| "Walking on the Chinese Wall" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Front cover of North American 7″ vinyl | ||||
| Single by Philip Bailey | ||||
| from the album Chinese Wall | ||||
| B-side | "Children of the Ghetto" | |||
| Released | March 1985 (US) | |||
| Recorded | 1984 | |||
| Studio |
| |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 5:10 | |||
| Label | Columbia/CBS | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) | Phil Collins | |||
| Philip Bailey singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Alternative cover | ||||
 Front cover of UK 12″ vinyl | ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "Walking On The Chinese Wall" on YouTube | ||||
"Walking on the Chinese Wall" is a song by American singer Philip Bailey released as the title track and third single from his 1984 studio album Chinese Wall produced by Phil Collins. The song features Collins on drums and background vocals and was later released by Collins on his 2018 Plays Well with Others box set. Written by Roxanne Seeman and Billie Hughes, it is an ode to the mystical and mercurial nature of life and love, inspired by Dream of the Red Chamber (Chinese: 紅樓夢; pinyin: Hónglóumèng), Chinese philosophy and the I Ching.[1][2][3][4]
The recording sessions took place at The Townhouse recording studio in London, Ocean Way Recording and The Complex in Los Angeles, with George Massenburg engineering and mixing.
"Walking on the Chinese Wall" was released May 1985 by Columbia Records as the third single, peaking at number 46 on the Billboard Hot 100.[5] The song received significant airplay internationally, charting in European territories, Australia and New Zealand.[6]
A music video with Bailey in the Chinese countryside and a Chinese sage contemplating and throwing the I Ching coins, also went into heavy rotation.[6]
Bailey received a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male, for his performance on the Chinese Wall album, at the 28th Annual Grammy Awards,1986.[7]
Concurrent with the September 28, 2018 launch of Collins' Not Dead Yet Tour, Collins released Plays Well with Others, a box set featuring tracks recorded by artists he collaborated with, which includes "Walking on the Chinese Wall" as track 4 on disc 2.[8]
In 1998, Sony Germany released a Bailey compilation album titled Walking on the Chinese Wall.[9]
- ^ "She's written songs for everyone from the Jackson 5 to Jacky Cheung". South China Morning Post. April 5, 2024. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Cash Boxwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Radio & Records National Airplay" (PDF). Radio & Records: 66.
- ^ "Why is China's greatest novel virtually unknown in the west?". the Guardian. February 12, 2016. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
- ^ "Walking On The Chinese Wall" (PDF). Radio & Records: 40, 48, 65.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
:4was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "1985 GRAMMY WINNERS". www.grammy.com. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
- ^ Walking on the Chinese Wall - Philip Bailey | Song Info | AllMusic, retrieved June 7, 2020
- ^ "Walking on the Chinese Wall - Philip Bailey | User Reviews". AllMusic. Retrieved March 15, 2021.