Two solo albums under his belt, Phil Collins headed straight to the dance floor with his 1985 release No Jacket Required. Completing his transformation from a progressive rock star drummer to an international pop legend, he took the No. 1 throne on Billboard's Pop Chart with the LP for seven weeks, boasting the title of the sixth-biggest LP and the Grammy Album of the Year in 1985.
From the album's clapback title to the song named after the horse of Collin's daughter, take a look at these 5 facts about the staggering release that cemented Collins as a musical monolith.
1. The funky, nonsensical No. 1 "Sussudio" was named after the horse of Collin's daughter.
On a 1997 episode of VH1 Storytellers, Collins revealed the key to the song's mystery word: "This is one of those examples of improvising lyrics. I set up this drum-machine pad, and I got some chords, and I started to sing into the microphone, and this word came out, which was 'sus-sussudio. My older daughter's got a horse called Sussudio, and I'm sure there are children all over the world with the name Sussudio, so I apologize for that."
2. The album title smarts of the time Collins was denied entry into into a restaurant for not wearing a jacket.
Mr. Nice Guy was denied his dinner with Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant at Chicago restaurant The Pump Room for failing to meet the restaurant's formal dress code. Although Collins donned a leather jacket, the maître d' argued it was not "proper." Collins kept his class and went his way by making a million-seller album with his own rules, No Jacket Required.
3. 'No Jacket Required' Meets 80's TV show Miami Vice
Featured on one of the greatest series to air on TV, both "Take Me Home" and "Long Long Way To Go" made separate appearances in Miami Vice.
READ MORE: December 1985: When Phil Collins Guest-Starred on "Miami Vice"
4. 'No Jacket Required' was nominated in five categories during the 28th Annual Grammy Awards.
In 1985, Collins took home Best Pop Vocal Performance (Male), Producer of the Year with Hugh Padgham and Album of the Year for his monster release.
5. The album featured the vocals of Collins' friends Peter Gabriel and Sting.
By "friends," we are, of course, referring to some of 80's biggest rock stars, Peter Gabriel and Sting. . "I'd worked with Peter Gabriel not long before, so I got him and Helen Terry to come and sing on 'Take Me Home,' Collins recalled. "And Sting sang on 'Long, Long Way to Go' with me, because we'd just done Band Aid together."
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