| No Jacket Required | ||||
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| Studio album by Phil Collins | ||||
| Released | 25 January 1985 | |||
| Recorded | May–December 1984 | |||
| Genre | Pop, rock | |||
| Length | 50:27 | |||
| Label | Virgin (UK and Ireland) Atlantic (US and Canada) WEA (Rest of the world) |
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| Producer | Phil Collins, Hugh Padgham | |||
| Phil Collins chronology | ||||
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| Singles from No Jacket Required | ||||
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No Jacket Required is the third solo album by English singer-songwriter Phil Collins, released on 25 January 1985. The album was named after an incident at The Pump Room in Chicago, where Collins was denied admittance to the establishment because of his attire. No Jacket Required features guest vocalists, including Helen Terry, Peter Gabriel and Sting. Some of the songs, like "Don't Lose My Number" and "Sussudio", were based around improvisation. Other songs, like "Long Long Way to Go", had a political message. "One More Night", "Sussudio", "Don't Lose My Number", and "Take Me Home" were released as singles, with corresponding music videos. All four singles were top-ten hits in the Billboard Hot 100, with "Sussudio" and "One More Night" reaching number one. The three singles that were released in the UK all reached the top 20 on the UK charts.
The album was positively received and won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1985. Stephen Holden of The New York Times said that Collins was "quietly revolutionising and expanding the role of the drums in pop record making". Rolling Stone reviewer David Fricke said that, "Like his '81 and '82 outings, Face Value and Hello, I Must Be Going!, No Jacket Required is not an album that waits to be liked". Collins' most commercially successful album, No Jacket Required went to number one in several countries, including the United States (where it was at the top of the charts for seven weeks), United Kingdom and Canada. The record has been certified diamond in the US by the Recording Industry Association of America, and has sold over two million copies in the UK, being certified for 6x platinum.
Many of the songs, including "Take Me Home", and "Long Long Way to Go", have been used in episodes of Miami Vice and Cold Case, and "The Man with the Horn" was re-written and re-recorded for the episode "Phil the Shill". "We Said Hello Goodbye" was re-recorded for the movie Playing for Keeps.
Following the release of the album Collins embarked on the successful No Jacket Required World Tour. At the end of the tour, Collins received critical acclaim for performing at both the London and Philadelphia Live Aid concerts on 13 July 1985. During the tour, Collins recorded a song with Marilyn Martin for the movie White Nights, called "Separate Lives", which was a number one hit in the US, and a top ten hit in the UK. Remixes of six songs from the album were later included on the 12"ers compilation.
Contents |
"I thought of different things to do. Like maybe going down there wearing the right kind of jacket and ordering a drink and just pouring it onto the floor and saying, 'Well, I've got a jacket on! You can't do anything to me.' Maybe I should smash a few photographs on the wall, a bit of the Robert Plant attitude. But I did nothing, of course. I just moaned about it."
The album is named after an incident at The Pump Room restaurant in Chicago, Illinois. Collins (entering the restaurant with Robert Plant),[2] was denied admittance because he did not meet the restaurant's dress code of "jacket required" for dinner, while Plant was allowed in.[3] Collins was wearing a jacket, and argued about it.[4] The Maître d' argued that the jacket was not "proper".[2] Collins, in an interview with Playboy, said that he was, at that point, never so mad in his life.[1] After the incident, the singer often appeared on shows such as Late Night with David Letterman and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, denouncing the restaurant and telling his story.[2] The management of the restaurant later sent him a complimentary sport coat and an apology letter, stating that he could come to the restaurant wearing whatever he wanted.[2][5]
Some of the songs from the album were works that were originally improvised by Collins, including "Sussudio".[6] Collins was just playing around with a drum machine, and the lyric "sus-sussudio" was what came out of his mouth.[6] "So I kinda knew I had to find something else for that word, then I went back and tried to find another word that scanned as well as 'sussudio', and I couldn't find one, so I went back to 'sussudio'", he said.[6] According to the musician, the lyrics are about a schoolboy crush on a girl at school.[6] Collins' older daughter has a horse named "Sussudio".[6]
The music video for the song was filmed at a pub owned by Richard Branson in London.[7][8] The accompanying music video features Collins, as well as long-time collaborators Daryl Stuermer and Chester Thompson. It begins with an outdoor shot of a pub, then cuts to Collins and his band playing for an uninterested crowd.[8] The crowd slowly migrates toward the band as the song progresses, leaving them cheering at the end.[8] Lee Sklar appears in the video playing a Steinberger headless bass, but neither Sklar nor Thompson played on the actual studio recording.
Another song that Collins created mostly through improvisation was "Don't Lose My Number". Collins has said that he actually wrote most of the song during the recordings for his very first album, Face Value,[9] and that he does not fully understand what the lyrics mean.[9] Stephen Holden of The New York Times agreed that the lyrics were very "vague, sketching the outlines of a melodrama but withholding the full story."[10] Collins had difficulty conceptualising a plot for the corresponding music video. He decided to create a gag video based on this difficulty.[8][9] In the video, he talks to clients and directors, all giving him bad conceptual ideas. Collins parodies several other videos, including those by Michael Jackson, David Lee Roth, Elton John, and The Police. The singer also filmed parodies of movies such as Mad Max, western films, and samurai movies.[8][9]
Another song developed partly through improvisation is "One More Night." Collins was playing around with his drum machine when he started saying the chorus of the song. He later recalled that "The rest of the song was written very quickly."[1] The video, which features Collins playing the piano in a downtown bar,[8] was filmed at a pub owned by Richard Branson in London, the same pub as in the music video for "Sussudio".[7]
Other songs were written with a more personal message. "Long Long Way to Go", considered one of his more popular songs not released as a single,[11][12][13] was at that point in his career, his most political song.[1] Sting, former lead singer of The Police, provided back-up vocals for the song.[14] Sting and Collins first met through Band Aid, and became friends after performing together in Live Aid.[15] Collins was working on a song, and thought that Sting, having played at Band Aid, would relate to it very easily.[15] Collins asked Sting to help him provide vocals for this song, and Sting accepted.[15]
"You know, I was very happily married to Jill, my present wife, when I wrote it, but I had been divorced, my manager was getting divorced, a couple of good friends were getting divorced, and I thought, What's going on? Doesn't anybody stay together any more? The song came from that."
"Doesn't Anybody Stay Together Anymore" is another song in which Collins was making a personal message. The song was made in response to everyone around him getting a divorce, including his manager, friends and himself years before.[1] Collins later said that he sang this at Charles, Prince of Wales' 40th birthday party, not knowing that the Prince's divorce from his wife, Diana, Princess of Wales, would happen a short time later.[16] The Phil Collins Big Band played this on tour.[16] In later years, Collins performed a re-arranged version of the song as a ballad as part of his Serious Hits… Live! tour, differing considerably from the original up-beat album version.
"Take Me Home" is another song in which the meaning was originally very vague. At first listening, it appears that the song is about going home,[6] but this is not true. Collins has stated that the song lyrics refer to a patient in a mental institution,[10][17] and that it is very much based on the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.[6] Peter Gabriel, Helen Terry, and Sting all provide backing vocals.[15] While recording "Long Long Way to Go", Collins asked Sting to provide backing vocals for this song. The music video features the singer in several places around the world, including London, New York, Tokyo, Moscow, Sydney, Paris, St. Louis, Los Angeles (Hollywood),[8] San Francisco, and Memphis (Graceland). At the end of the video, Collins arrives home and hears a woman from inside the house asking him where he has been. He replies by saying he has been to some of the cities mentioned above. The woman replies "You've been down at the pub, haven't you?"
"We Said Hello Goodbye" appeared as a B-side to "Take Me Home" and "Don't Lose My Number" originally, and as an "extra track" on the CD release of the album.[11] Producer Arif Mardin composed the beginning portion of the song.[18] A remix of the song with additional guitars and without an orchestra was released the following year (1986) on the soundtrack for the movie, Playing for Keeps.[18][19] This remixed version received some radio airplay around the time of the soundtrack's release (which of course coincided with the No Jacket Required "era"), though it did not chart. Collins has mused that the song is unfairly classed as a "second class citizen," stating that the song would've been looked at differently if it were added to the album.[20] According to The New York Times reviewer Caryn James, the song is "a straightforward comment on leaving home".[21]
"The Man with the Horn" was originally recorded during sessions for Collins' second album Hello, I Must Be Going! in 1982.[22] However, the song was not released until it appeared as the B-side to "Sussudio" in the UK, and as the B-side to "One More Night" in the United States. Collins has said he has "no emotional attachment" to the song.[23] Music by The Jackson 5 inspired Phil to write the song, "I Like the Way", which also did not appear on the album, originally appearing as the B-side to "One More Night" in the UK and "Sussudio" in the US. He called the song "dodgy" and has cited it among his least favourite songs.[23]
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Los Angeles Times | (A-)[24] |
| Allmusic | [25] |
| Rolling Stone | (favourable)[26] |
| Robert Christgau | (C)[27] |
"His effortless graft of bright white-R&B bounce to quirky, unexpected melodies is instinctively commercial but never feels overly contrived."
The reception for the album was mostly positive. Geoff Orens of Allmusic, in a review written years after the album's release, said that while some of the songs are "dated", the album contains "standout tracks." He describes "Long Long Way to Go" as "one of Collins' most effective ballads", and "Take Me Home" as "pulsating".[11] Orens went on to say "It's not a completely satisfying recording, but it is the best example of one of the most dominating and influential styles of the 1980s."[11] Lori E. Pike of the Los Angeles Times gave the album a grade of an A-, saying that "Collins' recipe of tense vocals spiced with saucy horns and splashy electro-jitterbugging synthesisers often leaves little room for real feeling to squeeze through. When he slows down and lets his smoldering moodiness take over, the effect is magical."[28]
Stephen Holden of The New York Times said that the album was "refreshing", and that Collins was "adept" at setting a suspenseful or menacing mood.[10] Holden described "Only You Know And I Know" as an "angry love song" that had some sampling of "Motown" style music mixed in.[10] "In 'One More Night', Mr. Collins's recent number-one hit, a ticking snare drum injects a whisper of lurking fear into a song that suggests a sweeter, tenderer reprise of 'Against All Odds' ", says Holden.[10] Holden concluded by saying "On the surface, No Jacket Required, is an album bursting with soulful hooks and bright peppy tunes. But beneath its shiny exterior, Mr. Collins's drums and his voice carry on a disjunctive, enigmatic dialogue between heart and mind, obsession and repression."[10]
Rolling Stone reviewer David Fricke said "Phil Collins' sudden transformation from the balding bantam drummer for a prosperous British art-rock group into a mainstream pop heartthrob might seem one of the Eighties' most improbable success stories. But judging from the sly craft and warm, low-key humour of his solo records and his successful productions for Philip Bailey and Frida, Collins' new found fame was inevitable."[12] Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times originally disliked the song "One More Night",[29] but later praised the song, saying that "Collins' soulful but polite vocal style is also capable of capturing the pain of going through yet one more night without her."[30] The Dallas Morning News writer Lennox Samuels said that "No Jacket Required (Atlantic) is what fans have come to expect from Phil Collins—lots of horns and syncopation, heavy rhythm."[31]
Even those who were not normally fans of Collins' work liked the album. Michael R. Smith of The Daily Vault wrote "Anomaly or not, it is the indeed the album that Phil deserves to be remembered for."[13] Stephen Williams of Newsday said that the album was "loaded with musical hooks and textured arrangements... it also lacks the tense edge that was part of Collins' work with Genesis."[32] Marty Racine of the Houston Chronicle said that "I Don't Wanna Know" and "Take Me Home" were the only songs to "rise above the crowd," and that Collins focused too much on his singing and less on his drumming, "which can be captivating."[33] Racine also added that the album makes the listener feel a little "cold," but admired that the singer was "playing the game as well as anyone."[33] Keegan Hamilton of the Riverfront Times said that the album was "The 80's Dance Pop Special: A smooth synthesiser groove, with an order of keyboards, drum machines, and horns on the side," adding that "Sussudio" was the best track on the album, saying that it's "catchy gibberish."[34] Hamilton says that "One More Night" was the worst song on the album, saying that "The album's introspective slow jam wallows in self-pity."[34]
At the 1985 Grammy Awards, Collins was nominated in five categories.[35] The album won the award for Album of the Year, and Collins won "Best Male Vocal Performance".[36] Collins shared the "Producer of the Year" award with co-producer of the album, Hugh Padgham.[37]
"Sussudio" is one of Collins' most famous songs and is referenced in many different media, including books, stand-up comedy acts and television shows. He has said that this is the song people most often sing to him when they spot him on the street.[38] In the book and film adaptation of American Psycho, the main character (Patrick Bateman) briefly discusses it, amongst other work by Collins. It was heavily criticised for sounding too much like Prince's song "1999", a claim that Collins does not deny, citing that he is a big fan of Prince's work.[39]
Three songs recorded during the No Jacket Required sessions aired on episodes of the television show Miami Vice. "Take Me Home" appeared in "The Prodigal Son," the premiere of the second season.[40] "Long Long Way to Go" was played in the closing scene of the Season 2 finale "Sons and Lovers", during the funeral for Ricardo Tubbs' girlfriend and son. "The Man with the Horn" was re-written for an episode of Vice in which Collins guest-starred as a con-artist who got in trouble with cocaine distributors.[32][41][42] The re-written version was titled "Life Is a Rat Race".[23]
"Take Me Home" was the closing theme song for the World Wrestling Federation's television show, Saturday Night's Main Event for several years in the late 1980s.[43][44] In 2003, the hip-hop group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony based their song "Home" on this single.[45] That version of the song featured the original song's chorus, and hit number 19 on the UK charts.[45]
"Sussudio" was the first track released as a single in the UK, and the second to be released in the US. In the UK the song reached number 12 on the UK charts. In the US, the song entered frequent rotation on MTV in May, and by 6 July, both the single and the album had reached number one on their respective US Billboard charts.[46][47] "One More Night" was Collins' second US number-one single,[46] following "Against All Odds", and was his fourth single to reach the top ten in the UK, peaking at number four on the singles chart. Its B-side in the UK was "I Like the Way", while the US received "The Man with the Horn".
Meanwhile, "Don't Lose My Number", a single that Collins only released in the US, peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 charts during late September 1985,[48] and the B-side of the single was "We Said Hello Goodbye". "Take Me Home", the last single released from the album, is considered one of Collins' most well known songs, and has been in all of his tours since the The No Jacket Required World Tour. It reached number seven on the US Billboard charts, and number 19 on the UK charts.[48]
One song from the album would not reach chart success until it was released later. "Who Said I Would" was not released as a single on this album. However, a live version was released as a single from the Serious Hits... Live! album in the US, reaching number 73 on the Billboard Hot 100.[47] A music video of the original version was filmed, for the No Jacket Required home video. It featured Collins playing the song in a concert.[8] Some of the songs that were not released as singles still charted on Billboard charts. "Inside Out" went to number nine on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.[47] "The Man with the Horn", though not released as a single (nor was it released on the album), charted number 38 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks.[47]
No Jacket Required remains Phil Collins' highest selling album, having been certified diamond for US shipment of over 10 million copies.[49] No Jacket Required was number one on the US charts for seven weeks.[50] Twenty years after its release, No Jacket Required remains among the 50 highest selling albums in the US. In the UK, the album was certified 6x platinum, selling over 1.8 million copies.[51] A video tape produced by Atlantic Video in 1986 was also released, and included the four original music videos of the four released singles, and a live performance of "Who Said I Would".[8]
The album was followed by a concert tour in 1985 named The No Jacket Required World Tour. For the tour, Collins retained his usual cast of musicians, including Chester Thompson, Leland Sklar and Daryl Stuermer.[52] The band was nicknamed the "Hot Tub Club".[53] A television special was recorded in Dallas and aired on HBO, titled "No Jacket Required... Sold Out".[32] Another television special was recorded for Cinemax for a show titled "Album Flash", taped in London, England at the Royal Albert Hall.[54]
Reception for the tour was positive, as well. Rick Kogan of the Chicago Tribune said that "After hearing and observing Collins' eminently satisfying and frequently spectacular two-hour performance, one is left not with a series of niggling questions about his popularity but rather with renewed admiration for the forcefulness of well-crafted songs played in a straightforward manner."[55]
In interviews during the tour, it was remarked by interviewers that the singer appeared similar to actors Bob Hoskins and Danny DeVito.[56] Collins joked that all three of them could play the Three Bears from the story Goldilocks and the Three Bears. DeVito heard the idea, and contacted Collins and Hoskins about making a film.[7] Collins researched bears, and a script was planned. Kim Basinger reportedly wished to play the role of "Goldilocks".[57] However, problems arose (mostly involving the script), and all three actors abandoned the film.[7] Collins has stated that he recently reminded Robert Zemeckis about the film, and although all three actors are still interested in doing it, a new script will be needed.[7][57]
While on the No Jacket Required tour, Collins recorded a song for the movie White Nights, titled "Separate Lives". The song, which was written by Collins' friend Stephen Bishop,[32] was a duet that Collins performed with Marilyn Martin.[58] In the US, the song went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100,[46] and it reached number four on the UK charts.[59]
The No Jacket Required World Tour ended with Collins performing at both the Wembley Stadium and JFK Stadium Live Aid concerts. Collins claims that it all happened by accident, and that both he and Power Station were going to attend both Live Aid shows as well, but "they all chickened out."[1] "By default, I was the only one who did it," he later claimed.[1] Bob Geldof, the organiser of Live Aid, originally asked Collins to be part of Geldof's first charity effort, Band Aid. Collins played the drums and performed backing vocals for Band Aid's UK number one hit in 1984, "Do They Know It's Christmas?".[60]
Collins first performed with Sting at Wembley, and together they performed ""In the Air Tonight"",[61] "Against All Odds", "Long Long Way To Go" and Every Breath You Take", accompanied by saxophonist Branford Marsalis.[61][62] After Collins finished performing, he flew on Concorde to the Live Aid show in Philadelphia. On the plane, he met Cher, and convinced her to be a part of the event.[1] Once there he met Robert Plant, who had asked him if he would perform with him, Jimmy Page and Tony Thompson in a Led Zeppelin "reunion" of sorts.[1] He first played drums on "Layla",[61][62] "White Room" and "She's Waiting"[61] for friend Eric Clapton.[62] Then, Collins performed "Against All Odds" and "In the Air Tonight", and finished the night playing drums for Led Zeppelin's aforementioned act.[61] The band has claimed that the performance was unspectacular, and critics place the blame on Collins. However, Collins says that "I would pledge to my dying day that it wasn't me," and that Thompson was racing through some of the performance.[1] Collins later remarked, "... I remember in the middle of the thing, I actually thought, How do I get out of here?"[1] Stephen Williams of Newsday commented that Collins' performance of "In the Air Tonight" in Philadelphia "was one of the more moving moments of the day".[32] Live Aid raised $69 million dollars in its effort.[60] Collins later recalled the event as "extraordinary."[1]
Collins released an album of remixes of No Jacket Required songs called 12"ers, in January 1988.[63][64][65] The six songs remixed were "Take Me Home," "Sussudio," "Who Said I Would," "Only You Know and I Know," "Don't Lose My Number," and "One More Night."[65] All remixes were done by John Potoker, except for "One More Night," which was remixed by producer Hugh Padgham.[65]
All songs written by Phil Collins, except where noted.
*Only released on CD version of No Jacket Required. A Different Mix of the song was also released on the Playing for Keeps Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.
| Year | Charts | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [66] |
US [67] |
CAN [68][67] |
AUS [69][70] |
NZ [71] |
GER [72] |
AUT [73] |
NOR [74] |
SWE [75] |
SWI [76] |
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| 1985 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released. | ||||||||||||||||
| Year | Title | Charts | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [66] |
US [77] |
US A.C. [77] |
US Rock [77] |
CAN [67][68] |
AUS [69][70] |
NZ [71] |
GER [78] |
NL Top 100 [79] |
NL Top 40 [80] |
AUT [73] |
FRA [81] |
IRE [82] |
NOR [74] |
SWE [75] |
SWI [76] |
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| 1984 | "One More Night" | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 8 | 15 | 6 | 24 | 4 | — | — | 6 |
| 1985 | "Sussudio" | 12 | 1 | 30 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 27 | 17 | 12 | 3 | — | — | 14 | 6 | 13 | 9 |
| "Don't Lose My Number" | — | 4 | 25 | 33 | 11 | 10 | 22 | — | 44 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Inside Out" | — | — | — | 9 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Take Me Home" | 19 | 7 | 2 | 12 | 23 | 64 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 13 | — | — | — | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released. | |||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by Meat Is Murder by The Smiths |
UK Albums Chart number-one album 2 March 1985 – 5 April 1985 |
Succeeded by The Secret of Association by Paul Young |
| Preceded by Centerfield by John Fogerty We Are the World by USA for Africa Beverly Hills Cop (soundtrack) by Various artists |
Billboard 200 number-one album 30 March 1985 – 20 April 1985 18 May 1985 – 20 May 1985 6 July 1985 |
Succeeded by We Are the World by USA for Africa Around the World in a Day by Prince and The Revolution Songs from the Big Chair by Tears for Fears |
| Preceded by 1985 Comes Alive by Various artists |
Australian Kent Music Report number-one album 6 May 1985 – 26 May 1985 |
Succeeded by Brothers in Arms by Dire Straits |
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