Ever since I learned that he would be going back out on tour, I’ve been doing some serious jamming to Phil Collins. While he’s got so many hits to choose from, I’ve been particularly down with his 1984 collaboration with Earth, Wind & Fire’s Philip Bailey, “Easy Lover.”
As Collins himself has said in later interviews, it’s a song that can’t be confined to any one era or genre. It deftly blends elements from all over – at one moment, you can feel the soul inspiration, which is right before it launches into a great guitar solo. It’s just a goddamn great song that will continue to hold up for decades.
WrestleMania I – Nay, All of Wrestling – Owes Something to Phil Collins
And if you needed any real proof of this song’s universal appeal, I just learned that it was used as the them for… WrestleMania I. That’s right, while you were getting jacked up for the Hulk Hogan and Mr. T vs. “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff main event, the official theme song was a Phil Collins hit that makes for a surprisingly kickass intro:
But again, that just plays to the multiple layers of genius to “Easy Lover.” At one moment it’s a song you could play at your wedding and the next, it’s the hype music for professional wrestling’s biggest event. And for those hardcore wrestling/Phil Collins fans in March of 1985 who had WrestleMania I playing during their wedding, what a hell of a day that must have been for them.
