"Easy Lover" is a song performed by

Philip Bailey Philip James Bailey (born May 8, 1951) is an American singer, songwriter and percussionist, best known as an early member and one of the two lead singers (along with group founder Maurice White) of the band Earth, Wind & Fire. Noted for his fo ...

Earth, Wind & Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (abbreviated as EW&F or EWF) is an American band formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1969. Their music spans multiple genres, including jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, Latin and Afro-pop. They are among the best-selling ba ...

and

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis and had a successful solo career, ac ...

of the band

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Religion * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of humankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Bo ...

, jointly written and composed by Bailey, Collins, and

Nathan East Nathan Harrell East (born December 8, 1955) is an American jazz, R&B, and rock bass guitarist and vocalist. With more than 2,000 recordings, East is one of the most recorded bass players in the history of music. East holds a Bachelor of Arts ...

. The song first appeared on Bailey's 1984 solo album, ''

Chinese Wall A Chinese wall or ethical wall is an information barrier protocol within an organization designed to prevent exchange of information or communication that could lead to conflicts of interest. For example, a Chinese wall may be established to sep ...

''. 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 "I Want to Know What Love Is" is a power ballad by the British-American rock band Foreigner. It was released in November 1984 as the lead single from their fifth album, ''Agent Provocateur''. The song reached number one on both the United King ...

" 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 Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

, as the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

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 (British Recorded Music Industry) Limited, trading as British Phonographic Industry (BPI), is the British recorded music industry's trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards; is home to the Mercury Prize; co-owns the Official Charts C ...

(BPI) and

Music Canada Music Canada is a non-profit Industry trade group, trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 in Toronto to represent the interests of companies that record, manufacture, produce, and distribute music in Canada. It also offers benefits to s ...

. 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 The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category) ...

for Best Overall Performance in a Video in and was

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

nominated for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

. The song was used by the

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

as the theme for the first WrestleMania in March 1985 at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

. The song was also used in the 2006 video game '' Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories'', on the fictional radio station Flash FM.

Background

In 1984, Phil Collins was hired as the producer for Philip Bailey's solo album, ''

''. 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 ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' magazine, Collins said of the song: "So we just started having a

jam Fruit preserves are preparations of fruits whose main preserving agent is sugar and sometimes acid, often stored in glass jars and used as a condiment or spread. There are many varieties of fruit preserves globally, distinguished by the meth ...

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 F minor is a minor scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature consists of four flats. Its relative major is A-flat major and its parallel major is F major. Its enharmonic equivalent, E-sharp ...

and has a tempo of 105 BPM, though the studio recording has a tempo of 130 BPM.

Music video

The song's

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

, filmed at Ewarts Studios,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England, humorously depicts the making of a music video. It was produced by Paul Flattery and directed by Jim Yukich.

Track listings

UK 7" single * "Easy Lover" * "Woman" - 5:04 UK 12" * "Easy Lover" (extended re-mixed version) - 6:18 * "Woman" - 5:04 Europe 7 * "Easy Lover" - 5:05 * "Woman" - 5:05 Hong Kong 12" * "Easy Lover" (extended dance remix) - 6:21 * "Woman" - 5:05

Personnel

– lead and backing vocals *

– lead and backing vocals, drums, keyboards, production *

Daryl Stuermer Daryl Mark Stuermer (born November 27, 1952) is an American musician, songwriter, singer, and record producer best known for playing the guitar and bass for Genesis during live shows, and lead guitar for Phil Collins during most solo tours and ...

– electric lead & rhythm guitar *

– bass guitar * Lesette Wilson – keyboards

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1984 songs 1984 singles 1985 singles Phil Collins songs Philip Bailey songs Cashbox number-one singles Dance-rock songs Dutch Top 40 number-one singles CBS Records singles Columbia Records singles European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Male vocal duets RPM Top Singles number-one singles Song recordings produced by Phil Collins Songs written by Phil Collins Songs written by Philip Bailey Music videos directed by Jim Yukich Music videos shot in London UK singles chart number-one singles