The Motown Riff That Drove Phil Collins Crazy: “We Kind of Got It”

Phil Collins is equally known for his frontman abilities and drumming. In fact, perhaps his most famous effort ever is a timeless drum fill that excites audiences every time they hear it. But even a percussionist as iconic as Collins struggles to nail things from time to time. There was one song that Collins himself said he struggled to get just right while recording an album’s worth of Motown songs.

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

The Motown Song Phil Collins Struggled to Nail Down

The Motown era is famous for many things, but its rhythms were certainly memorable. As Collins once pointed out, you can tell one drummer from the next on records from this label. Like fingerprints, each fill, roll, and hi-hat hit is unique.

“When I did this Motown album, I listened time and time and time again to the records to try to get the parts right,” Collins once said. “Obviously, I mean they had three drummers [Benny Benjamin, Pistol Allen, and Uriel Jones] and I tried to get all the drummers’ little quirks. You could tell one from another, you know?”

That singularity made it difficult for Collins to jump in and recreate, no matter how iconically talented he is. One song in particular, Martha And The Vandellas’ “Dancing In The Street”, proved a challenge for Collins as he tried to figure out what parts of the drums were used for the opening sequence.  

Collins’ Version of “Dancing In The Street”

The opening of this Motown classic is a simple but effective drum fill. Collins did well to recreate it in his version on the 2010 album, Going Back, but, according to the artist, it wasn’t an easy feat. After listening closely to the song, Collins struggles to single out which parts of the drum were used.

“We played that what must have been 1000 times to work out what it was, because it’s very difficult to tell whether it’s a tom tom then a snare drum or a snare drum and then a tom tom,” he continued in the same conversation. “It just sort of breathes, you know. It’s like this little furry animal.”

“We kind of got it,” he conceded, but with some trepidation. As a fan, Collins’ effort sounds pretty spot-on. But for drum aficionados, there might be some slight differences that set the original apart from the rest. Revisit Collins’ version of “Dancing In The Street” above.

(Photo by Ross Marino/Getty Images)