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Eurythmics - Touch

The Eurythmics were always a band I respected, and I often found myself liking what I heard on the radio. Then there was "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves," a song I suppose was an anthem, but to me it was right up there with Springsteen's "Pink Cadillac" in terms of how many notes could play on the radio before I changed the station. If you're curious, the answer was not many.

Over the years I'd pick up a few of Annie's solo releases, including the exceptional Medusa, the decent follow-up Diva, and even her rather excruciating A Christmas Cornucopia. I love Christmas music, but this was next-level cringe with none of Annie's quirky charm. As for The Eurythmics, I had The Ultimate Collection, and that checked all the boxes for me. Heck, Dave's work as a producer was pretty stellar too, from Tom Petty to Ringo Starr.

If you'd asked me what their breakthrough record was, I'd have confidently proclaimed Touch, but I'd have been wrong. This was their third album, and it would break huge for them after "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" earlier in 1983 primed them for success. Funny, I'd always assumed "Sweet Dreams" and "Here Comes the Rain Again" were from the same album. Shows you what I know.

With "Here Comes the Rain Again" it was the near-perfect combination of a great song and the exploding market for accompanying videos. 1983 was a great year in many respects (it was a great year for them, at any rate). Video programs were everywhere, and even one of our local stations dedicated a thirty-minute block to this new form of music for those of us who didn't have MTV (MuchMusic didn't start broadcasting until the summer of 1984), which was most of us. This is where I first saw the video for "Here Comes the Rain Again," as well as Thomas Dolby's "She Blinded Me with Science." (I don't know why I can remember this, but I can't figure out why I just walked into the garage.)

I remember seeing an interview with Dave Stewart where he was asked about his use of technology, and he explained how he got that "cutting edge" drum sound by hitting a door with a stick. I never forgot that... although I may not be remembering it correctly either.

So here we have Touch, the album that cemented their breakthrough, and I totally ignored it when it came out. Sure, I liked "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)," "Here Comes the Rain Again," and "Who's That Girl," but for the most part I leaned toward rock, and I only had so much money to spend on records. At some point they got huge, and I lumped them in with Culture Club, Duran Duran, and Cyndi Lauper as acts to ignore and roll my eyes at.

Time, of course, would have the last laugh.

I was digging through the bins looking for new things to try when I found a beautiful copy of Touch, still in the shrink wrap, with the lyric insert intact and everything. The vinyl, though, looked like it had been used in a game of Ultimate Frisbee. Most of the rash was superficial, but there were a couple of deeper scratches - one in particular that produced a couple of nice pops near the end of "Who's That Girl?" on side one, and a few equally nice clicks on "No Fear, No Hate, No Pain (No Broken Heart)." That was really disappointing. I'll suck it up and put on my big boy pants when I play the album.

Finally having a chance to read the liner notes, one of the first things that jumped out at me was how organic the songs were in terms of instrumentation. Sure, they were heavy users of technology, but they were also big on real horns, real strings, real bass, and even a baritone sax. I'm sure at the time there was pressure to program as much as possible, but with the benefit of almost forty years of hindsight, their decision to use real musicians has allowed the album to sound very much of its time without sounding completely dated.

Touch is a really good album, and being able to hear it as a cohesive work rather than just isolating the singles on a greatest hits collection is a great experience. There was even a time when the album made Rolling Stone magazine's Top 500 Albums list - twice. First in 2003, and then again in 2012. Both times it was near the bottom, but it was still on the list. The latest iteration didn't include it - they had to make room for all those Kanye albums. No, really, he bumped quite a few albums off the list.

Well, list or no list, they made it into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022, which is pretty cool. Heck, even Duran Duran got in on the same night, and honestly, that was cool too. At least it wasn't Culture Club. (Who knows? One day I'll find one of their albums in the dollar bin, buy it, and I'm hoping I'll hate it.)

"Ha ha ha," laughed Time, as it waited patiently for me in the wings.


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