About the Album:
Prior to 1985, Phil Collins had released two solo albums in between albums with Genesis and topped the charts with “Against All Odds” in 1984. He’d already accomplished more than most musicians could ever dream of – and then came No Jacket Required. “The record established him as a major commercial force, and as one of the most recognizable voices of the 1980s.” AMG
Newsday’s Stephen Williams said the album “was loaded with musical hooks and textured arrangements.” WK It definitely had hooks. Eight of the album’s eleven songs (on the CD version, there were only 10 songs on the cassette version) hit one chart or another, with four of those songs hitting the top-10 of the Billboard pop charts. No Jacket Required won the Grammy for Album of the Year. With more than 25 million sales worldwide, it is one of the biggest sellers of all time. Rolling Stone’s David Bricke said, it “is not an album that waits to be liked.” WK
The title of the album came out of an incident in Chicago. Collins and Robert Plant were denied entrance to the Pump Room, a restaurant with a distinct “jacket required” dress code. Collins argued that he was wearing a jacket, but he was told it was not proper. Collins said he was never so mad in his life. WK He subsequently shared the story on late night talk shows and was sent an apology from the restaurant along with a complimentary sport coat. WK
The lead single, One More Night, was a #1 hit in the U.S. It showcased his shift to “sentimental ballads [such as with “Against All Odds”] over his previous darker and more dramatic solo material.” AMG Lori E. Pike of the Los Angeles Times said of Collins’ ballads, “When he slows down and lets his smoldering moodiness take over, the effect is magical.” WK
b>Sussudio was the follow-up single in the U.S., where it also hit #1, and the lead single in the UK. The title was a nonsense word he improvised and when he tried to replace it, he decided to keep the original and crafted lyrics around it about a schoolboy crush. WK Collins has said this is the song most people sing to him when they see him on the street. WK
The song demonstrated the other side of No Jacket Required which “found Phil Collins fully embracing horn-driven pop music, drum machines.” AMG Collins said the album was “a conscious attempt to move to a more uptempo sound.” WK The sound was similar to what he’d done with previous top-ten hits “Easy Lover” and “You Can’t Hurry Love.”
The third single, Don’t Lose My Number, was written mostly during recording sessions for his first solo album, 1981’s Face Value. Stephen Holden of The New York Times described the song’s lyrics as “vague, sketching the outlines of a melodrama but withholding the full story.” WK Collins himself said he didn’t fully understand the meaning of the lyrics. WK
“The pulsating Take Me Home utilizes the drama of ‘In the Air Tonight’ on a more wistful track.” AMG The song was the fourth from the album to reach the top 10 in the U.S. Collins has said that the lyrics refer to a patient at a mental institution and that it was inspired by the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. WK
“Take Me Home” and Long Long Way to Go were both featured in episodes of Miami Vice. The latter “is one of Collins’ most effective ballads” AMG and was considered his most political song at that point in his career. WK Backup vocals were provided by Sting, who Collins met through Band Aid, the 1984 all-star gathering of British musicians who sang on the charity single “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”
“Although the major hits…quickly came to sound dated, the album contains several standout tracks…Only You Know and I Know and Inside Out…show an effective aggressive side to the singer.” AMG
Doesn’t Anybody Stay Together Anymore was Collins’ response to everyone around him getting a divorce. He sang the song at Prince Charles’ 40th birthday party, not knowing that Charles and Diana would get divorced a short time later. WK
We Said Hello Goodbye originally appeared as a B-side on “Don’t Lose My Number,” but was later added as a bonus track to the CD version of the album. A remix of the song was released on the soundtrack for the 1986 movie Playing for Keeps. Caryn James of The New York Times assessed the song as being “a straightforward comment on leaving home.” WK
In summing up the record, Holden said it “is an album bursting with soulful hooks and bright, peppy tunes. But beneath its shiny exterior, Mr. Collins’ drums and his voice carry on a disjunctive, enigmatic dialogue between heart and mind, obsession and repression.” WK Geoff Orens of All Music Guide said “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.” AMG
Notes: “We Said Hello Goodbye” was a bonus track on the CD version of the album. In 2016, a deluxe edition of the album included a second disc with 11 live cuts and demos of “One More Night” and “Take Me Home.”
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