No Jacket Required

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 12"ers (1987). In 2010, it was among ten albums nominated for the best British album of the previous 30 years by the Brit Awards.^[8] It ranked No. 74 on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "Definitive 200" list.^[9] A remastered deluxe edition with updated artwork and bonus tracks was released in 2016.

Release and commercial performance[edit]

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 12"ers, released in January 1988.^[45][46]


The album was re-released using a flat transfer done by Steve Hoffman for the Audio Fidelity label in 2011. It was reissued as a deluxe edition on CD, vinyl and digital on 15 April 2016, including a new second disc with bonus tracks.^[47]