The answer is me!

Since for the next year, I will be the ultimate answer to life, the universe and everything, I'm having a Phil-fest as a gift to myself.


"Wear My Hat" - I love this song, which is about the interaction that a famous singer can have with fans who are fanatical in the true sense of the word. Oftentimes, people can be invested in a celebrity's work and be knowledgeable about their personal life and then project a relationship with that celebrity, one that doesn't actually exist. I love the humour with which this story is told, and it's also a really peppy song and has great infectious music. When I saw Phil in concert singing this song, he and the rest of the band had such a great time with it, passing hats back and forth with each other, so it was so much fun to watch. The following video mixes music video footage with concert footage.





"Separate Lives" - This is one of my favorites from earlier Phil. The song is actually written by Stephen Bishop, and it's a duet by Phil and Marilyn Martin and was used in the film "White Nights". Lyrically, musically and vocally, it's an amazingly moving song. I love the recorded version, but the first time I saw this in concert, and it was staged so that Phil was singing lead alternately with two of his backup singers, one male and one female, I was blown away. Normally, it's a great song of broken love between a man and a woman, but when you add the third-party dimension to it, it just makes the story of the song that much more complex and heart-breaking. The concert footage below doesn't have the physical triangle staging that is done sometimes for this song (now if only "The Phantom of the Opera" would bring that staging back for the "Wandering Child" section of the show when Christine is at her father's grave, but I digress), but the voices are still terrific. After all, it's Phil with Amy and Arnold.





"Against All Odds" - Another one of my earlier Phil favorites, this time actually written by Phil himself. This was the title track of the film of the same name, and again, a song that I love lyrically, musically and vocally. This is the official music video which incorporates footage from the film (starring Jeff Bridges, James Woods and Rachel Ward) with footage of Phil singing.





And then we get to a blast from the past. I loved watching "Miami Vice" from the very beginning, for its story, acting and the cinematography and editing of the show. This was a Friday night ritual when I was in college. One of the things I loved most was their brilliant use of just the right music and images, not to mention that they used music and artists that I liked. The show exuded the very essence of ambience and mood. This is the segment from the pilot episode that uses "In The Air Tonight". Brilliant. I was hooked.




Hope you enjoyed that Phil-athon as much as I did!