I'm not a singer who plays a bit of drums. I'm a drummer that sings a bit. I don't own an Abba album and I never had the urge to go and buy one. If you're just talking about well crafted pop songs, they were fantastic. I prefer black music in general. No one's put me in the same area as the Human League because they use drum machines. You put Genesis over there in a corner with Yes, ELP, Moody Blues and the Floyd (Pink Floyd) because that's the period we happened to come up in. I don't like any of those groups - so it angers me and frustrates me when we get compared to them. Apart from Hugh Fielder, I can't think of any journalist who actually likes Genesis. I was keen to meet some of the people who have slagged me off, people like Paul Morley at NME and Paul Colbert at Melody Maker just to show them that I'm not actually what they think I am. I just don't think of myself as a star. This is what I do for a living; I'm fortunate that I make ends meet. The difference between the American version of Live Aid and the British one - in England, if you wanted a cup of tea, you made it yourself. If you wanted a sandwich, you bought it. In typical American style, at the American concert, there were laminated tour passes and champagne and caviar. I don't doubt anyone's moral commitment to the cause, but the caviar and the cause just didn't jibe for me. [About his Academy Award]: Ever since I can remember, I've watched the Oscar shows. Watching all those great actors, writers and directors receiving the Holy Grail. I never thought in a million years that I'd get a nomination. As years rolled by I was lucky enough to be included a couple of times. When my third time came with Tarzan, I truly didn't believe it would be me. When Cher opened the envelope and said "Ph..." you could have knocked me down with a feather. It really was, and is, an incredible feeling. Of all the awards I've been fortunate to collect over the years, the Oscar is the most treasured. If people listened to Genesis' back catalogue they might be surprised. It's very strange, when you live in London or live around London and get the music papers you are led to believe that there is a certain type of music that is popular and everything else is not. I like Weather Report, I like Stephen Bishop, I like John Martyn. I just like all different kinds of music and artists. I recently saw a TV program in which a young, radical journalist was interviewing Ice-T at his home. And the guy asked, "What do you got in the record collection, Ice?" And lo and behold, all my albums were there. The guy said, "Aw, come on, man, what is this bullshit?" And Ice-T jumped on him and said, 'Don't mess with Phil, man. Don't you fucking mess with my Phil." What can I say? I was flattered that the guy even knew I existed. [On bands copying Genesis]: I wouldn't wish it upon anybody to try and be successful in this day and age being a parody of a band nobody likes anyway. Many people think of me as a perfectionist, someone who polishes and shines each song and performance. I've always been bothered by that assumption. The stuff that really gets me is the comments about my physical appearance. I guess it's easier to write about than the kind of songs I play. I mean, I was called the ugliest man since George Orwell. What's that got to do with the music? And, by the way, how ugly was George Orwell? I get kicked around by critics all the time. I can count on one hand the amount of really good reviews I've had for anything I've done - in 25 years of Genesis, 30 years of my own career - people have dismissed it out of hand. There's a lot of stuff there that music critics just don't go for. To them, I'm some kind of landmark of middle-of-the-roadness, or I'm not edgy enough, or I've been around too long to be taken seriously. I won't/can't take the glory or the blame for what Genesis did musically. We wrote as a band and we lived with that music for 4/5 months working on it together. I'd like to see someone try to push Tony Banks into doing something he doesn't want to do! Just doesn't happen. Same with all the records actually.....all responsible for everything broadly speaking.