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Touch the World

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Touch the World
Studio album by
Earth, Wind & Fire
ReleasedNovember 1987
Recorded1987
StudioStudio Ultimo (Los Angeles, California)
Genre
Length42:47
LabelColumbia
ProducerMaurice White
Earth, Wind & Fire chronology
The Collection
(1986) 		Touch the World
(1987) 		The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 2
(1988)
Singles from Touch the World
  1. "System of Survival"
    Released: September 22, 1987
  2. "You and I"
    Released: December 1, 1987
  3. "Thinking of You"
    Released: January 5, 1988
  4. "Evil Roy"
    Released: March 22, 1988

Touch the World is the fourteenth studio album by American band Earth, Wind & Fire, released in November 1987 on Columbia Records. The album reached No. 3 on the Billboard Top R&B Albums chart and No. 33 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart.[1][2] Touch the World was certified Gold in the US by the RIAA.[3]

Overview

[edit]

Touch the World was produced by Earth, Wind & Fire leader Maurice White. Artists such as George Duke, Marc Russo and Ricky Lawson of Yellowjackets, Jeff Porcaro of Toto and Edwin Hawkins, Walter Hawkins, Lynette Hawkins Stephens with The Hawkins Family appeared on the album.[4]

This LP ended a four-year hiatus for the band, with Maurice White reforming the group by bringing back longtime members Verdine White, Philip Bailey, Andrew Woolfolk and Ralph Johnson. Touch the World also marked the debut of former Commodores guitarist Sheldon Reynolds to the lineup while Sonny Emory went on to fill the drum chair.[5]

Singles

[edit]

"System of Survival" was written by an unknown composer known as Skylark. Coming off the album as a single, the tune reached number one on both the Billboard Hot R&B Songs and Dance Club Songs charts.[6][7] System of Survival was also nominated for a Soul Train Award for Best R&B/Soul Single – Group, Band or Duo.[8] Another single, "Thinking of You" reached number one on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart and peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Hot R&B Songs chart.[9][10]

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[11]
Los Angeles Times[12]
New Musical Express7/10[19]
The Philadelphia Inquirer[13]
Record Mirror[14]
Rolling Stone[15]
San Jose Mercury News[20]
Stereo Review(favourable)[16]
USA Today(favourable)[17]
The Village VoiceB+[18]

David Emerson of The Boston Globe called Touch the World "one of their toughest and most convincing records ever".[21] With a 3 out of 4 stars rating Connie Johnson of the Los Angeles Times declared "Touch the World, while not great, is still good enough to further secure EWF's niche in pop/funk history".[12] Chris Heim of the Chicago Tribune wrote: "Sweet and silky ballads, the distinctive vocals of Maurice White and Philip Bailey, and an overall air of humanitarian concern continue to be obvious group hallmarks. But there is a tougher, sadder and more predictible atmosphere here as the group discovers it hasn`t been so easy to Getaway from grim realities."[22] People described the LP as "a class operation and an attractive return" that "can stand on its own merits."[23] With a 3 out of 4 stars rating Ken Tucker of The Philadelphia Inquirer called Touch the World "the best album this vocal group has released since 'That's the Way of the World".[13]

Jon Pareles of The New York Times noted that "Touch the World aims for hits by grafting old Earth, Wind and Fire trademarks..onto up to date arrangements and current concerns".[24] David Quantick of New Musical Express stated "the toughness of the title track pervades much of the..LP and to the good". He also pointed out that "you the hipster can buy this record and liven up your evenings no end."[19] Roe Hoeburger of Rolling Stone gave a 3 out of 5 stars rating and found "Bailey’s falsetto sounds as pure and piercing as ever, but he often needs White’s sly, low counterpunch to bring him back from the stratosphere." Hoeburger added "Yet White and Bailey’s words were always simple, delivered with a lot of pride and passion, enough of which they’ve regained to make Earth, Wind and Fire once more significant and timely."[15] With a three out of four star rating Harry Sumrall of the San Jose Mercury News wrote "Touch the World is a potent reminder of what funk is all about. Maurice White and his mates have made a record that hits at the solar plexus - like all funk should - but also at the mind and ear."[20] Pamela Bloom of High Fidelity proclaimed "Touch the World is nothing if not contemporary (but)..the message, as always, is stop, step back, and turn up your light".[25]

Robert K. Oermann of USA Today placed Touch the World at No. 5 on his list of 1987's Top 50 albums.[26] Touch the World was nominated for a Soul Train Award in the category of Best R&B/Soul Album of the Year.[citation needed]

Track listing

[edit]
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."System of Survival"Skylark4:59
2."Evil Roy"Philip Bailey, Attala Zane Giles, Allee Willis4:51
3."Thinking of You"Wayne Vaughn, Wanda Vaughn, Maurice White4:41
4."You and I"Mark Mueller, Robbie Nevil4:03
5."Musical Interlude: New Horizons"Bill Meyers2:01
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
6."Money Tight"Danny Sembello, Maurice White, Allee Willis4:36
7."Every Now and Then"Jon Lind, Brock Walsh4:21
8."Touch the World"Rev. Oliver W. Wells5:15
9."Here Today and Gone Tomorrow"Philip Bailey, Marti Sharron, Glen Ballard3:59
10."Victim of the Modern Heart"Ian Prince3:48

Credits

[edit]

Personnel

[edit]

Earth, Wind & Fire

  • Philip Bailey – lead vocals (1, 2, 4, 8, 9), backing vocals (1–4, 6, 7, 9, 10), synthesizer arrangements (9)
  • Maurice White – lead vocals (1–3, 6–8, 10), backing vocals (1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10), vocoder (1), arrangements (3, 10)
  • Sheldon Reynolds – guitars (2, 8, 9), lead guitar (6, 10)
  • Andrew Woolfolk – saxophone solo (5)

Additional musicians

  • Skylark – synthesizers (1), drum programming (1), backing vocals (1)
  • Preston Glass – synthesizers (1), electric guitars (1), additional drum programming (1)
  • Rhett Lawrence – Fairlight programming (2, 4, 7–9), drum programming (2, 3), sequencing (2), Fairlight synthesizer (3), synthesizer programming (3, 7–9), Moog bass (3), additional drums (8)
  • Wayne Vaughn – sequencing (3)
  • Bill Meyers – acoustic piano (4, 7), arrangements (4, 5, 7), keyboards (5), synthesizer programming (5), drums (5)
  • Larry Williams – additional keyboard programming (4), additional programming (7)
  • Dan De Souza – keyboards (5), synthesizer programming (5), drums (5)
  • Steve Lindsey – keyboards (6)
  • Danny Sembello – synthesizer programming (6), drum programming (6)
  • George Duke – acoustic piano (8, 9), rhythm arrangements (9)
  • Ian Prince – synthesizer programming (10), drums (10), arrangements (10)
  • Attala Zane Giles – additional guitars (2), synth bass (2), percussion programming (2), additional backing vocals (2), arrangements (2)
  • Ray Fuller – guitars (3)
  • Paul Jackson Jr. – guitars (4, 7)
  • Nathan East – bass (4, 7–9)
  • Jeff Porcaro – drums (4, 7)
  • Ricky Lawson – drum overdubs (6), drums (8, 9)
  • Marc Russo – horns (1)
  • Wayne Wallace – horns (1)
  • Gary Grant – horns (1, 6, 10)
  • Jerry Hey – horns (1, 6, 10), horn arrangements (1, 6, 10)
  • Dan Higgins – horns (6, 10)
  • Bill Reichenbach Jr. – horns (6, 10)
  • Rev. Oliver Wells – arrangements (8), synthesizer arrangements (9)
  • Wanda Vaughn – backing vocals (3)
  • Jeanette Williams – backing vocals (3)
  • The Hawkins Family – backing vocals (8)
  • Walter Hawkins, Edwin Hawkins and Lynette Hawkins Stephens – additional lead vocals (8)

[4]

Production

[edit]
  • Maurice White – producer (1–4, 6–10)
  • Preston Glass – producer (1)
  • Philip Bailey – co-producer (2, 9, 10)
  • Attala Zane Giles – additional production (2)
  • Wayne Vaughn – co-producer (3)
  • Bill Meyers – producer (5)
  • Acar Key – engineer (1)
  • Tom Lord-Alge – engineer (1–4, 6–10), mixing (1–4, 6–10)
  • Dave Rideau – engineer (2–4, 6–10), mixing (5)
  • Paul Brown – engineer (5)
  • Red Davidson – additional assistant engineer (1)
  • Jeff Lorenzen – assistant engineer (1–4, 6–10)
  • Jim "Watts" Vereecke – assistant engineer (1)
  • Les Cooper – assistant engineer (2–4, 6–10)
  • Mitch Zelezny – assistant engineer (2–4, 6–10)
  • Liz Cluse – assistant engineer (4, 7)
  • Jeff Woodruff – assistant engineer (5)
  • Mark Slagle – assistant engineer (8)
  • Sterling Sound (New York City, New York) – mastering location
  • Tony Lane – art direction
  • Nancy Donald – art direction
  • Max Aguilera Hellweg – photography

[4]

Charts and certifications

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Charts

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Albums

[edit]
Year Chart Peak
position
1987 Billboard 200 33
Billboard Top Soul Albums 3
Blues & Soul Top British Soul Albums [27] 16
Dutch Album Top 100[28] 17
Sweden Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[29] 20
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[30] 21
Swiss Albums (Hit Parade)[31] 25
Finland (Suomen virallinen albumlista)[32] 39
German Albums (Offizielle)[33] 42

Singles

[edit]
Year Single Chart Position
1987 "System of Survival" Billboard Dance Club Songs 1
Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales 1
Billboard Hot R&B Songs 1
New Zealand RIANZ Top 40 Singles[34] 9
Dutch Single Top 100[35] 14
Blues & Soul Top British Soul Songs[36] 17
Belgian Singles Ultratop 50[37] 25
UK Pop Singles[38] 52
Billboard Hot 100 60
"Evil Roy" Billboard Dance Club Songs 38
Billboard Hot R&B Songs 22
"Thinking of You" Billboard Dance Club Songs 1
Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales 1
Billboard Hot R&B Songs 3
Billboard Hot 100 67
"You & I" Billboard Hot R&B Songs 29

Certifications

[edit]
Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[3] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ "Earth, Wind & Fire: Touch The World (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". billboard.com. Billboard.
  2. ^ "Earth, Wind & Fire: Touch The World (Billboard 200)". billboard.com. Billboard.
  3. ^ a b "Earth, Wind & Fire: Touch The World". riaa.com. RIAA.
  4. ^ a b c Earth, Wind & Fire: Touch the World. Columbia Records. 1987.
  5. ^ Nathan, David (1992). The Eternal Dance. Columbia Records.
  6. ^ "Earth, Wind & Fire: System of Survival (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard.com. Billboard.
  7. ^ "Earth, Wind & Fire: System of Survival (Dance Club Play Songs)". billboard.com. Billboard.
  8. ^ "Soul Train Awards (1988)". IMDb. Retrieved 2023-07-14.
  9. ^ "Earth, Wind & Fire: Thinking Of You (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard.com. Billboard.
  10. ^ "Earth, Wind & Fire: Thinking Of You (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". billboard.com. Billboard.
  11. ^ Henderson, Alex. "Earth, Wind and Fire: Touch the World". allmusic.com. Allmusic.
  12. ^ a b Johnson, Connie (December 13, 1987). "EARTH, WIND & FIRE: Touch the World". Los Angeles Times.
  13. ^ a b Tucker, Ken (November 22, 1987). "Earth, Wind & Fire: Touch the World". newspapers.com. The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. 121.
  14. ^ Dickson, Ian (December 5, 1987). Earth, Wind & Fire: Touch the World. Vol. 34. Record Mirror. p. 11.
  15. ^ a b Hoeburger, Roe (January 14, 1988). "Touch The World". rollingstone.com. Rolling Stone.
  16. ^ Garland, Phyl (April 1988). "Earth, Wind & Fire: Touch the World" (PDF). americanradiohistory.com. Stereo Review. p. 91.
  17. ^ Milward, John (24 November 1987). "Popular". USA Today. p. 05D. ProQuest 305961244.
  18. ^ Christgau, Robert. "Earth, Wind & Fire: Touch the World". robertchristgau.com. The Village Voice.
  19. ^ a b Quantick, David (21 November 1987). "Earth, Wind & Fire: Touch the World". New Musical Express. p. 34.
  20. ^ a b Sumrall, Harry (November 29, 1987). "Michael's heard above screams". San Jose Mercury News – via newsbank.com.
  21. ^ Emerson, David (December 3, 1987). "Earth, Wind & Fire: Touch The World". newspapers.com. Boston Globe. p. 106.
  22. ^ Hiem, Chris (March 23, 1988). "Earth, Wind & Fire: Touch the World". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune.
  23. ^ "Picks and Pans Review: Touch the World". people.com. People. January 11, 1988.
  24. ^ Pareles Jon (22 November 1987). "Recordings: A Pair of Pop Albums Hit a Political Groove". New York Times.
  25. ^ Bloom, Pamela (March 1988). "Earth, Wind & Fire: Touch the World" (PDF). americanradiohistory.com. Vol. 38. High Fidelity. p. 70.
  26. ^ K. Oermann, Robert (December 31, 1987). "I'm looking over the albums that shook my soul in 1987". USA Today – via newsbank.com.
  27. ^ "Top British Soul Albums". Blues & Soul. No. 498. December 8, 1987.
  28. ^ "Earth, Wind & Fire: Touch The World". dutchcharts.nl. Dutch Charts.
  29. ^ "Earth, Wind & Fire". sverigetopplistan.se.
  30. ^ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970-2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  31. ^ "EARTH, WIND & FIRE - TOUCH THE WORLD". hitparade.ch. Hit Parade.
  32. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2021). "Earth, Wind & Fire". Sisältää hitin - 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 (PDF) (in Finnish). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 69. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  33. ^ "EARTH, WIND & FIRE: TOUCH THE WORLD". offiziellecharts.de. Offizielle.
  34. ^ "Earth, Wind & Fire: System of Survival". charts.nz. RIANZ.
  35. ^ "Earth, Wind & Fire: System of Survival". dutchcharts.nl.
  36. ^ "Top British Soul Songs". Blues & Soul. No. 498. December 8, 1987.
  37. ^ "Earth, Wind & Fire: System of Survival". ultratop.be. Ultratop.
  38. ^ "Earth, Wind & Fire: System of Survival". officialcharts.com. Official Charts.
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