Travelin'

#toledo

- March 16 -

Did you know that Toledo is a secret mecca for recording artists? While its flashier Rock and Roll Hall of Fame neighbor to the east gets most of the attention (Cleveland - City of Light), Toledo remains an inviting, yet predatory muse.The trend started in 1985. Fresh off the success of “No Jacket Required,” Phil Collins was looking to extend the casual atmosphere from his chart-topping hits (but wanting to stay away from the East Coast, where in many cases, much to his multi-platinum chagrin, there were elaborate requirements for jackets). Phil in October of that year attended the ceremonies for the new Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, and he was approached in the parking lot by a disheveled man in a trenchcoat, who made grand promises about a shining city to the west, “Toledo - where the angels sing, and the drums automatically have that gated reverb sound.”Phil was overjoyed at the reception he initially received in Toledo, being presented with the keys to the city, and feted with marching bands and pie-eating contests in his honor. His first week was a flurry of recorded activity, the highlight of which was a completely unironic take on “Another Day in Paradise.”However, things soon soured when the Mysterious Trenchcoat Man began appearing across the street from his house in the middle of the night, pointing his finger at the front door, and howling inchoately while a small army of vagrants began massing along the street, armed with bloody bindles. There they would stand, motionless save for their delerium tremens, staring vacantly at Phil Collins’ recording studio/rental home. They would stand there for a good long while as Phil peered through the slats of his kitchen blinds, sweating and shivering, and surely hearing his own drum part from “In the Air Tonight” as the standoff dragged endlessly into the early hours of the night.As morning came, the hobo army would melt away, and Phil would lock himself into the studio, producing track after track of primal screams over percussion that consisted entirely of reloading and cocking. None of these tracks made it to the final album, but many of their influences can be heard in the horn section of “Something Happened on the Way to Heaven.”But Seriously, Phil left Toledo under cover of night not long after - and four years later a very dark and introspective album came out, although I don’t remember the name of it. Do You Remember?Years later, fellow casual-clothes brothers-in-arms Blink 182 would record their own breakout album in Toledo (see Jacket, Take Off Your Pants and).

Did you know that Toledo is a secret mecca for recording artists? While its flashier Rock and Roll Hall of Fame neighbor to the east gets most of the attention (Cleveland - City of Light), Toledo remains an inviting, yet predatory muse.

The trend started in 1985. Fresh off the success of “No Jacket Required,” Phil Collins was looking to extend the casual atmosphere from his chart-topping hits (but wanting to stay away from the East Coast, where in many cases, much to his multi-platinum chagrin, there were elaborate requirements for jackets). Phil in October of that year attended the ceremonies for the new Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, and he was approached in the parking lot by a disheveled man in a trenchcoat, who made grand promises about a shining city to the west, “Toledo - where the angels sing, and the drums automatically have that gated reverb sound.”

Phil was overjoyed at the reception he initially received in Toledo, being presented with the keys to the city, and feted with marching bands and pie-eating contests in his honor. His first week was a flurry of recorded activity, the highlight of which was a completely unironic take on “Another Day in Paradise.”

However, things soon soured when the Mysterious Trenchcoat Man began appearing across the street from his house in the middle of the night, pointing his finger at the front door, and howling inchoately while a small army of vagrants began massing along the street, armed with bloody bindles. There they would stand, motionless save for their delerium tremens, staring vacantly at Phil Collins’ recording studio/rental home. They would stand there for a good long while as Phil peered through the slats of his kitchen blinds, sweating and shivering, and surely hearing his own drum part from “In the Air Tonight” as the standoff dragged endlessly into the early hours of the night.

As morning came, the hobo army would melt away, and Phil would lock himself into the studio, producing track after track of primal screams over percussion that consisted entirely of reloading and cocking. None of these tracks made it to the final album, but many of their influences can be heard in the horn section of “Something Happened on the Way to Heaven.”

But Seriously, Phil left Toledo under cover of night not long after - and four years later a very dark and introspective album came out, although I don’t remember the name of it. Do You Remember?

Years later, fellow casual-clothes brothers-in-arms Blink 182 would record their own breakout album in Toledo (see Jacket, Take Off Your Pants and).

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