Walking on the Chinese Wall

Walking on the Chinese Wall is a song recorded by American singer Philip Bailey from his Chinese Wall album produced by Phil Collins. Collins sings backgrounds and plays drums on the track. Written by Roxanne Seeman and Billie Hughes, it is an ode to life and love, inspired by Chinese philosophy, the I Ching, and the beauty of nature.[1][2][3]

"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 (6:49)"
Released
  • 1985 (US)
  • 1985 (UK)
Recorded1984
Studio
GenreRock
Length5:10
LabelColumbia/CBS
Songwriter(s)Roxanne Seeman & Billie Hughes
Producer(s)Phil Collins
Philip Bailey singles chronology
"Photogenic Memory"
(1985)		 "Walking on the Chinese Wall"
(1985)		 "State of the Heart"
(1986)
Alternative cover
Front cover of UK 12″ vinyl
Music video
"Walking On The Chinese Wall" on YouTube

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. The song received significant airplay internationally, charting in European territories, Australia and New Zealand.  

A music video with Bailey in the Chinese countryside and Pat Morita as a Chinese sage contemplating and throwing the I Ching coins, also went into heavy rotation.

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.[4]

Concurrent with the September 28, 2018 launch of Phil Collins' "Not Dead Yet Tour" Collins' released Plays Well With Others, a box set featuring tracks recorded by artists he collaborated with including Robert Plant, Eric Clapton, Quincy Jones, Tony Bennett, Paul McCartney, and Philip Bailey, among others, with Walking on the Chinese Wall appearing as track 4, disc 2.[5]

In 1998, Sony Germany released a Philip Bailey compilation album entitled "Walking on the Chinese Wall."

Background

"Walking On The Chinese Wall" was the last song chosen for the album. Seeman sent the song to Philip Bailey in Colorado on a Monday, and then flew to New York with Hughes. From New York on the following Friday, Seeman called Philip Bailey, who replied, "I've reviewed all my material and I'm going to cut that song." Bailey asked Seeman and Hughes to meet him with a chord chart at JFK airport, where he would be changing planes on his way to London to record with Phil Collins at The Townhouse. At the airport, Hughes gave Bailey the chord chart, which he had written out with a gold-ink pen, and Seeman gave Bailey another cassette of the song, along with the Sony Walkman it was in.[6]

I was about to fly from LA to London to record the album when got a call from Roxanne Seeman in New York (...). She said she had a song she wanted me to hear. I had a stopover in New York, so Roxanne came out to the airport and played the song for me on her Walkman. The minute I heard it, I knew I wanted it (…). I guess this is one case where China got some good out of a Japanese invention.

— Philip Bailey

[7]

Writing

Seeman and Hughes met and began writing songs together just after Seeman returned from a three-week journey through China. Soon after, Hughes went to Osaka to perform, staying in Japan for four months. Upon his return, they began a partnership and bought recording equipment. The first song Hughes composed on the new Oberheim OB8 synthesizer and DMX drum machine was inspired with a feeling of the East, for which Hughes asked Seeman to "write me something Chinese". Seeman spent several months writing the lyrics. Reflecting on her travels through China, after having walked on the Northern Gate of The Great Wall, outside Beijing, Seeman came up with the hookline "Walking on the Chinese Wall" for the chorus.[8] Seeman drew from her studies of Chinese arts, literature, and philosophy, making references to the I Ching ("Book of Changes") and the I Ching coins in the second line of the chorus "watching for the coins to fall" and to the Dream of the Red Chamber (one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature), in the bridge lyrics "Red chamber dream, from the sky above, ancient tales of hidden Chinese love."[9]

Critical reception

William Ruhlmann of Allmusic said the tune "better represent(s) Bailey's ability to handle a variety of material from ballads to techno dance tracks with his elastic falsetto."[10] Lou Papineau of the Boston Globe described Walking On The Chinese Wall as "atmospheric".[11] Joe Brown of the Washington Post called the song "otherworldly".[12]

Volker Thormaehlen of NDR Hamburg rated Walking On The Chinese Wall as a "sure hit" in April 1985.[13] Music & Media included the video clip on its video hits list on May 13, 1985.[14]

Video

The video for "Walking On The Chinese Wall" was directed by Duncan Gibbins. It was produced by Beth Broday and Steven Buck. Filming took place in the Santa Monica Mountains in an attempt to capture "natural mystery and age-old beauty of the Chinese countryside."[15]

Chart performance

The received significant airplay, especially in Europe. In May 1985, the song debuted on the European Airplay Top 50 chart on position #33 and peaked at #13.[16][17] Walking On The Chinese Wall also debuted at #76 on the European Top 100 Singles chart.[18]

Country Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[19] 26
Netherlands[20] 25
New Zealand[20] 18
UK Singles Chart 34
US Billboard Hot 100 46
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks 56

[21][22]

Personnel

Production

Recorded at the Townhouse Studios, London, England. Horns recorded in Los Angeles. Mixed at The Complex, Los Angeles, California.

Televised performances

Live performances

A clip from Bailey's live performance in American Bandstand appeared in Dick Clark's American Bandstand's 33-1/3 Celebration.

Other performances
  • Dick Clark's "Summer Rock 'n Roll"
  • ESPN Beach Special
  • Fantastico Brazil

Cover versions
  • The "Young Talent Team" from the Australian television variety program, "Young Talent Time" recorded a cover version on their "Young Talent Team Now and Then 15th Anniversary Album."
  • The Italian dance artist Indiana released a Spanish version produced by Christiano Malgioglio in the summer of 1992.
  • The Eurodance group Double You included a dance version of "Walking On The Chinese Wall" on their hit 1990's album.

In September 2004, Alicia Keys headlined Saturday night’s Wall of Hope concert, the first pop concert in history staged on the Great Wall of China.[24] Performers included Boyz II Men, Cyndi Lauper, Nellie McKay, Sylvia Tosun and Doyle Bramhall II. Billie Hughes and Roxanne Seeman's song "Walking On The Chinese Wall" by Philip Bailey produced by Phil Collins was the finale of the event.[24]

An excerpt from the song was frequently used on the Ricky Gervais radio show on XFM. Karl Pilkington's obsession with the Chinese led to the use of the word 'Chinese' lifted from the song in the groundbreaking segment, 'Songs of Phrase'.[25]

References
  1. "Philip Bailey | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 2020-06-07.
  2. "Walking On The Chinese Wall" (PDF). Radio & Records: 40, 48, 65.
  3. "Radio & Records National Airplay" (PDF). Radio & Records: 66.
  4. "Philip Bailey". GRAMMY.com. 2019-11-19. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
  5. Walking on the Chinese Wall - Philip Bailey | Song Info | AllMusic, retrieved 2020-06-07
  6. ""Easy" Money" (PDF). Radio & Records: 34, 43, 59.
  7. Cash Box. https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Cash-Box-IDX/80s/1985/CB-1985-01-12-OCR-Page-0017.pdf#search=%22the%20two%20phils%22. January 12, 1985. p. 17.CS1 maint: location (link)
  8. "Walking on the Chinese Wall – Zambia Daily Mail". www.daily-mail.co.zm. Retrieved 2020-06-07.
  9. Inc, Nielsen Business Media (2002-03-16). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.
  10. Ruhlmann, William. "Philip Bailey: Chinese Wall". allmusic.com. Allmusic.
  11. Papineau, Lou (January 31, 1985). "Philip Bailey: Chinese Wall". newspapers.com. Boston Globe. p. 78.
  12. Brown, Joe (March 1, 1985). "Five Solo Soul Outings". washingtonpost.com. Washington Post.
  13. Music & Media Magazine (PDF). April 15, 1985. p. 7.
  14. Music & Media (PDF). May 13, 1985. p. 22.
  15. Inc, Nielsen Business Media (1985-04-06). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.
  16. European Airplay Top 50 (PDF). May 13, 1985. p. 10.
  17. European Airplay Top 50 (PDF). June 10, 1985. p. 10.
  18. European Top 100 Singles (PDF). May 20, 1985.
  19. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  20. http://www.australian-charts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Philip+Bailey&titel=Walking+On+The+Chinese+Wall&cat=s
  21. "Philip Bailey". Billboard. Retrieved 2021-02-05.
  22. Inc, Nielsen Business Media (1985-06-08). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.
  23. The 3rd Annual Black Gold Awards, retrieved 2019-10-31
  24. Archerd, Army (2004-09-23). "'Sammy' to see sequel, screen". Variety. Retrieved 2020-06-07.
  25. "The Ricky Gervais Show / Funny". TV Tropes. Retrieved 2020-06-07.
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