I recall reading many years ago that the song was written in response to the big changes in the music industry caused by the rise of MTV. Rather than needing to just have appealing songs, suddenly bands/performers had to be able to look really good in music videos: young, attractive, good at acting/dancing, generally the sort that advertisers would pay a lot to air commercials near and sponsors would want to associate with their products. It didn't matter how brilliant they were at singing or songwriting anymore, and the only kinds of dancing that counted were the really 'cool' type kids would want to emulate.
The music video illustrates the situation. It begins at a location very similar to one used by ZZ Top, whom handled the image issue by focusing on hot women. Collins is then shown being rejected in favor of an iguana (cold-blooded creature), then a dog (simple trained animal) which also steals & wrecks his jeans, and the whole band is cheated right out of their pants. This is interspersed with footage that documents how fake such videos are. After the song is over, Collins remains on-screen to spoof Michael Jackson and show that he's only considered unable to dance because the kind he can do isn't the cool kind MTV wanted.
I recall reading many years ago that the song was written in response to the big changes in the music industry caused by the rise of MTV. Rather than needing to just have appealing songs, suddenly bands/performers had to be able to look really good in music videos: young, attractive, good at acting/dancing, generally the sort that advertisers would pay a lot to air commercials near and sponsors would want to associate with their products. It didn't matter how brilliant they were at singing or songwriting anymore, and the only kinds of dancing that counted were the really 'cool' type kids would want to emulate.
The music video illustrates the situation. It begins at a location very similar to one used by ZZ Top, whom handled the image issue by focusing on hot women. Collins is then shown being rejected in favor of an iguana (cold-blooded creature), then a dog (simple trained animal) which also steals & wrecks his jeans, and the whole band is cheated right out of their pants. This is interspersed with footage that documents how fake such videos are. After the song is over, Collins remains on-screen to spoof Michael Jackson and show that he's only considered unable to dance because the kind he can do isn't the cool kind MTV wanted.