YouTuber reactionTwins Push Phil Collins' "In The Air Tonight" Back On The Charts

Phil Collins' 'In the Air Tonight' is back on charts after twin YouTubers rapturously reacted to the song - CNN

Phil Collins' 'In the Air Tonight' is back on the charts after twin YouTubers rapturously reacted to the song
By Scottie Andrew, CNN



Updated 11:13 AM ET, Tue August 11, 2020

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Twins lose it while listening to Phil Collins song for first time 01:05
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(CNN)"In the Air Tonight" has reentered the music charts nearly 40 years after its release. Phil Collins has the Williams brothers to thank.

Tim and Fred Williams, 22-year-old twins and YouTubers, recently filmed themselves listening to Collins' 1981 single for the first time. Their endearing reaction -- dropped jaws, smiling in disbelief when the drum solo drops -- seems to have revived the song's popularity.
As of Tuesday, "In the Air Tonight" is charting second on iTunes, just behind the days-old Cardi B-Megan Thee Stallion collaboration, "WAP."


These are the twins whose first-time reaction to hearing Phil Collins has captured the internet
"In the Air Tonight" never faded into obscurity -- that famous drum breakdown wouldn't go quietly -- but it hadn't exactly found a Gen Z audience. Unlike "Break My Stride," it hadn't achieved TikTok fame.
Enter the Williams brothers.
The siblings from Gary, Indiana, film themselves listening to classic artists for the first time and share the clips on YouTube. They've reacted to Whitney Houston, Lauryn Hill and Dolly Parton (who delighted in their positive response to "Jolene").
But their reaction to Collins' slow-burning single helped them break out. At the beginning of the video, the Williams brothers bobbed their heads to the beat, casually enjoying Collins' wistful musical stylings.
Then the drums came in. And then the twins went wild.
The clip now has over 4 million views.
Collins hasn't commented on the resurgence of his early '80s hit. But film director Ava DuVernay succinctly summed up its success when she shared the twins' video: "And Phil has jumped to the top of iTunes 'cause new folks are discovering and old folk are remembering how dope this song is," she wrote on Twitter.
Their joyous reaction to a decades-old song was a much-needed antidote to a dismal summer. And maybe, while they're entertaining millions, they'll do for Whitney, Lauryn and Dolly what they did for Collins.
CNN's Leah Asmelash and Kat Jennings contributed to this report.

 

So iTunes are "the charts" now??

 

I personally don't like their videos because I don't care for his use of slang and talking so fast I can't understand half of what he's saying. And, they don't seem to be very critical of the songs, just how they are "bangin'". There are other reaction YoTubers I prefer. I guess i'm just getting old(er).

 

For the way people listen to music these days, yes. But, I think this was just a way for a fan at CNN to get their favorite guys, and a good song, some new publicity.

 

Well, Wayne’s World pushed Bohemian Rhapsody back onto the charts.
Is this really all that different?

 

Nothing against Phil but Wish they would lose it over one of Gabriel’s 1980-82 songs

 

And "Tiny Dancer" with the movie Almost Famous in a similar vein

 

I’m not sure that I’ll ever get used to a world where the most important thing is how many “views” or “likes” one gets.

 

Old is clearly part of the problem, yes.

 

Young people look back and discover old music. It’s been happening for decades.

But will old people look forward and discover new music? Only in rare cases.

 

iTunes has a chart.

iTunes is not the charts.

 

Another example is Ferris Bueller's Day Off (Matthew Broderick) which featured the Beatle's version of "Twist and Shout" and Back To School (Rodney Dangerfield) which had Dangerfield singing the tune himself. The song charted again in the Summer of '86.
I didn't mean to turn this into another Beatles thread.

 

I want to like this response because I totally get it, but somehow it just seems too ironic.

 

The Cadbury's Gorilla ad from a few years back pushed ITAT to #1 here in NZ..not iTunes, the actual official chart of the nation.

 

That's so cool! I love their videos (even if I sometimes am suspicious of how unfamiliar they claim to be haha).

 

Beavis and Butthead never died.

 

For some YouTubers, it isn't. But, then, they don't really turn up on the search results. YouTube's whole scheme is to make money.

 

Charts died in the mid 1980s...

 

Nike did nothing for Cop Shoot Cop.

 

It didn't just chart...it was on the radio EVERYWHERE CONSTANTLY.