Released June 19, 1981 Recorded 1980–1981 Length 3:19 | Format 7" single Genre Pop | |
B-side "Because We Are in Love (The Wedding Song)" | ||
"Touch Me When We're Dancing" is a song written by Terry Skinner, J. L. Wallace and Ken Bell. Skinner and Wallace headed the Muscle Shoals, Alabama session group Bama, who first recorded this song and released it as a single in 1979 reaching the Billboard Easy Listening chart at number 42 and ranking on the Billboard bubbling under the Hot 100 chart. The song was later recorded by The Carpenters in 1981 on their Made in America album, in 1984 it was recorded by country music artists Mickey Gilley and Charly McClain on their 1984 duet album It Takes Believers (but never released it as a single) and in 1986 by the country music group Alabama.
Contents
Bama version
The version by Bama was produced by Jim Vienneau and released on the Free Flight label. It received a positive review in Billboard which praised the "smooth production" and said that the song "allows the group to achieve a strong identity".
The Carpenters' version
The Carpenters' version of "Touch Me When We're Dancing" was released on their Made in America album in the summer of 1981. It was the last of their singles to reach the Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart after not having a song appear on that chart for over three years. It was also their fifteenth (and final) #1 song on the adult contemporary chart and #16 on the Billboard Hot 100. The B-side, "Because We Are in Love", was played at Karen Carpenter's wedding to Thomas Burris on August 31, 1980.
Music video
The video for "Touch Me When Were Dancing" can be found on The Carpenters video collection Gold. The video consists of Karen Carpenter singing and slowly dancing by her brother Richard Carpenter's piano. Footage of a couple dancing is superimposed onto Richard's black piano, as is a view from behind Richard of his hands as he plays. In the background are the guitar player and the drummer.
Credits and personnel
Alabama version
The Alabama version was released in September 1986 as the first single from the album The Touch. It went on to become a number one hit on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart later that year, their 20th straight chart-topper in a string that dated back to 1980. A music video was made for the song, and was directed by Marc Ball.