One record at a time: 138. Eurythmics - Touch Dance

I mentioned in another post that remix albums were all the rage in the mid eighties as extended versions became increasingly popular on the dance floor and with the record buying public. Eurythmics record company decided to wring some additional profit from the highly successful "Touch" album by releasing "Touch Dance" in 1984. As this was a commercial exercise, Dave and Annie were not too enamoured with it and this remains the only Eurythmics remix album issued. 

As a result of the band's displeasure, "Touch Dance" was hard to find on CD when I started buying Eurythmics releases in the late eighties. In fact, I had to settle for a cassette of "Touch Dance" for many years until I finally purchased a copy from eBay eight years ago.

Much like contemporary remix albums, this record features mixes that aren't a drastic departure from the album versions. In the early eighties the "extended" mix was favoured by DJs and more radical mixes that transformed the aesthetic were not as common as today.

"The First Cut" is remixed by François Kevorkian and adds a good two minutes to the playing time by grafting on a new introduction and a series of breaks. There is another New York style extended mix of "Cool Blue" by John "Jellybean" Benitez which, given the source material isn't my favourite, is mediocre. Benitez also tinkers with the fabulous "Paint a Rumour" by creating various edits, adding occasional effects and playing with the faders. However, as the original of this song is over seven minutes long, this mix couldn't really be described as an 'extended version'. For "Regrets" we revert to Kevorkian who manages to bring out more of the sinister side of the track and make it sound less one dimensional than the album version. 

In terms of source material, that's our lot. The remaining three tracks are instrumental mixes of "First Cut", "Cool Blue" and "Paint a Rumour". When I first saw the tracklisting on my cassette circa 1988 I assumed these last three mixes were merely those on the first side with the lead vocal muted. However, I was wrong. These instrumental versions are completely different and almost as good as the featured vocal mixes. As I have mentioned, I'm not too keen on "Cool Blue" but the other two songs stand up to this treatment and reveal new layers that you might not have heard in the original. 3/5