53. Genesis

Genesis and Phil Collins may have been successful already for a decade, but it was not until the early 1980’s that they truly struck commercial success.  Like many bands that have achieved that level, their albums tend to have “throwaway” songs that were probably never meant to be released as singles.  At least that is what we hope was the case for their offensive track, Illegal Alien.

With a fake Mexican accent, Phil Collins sings the chorus of how “it’s no fun, being an illegal alien”.  Surely, this was one of those songs that seemed funny in the recording studio, but who thought it was a great idea to put it on an album, let alone release as a single?  Our guess is was probably the same guy who thought putting them in fake moustaches and sombreros in the video.  We would hate to think what Collins and company thought was racially inappropriate.