Beyond the Air Tonight: Five Options for Phil Collins' WSOP Entrance Music
Last year, at the 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event final table, members of the November Nine each had personalized entrance music. Some players like Soi Nguyen went the conventional route, picking popular songs like “All I Do is Win” by DJ Khaled, while Jason Senti came out to music from his own band Suburban Hero. The introductions pumped some life into the Penn & Teller Theatre and allowed players to be creative and have a little fun with the situation.
During his run to this year’s November Nine, Phil Collins was often serenaded with the Phil Collins song “In The Air Tonight,” leading many to believe that would be his introduction music. We’ve been informed by the WSOP that there actually won’t be entrance songs this year (bummer), but we still feel that it’s necessary to offer up the five best Phil Collins songs that Phil Collins should come out to.
5. “Against All Odds”
Album: Face Value
Year: 1981
Reason: On the surface this song is perfect — Collins made the final table against all odds. It doesn’t matter how good you are, you a need a lot of luck to make the November Nine, and Collins is among a fortunate few. The song itself is lacking though, because it’s too slow, takes too long to develop, and is about a love triangle, which would be awkward for Collins’ wife, Katie. “Against All Odds” is also terribly difficult to sing, and Collins’ rambunctious rail isn’t necessarily filled with a bunch of Adeles.
This is a classic Phil Collins song, and the title is certainly appropriate, but there are better, more suitable songs for this list.
Weird Video Moment: The song was used in the movie Against All Odds starring Rachel Ward, Jeff Bridges, and James Woods. Some clips from the movie are in the music video, making for hilarious moments at 1:35 and 1:53.
4. “Take Me Home”
Album: No Jacket Required
Year: 1985
Reason: “Take Me Home” has a very funky beginning to it, and like “Against All Odds,” the name is appropriate — this is the home stretch for all of the November Niners. For the better part of the last four months, they’ve all been poked and prodded by the poker world, and now it’s time to actually get back on the felt and find a winner. If Collins we’re to use this song, we’d suggest starting around the 2:20 mark because it does start slowly, but the chorus is strong. Also, the phrase “Take Me Home” is easy to catch on to, so members of Collins’ rail that don’t know the song would have no problem belting three words. “Take Me Home” still isn’t strong enough, though, because it doesn’t have enough energy. You want the crowd to be electric when you enter.
Weird Video Moment: The entire video is awkward because Phil Collins just mouths the lyrics in front of monuments, but 5:27 takes the cake.
3. “Tonight, Tonight, Tonight
Album: Invisible Touch
Year: 1986
Reason: “Tonight, Tonight, Tonight” is a really high energy, electro-inspired song with strong percussion — perfect for getting people amped up. Like the previous songs, the title is appropriate for the occasion, and there are a few applicable lyrics including: “I got some money in my pocket, about ready to burn.” The rest of the lyrics are kind of depressing though (standard Phil Collins), and we wouldn’t want to dampen the mood before the biggest final table of the year. With the right light fixtures, or even some pyrotechnics and smoke, “Tonight, Tonight, Tonight” would be a strong entrance song, but we still think that there are better choices.
Weird Video Moment: Genesis never shot a video for “Tonight, Tonight, Tonight,” so go back at look at 3:57 of“Take Me Home.”
2. “In The Air Tonight”
Album: Face Value
Year: 1981
Reason: It would’ve been far too easy and convenient to put “In The Air Tonight” in the No. 1 spot, but it would’ve been equally as absurd to omit it altogether. Collins’ rail belted this song approximately 159 times during his run to the final table, and the deeper Collins went the more sophisticated it became. Initially, it was a mess of lyrics thrown together, but the coordination improved day after day until the final day when they actually had a boom box. The boom box was quickly removed by the Rio security, however, so whenever they were about to sing, someone would yell the famous drum roll at 3:15. It worked perfectly.
Thanks to Mike Tyson and The Hangover, “In The Air Tonight” is a cult-classic for a second generation. To be perfectly honest, it would be great entrance music for anybody, which is why we went in another direction for our No. 1 song.
Weird Video Moment: During the epic drum roll at 3:15, they do this weird color adjustment to Phil Collins’ face, and then he opens the door to heaven?
1. “Man of Our Times”
Album: Duke
Year: 1980
Reason: We love how the beginning of the song is loud and in your face — two characteristics that most all entrance music has in common. The percussion and the keys power throughout the song, keeping the energy high, and the words “tonight, tonight” echo every so often to remind you about the task at hand. The title is perfect, too, because if Collins actually wins the Main Event, then he will undoubtedly become a man of our times. Ironically, “Man of Our Times” wasn’t written by Collins, it was written by fellowGenesis member Mike Rutherford. Collins provides the lead vocals, though, keeping the connection to poker’s Phil Collins alive.
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