Tony Banks recently said that if Genesis would have had a crack at recording Phil Collins's solo smash "In the Air Tonight," they would have messed up the song.
Banks told Vulture, "I think there’s such a great atmosphere about 'In the Air Tonight.' But if Genesis had done it, I’d have probably screwed it up. I bet I would’ve added another chord or tried to do something with it and taken it somewhere else. I bet I would’ve said, 'Phil, what are you doing, you can’t use just three chords in song'...”
He added, "That’s my favorite of his songs and always has been. It’s a great piece of music with the greatest drum riff of all time."
Banks said the long held rumor that Genesis rejected "In the Air Tonight" is wrong. He said, "There’s always a dispute about this. Phil reckoned he played it to me when we were choosing songs for Duke. That’s not true. We always knew we wanted 'Misunderstanding' and 'Please Don’t Ask,' so he took those for us."
[Source: Classic Hits Today]