Legend Thought This 80s Classic Was A B-Side AT BEST, Until It Went To #1 | Professor of Rock

Phil Collins never considers this song as anything more than a B-side until a movie director wanted it for his 1984 film called Against All Odds. So Phil rewrote it and released it as Against All Odds (Take a Look At Me Now) to amazing fanfare including an Oscar nomination and a Grammy win. One of the most heart wrenching songs of the decade.
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Hey music junkies and vinyl junkies Professor of Rock always here to celebrate the greatest artists and the greatest 80s songs of all time for the music community and vinyl community with music history video essay's. If you’ve ever owned records, cassettes and CD’s at different times in you life or still do this is your place Subscribe below right now to be a part of our daily celebration of the rock era with exclusive stories from straight from the artists and click on our patreon link in the description to see our brand new show there.
It’s Time for another episode of our series the new standards where we break down a song that has transcended fads, genres and chart positions to become a mainstay in the great world songbook. Today’s is a heart wrenching ballad that went all the way to #1 though it was a darkhorse to even be released. .
When Phil Collins was approached to write the title song for the 1984 film Against All Odds, he actually already had it... albeit in a preliminary, “rough cut” form. Originally titled “How Can You Sit There?”, Collins’ Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now) was written in 1979 during the formative sessions for his debut solo album Face Value. However, Collin’s did care for it and it fell by the wayside.
In fact, Collins completely ignored it when he was putting together his album... calling a B-side in the best-case scenario. A year later when Collins was recording his second solo effort “Hello, I Must Be Going!” Against All Odds was passed over again. Nor was it considered for any of the three contemporary Genesis albums at the time... Duke in 80, Abacab in 81, and Genesis in 83. In Phil’s mind the song was mediocre... just a throwaway track.
However, this obscure demo would be resurrected from the trash heap when Taylor Hackford came knocking on Collins’ door in December 1982. Hackford, a film director, was just coming off shooting “An Officer and A Gentleman.” It was a massive success and he wanted to keep the ball rolling with his next movie, Against All Odds... Dubbed a romantic neo-noir thriller about an aging football star hired by a mob, it was actually a modern update of 1947’s Out of the Past.
When Taylor Hackford signed with Atlantic Records, he was given a roster of artists to choose from for the film’s theme song. But as it turned out, Collins was really the only one Hackford was even considering. So, he tracked Collins down in Chicago, where he was on tour, and asked him to write him a song for the movie.
Collins, however, didn’t think he had the time. But Hackford was undaunted, and he showed Phil a cut of the film on the VCR in his hotel room. After watching it, something clicked in Phil’s head. He remembered that he had this old, unfinished song called How Can You Just Sit There. Maybe that could work.
After their meeting in Chicago, Collins started putting together a proper recording of the song. He teamed up with producer Arif Mardin who oversaw the piano parts and orchestration. Those were recorded in New York at RCA Studios. Mardin would then connect with Collins in LA to record the drums and coax out some of the most emotionally raw vocals of Phil’s career.