Phil Collins’ Hello, I Must Be Going! released

First posted 9/15/2020.

Hello, I Must Be Going! Phil Collins

Released: November 5, 1982 Peak: 8 US, 2 UK, 13 CN, 15 AU Sales (in millions): 3.0 US, 0.9 UK, 13.8 world (includes US and UK) Genre: mainstream pop-rock

Tracks: Click for codes to singles charts. I Don’t Care Anymore (12/4/82, 39 US, 47 CB, 3 AR) I Cannot Believe It’s True (5/7/83, 79 US, 80 CB) Like China (12/4/82, 17 AR) Do You Know, Do You Care? (11/6/82, 41 AR) You Can’t Hurry Love (11/6/82, 10 US, 10 CB, 9 AC, 24 AR, 1 UK, 9 CN, 3 AU) It Don’t Matter to Me Thru These Walls (10/23/82, 56 UK, 34 AR) Don’t Let Him Steal Your Heart Away (3/19/83, 45 UK) The West Side Why Can’t It Wait ‘Til Morning (5/83, 89 UK) Total Running Time: 45:03

Rating: 3.475 out of 5.00 (average of 10 ratings) Quotable: -- Awards:

About the Album: After Genesis released their 1980 Duke album, Phil Collins decided it was time to release a solo album. One would understandably think the success of that album, Face Value, would mean he was moving on from the group he’d been with for ten years. Instead, he went back to work with Genesis and released Abacab later that year. Then he went right back to his solo career, releasing Hello, I Must Be Going! in 1982. “The album wasn't a huge departure from the formula established on Face Value, built as it was on introspective, gut-spilling ballads, horn-driven R&B jams, arty rockers, and dramatic breakup songs. In fact, the first track, the vitriolic I Don’t Care Anymore, sounds like a very close relative of ‘In the Air Tonight,’ only less mysterious and more in your face. Still effective though, and with the same magical drum sound Collins got on that earlier song.” AMG “The R&B-based tracks are well served by Earth, Wind & Fire horns, and if nothing is quite on par with ‘I Missed Again,’ there’s not a huge drop-off in quality.” AMG He does, however, offer up “the almost note-perfect take on the Supremes’ You Can't Hurry Love, which sounds less like a pastiche and more like a loving tribute.” AMG There are a few less ballads, with Collins only slowing down on the lovely Don’t Let Him Steal Your Heart Away and the lush Why Can’t It Wait ‘Til Morning, which foreshadows his career as a singer for hire on many a movie soundtrack.” AMG “There are a couple of surprises on Hello, notably the uptempo pop tune Like China, which features some blistering guitar work from Daryl Stuermer.” AMG “Another departure from Face Value comes on the song Thru These Walls, where Collins is playing a character instead of writing from a place of pain and frustration, which was one of the things that made that album so devastating.” AMG Despite the change in tone from intensely personal and dark to slightly detached and even lighthearted in spots, the album is still a winning follow-up that shows Collins to be in full control of songwriting and production. It may be a shade less impressive than Face Value, but that was a hard act to follow.” AMG Notes: A 2016 deluxe edition of the album included nine live songs from different years and demos for “Do You Know, Do You Care” and “Don’t Let Him Steal Your Heart Away.”

Resources and Related Links: Phil Collins’ DMDB Encyclopedia entry AMG All Music Guide review by Tim Sendra