Remember When Phil Collins Heated up a Leftover for His First US No. 1 Single in 1984?

It’s always a good idea to hold onto whatever music you’ve created. That’s true even if you couldn’t originally find a use for it, or even if it’s unfinished. In many cases, circumstances may arise where this initially unwanted creation proves quite useful. Phil Collins found that out with “Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)”.

The bare bones of the song had been lying around unused for about three years. When he dusted them off and propped them up, the song became his first-ever US No. 1 single.

The Birth of a Songwriter

Phil Collins didn’t really consider himself to be a songwriter before making his solo debut album Face Value, released in 1981. Even though he helped Genesis out in terms of composing music, especially after he became the band’s singer following the departure of Peter Gabriel, it usually came in collaboration with the other members of the group.

Any lyrics that he wrote up to that point weren’t really personal or confessional in any way. And then his marriage crumbled. Wracked with angst and anguish over the turn of events, he couldn’t help but put those feelings on paper and turn them into songs. Those songs would make up Face Value.

During that stretch of writing for that album, he wrote a ballad with the working title “How Can You Just Sit There?” But he wrote several other tortured slow songs for the record and thought that one was one too many. As such, it failed to make the LP.

“Odds” On

A few years later, Taylor Hackford, the director of a film called Against All Odds, came calling for Phil Collins, looking for a song for the movie. Collins was given a rough cut of the film to screen. Upon seeing it, he remembered “How Can You Just Sit There?”, which he thought might be a good piece of music to play over the closing credits, which is where Hackford wanted the song.

Using the film’s plot as inspiration, Collins filled out the lyrics. The song, renamed “Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)”, comes from the perspective of a narrator addressing his ex. He can’t believe she seems to be gliding through the end of their relationship while he’s barely scraping by.

Working with legendary producer/arranger Arif Mardin, Collins recorded the song while in the middle of a Genesis tour. Session player Rob Mounsey handled the plaintive piano parts, while Collins delivered some of his signature cavernous drums to add the finishing touch.

Soundtrack Streak

“Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)” marked the first time that Phil Collins recorded a song for a movie. It would turn out to be quite the lucrative side gig for him over the years. Massive hits like “Separate Lives” (a duet with Marilyn Martin), “A Groovy Kind Of Love”, and “You’ll Be In My Heart” all appeared first on movie soundtracks.

Prior to “Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now)”, Collins’ biggest hit in America was his cover of The Supremes’ “You Can’t Hurry Love”, which hit No. 10 in 1982. But the ballad topped that and then some, landing at No. 1 in 1984, the first of his seven chart-topping singles in the US.

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