The year was 1985, and Phil Collins wanted to dance.
"I have a notion of what I want to do: break out of this 'love song' box that I've found myself in," Collins recalled in his very entertaining autobiography, Not Dead Yet, in regards to his blockbuster third solo album, No Jacket Required. "I'll make a dance album. Or, at least, an album with a couple of uptempo tracks."
RELATED: December 1985: When Phil Collins Guest-Starred on "Miami Vice"
True to his word, Collins would kick off the record with monster hit, "Sussudio." The horn-blasted and decidedly upbeat second single would fly to #1 over the summer of 1985.
"I program a drum-machine track and improvise some syllables over the top," he remembered in his book. "The rhythmic word 'sussudio' comes out of nowhere. If I could have a pound for every time I've been asked what the word means, I'd have a lot of pounds," Collins cracked.
No Jacket Required would boast a pair of US #1 hits, with the album's first single, the ballad "One More Night," topping the charts in 1985.
Collins would go uptempo again for the the album's third single, "Don't Lose My Number." While it wouldn't top the charts, the track would peak at #4 on the Hot 100. The song came with a comedic music video featuring Collins sparring with a pretentious director before making a Wild West-themed clip.
Collins would squeeze one more big hit from No Jacket Required with the fourth and final single, "Take Me Home." Inspired by the film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, the track would peak at #7.
Sitting atop the Billboard album charts for seven weeks, No Jacket Required would go on to be the sixth-biggest LP of 1985, just behind Tina Turner's Private Dancer and ahead of the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack.
- Log in to post comments
