for Going Back. 18 of these will appear on the regular version of the album. Collins explained that the other eleven would come out on a special edition of the album.

Collins also spoke about the upcoming shows. He said that he and his band of 18 musician are not going to play any Collins classics such as In The Air Tonight.

This means that only Motown classics will be performed at the shows, rehearsals for which have begun at the end of May.