Easy Lover
1984 single by Philip Bailey and Phil Collins
"Easy Lover" is a song performed by Philip Bailey of Earth, Wind & Fire and Phil Collins of the band Genesis, jointly written and composed by Bailey, Collins, and Nathan East. The song first appeared on Bailey's 1984 solo album, Chinese Wall. Collins has performed the song in his live concerts, and it appears on his 1990 album, Serious Hits... Live! (with Fred White and Arnold McCuller both sharing to perform Bailey's original part), his 1998 compilation album, ...Hits, and his 2016 career-spanning compilation The Singles. It is Bailey's only US top 40 hit as a solo artist.
The song was a No. 1 hit in several countries, including Canada, the Netherlands, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. In the U.S., it spent 23 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, including 7 weeks in the top 10, and peaked at No. 2 during the weeks of 2 February 1985 and 9 February 1985, behind "I Want to Know What Love Is" by Foreigner. On the UK Singles Chart, it reached No. 1, staying there for four weeks. The single sold over a million copies in the U.S. and was certified Gold in March, 1985, as the RIAA requirement for a platinum single disc was not lowered to one million units until 1989. In addition, "Easy Lover" has been certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) and Music Canada. Despite Collins' popularity in Australia, its lowly position on that country's chart was because of a record company dispute.
"Easy Lover" won an MTV Video Music Award for Best Overall Performance in a Video in 1985 and was Grammy Award nominated for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals in 1986.
The song was used by the World Wrestling Federation as the theme for the first WrestleMania in March 1985 at Madison Square Garden.
01Background
In 1984, Phil Collins was hired as the producer for Philip Bailey's solo album, Chinese Wall. According to Collins, Bailey approached him at the end of the sessions for the album and asked him to write a song together as filler for the album (according to Casey Kasem on AT40s year end countdown that year). In "Phil Collins: My Life in 15 Songs", a 2016 interview he gave to Rolling Stone magazine, Collins said of the song: "So we just started having a jam one night, and went round and round and turned it into a verse and a chorus. We recorded it that night so we wouldn't forget it. That song doesn't sound like any particular era. It's just fantastic." According to the official sheet music, the song is in the key of F minor and has a tempo of 105 BPM, though the studio recording has a tempo of 130 BPM.
02Music video
The song's music video, filmed at Ewarts Studios, London, England, humorously depicts the making of a music video. It was produced by Paul Flattery and directed by Jim Yukich.
03Track listings
UK 7-inch single
- "Easy Lover"
- "Woman", 5:04
UK 12-inch
- "Easy Lover" (extended re-mixed version), 6:18
- "Woman", 5:04
European 7-inch
- "Easy Lover", 5:05
- "Woman", 5:05
Hong Kong 12-inch
- "Easy Lover" (extended dance remix), 6:21
- "Woman", 5:05
04Personnel
- Philip Bailey, lead and backing vocals
- Phil Collins, lead and backing vocals, drums, keyboards, production
- Daryl Stuermer, electric lead & rhythm guitar
- Nathan East, bass guitar
- Lesette Wilson, keyboards
05Charts
Weekly charts
|
Year-end charts
|
06Certifications
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Canada (Music Canada) | Platinum | 100,000^ |
| Denmark (IFPI Danmark) | Gold | 45,000‡ |
| New Zealand (RMNZ) | Platinum | 30,000‡ |
| Spain (Promusicae) | Gold | 30,000‡ |
| United Kingdom (BPI) Sales since 2004 |
2× Platinum | 1,200,000‡ |
| United States (RIAA) | Gold | 1,000,000^ |
|
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Easy Lover”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Philip-bailey-easy-lover-duet-with-phil-collins-1985.jpg by CBS Records, Public domain
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