Easy Lover

"Easy Lover" is a song performed by Philip Bailey of the band Earth, Wind & Fire and Phil Collins of the band Genesis, jointly written and composed by Bailey, Collins, and Nathan East. The song appears 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. 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 the weeks of 2 February 1985 and 9 February 1985, behind the chart-topping "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 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 one million units until 1989. In addition, "Easy Lover" has been certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) and Music Canada. Despite Collins' popularity in Australia, its lowly position on that country's charts was because of a record company dispute.

"Easy Lover" won an MTV Video Music Award for Best Overall Performance in a Video in and was Grammy Award nominated for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals in 1986.

Background
In 1984, Phil Collins was hired as the producer for Philip Bailey's solo album, Chinese Wall. 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, though the studio recording has a tempo of 130 BPM.

Music video
The song's music video, filmed at Etward Studios, London, England, humorously depicts the making of a music video. It was produced by Paul Flattery and directed by Jim Yukich.

Personnel

 * Philip Bailey – lead and backing vocals
 * Phil Collins – lead and backing vocals, drums, keyboards, production
 * Daryl Stuermer – electric lead & rhythm guitar
 * Nathan East – bass guitar
 * Lesette Wilson – keyboards