Ever since the dawn of MTV and Friday Night Videos, the music video has significantly impacted musical tastes and pop culture. It might not be as extreme as when the Buggles declared that "Video Killed the Radio Star", but there is no arguing that the music video certainly could make or break a song's popularity. So this regular Flashback Video feature will serve to remember some of the music videos from the great '80s decade that made an impact on me in one way or another.
This issue we will cover "Easy Lover" by Philip Bailey & Phil Collins. The collaboration between the Earth, Wind and Fire frontman with the Genesis frontman was released in November of 1984 from Bailey's solo album, Chinese Wall. Collins had been hired as producer for Bailey's album and then the two decided to write and perform a song together after the rest of the album had been completed. It became an international hit reaching #1 several countries, including Canada, the Netherlands, Ireland, and the UK. In the U.S., it spent 7 weeks in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 peaking at #2 in February of 1985. Phil Collins would go on to have many solo hits, but this would be the only solo hit for Bailey.
The music video for "Easy Lover" was directed by Jim Yukich who was prolific music video director in the '80s. His work includes Kenny Rogers/Sheena Easton "We Got Tonight", David Bowie "Modern Love", Bruce Willis "Respect Yourself", Cheap Trick "The Flame", REO Speedwagon "Here With Me", Miami Sound Machine "1-2-3", Debbie Gibson "Lost In Your Eyes", Michael Jackson "Liberian Girl", Richard Marx "Right Here Waiting" and many more. In addition to "Easy Lover", Yukich directed most of the Genesis and Phil Collins videos from the decade including "That's All", "One More Night", "Sussudio", "Don't Lose My Number", "Separate Lives", Invisible Touch", "In Too Deep", "Throwing It All Away", "Land of Confusion", "Take Me Home", "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight", "A Groovy Kind of Love", "Two Hearts" and "Another Day in Paradise". He went on to direct and/or produce over 500 Music Videos, Concerts, Comedy Specials, Commercials, TV shows and even a couple films. He has won 3 ACE Awards, has been nominated for 15 MTV Awards and won 2 of the 5 Grammy Awards he has been nominated for.
The video for "Easy Lover" was filmed at Etward Studios in London, England (other than the helicopter part). It light-heartedly depicts the making of a music video and features the two stars having fun. As Collins says at the start, "We're doing a video making a video of making a video." Watch for yourself as here is the music video for "Easy Lover" by Philip Bailey & Phil Collins...
"Easy Lover" won an MTV Video Music Award in 1985 for Best Overall Performance in a Video and received a Grammy nomination in 1986 for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals. The two Phils sound great together and surprised they never did another duet.
Hope you enjoyed another trip back to the '80s thanks to Flashback Video!