Touch, Peel and Stand

"Touch, Peel and Stand"
Single by Days of the New
from the album Days of the New
Released January 13, 1998
Format CD single
Recorded October, November 1996
Genre Acoustic rock, alternative rock, grunge
Length 4:57
Label Outpost
Writer(s) Travis Meeks
Producer(s) Scott Litt
Days of the New singles chronology
"Touch, Peel and Stand"
(1997)		 "The Down Town"
(1998)

"Touch, Peel and Stand" is a song by the rock band Days of the New and the lead single from their self-titled debut album. It was released in 1997 and remains arguably the band's most popular and well known song. The song reached #1 on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and retained the spot for a then-record sixteen weeks. On their list of Top Mainstream Rock Songs of the Decade, the song ranked in at #8 for '97 and #4 for '98.[1] Shortly after this success, the song rose to #6 on the Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart, becoming their first Top 10 hit on the chart.

"Touch, Peel and Stand" is known for its raw, acoustic feel and maintains considerable radio play to this day. Despite the fact that Travis Meeks writes all songs by Days of the New, and considers it his own personal project, he has praised Matt Taul's cymbal-heavy percussion in the song. In a 2008 interview, Meeks noted, "As far as I’m concerned, he owns the track."[2]

The cover art of the "Touch, Peel and Stand" CD single borrows a photograph from the band's debut album liner notes. This depicts the Wrestling Superstars figure of George "The Animal" Steele. The rubber figure is heavily battered with both his head and left arm torn off.

Music video

The music video for "Touch, Peel and Stand", directed by Frank W. Ockenfels 3,[3] has a disgruntled young man (Lead Singer Travis Meeks' friend Levi Sulivan) watching TV in a filthy, rundown house. On the TV screen, the band is performing the song in a gray, open-spaced room and appears to acknowledge the man through the screen. He eventually becomes enraged and tosses furniture around the room before entering the bathroom and cutting off his long hair and shaving his head bald. Photos of the band are seen throughout his house. The man is eventually seen, with clothes neatly tucked in, facing a closed curtain while the band continues to perform in the TV screen.

Appearances

The song was performed live on the Late Show with David Letterman on November 28, 1997.

"Touch, Peel and Stand" was featured on compilations like X-Games, Vol. 3 in 1998, Shine! in 2000, and Total Rock and Crossing All Over, Vol. 7 in 2002. It can also be found on the soundtrack to Hitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows released in 1999 and Days of the New: The Definitive Collection released March 2008.

In January 2006, the song was featured in a TV commercial for TLC's reality television program Beyond the Bull.[4]

The song was played in the 9th episode of the first season of "Dawson's Creek" in 1998.

Track listings

The CD single, released in 1998, also includes two B-sides, "Independent Slaves" and "Got to be You." The former was also included on the Crow: Salvation soundtrack while the latter appeared on 2 Guitars, Bass & Drums: Songs For Survival.

  1. "Touch, Peel and Stand"
  2. "Independent Slaves"
  3. "Got to Be You"

Chart positions

Chart Peak
position		 Year
Billboard Modern Rock Tracks 6 1998
Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks 1 1997
Australian Singles Chart 38 1997
New Zealand Singles Chart 35 1997

References

  1. ↑ "Top Mainstream Rock Songs Of The Decade" AllBusiness.com (December 3, 1999). Retrieved on April 12, 2008.
  2. ↑ Herron, Matt "You're talking to a miracle - Travis Meeks heals one piece at a time" LEOWeekly.com (July 16, 2008). Retrieved on August 26, 2008.
  3. ↑ http://www.mtv.com/videos/days-of-the-new/738307/touch-peel-and-stand.jhtml
  4. ↑ "Beyond the Bull on TLC" Adtunes.com (December 30, 2005). Retrieved December 4, 2008.

External links

Preceded by
"Pink" by Aerosmith		 Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks number-one single
October 4, 1997 – January 17, 1998 		Succeeded by
"Given to Fly" by Pearl Jam