62. Mike Lord and Tom Roche Discuss Phil Collins, Testify

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Mike Lord and Tom Roche — co-hosts of Tabletop Genesis — take a busman’s holiday from their own podcast to have a Genesis-adjacent conversation on this podcast. Mike, Tom and Al discuss Phil Collins’ seventh solo album, Testify — an album that Al had never explored despite being an ardent Genesis and Phil Collins fan. Mike explains why he recommended this album to Al, despite its less-than-glowing reviews, and Tom discusses his own journey with the album. The whole crew reveals where they would rank Testify among Phil’s albums.

Some assorted notes:

I criticized Phil for having a lyrical theme that was too close to that of a big hit by The Police. Then I referred to “Every Breath You Take” as “Every Step You Take,” which was a far greater offense than the thing I was criticizing.

I could not find a link to the Toyota Avalon commercial with "Can’t Stop Loving You." In my searches I did, however, learn that Taylor Swift did her own cover version in 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6FXmdoGut8

I recommended a couple of YouTube channels, so here are the links!

Tim Pierce: https://www.youtube.com/c/timpierceguitar

Leland Sklar: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs5yDeiOgkyRZGZGphlSbIw

And here is the episode where Lee tells the story about playing on Leo Sayer’s version of “Can’t Stop Loving You.” It starts at 16:26. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I74es0kSFlw&t=1062s

Follow Tom and Mike on Twitter!

Tom Roche is @burningfirebush

Mike Lord is @zorknapp

Their Tabletop Genesis podcast is on Twitter, too! Follow them at @GenesisTabletop

The show also has a Facebook page (Tabletop Genesis) and a website, http://tabletopgenesis.com/, where you can get the podcast, take their polls and learn more about the program.

(To the tune of Follow You, Follow Me) You can follow them, will you follow me…

Al is on Twitter at @almelchiorBB, and this show has accounts on Twitter and Instagram at @youmealbum. Be sure to follow @youmealbum to find out in advance about upcoming guests and featured albums for this podcast.

Al has recently launched You, Me and An Album: The Newsletter. You can subscribe for free to get Al’s monthly posts, but paid subscriptions give you access to weekly posts and much more. Please consider trying a paid subscription as it also helps to support this podcast! https://youmealbum.substack.com

1:16 Mike and Tom join the show

3:01 Al and Mike explain how this episode came to be

6:47 Tom hadn’t listened to Testify much before preparing for this episode

8:53 Al didn’t even know Testify existed until several years after its release

9:49 Al wonders if he can evaluate Testify fairly and enlists Tom and MIke’s help

16:40 Mike and Al consider whether they would have liked Testify 20 years ago

17:54 Phil Collins’ albums often reflect his mood at the time he records them

18:47 Testify has a different sound than Phil’s other albums

Reactions to the album’s tracks (slightly out of order)

20:14 Wake Up Call

26:37 Testify

30:38 Come with Me

35:47 Don’t Get Me Started

40:34 Swing Low

44:28 It’s Not Too Late

50:46 This Love This Heart

53:08 Driving Me Crazy

57:55 The Least You Can Do

1:00:27 Can’t Stop Loving You

1:06:58 Thru My Eyes

1:09:31 You Touch My Heart

1:11:36 Tom, Mike and Al consider how to re-sequence the album

1:13:48 Tom, Mike and Al determine where they’d rank Testify among Phil’s albums

1:22:24 Mike was plea

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