Touch the World

Touch the World is the fourteenth studio album by the band Earth, Wind & Fire, released in November 1987 on Columbia Records.[1] The album reached No. 3 on the Billboard Top R&B Albums chart and No. 33 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart.[2][3] Touch the World was certified Gold in the US by the RIAA.[4]

Touch the World
Studio album by
Earth, Wind & Fire
ReleasedNovember 1987
Recorded1987
GenreR&B, dance
Length42:34
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

Overview

Touch the World was produced by Earth, Wind & Fire leader Maurice White.[1] 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.[5]

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.[6]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[7]
Village Voice(B+)[8]
USA Today(favourable)[9]
Rolling Stone[10]
Los Angeles Times[11]
People(favourable)[12]
Stereo Review(favourable)[13]
Chicago Tribune(favourable)[14]
Boston Globe(favourable)[15]
High Fidelity(favourable)[16]
Philadelphia Inquirer[17]

David Emerson of The Boston Globe called Touch the World "one of their toughest and most convincing records ever".[15] 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".[11] 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."[14] 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".[17] People described the LP as "a class operation and an attractive return" that "can stand on its own merits."[12] 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."[10] Pamela Bloom of High Fidelity proclaimed "the message, as always, is stop, step back, and turn up your light".[16]

Touch the World was also nominated for a Soul Train Award in the category of Best R&B/Soul Album of the Year.[18]

Singles

The song "System of Survival" was written by an unknown composer known as Skylark. Issued as a single, it reached number one on both the Billboard Hot R&B Songs and Dance Club Songs charts[19][20] and was nominated for a Soul Train Award for Best R&B/Soul Single – Group, Band or Duo.[18] Another single, "Thinking of You" also reached number one on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart and peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Hot R&B Songs chart.[21][22]

Track listing
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

Personnel
  • Arrangement, Guitar, Backing Vocals, Synthesizer, Programming – Attala Zane Giles
  • Arrangement, Composing, Drums, Keyboards, Programming, Piano – Bill Meyers
  • Arrangement – Rev. Oliver Wells
  • Arrangement, Piano – George Duke
  • Drum Programming, Programming – Danny Sembello
  • Backing Vocals – Jeanette Williams, Wanda Vaughn
  • Co-producer, Composer Sequencing – Wayne Vaughn
  • Backing Vocals – The Hawkins Family
  • Bass – Nathan East
  • Drums, Keyboards, Programmed By – Dan DeSouza
  • Drums – Ricky Lawson
  • Drums – Jeff Porcaro
  • Engineer – Paul Brown
  • Electric Guitar, Synthesizer, Drum Programming – Preston Glass
  • Guitar – Paul Jackson Jr.
  • Guitar – Ray Fuller
  • Guitar – Sheldon Reynolds
  • Composer, Drum Programming, Synthesizer, Backing Vocals – Skylark
  • Horns – Gary Grant, Marc Russo, Wayne Wallace
  • Horns, Arranged By – Jerry Hey
  • Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals – Philip Bailey
  • Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Vocoder – Maurice White
  • Mixing – Dave Rideau
  • Programming, Drum Programming, Sequencing – Rhett Lawrence
  • Programming, Keyboards – Larry Williams
  • Saxophone, Soloist – Andrew Woolfolk[5]

Production
  • Art Direction – Tony Lane, Nancy Donald
  • Co-producer – Philip Bailey (tracks: A2, B4 to B5), Wayne Vaughn (tracks: A3)
  • Photography By – Max Aguilera Hellweg
  • Producer – Bill Meyers (tracks: A5), Maurice White (tracks: A1 to A4, B1 to B5), Preston Glass (tracks: A1)[5]

Charts and certifications

Charts

Albums
Year Chart Peak
position
1987 Billboard 200 33
Billboard Top Soul Albums 3
Blues & Soul Top British Soul Albums [23] 16
Dutch Album Top 100[24] 17
Sweden Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[25] 20
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[26] 21
Swiss Albums (Hit Parade)[27] 25
German Albums (Offizielle)[28] 42

Singles
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[29] 9
Dutch Single Top 100[30] 14
Blues & Soul Top British Soul Songs[31] 17
Belgian Singles Ultratop 50[32] 25
UK Pop Singles[33] 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
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[4] Gold 500,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

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References
  1. "Earth, Wind & Fire: Touch The World". 45worlds.com.
  2. "Earth, Wind & Fire: Touch The World (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". billboard.com. Billboard.
  3. "Earth, Wind & Fire: Touch The World (Billboard 200)". billboard.com. Billboard.
  4. "Earth, Wind & Fire: Touch The World". riaa.com. RIAA.
  5. Earth, Wind & Fire: Touch the World. Columbia Records. 1987.
  6. Nathan, David (1992). The Eternal Dance. Earth, Wind & Fire: The Eternal Dance. Columbia Records.
  7. Henderson, Alex. "Earth, Wind and Fire: Touch the World". allmusic.com. Allmusic.
  8. Christgau, Robert. "Earth, Wind & Fire: Touch the World". robertchristgau.com. Village Voice.
  9. Milward, John (24 November 1987). "Popular". USA Today. p. 05D. ProQuest 305961244.
  10. Hoeburger, Roe (January 14, 1988). "Touch The World". rollingstone.com. Rolling Stone.
  11. Johnson, Connie (December 13, 1987). "EARTH, WIND & FIRE: Touch the World". latimes.com. Los Angeles Times.
  12. "Picks and Pans Review: Touch the World". people.com. People. January 11, 1988.
  13. Garland, Phyl (April 1988). "Earth, Wind & Fire: Touch the World" (PDF). americanradiohistory.com. Stereo Review. p. 91.
  14. Hiem, Chris (March 23, 1988). "Earth, Wind & Fire: Touch the World". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune.
  15. Emerson, David (December 3, 1987). "Earth, Wind & Fire: Touch The World". newspapers.com. Boston Globe. p. 106.
  16. Bloom, Pamela (March 1988). "Earth, Wind & Fire: Touch the World" (PDF). americanradiohistory.com. Vol. 38. High Fidelity. p. 70.
  17. Tucker, Ken (November 22, 1987). "Earth, Wind & Fire: Touch the World". newspapers.com. Philadelphia Inquirer. p. 121.
  18. "Soul Train Music Awards 1988 Winners & Nominees". Retrieved 2016-10-15.
  19. "Earth, Wind & Fire: System of Survival (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard.com. Billboard.
  20. "Earth, Wind & Fire: System of Survival (Dance Club Play Songs)". billboard.com. Billboard.
  21. "Earth, Wind & Fire: Thinking Of You (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard.com. Billboard.
  22. "Earth, Wind & Fire: Thinking Of You (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". billboard.com. Billboard.
  23. "Blues & Soul Top British Soul Albums". No. 498. Blues & Soul. December 8, 1987. Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  24. "Earth, Wind & Fire: Touch The World". dutchcharts.nl. Dutch Charts.
  25. "Earth, Wind & Fire". sverigetopplistan.se.
  26. Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970-2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  27. "EARTH, WIND & FIRE - TOUCH THE WORLD". hitparade.ch. Hit Parade.
  28. "EARTH, WIND & FIRE: TOUCH THE WORLD". offiziellecharts.de. Offizielle.
  29. "Earth, Wind & Fire: System of Survival". charts.nz. RIANZ.
  30. "Earth, Wind & Fire: System of Survival". dutchcharts.nl.
  31. "Blues & Soul Top British Soul Songs". No. 498. Blues & Soul. December 8, 1987. Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  32. "Earth, Wind & Fire: System of Survival". ultratop.be. Ultratop.
  33. "Earth, Wind & Fire: System of Survival". officialcharts.com. Official Charts.
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