“Don't Lose My Number” by Phil Collins

"Don't Lose My Number" comes from No Jacket Required, Phil Collins's third solo album, from 1985, and even the man who wrote it can't quite crack it. Collins has said he improvised the words and doesn't fully get them, and The New York Times' Stephen Holden heard a melodrama sketched in outline with the real story held back.

What it has instead of a plot is momentum. Collins plays drums, drum machine and keyboards, that signature gated-reverb crack booming off the kit, while Leland Sklar holds down the bass, Daryl Stuermer plays guitar and David Frank adds keys. He produced it with Hugh Padgham, who also engineered, and Cashbox caught a Motown drive under the charm. It went to number four in the US, and for the video, stuck for a concept, Collins made the clip about hunting for one.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.