Continuing a countdown of my favorite albums of 1985…
#7 – No Jacket Required – Phil Collins
The albums I’ve featured this week aren’t records I know by heart. I don’t have a deep enough stable of 1985 releases among my personal favorites.
But each of them has an overall sound and perspective that speaks to me, and three or four songs I really love. Today’s selection is a another great example.
Phil Collins’ third solo album, No Jacket Required, is by far his most successful release, reaching diamond status in the U.S. and registering worldwide as the 40th best-selling album of all-time. It won the Grammy for Album of the Year.
It reached those heights on the back of four top ten singles, including two that reached #1: ‘Sussudio’ and ‘One More Night.’ The other two were ‘Don’t Lose My Number’ and ‘Take Me Home,’ in my opinion the superior songs, though I like all four. Even ‘Sussudio,’ which I resisted for the longest time as empty drivel, charms me now as a fun encapsulation of 80s dance pop.
Dance pop describes most of No Jacket Required, as Collins sought to shed his reputation as a balladeer. He delivers his signature brand of white-boy funk, a sound that wasn’t always critically admired at the time but has aged like fine wine.
At some point over the past few decades it became cool to like Phil Collins. My ‘Sussudio’ conversion aside, I’m happy to be on the right side of history on this one.
Take that look of worry, I’m an ordinary man
They don’t tell me nothing, so I find out all I can
There’s a fire that’s been burning right outside my door
I can’t see, but I feel it, and it helps to keep me warm
[Refrain 1]
So, I… I don’t mind
No, I… I don’t mind
[Verse 2]
Seems so long I’ve been waiting, still don’t know what for
There’s no point in escaping, I don’t worry anymore
I can’t come out to find you, I don’t like to go outside
They can turn off my feelings like they’re turning off the light
[Refrain 2]
But, I… I don’t mind
No, I… I don’t mind
Oh, I… I don’t mind
No, I… I don’t mind
[Chorus]
So take, take me home
‘Cause I don’t remember, take, take me home
‘Cause I don’t remember, take, take me home, oh Lord
[Bridge]
‘Cause I’ve been a prisoner all my life, and I can say to you
[Verse 3]
Take that look of worry, mine’s an ordinary life
Working when it’s daylight, and sleeping when it’s night
I’ve got no far horizons, I don’t wish upon a star
They don’t think that I listen, oh, but I know who they are
[Refrain 3]
And, I… I don’t mind
No, I… I don’t mind
Oh, I… I don’t mind
No, I… I don’t mind
[Chorus]
So take, take me home
‘Cause I don’t remember, take, take me home
‘Cause I don’t remember, take, take me home
‘Cause I don’t remember, take, take me home, oh Lord
[Bridge]
Well, I’ve been a prisoner all my life, and I can say to you
But I don’t remember
[Outro]
Take, take me home
‘Cause I don’t remember, take, take me home
‘Cause I don’t remember, take, take me home
‘Cause I don’t remember, take, take me home
‘Cause I don’t remember, take, take me home
‘Cause I don’t remember, take, take me home
‘Cause I don’t remember, take, take me home
‘Cause I don’t remember, take, take me home
‘Cause I don’t remember…
Meet Me In Montauk 
I too was not a fan of “Sussudio” but generally liked the rest of No Jacket Required. I think time and nostalgia, and distance from not having to hear a song hundreds of times on the radio or MTV to the point of switching it off, can certainly increase fondness for these types of tunes. Heck, I probably would leave “Hey Mickey” and “I Want to Know What Love Is” on were I to hear them now.