Invisible Touch (song)

"Invisible Touch"
Single by Genesis
from the album Invisible Touch
B-side The Last Domino
Released May 19, 1986
Format Compact Disc
Recorded The Farm, Surrey, October 1985 - March 1986
Genre Pop rock
Length 3:27
Label Atlantic
Vertigo Records
Producer Genesis, Hugh Padgham
Genesis singles chronology
"Taking It All Too Hard"
(1984)
"Invisible Touch"
(1986)
"Throwing It All Away"
(1986)
Genesis chronology
"Jesus He Knows Me" (Live)
(1992)
"Invisible Touch (Live)"
(1992)
"Tell Me Why"
(1993)
Invisible Touch track listing
"Invisible Touch"
(1)
"Tonight, Tonight, Tonight"
(2)

"Invisible Touch" is the title track of the 1986 Genesis album of the same name. It is the most successful single in the band's lengthy history and was their first and only #1 single in the United States.[1] It went to number four in Canada, but only reached number 15 in the United Kingdom.

Its B-side is the second part of "Domino", titled "The Last Domino". the album includes Domino part 1 and 2 together.

Contents

History

"Invisible Touch" came about during a jam for the second parts of another album tracks "Domino/The Last Domino," Mike apparently playing a riff while Phil improvises the line "She seems to have an invisible touch". It was recorded at the Farm surrey during 1984, 1985 and 1986.

Ironically, "Invisible Touch" was bumped out of the number one position on the Billboard Hot 100 by "Sledgehammer", performed by Genesis' former lead singer, Peter Gabriel.

Live versions

A live version of "Invisible Touch" appears on the albums The Way We Walk, Volume One: The Shorts, and Live over Europe 2007, as well as on the DVD's Genesis Live at Wembley Stadium, The Way We Walk - Live in Concert and When in Rome 2007.

"Invisible Touch" was performed during the Invisible Touch, We Can't Dance, Calling All Stations (with Ray Wilson on vocals) and Turn It On Again tours. On later tours, the song segued from "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight", albeit transposed to a lower key to accommodate Collins' deepening voice.

During the 2007 reunion tour, the song was the finale featuring fireworks going off as the song ended.

Personnel

Live single

"Invisible Touch (Live)"
Single by Genesis
from the album The Way We Walk, Volume One: The Shorts
B-side Abacab (Live)
The Brazilian (Live)
Released 9 November 1992
Format 7", CD
Genre Pop rock
Label Virgin
Writer(s) Tony Banks,
Phil Collins,
Mike Rutherford.
Producer Nick Davis, Robert Colby, Genesis
Genesis singles chronology
"Jesus He Knows Me"
(1992)
"Invisible Touch (Live)'
(1992)
"Tell Me Why"
(1993)

Genesis Live - Invisible Touch was a single by Genesis, released on limited edition 7" and CD near the end of their 1991-1992 world tour in support of We Can't Dance. Both formats were numbered and came with a booklet; the CD was housed in a box and the vinyl edition in a gatefold sleeve.

The A-side was recorded during the We Can't Dance Tour, and is the same version found on the accompanying live album The Shorts. The B-sides "Abacab" and "The Brazilian" were culled from the Wembley Stadium venue from the 1987 Invisible Touch Tour.

The 7" featured an edited version of "Abacab", while the CD included complete versions of both songs.

Like the albums The Shorts and The Longs, and the home video The Way We Walk - In Concert, the title of the record was prefixed by "Genesis Live", with "(Live)" appearing as a suffix on the back sleeve and on the disc itself.

During live performances of "Invisible Touch", Collins substituted the line "And though she will mess up your life" with "And though she will fuck up your life". Consequently, the swear word was bleeped out on the single.

Unlike the original recording of the song, this live version was a Top 10 hit in the UK, reaching number seven. In one of the interview sections on the Way We Walk - Live in Concert DVD, Collins jokes about re-releasing the song until it finally becomes a hit.

Personnel

References

  1. ^ Dean, Maury (2003). Rock N' Roll Gold Rush. Algora. p. 317. ISBN 0-87586-207-1. 
Preceded by
"Holding Back the Years" by Simply Red
Billboard Hot 100 number-one single
July 19, 1986
Succeeded by
"Sledgehammer" by Peter Gabriel