Phil Collins was strongly influenced by Motown music. He would explain his love for Motown, coming from his childhood, in multiple interviews. Therefore, Collins’s solo music from the 80s has a distinct motown sound. There’s no doubt his choice of musicians that played on his records helped shape that sound, for better or for worse. Many people would say that bringing in The Phenix Horns to play on a Genesis record (Abacab, ‘No Reply At All’; 3×3 EP ‘Paperlate’) was the worst thing Genesis had ever done. Ofcourse, Phil Collins got the blame.
Whatever you may think of it, you can’t ignore the fact that The Phenix Horns made an important contribution to the evolution of Genesis’ sound, in particular that of Phil Collins. The Phenix Horns consisted of Don Myrick (saxophone), Louis “Lui Lui” Satterfield (trombone), Rahmlee Michael Davis (trumpet) and Michael Harris (trumpet). The collective had a long list of famous people on their resume. “Playing with many of music’s legendary greats, their musical integrity goes without question and their reputations stand as impeccable (…) Among those artists whose records have been indelibly stamped by the staccato riffs, and melodic horn lines of this gifted quartet are Curtis Mayfield, Ramsey Lewis, The Emotions, Deniece Williams, Lou Rawls, Gladys Knight, The Jacksons, Earth Wind & Fire and last but not least Phil Collins and Genesis.” A long list of collaborations can be found on their excellent website.
Michael Harris was replaced by Harry Kim for the 1990 Serious Tour. According to Wikipedia Harris is alive to this day. Also Rahmlee Michael Davis is still around. Louis Satterffield died in 2004 aged 67. Don Myrick was killed in Los Angeles, July 1993, by a Santa Monica police officer. The police officer mistook a butane lighter in Myrick’s hand for a weapon during a narcotics investigation. Phil Collins wrote a song to honor his friend and collegue called ‘For A Friend’. It was released as a b-side to the ‘We Wait And We Wonder’ single in April 1994.