Touch (Eurythmics album)

Touch is the third studio album by the British new wave duo Eurythmics. It was released on 14 November 1983 by RCA Records, just ten months after their breakthrough album Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This). Touch became the duo's first number-one album on the UK Albums Chart, and also reached the top 10 of the US Billboard 200. It has since been certified Platinum in both the United Kingdom and the United States.[11][12] The album spawned the singles "Who's That Girl?", "Right by Your Side" and "Here Comes the Rain Again".

Touch
Studio album by Eurythmics
Released	14 November 1983
Recorded	Summer 1983
Studio	The Church, London
Genre	Synth-pop[1] new wave[2]
Length	45:30
Label	RCA
Producer	David A. Stewart
Eurythmics chronology
Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) (1983) Touch (1983) Touch Dance (1984)
Singles from Touch
"Who's That Girl?" Released: June 1983 "Right by Your Side" Released: October 1983 "Here Comes the Rain Again" Released: January 1984

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[4]
Mojo	[5]
Rolling Stone	[6]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[7]
Smash Hits	9/10[8]
The Village Voice	B[9]
Wall Street Journal	(favourable)[10]

The album was listed on Rolling Stone's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2003, and again on a revised list in 2012, at number 492.[1]

Background

By the time Touch was released, Eurythmics had achieved international success with their commercially successful single "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" and the album of the same name. Preceded by the single "Who's That Girl?", Touch was recorded and mixed in about three weeks at Eurythmics' own London studio facility, The Church.

An accompanying remix EP, Touch Dance, was released in May 1984.

2005 re-release

On 14 November 2005, Sony BMG repackaged and released Eurythmics' back catalogue as "2005 Deluxe Edition Reissues". Each of their eight studio albums' original track listings were supplemented with bonus tracks and remixes.

Accolades

In 2000 it was voted number 221 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[13] In 2012, Rolling Stone ranked the album at #492 on their list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, calling it "divine synth pop".[1] It had originally appeared at number 500 on the 2003 version of the list. Slant Magazine placed the album at number 47 on its list of the "Best Albums of the 1980s".[14]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Annie Lennox and David A. Stewart, except where noted.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Here Comes the Rain Again"	4:54
2.	"Regrets"	4:43
3.	"Right by Your Side"	4:05
4.	"Cool Blue"	4:48
5.	"Who's That Girl?"	4:46
6.	"The First Cut"	4:44
7.	"Aqua"	4:36
8.	"No Fear, No Hate, No Pain (No Broken Hearts)"	5:24
9.	"Paint a Rumour"	7:30
Total length:		45:30

2005 remastered edition bonus tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
10.	"You Take Some Lentils and You Take Some Rice"		3:01
11.	"ABC (Freeform)"	Stewart Timothy Wheater Nadine Masseron	2:36
12.	"Plus Something Else"		5:20
13.	"Paint a Rumour" (long version)		7:57
14.	"Who's That Girl?" (live)		3:28
15.	"Here Comes the Rain Again" (live)		3:07
16.	"Fame"	Carlos Alomar David Bowie John Lennon	2:39
Total length:			73:38

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Touch.[15]

Eurythmics Annie Lennox – lead vocals, backing vocals, keyboards, flute, arrangements David A. Stewart – guitars, keyboards, dulcimer, xylophone, backing vocals, drum sequencer, synthesiser sequencer, arrangements Additional musicians Dick Cuthell – trumpet, flugelhorn, cornet Dean Garcia – bass guitar Michael Kamen – string arrangements, string conducting British Philharmonic Orchestra – strings Martin Dobson – baritone saxophone on "Right by Your Side"

Technical David A. Stewart – production Jon Bavin – engineering Artwork Peter Ashworth – outer sleeve photography Brian Aris – inner sleeve photography Laurence Stevens – art direction, design

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1983–1984) Peak position Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[16] 4 Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[17] 3 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[18] 9 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[19] 9 Japanese Albums (Oricon)[20] 71 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[21] 1 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[22] 8 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[23] 9 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[24] 14 UK Albums (OCC)[25] 1 US Billboard 200[26] 7 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[27] 35

Year-end charts Chart (1983) Position UK Albums (Gallup)[28] 36 Chart (1984) Position Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[16] 12 Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[29] 13 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[30] 38 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[31] 66 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[32] 17 UK Albums (Gallup)[33] 26 US Billboard 200[34] 27

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[35]	2× Platinum	200,000^^
Germany (BVMI)[36]	Gold	250,000^^
Netherlands (NVPI)[37]	Gold	50,000^^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[38]	Platinum	15,000^^
United Kingdom (BPI)[11]	Platinum	300,000^^
United States (RIAA)[12]	Platinum	1,000,000^^
^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. 31 May 2012. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
2. Besenyodi, Adam (4 December 2005). "This Is What the Future Sounded Like". PopMatters. Retrieved 16 October 2018. ...Touch kept them on new wave's cutting-edge.
3. Promis, Jose F. "Touch – Eurythmics". AllMusic. Retrieved 12 August 2011.
4. Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
5. "Eurythmics: Touch". Mojo. p. 134. ISSN 1351-0193. Recorded in a frantic three-week burst of inspiration, the third Eurythmics album saw Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart raising their game significantly.
6. Connelly, Christopher (2 February 1984). "Eurythmics: Touch". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 13 July 2007. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
7. Considine, J. D. (2004). "Eurythmics". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 283–84. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
8. Anthony, Lisa (24 November – 7 December 1983). "Eurythmics: Touch". Smash Hits. Vol. 5 no. 24. p. 27. ISSN 0260-3004.
9. Christgau, Robert (29 May 1984). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved 4 June 2016 – via RobertChristgau.com.
10. Lambert, Pam (19 January 1984). "Prime Cuts: Noteworthy Rock Records". The Wall Street Journal. ProQuest 397920155.
11. "British album certifications – Eurythmics – Touch". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Touch in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
12. "American album certifications – Eurythmics – Touch". Recording Industry Association of America. 4 October 1984. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
13. Colin Larkin (2000). All Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd ed.). Virgin Books. ISBN 0-7535-0493-6.
14. Slant Magazine
15. Touch (liner notes). Eurythmics. RCA Records. 1983. PL70109.CS1 maint: others (link)
16. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
17. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 6274". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
18. "Dutchcharts.nl – Eurythmics – Touch" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
19. "Offiziellecharts.de – Eurythmics – Touch" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
20. Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
21. "Charts.nz – Eurythmics – Touch". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
22. "Norwegiancharts.com – Eurythmics – Touch". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
23. "Swedishcharts.com – Eurythmics – Touch". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
24. "Swisscharts.com – Eurythmics – Touch". Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
25. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
26. "Eurythmics Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
27. "Eurythmics Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
28. Scaping, Peter, ed. (1984). "Top 100 LPs: 1983". BPI Year Book 1984. British Phonographic Industry. pp. 44–45. ISBN 0-906154-04-9.
29. "Top 100 Albums of 1984". RPM. Vol. 41 no. 17. 5 January 1985. p. 8. ISSN 0315-5994 – via Library and Archives Canada.
30. "Jaaroverzichten – Album 1984" (in Dutch). Dutch Charts. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
31. "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts – 1984" (in German). Offizielle Deutsche Charts. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
32. "Top Selling Albums of 1984". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
33. "Top 100 Albums". Music Week. London. 26 January 1985. p. 42. ISSN 0265-1548.
34. "Top Pop Albums of 1984". Billboard.biz. 31 December 1984. Archived from the original on 31 December 2012. Retrieved 21 April 2020.
35. "Canadian album certifications – Eurythmics – Touch". Music Canada. 1 June 1984. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
36. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Eurythmics; 'Touch')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
37. "Dutch album certifications – Eurythmics – Touch" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Retrieved 9 February 2019. Enter Touch in the "Artiest of titel" box.
38. "New Zealand album certifications – Eurythmics – Touch". Recorded Music NZ. 4 March 1984. Retrieved 16 October 2018.