Robbed hit of the week 7/27/20 - Phil Collins' "Dance Into The Light"...

"Dance Into The Light" - Phil Collins

from the album Dance Into The Light (1996)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #45 (two weeks)

This week's "robbed hit" comes from British singer/drummer/songwriter Phil Collins, who truly was one of the biggest pop stars of the 1980's decade, be it with his work with the band Genesis or his solo material. However, the musical shift in the early 1990's had already started to take a toll on his success, with his 1993 album Both Sides only managing to eke out two moderate top-40 pop hits with "Both Sides Of The Story" and "Everyday". Normally Phil had oscillated between releasing a solo album and then a record with Genesis, but after the We Can't Dance album in 1991 he left the band, so his next project would again be a solo affair, and three years after Both Sides to boot. Dance Into The Light was an ambitious project where I think he attempted to pull of Paul Simon and incorporate African and other rhythms into the songs, as well as more meatier lyrical content. But, this is Phil Collins, and I guess his American fans remaining weren't exactly ready (or wanting) that from such a white bread artist. The title track was released as a lead single, and you could tell he was trying his all, even recruiting Kevin Godley (of 10cc and the iconic music video team of Godley & Creme) to film the promo clip for the song. But whatever magic Godley was attempting to create, it's Phil Collins dancing...

"Dance Into The Light" missed the pop top-40 on the American Billboard Hot 100 chart, for the first time in his solo career and most likely a big disappointment. The single did do well at "easy listening" radio, climbing to #6 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary radio chart, while peaking at #19 on the Adult Top-40 format list. The track did better internationally, reaching the top ten in Poland (#2), Czech Republic (#3), Hungary (#4), Canada (#7), and Phil's native Britain, where it got to a respectable #9. The single also made the top-40 in the Netherlands (#14), Switzerland (#26), Austria (#31), Iceland (#34), and Australia (#36). But tellingly it also missed the top-40 in the big countries of  Germany (#42) and France (#48). The Dance Into The Light album did reach the top-40 on the Billboard 200 sales chart in the U.S. at #23, but that's a big reduction from his previous sets, eventually only selling over a half a million copies (where 1985's No Jacket Required moved over twelve million).

The second release from the record, "It's In Your Eyes", didn't turn things around. An attempt to recast as an indie rocker with Beatle-esque harmonies, even as it was getting to #8 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart, it stalled down at #77 on the pop Hot 100 tally, while stopping at #30 in the UK (it did get to a more decent #14 in Canada). The track "No Matter Who", was kind of pleasant, but it was ignored here and in the UK, but it was a minor hit in Germany at #69. That was followed by "Wear My Hat", which attempted the "dance remix" re invigoration tactic, but just ended up missing the British top-40 at #43, while skimming the French and German charts at #75 and #81 respectively. (It was also the most blatant recreation of Simon's Graceland South African homage.) Lastly, the ballad "The Same Moon" slipped on to the German single chart at #87.

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Here's Phil live in concert in Paris in 2000 with the song...

and lastly, from his Farewell concert again in Paris in 2004...