I Have The Touch

I Have The Touch was the second single to be taken from Peter’s fourth solo album and was released in December 1982.

The song was written by Peter, co-produced with David Lord and recorded at Ashcombe House near Bath and mixed at Crescent Studios in Bath.

‘I Have the Touch’ was a song about contact. I’d started reading these things about how important touch is; for example, it’s clear that babies’ brains develop according to the amount of physical contact they receive. The skin is often underrated as an organism. So, I was looking at various approaches with touch.

The single did not chart in the UK.

Images used for the single cover are actually video stills from the Shock The Monkey video. I Have The Touch does not have its own video.

The track features Jerry Marotta on drums, David Rhodes on guitar, Tony Levin on stick, Larry Fast on prophet, Moog and backing vocals and Peter on vocals, Linn programming, prophet, CMI and backing vocals. John Ellis also adds backing vocals.

The B-side of the single is ‘Across The River’, which was co-written by Peter, Stewart Copeland, David Rhodes and Shankar. The song first made an appearance on the album ‘Music and Rhythm’, which was released to raise funds for the nascent WOMAD Festival in 1982. Peter also played the song in his second set at the festival in a band that featured Stewart Copeland, David Rhodes, Shankar and Peter Hammill.

Later versions of the track include the 1983/1985 Remix and the 1996 mix by Robbie Robertson for the movie Phenomenon.

CB 405
I Have The Touch
Across The River

Across The River and the later remixes are available on the digital only album ‘Flotsam and Jetsam’.