1985 studio album by Phil Collins

No Jacket Required is the third solo studio album by English drummer and singer-songwriter Phil Collins. It was released on 18 February 1985 by Virgin Records in the UK and by Atlantic and WEA internationally.

After finishing touring commitments with Genesis and working with Eric Clapton in 1984, Collins resumed his solo career and started work on a new album. He made a conscious decision to write more uptempo and dance-oriented songs, as much of his previous material was influenced by matters surrounding his first divorce. The album features Helen Terry, Peter Gabriel, and Sting as guest backing vocalists. Some songs, like "Don`t Lose My Number" and "Sussudio", were based around improvisation, and others, like "Long Long Way to Go", had a political message.

No Jacket Required was received favourably by the majority of critics and was a huge worldwide commercial success, reaching number one in the UK for five consecutive weeks and for seven non-consecutive weeks in the US. It was the second-best-selling album of 1985 in the UK, behind Dire Straits` Brothers in Arms. "One More Night", "Sussudio", "Don`t Lose My Number" and "Take Me Home" were released as singles with corresponding music videos. All four were top ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, with "Sussudio" and "One More Night" reaching number one. The three singles released in the UK all reached the top 20. Some tracks were featured on the television shows Miami Vice and Cold Case, and "The Man with the Horn" was re-written and re-recorded for the episode "Phil the Shill".

In 2001, No Jacket Required was certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America for selling 12 million copies in the US and amassed worldwide sales of over 25 million copies, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time. It won three Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year. The No Jacket Required World Tour saw Collins perform 85 concerts which culminated with a performance at both Live Aid shows in London and Philadelphia. Remixes of six songs from the album were released on the compilation blockquote{margin:0;padding:0;border-left:0;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit}.mw-parser-output .quotebox-title{text-align:center;font-size:110%;font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .quotebox-quote>:first-child{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .quotebox-quote:last-child>:last-child{margin-bottom:0}.mw-parser-output .quotebox-quote.quoted:before{font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;font-weight:bold;font-size:large;color:gray;content:" “ ";vertical-align:-45%;line-height:0}.mw-parser-output .quotebox-quote.quoted:after{font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;font-weight:bold;font-size:large;color:gray;content:" ” ";line-height:0}.mw-parser-output .quotebox .left-aligned{text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .quotebox .right-aligned{text-align:right}.mw-parser-output .quotebox .center-aligned{text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .quotebox .quote-title,.mw-parser-output .quotebox .quotebox-quote{display:block}.mw-parser-output .quotebox cite{display:block;font-style:normal}@media screen and (max-width:640px){.mw-parser-output .quotebox{width:100%!important;margin:0 0 .8em!important;float:none!important}}

"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."

—Phil Collins, stating his inspiration for the song "Doesn`t Anybody Stay Together Anymore?", Playboy interview, October 1986[12]

"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.[12] 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.[20] The Phil Collins Big Band played this live on tour.[20] In later years, Collins performed a re-arranged version of the song as a ballad as part of his Seriously, Live! World Tour, differing considerably from the original up-beat album version. The opening drum fill of the song would be later used on the Eric Clapton track "Hold On", on which Collins played drums and produced for Clapton`s album August one year later.

"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,[11] but this is not true. Collins has stated that the song lyrics refer to a patient in a mental institution,[15][21] and that it is based on the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo`s Nest.[11] Peter Gabriel, Helen Terry and Sting all provide backing vocals.[19] The music video (shot during the NJR tour) features Collins in multiple cities around the world, including London, New York City, Tokyo, Moscow, Sydney, Paris, Chicago, St. Louis, Los Angeles (Hollywood),[22] San Francisco and Memphis (Graceland). At the end of the music video, Collins arrives home and hears a woman (presumably his wife) from inside the house asking him where he has been and that dinner is ready. 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?", as Collins grins at the camera.

"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.[16] Producer Arif Mardin composed the beginning portion of the song.[23] 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.[23][24] This remixed version received some radio airplay around the time of the soundtrack`s release (which coincided with the No Jacket Required period), though it did not chart. Collins has mused that the song is unfairly classed as a "second class citizen", stating that the song would have been looked at differently if it were added to the album.[25] According to The New York Times reviewer Caryn James, the song is "a straightforward comment on leaving home".[26]

"The Man with the Horn" was originally recorded during sessions for Collins` second solo album Hello, I Must Be Going! in 1982.[27] 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 that he has "no emotional attachment" to the song.[28] Music by The Jackson 5 inspired Collins 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 of his songs.[28]

Title and cover

"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."

—Phil Collins, Playboy interview, October 1986[12]

The album is named after an incident at The Pump Room restaurant in Chicago, Illinois. Collins, entering the restaurant with former Led Zeppelin lead vocalist Robert Plant,[29] was denied admittance because he did not meet the restaurant`s dress code of "jacket required" for dinner, while Plant was allowed in.[30] Collins was wearing a jacket and argued about it.[31] The maître d`hôtel argued that the jacket was not "proper".[29] Collins said in an interview with Playboy that, at that point, he was as angry as he had ever been.[12]

After the incident, Collins 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.[29] 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.[29][32]

The cover image of No Jacket Required (a continuation of the `facial close-up` theme begun with Face Value) of Collins` face lit by red/orange light was to emphasise the "hot", up-tempo nature of the album. Collins stated in his autobiography Not Dead Yet,[10] that glycerol was sprayed onto his forehead during the photography session to give the illusion of perspiration. In the photography for the album`s inner sleeve and subsequent publicity materials, Collins appeared to lampoon the incident by wearing a suit that was several sizes too big.[10]

Release and commercial performance

No Jacket Required was released on 18 February 1985. The lead singles were "Sussudio" in the UK and "One More Night" in the US.[33] Both songs had music videos that were shot at a London pub owned by Richard Branson,[34] featuring Collins playing both before and after the building closes.[22]

In the first week of March, shortly after Collins won a Grammy for "Against All Odds", the album debuted at the top spot of the UK Albums Chart and 24th in the Billboard 200. It also got to tenth in the German charts and 15th in Canada.[35] By the end of the month, it had climbed to number one in America as well. Collins had become the 15th British artist to top both the album and single Billboard charts, as "One More Night" was leading the Billboard Hot 100 that same week. The same thing was happening in the UK, where Collins` duet with Philip Bailey, "Easy Lover", was the UK Singles Chart number one.[36] No Jacket Required was number one on the US charts for seven weeks,[37] and on the British chart for five.[38]

"Sussudio" was the first track to be 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.[39][40] "One More Night" was Collins` second US number-one single,[39] 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 version featured "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,[41] and the B-side of the single was "We Said Hello Goodbye". Collins had difficulty conceptualising a plot for the corresponding music video. He decided to create a gag video based on this difficulty.[13][22] In the video, he talks to clients and directors, all giving him crazy conceptual ideas. Collins parodies several other videos, including those by Michael Jackson, David Lee Roth, Elton John, The Cars and The Police. The singer also filmed parodies of Mad Max, western films and samurai movies.[13][22]

"Take Me Home", the final single released from the album, is often considered to be one of Collins` most well known songs and has been a part of all of his tours since The No Jacket Required World Tour. It reached number seven on the US Billboard charts and number 19 on the UK charts.[41] The song was not slated for a single release, but the label decided to do so after it became an airplay hit on several US radio stations who decided to play the track.[42] "Take Me Home" also got a video where Collins sung in various locations around the world.[22]

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 from 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.[40] 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.[22] 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.[40] "The Man with the Horn", though not released as a single (nor was it included on the album), charted at number 38 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks.[40]

No Jacket Required remains Collins` highest-selling album, having sold over 12 million copies as of 2001 in the US, where it was certified diamond status.[43] 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 6× platinum, selling over 1.8 million copies. It has also sold over 20 million copies worldwide.[44] A video 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".[22] Alternate versions of six songs from No Jacket Required were included on the remix album span{float:right;padding:0 10px;background-color:var(--background-color-neutral,#eaecf0)}.mw-parser-output .tracklist-total-length td{background-color:var(--background-color-neutral,#eaecf0);font-weight:bold;padding:0 10px 0 0}

All lyrics are written by Phil Collins; all music is composed by Collins, except where noted

Notes

• "We Said Hello Goodbye" was released as a bonus track on the CD version of No Jacket Required. It was not available on the original vinyl or cassette releases and was not included on the 2016 vinyl reissue of the album, but was included on the 2016 CD and digital download/streaming reissue. A different mix of the song was released on the Playing for Keeps soundtrack album.

Personnel

Adapted from Phil Collins` official website.[18]

Musicians

• Phil Collins – vocals, backing vocals, Roland TR-909 (1, 10), keyboards (2, 3, 5–11), bass (2), drums (2, 4, 6–11), LinnDrum (2, 6, 8), Roland TR-808 (3, 5), Simmons electronic drums (credited on 2016 release as `Simmonds`) (3, 7), vocoder (7), kalimba (7)
• David Frank – keyboards (1, 7), Minimoog bass (1, 7), Oberheim DMX (1), additional keyboards (6)
• Nick Glennie-Smith – keyboards (11)
• Daryl Stuermer – guitars (1–10), keyboards (4)
• Leland Sklar – bass guitar (3–6, 8–11), piccolo bass (3, 10)
• The Phenix Horns, arranged by Tom Tom 84 – horns (1, 2, 7)
  • Don Myrick – saxophones, sax solo (5, 9)
  • Louis Satterfield – trombone
  • Michael Harris – trumpet
  • Rahmlee Michael Davis – trumpet
• Gary Barnacle – sax solo (4, 7)
• Arif Mardin – string arrangements (5), orchestral introduction (11)
• Sting – backing vocals (3, 10)
• Peter Gabriel – backing vocals (10)
• Helen Terry – backing vocals (10)

Production

• Phil Collins – producer, mixing, album design
• Hugh Padgham – producer, engineer, mixing
• Steve Chase – assistant engineer
• Jon Jacobs – string recording at AIR Studios (London)
• Peter Ashworth – cover photography

Charts

Certifications

Sales certifications for No Jacket Required

See also

• List of best-selling albums
• List of best-selling albums in Germany
• List of best-selling albums in the United States