Touch and Go (The Cars song)

"Touch and Go" is a song by American rock band the Cars from their 1980 album Panorama. The song was written and sung by bandleader Ric Ocasek.

"Touch and Go"
Single by the Cars
from the album Panorama
B-side	"Down Boys"
Released	August 25, 1980 (1980-08-25)
Recorded	1980
Genre	New wave, rockabilly
Length	3:41 (Single) 4:55 (Album Version)
Label	Elektra 47039
Songwriter(s)	Ric Ocasek
Producer(s)	Roy Thomas Baker
The Cars singles chronology
"Double Life" (1979) "Touch and Go" (1980) "Don't Tell Me No" (1980)
Panorama track listing
10 tracks Side one "Panorama" "Touch and Go" "Gimme Some Slack" "Don't Tell Me No" "Getting Through" Side two "Misfit Kid" "Down Boys" "You Wear Those Eyes" "Running To You" "Up and Down"

Composition

The song's verses feature the use of polymeter. The bass and drums are playing in a time signature of ⁵
₄, while the vocals, keyboards, and guitar are playing in ⁴
₄.[1] The guitar solo was played over music similar to the chorus, but with some sections extended to give Elliot Easton more measures on the chords E minor, F major, and G major, to build his flashy, melodic solo which resolves to a C major seventh chord.

Release

"Touch and Go" was released as the debut single from Panorama. It reached number 37 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1980, making it the highest charting American single from Panorama.[2] Its follow-up singles, "Don't Tell Me No" and "Gimme Some Slack" failed to chart.

"Touch and Go" has consistently appeared on many of the Cars' compilation albums, including Greatest Hits, Just What I Needed: The Cars Anthology, Complete Greatest Hits, Shake It Up & Other Hits, and The Essentials. Aside from Just What I Needed: The Cars Anthology, it is the only track from Panorama to appear on said albums.

Reception

"Touch and Go" has generally received positive reception from music critics. AllMusic critic Greg Prato said the song was a standout on Panorama "which merges off-time keyboard flourishes with some great textural guitar work by Elliot Easton."[2] Donald Guarisco, also of AllMusic, described the track as "a surprisingly straightforward ballad that became a minor hit for the group", also stating, "[t]he melody is appropriately moody, consisting of attractive verses that hypnotically ebb and flow, a constantly ascending pre-chorus bridge that builds tension and a gorgeous call-and-response chorus that releases that tension", concluding that the song was "a sleek tune perfect for the car radio."[3] Music critic Robert Christgau said that the song was one of the peaks of Panorama.[4]

John Lennon's opinion

Former Beatle John Lennon mentioned the song in his final interview on 8 December 1980, praising it for its fifties sound and comparing it with his current record at the time, "(Just Like) Starting Over." He said, "I think the Cars’ 'Touch and Go' is right out of the fifties ‘Oh, oh… ‘ A lot of it is fifties stuff. But with eighties styling, but, but… and that’s what I think 'Starting Over' is; it’s a fifties song made with an eighties approach."[5][6]

Chart performance

Chart (1980)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[7]	62
Canada RPM [8]	16
New Zealand Singles Chart	42
US Billboard Hot 100[9]	37

References

1. "Polymeter/Polyrhythm". Guitar Alliance. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
2. Prato, Greg. "Panorama". allmusic.com.
3. Guarisco, Donald. "Touch and Go". allmusic.com.
4. Christgau, Robert. "The Cars". www.robertchristgau.com.
5. Sholin, Dave; Kaye, Laurie. "John Lennon's last interview, December 8, 1980". Beatles Archive. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
6. McMahon, James. "The Cars' 10 Best Songs". New Musical Express. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
7. "Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – 1980". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
8. "Image : RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada". Bac-lac.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-17.
9. "The Cars - Charts & Awards - Billboard Singles". AllMusic (Rovi Corporation). Retrieved 2009-11-04.