Easy lover
| Easy lover | |
|---|---|
| Philip Bailey feat. Phil Collins | |
| publication | 1985 |
| length | 5:02 |
| Genre (s) | pop |
| Producer (s) | Phil Collins |
| Label | Columbia Records |
| album | Chinese Wall |
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Chart positions Explanation of the data |
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Easy Lover is a 1984 pop song by Philip Bailey and Phil Collins , written by Bailey, Collins, and Nathan East . The piece reached the top ten of the charts in many countries.
background
The song appeared on Bailey's solo album Chinese Wall , which was produced by Collins. Collins also played the drums on the album. The contact with Bailey came through the horns of his band Earth, Wind and Fire ; Collins had worked with these several times since 1981.
After the studio work for Chinese Wall was initially over, Collins and bassist East agreed that it was still missing a song with hit potential that could have been released as a single. While they were playing a melody on the piano, Bailey joined them and sang to this Choosy Lover . Based on the melody, the text for Easy Lover was written and a raw version of the title was recorded. The following day it was agreed that this version should remain unchanged and it was finally recorded for the album.
Collins himself released a live version on his album Serious Hits… Live! . The studio version sung with Bailey was only included in 1998 on one of his albums, the compilation ... Hits . When asked what would you consider an artistic feat? Collins replied in 2015: "Easy Lover". If you put this record on today, it will still sound good. It doesn't age.
Content and video
In contrast to many other songs by Phil Collins from the first half of the 1980s (for example In the Air Tonight ), Easy Lover did not have a deep content and the song was deliberately kept simple. The text is about an engaging woman who turns men's heads in rows, but doesn't really get involved.
The music video was shot in London . In it, Bailey flies a helicopter into a television studio in which Collins is performing.
success
Easy Lover made it into the top ten in many countries, in Great Britain it was number 1 in the singles charts for four weeks . In the US charts the song reached number 2; it was awarded gold for over a million copies sold.
At the 1985 MTV Video Music Awards , Easy Lover won the award for Best Overall Performance in a Video . The title also received a Grammy nomination for Best Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals .
reception
- Easy Lover was the musical theme of the first WrestleMania edition on March 31, 1985.
- The title Silent Pursuit from the video game Double Dragon II: The Revenge is based on an instrumental version of Easy Lover .
- The song was used in 2006 television commercials for the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories . In the game itself, the title can be heard on the Flash FM radio station.
- In 1994, British comedian Chris Morris used a sample for his track Uzi Lover , a parody of gangsta rap .
- Cheryl Clemons covered the song in 2001.
- In 2012 the song was recorded by Criminal Vibes in deep house style . It was released on the house sampler Kontor House Of House Vol. 16 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Charts DE Charts AT Charts CH Charts UK Charts US
- ↑ a b Easy Lover on Songfacts.com
- ↑ Arno Frank : Phil Collins about his career: "I belong to the furniture". In: Spiegel Online . October 29, 2015, accessed November 13, 2016 .
- ↑ Double Dragon II: The Revenge Arranged Soundtrack - from 7:22 am. Retrieved November 25, 2019 (German).