Phil Collins: “I Don’t Care Anymore” (1983)

More or less “In the Air Tonight, the Day After” with a Beatlesque twist in the middle.

Kronomyth 2.3: I do play the same games without frontiers.

I’m not going to lie to you: I really liked this song when it came out. In fact, it’s a near certainty that at some point I sang this in front of the bathroom mirror with every bit as much conviction as Phil Collins himself. Yes, it was more or less an obvious attempt to replicate the success of “In the Air Tonight” by placing the drums front and center in the song, but it was a different enough twist that you (or at least I) didn’t mind. Of minor interest, the single version is about 15 seconds lighter by chopping a bit of the intro and outro off.

This single saw a limited global release in North America and Europe, where it received different B sides. Over here, the instrumental The West Side was featured on the flip. I’ve never bee overly enamored of Collins’ instrumental music, but I do like listening to the guitar work of Daryl Stuermer on this song, as it always reminds me of Tony BanksThe Fugitive, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Europeans got a different song on the B side, the ballad Don’t Let Him Steal Your Heart Away. A maxi-single included a live version of the Brand X track, And So to F. I can think of at least 10 Brand X songs I like better, but it’s a neat idea in theory.

Original 7-inch single version

A1. I Don’t Care Anymore (Phil Collins) (4:45)
B1. The West Side (Phil Collins) (4:59)

Original 7-inch single version (Europe)
A1. I Don’t Care Anymore (Phil Collins) (4:45)
B1. Don’t Let Him Steal Your Heart Away (Phil Collins) (4:26)

Original 12-inch maxi-single version
A1. I Don’t Care Anymore (Phil Collins) (5:00)
B1. Don’t Let Him Steal Your Heart Away (Phil Collins) (4:26)
B2. And So to F (live)

Back-to-back hits 7-inch single reissue
A1. You Can’t Hurry Love (Brian Holland/Lamont Dozier/Eddie Holland) (2:50)
B1. I Don’t Care Anymore (Phil Collins) (4:45)

The Plastic

Released on 7-inch and 12-inch single in February 1983 in the US and Canada (Atlantic, 7-89877), Germany (WEA, 25-9938-7) and the Netherlands (WEA, 25-9935-0) with regional picture sleeve. Reached #39 on the US charts (charted on February 12, 1983 for 11 weeks).

  1. Re-packaged with “You Can’t Hurry Love” on back-to-back hits 7-inch single in th US (Atlantic Oldies Series, OS 13256).

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