Musical Monday - Easy Lover by Philip Bailey and Phil Collins

#1 on the Cash Box Top 100: The week of February 9, 1985.

#1 on the U.K. Chart: The week of May 23, 1985 through April 13, 1985.

Phil Collins made a career out of being a rock star who looked like a middle-aged accountant, with an awkwardness to match. Philip Bailey was a member of the smoothest funk band of the 1970s, and had a cool stage persona that matched that energy. Somehow, someone decided that the two of them would work well together to sing a duet, and thus Easy Lover hit the charts.

To be honest, without the quirky juxtaposition of the two artists, this song would be almost entirely forgettable. The song is fine, but isn't really much more than that. The most notable part of the song is Bailey's soaring falsetto that flies above Collins' more grounded voice. Other than that, it is basically a fairly standard R and B track. The video is really what makes this more than the ordinary - and it does so by seriously leaning in to the differences between the two artists. Bailey is presented as dressing "cool" and showing off smoothly executed dance moves. Collins does his best Elmer Fudd impersonation, wearing decidedly "middl-aged dad" outfits and awkwardly dancing next to Bailey. At one point, Collins shows up suggesting matching outfits in the style of Earth, Wind, and Fire from a decade before, emphasizing just how out of touch Collins supposedly is.

The comic bit works, for the most part, although it is kind of silly given that Collins would prove to be one of the most reliable hit makers of the decade. He only looked like he worked in a bank.

Previous Musical Monday: I Can't Fight This Feeling by REO Speedwagon

Subsequent Musical Monday: Material Girl by Madonna

Previous #1 on the Cash Box Top 100: I Want to Know What Love Is by Foreigner

Subsequent #1 on the Cash Box Top 100: Careless Whisper by Wham!

Previous #1 on the U.K. Chart: You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) by Dead or Alive

Subsequent #1 on the U.K. Chart: We Are the World by USA for Africa

List of #1 Singles from the Billboard Hot 100 for 1980-1989
List of #1 Singles from the Cash Box Top 100 for 1980-1989
List of #1 Singles on the U.K. Chart for 1980-1989

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