"Easy Lover" is a song performed by Philip Bailey, of Earth, Wind & Fire, and Phil Collins and jointly written and composed by Bailey, Collins, and Nathan East. The song appeared on Bailey's solo album Chinese Wall. Collins has performed the song in his live concerts and it appears on both his 1990 album Serious Hits... Live! and his 1998 compilation album, ...Hits.
The song was a No. 1 hit in several countries worldwide, including Canada, the Netherlands, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. In the U.S. it reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 on 2 February 1985, kept out of the top spot for two weeks by "I Want to Know What Love Is" by Foreigner. In the UK Singles Chart it reached No. 1, staying there for four weeks. The single was certified gold in the UK. The single sold over a million copies in the U.S. and was certified gold, as the RIAA requirement for a platinum single disc was not lowered to 1 million units until 1989. In addition, "Easy Lover" has been certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry for sales of over 400,000 in the UK and platinum in Canada by Music Canada.
The single didn't receive a local release in Australia due to a dispute between Bailey's record company, CBS, and Collins' record company, WEA. As a result, it was only available through imports from New Zealand, which is the reason for its poor showing on the Australian charts.
"Easy Lover" won an MTV Video Music Award for Best Overall Performance in a Video in 1985 and was Grammy nominated for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals in 1986.
The lighthearted video for the song was filmed in London, England, and is a music video about the making of a music video.
Electric Six covered the song on their 2015 cover album Mimicry and Memories.
Background
In 1984 Phil Collins was hired as the producer for Chinese Wall, a solo album that Philip Bailey had then prepared to record. According to Collins, Bailey approached him at the end of the sessions for the album and asked him to write a song together. 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.[2]
Chart performance
Weekly singles charts
Year-end charts
Reception
Rolling Stone critic Neegus stated that the song "formed the basis of the soundtrack of my youth... nothing ever came close to the easy danceability of Easy Lover."
Personnel
- Philip Bailey â€" lead and background vocals
- Phil Collins â€" drums, keyboards, lead and background vocals
- Daryl Stuermer â€" guitar
- Nathan East â€" bass guitar
- Lesette Wilson â€" keyboards
References
External links
- Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics
- Video on VH1 Classic