Easy Lover - Phillip Bailey & Phil Collins (1985) 6/8/23

When Phillip Bailey of Earth, Wind and Fire was putting together his solo album, "Chinese Wall" in 1984, he made two excellent decisions: #1: Hire Phil Collins to produce it, and #2: Hire Nathan East to play bass.

Pretty much every music fan on the planet knows who Phil Collins is, but Nathan? Not so much. But let me say this: Nathan East is one of the most prolific bass players of all time, appearing on more than TWO THOUSAND Rock, R&B and Jazz recordings!

As you might expect, Phil did the drumming as well as the producing...but when "Chinese Wall" was just about complete, Phillip Bailey suggested that the three of them write a song together.

Phil and Nathan were up for it, and started tossing around ideas and jamming in the studio.

In just one evening, they came up with and recorded today's "Great Song of the '80s: "Easy Lover, " featuring vocals from both Phillip AND Phil.

It was released as a single in late 1984, and by early 1985, it was shooting up the charts in 17 countries...and I mean charts in the PLURAL sense!

In the US alone, "Easy Lover" reached #15 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary Chart, #7 on the Dance Chart, #5 on the Rock Chart, #3 on the Black Singles Chart and #2 on the Hot 100!

(Note: By the early '80s, Billboard had diversified their charts to better serve specific radio formats.)

Phil Collins was surprised at the diverse reaction, especially the response from--in his words--the "Hip Hop Brigade."

In his words: "They were like, 'Where'd that come from? That ain't black music and that ain't white music. That's kind of an interesting color of beige."

Maybe, maybe not...but thanks to Phillip Bailey, Nathan East, and Phil Collins, you can color "Easy Lover" a "Great Song of the '80s! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88QVKw7SFJA

Tomorrow: Bruce tells us the way it is.