DuranDuran
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In 1967, Phil Collins met Ronnie Caryl, who lived up the road from him. Collins, age 15, and Caryl, age 13, found that they had many similar interests. Caryl was in another local stage school and was a fledgling guitarist. Like Collins, Caryl had a burning desire for music. The two became close friends and enjoyed playing music together. During this period, Collins joined The Freeholdafter, being the only one to reply to their Melody Maker advertisement for a drummer. The Freehold saw Collins make his recording debut with a self-penned song called Lying Crying Dying.
Phil Collins reached major a crossroad in his career in 1968 with the release of his first true film role in Calamley The Cow. Collins was concerned that the character he played could jeopardize his cool status with his fellow co-eds, which resulted in clashes with the director of the film. Ultimately, Collins role in the film was diminished leaving him frustrated and angry with the experience. By the time the film wrapped, Collins had made the decision to focus his time on music exclusively.
Collins and Caryl continued playing music together in various bands and ended up becoming the backing band for an R&B group called the Bloody Ages. The duo then went on to serve as a backing band for John Walker and the Walker Brothers in 1968 before they eventually formed their own band, Hickory. Collins and Caryl would hang out in London on Tin Pan Alley Street in a café called the Giaconda. One day, while hanging out in the Giaconda, the duo met Brian Chatton, who had a contact with Ken Howard and Alan Blakely, successful producers who had successes with bands like The Herd among others.
Chatton shared with Collins and Caryl that Howard and Blakely were looking for a group to do a concept album about the last spaceship leaving a dying planet Earth called Ark 2. As a result of that contact, Chatton, Collins, and Caryl became the band Flaming Youth and released the Ark 2 album in 1969.
The album was premiered at the London Planetarium, but despite positive reviews in the press, the album was a commercial disaster. The band returned to record one follow up single called "Man, Woman and Child." When the new single failed to make any commercial impact, Flaming Youth disbanded.
