Notes from the other woman

NOTES FROM THE OTHER WOMAN  (When Phil played with Brand X)

A few people showed great interest over our website’s ‘historical section’ and its exclusion of Phil Collins as a “core member of Brand X“… Understandably: Phil was hugely consequential since his name alone allowed Brand X to be signed to Hit & Run management and Charisma Records. He was not the band’s first drummer, but was still considered a co-founder by many in the Press, in the same sense that Danny Wilding was considered co-founder by those in the know: Danny Wilding and Richard Williams actually did build Brand X from the ground up; Phil was also a stellar drummer, composer and occasional singer in Brand X, which surely caught the ear of Genesis and Brand X management at a time when Genesis was looking for a new singer, following Peter Gabriel’s departure. (Collins himself explained quite publicly that he still didn’t enjoy a partnership status on par with Rutherford and Banks by the time he took over as lead singer for Genesis in October 1975.)

In those days, the Press didn’t hold back on selling Brand X as “Phil’s new band”. That’s how fame works. Nobody, least of all our management protested. But our legal entanglements tell a different story: the contractual partnership counted John, Percy and Robin, who had gone into Hit & Run offices as penniless young men in their early ’20s, with no understanding of business or contracts, to sign all on their own. Phil Collins, for his part, had signed his services for hire as a drummer through his own corporation. Had he wished to share in the financial liabilities, or take part in any development costs of the band, and joined-in as a full-on, or “core member“, no one among Brand X partners would have dreamed of stopping him, of course; Phil chose instead to be “hired-out”, and neither Percy, nor John, nor Robin were aware of the implications of those decisions at that time. As it is, all subsequent musicians went through Brand X with few formalities. And yet, to this day, the heavy weight is still carried by John Goodsall (now his next of kin), Percy Jones and Robin Lumley, and only them. For this reason alone, if none other than this ‘partnership deal’, Brand X is very much John Goodsall, Robin Lumley and Percy Jones. (Other reasons include of course that this triumvirate is responsible for writing, recording, producing and playing the bulk of what is recognized as “the music of Brand X”.)

If anyone tells you different, ask them to show you the paperwork: they are lying.

But everyone in Brand X loved Phil: there’s no question about it. Everyone was bending over to please him, as well.

Back when Brand X was young, and as soon as Phil bowed out of our touring and recording schedules, people would yell, “where’s Phil?” at our new drummers. Phil was already a star, replete with his own fan base. He was a also a beloved part of the band at that time and everyone in the band delighted in his playing and in his compositions whenever he coined one — and those feelings were mutual by all evidence. But Media fascination notwithstanding, the reasons Brand X soon had to learn to operate without Phil were concrete. And so were the reasons why only John, Percy, and Robin were considered liable for the financial debt accrued by Brand X. This last point is not a negligible one and being “part of a band” or “a core member” is not just an emotional concept, or a preferred ideology about reality, to the regret of many enthusiastic fans of individuals who play in bands. In other words, a band is a business, with signatures on paper, and what those signatures say about who is in and who is out is where the rubber meets the road, inevitably, and down the line.

This is something Percy and Robin know well, at a time when two recent former managers and their accomplices are attempting to kidnap Brand X’s name, its followers, and its accomplishments from the musicians (and their families), all the while grandstanding and self-congratulating on a daily basis over their repurposing of everybody else’s creations. The mere fact of shaking hands with someone doesn’t entitle them to the keys to your house, in theory. Yet, people with money have notoriously exploited musicians for decades by exerting a Divine Right of Kings on what are typically young people (but also old people) with no grasp of legalese, or access to legal counsel, and not necessarily the money needed to fight in the courts. It’s what you call skullduggery… So, details on what belongs to who actually matter: the devil is in the details, always!

But, setting aside the finer legal points of people’s contractual investment into Brand X and their subsequent exposure, (a subject that seems to bore fans who don’t want to understand the world as it actually works), the remaining matter of their emotional perception of their own roles is just as revealing: Phil Collins, in hindsight, reflected that he saw “Genesis as the wife, and Brand X as the mistress with the big [@!*#]”.
It’s safe to say that for [us] Goodall, Jones and Lumley, we weren’t at all casual about our commitment to the band, which was our whole lives, warts and all.

So to say it again: Phil Collins controlled the two-way gate through which Brand X was initially able to pass. John, Robin, and Percy all were indebted and loved working with Phil and having him play in the band, as much for his personality as for his talent, high standards, his drumming, and his occasional composition. Robin was Phil’s roommate during the much publicized separation leading to his divorce. Phil, for his part seemed fond of Percy and recommended him to everyone he knew. When Phil, long before his solo career exploded, volunteered his intention to upgrade his commitment to Brand X and fully join in the near future, all would have welcomed it, but it never came to pass. This was entirely his own decision.

Facts about life remain facts, even when they puncture people’s fantasies…

And people with experience will remember what fate is typically in store for the mistress, when the chips are done falling where they may…