Phil Collins ‘”In the Air Tonight” is officially a hit single 39 years after its release, thanks to a twin from Gary, Indiana whose spontaneous reaction to the unexpected drum break in Collins’ ballad has caused it to be possibly the most meme -d song of August 2020.
“In the Air Tonight” is currently at no. 3 on the iTunes sales pitch template, and only follows the new releases “WAP” by Cardi B with Megan Thee Stallion and “Beers and Sunshine” by Darius Rucker.
It is also not just a one-day event. Numbers provided by Alpha Data show that “In the Air Tonight” was the fourth biggest selling song of the week ending on August 8, up from no. 185 the week before.
The Collins song may not make the same kind of splash on the entire song chart, as its streaming songs remain out of the competition of those enjoyed by contemporary artists. The fact that it affects sales more than streaming may indicate that it appeals to an older audience that is rediscovering its love for the song rather than reaching a new one that, like the twins, hears it for the first time.
But, of course, none of these charts take into account the number of charts that “In the Air Tonight” just gets from fascinating viewers enjoying Tim and Fred Williams’ reaction video – which, as of this writing, is up up to 3.2 million views.
The 22-year-old brothers are sure to be a hit for themselves as viewers of their response to the Collins song, which was released on July 27, visit their YouTube channel to check out the hundreds of comment videos they posted in advance to have .
Their commentary on the song begins with the close-up cover art of Collins himself. ‘He looks like he’s looking at my soul. I’m scared. I can not look at him, man, ‘jokes Fred.
As soon as the drum break arrives, the soft appreciation of the brothers turns into pleasant surprise.
“He said, I feel like you’re sleeping on me, let’s wake them up!”
“That was cold the way he did it. I will not suffer. He pulled me on it.”
“I never saw anyone drop a beat in a (after) a song in three minutes!”
“I’m dead, mother.
Their similar video in response to Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” took on a worse status, with Parton even tweeting about it on August 7, writing, “No point in begging … Jolene has already stolen these two. ” (Collins has not responded publicly so far.)
“TwinsthenewTrend” now has 350,000 subscribers to their YouTube channel, which is about a year old. They told CNN that they initially hooked up with videos of hip-hop reaction, then took a suggestion to try out Frank Sinatra, and have since delved into multiple genres. They have responded to everything from Kansas’ “Dust in the Wind” to Pantera, Lauryn Hill, Rage Against the Machine, the Carpenters, A-ha, the Allman Brothers Band, Marvin Gaye and Queens of the Stone Age.
“Because we are black,” Fred Williams told CNN about the popularity of their videos, “and they do not expect us to listen to that kind of music.” Tim added, ‘It’s just rare to see people open these days. People do not open up to step outside their comfort zone and simply react to music they do not know. “
