Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight” saw a noticeable selling point over the weekend through a viral video from Twins React, where 22-year-olds Tim and Fred Williams recorded their reaction to hearing the song for the first time.
In the video, Tim and Fred begin to tune in to the slow rhythmic beginning of the song and lose it due to the iconic drum start in the last half, as so many have done after first hearing Collins’ 1981 hit.
The video apparently asked viewers to do the same: On Friday and Saturday, “In the Air Tonight” saw an increase in sales of more than 1,100 percent compared to the previous two days. The song saw more than 4,600 digital sales in those two days, compared to a few hundred the weekend before, according to Alpha Data. Friday and Saturday sales compare almost the rest of the month combined in advance.
Surprisingly, given the impetus of sales, however, streams on the song do not seem to be affected by the viral video so far, with between 200,000 and about 240,000 streams every day since mid-July.
The multi-platinum single from Collins’ debut solo album Nominal value has been proven timeless since its release by several prominent features, with the Twins React video just the latest. It was featured in Miami Vice in 1984, and in 2008 comedy The Hangover in a scene in which Mike Tyson slaps the character of Zach Galifianakis in the face as the beat drops to the drum solo of the song. It’s also seen in video games, such as the popular NBA 2K basketball franchise in 2014 and in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories in 2007.
Ein 2013 Rolling stone Reader poll called “In the Air Tonight” as Collins’ best song.
