I Have the Touch
"I Have the Touch" is a song by English rock musician Peter Gabriel from his album Peter Gabriel (1982). The song's working title during the recording sessions was "Hands".[1] This song was featured in the movie The Chocolate War (1988), an off-beat film that explored the Catholic School's strictness of a common tradition of students raising money by selling chocolate bars. The 1996 remix was used in the film Phenomenon of the same year.
| "I Have the Touch" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Peter Gabriel | ||||
| from the album Peter Gabriel (Security) | ||||
| Released | 8 September 1982 | |||
| Recorded | 1981–1982 | |||
| Genre | Experimental rock (original version) Pop rock, new wave, synthpop (1983 remix) | |||
| Length | 4:30 (Album version) 3:45 (1982 single edit) 5:08 (1983 remix) 4:19 (1996 Robbie Robertson mix) | |||
| Label | Charisma (UK), Geffen(U.S.) | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Peter Gabriel | |||
| Producer(s) |
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| Peter Gabriel singles chronology | ||||
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In 1996, Heather Nova recorded a cover version of the song for the teen-witch horror film The Craft.
The B-side of the single, "Across the River", was an instrumental which came from a session between Gabriel, Stewart Copeland, L. Shankar, and long-time Gabriel guitarist David Rhodes, recorded for on a WOMAD benefit album, Music and Rhythm, that had been released six months earlier. The track would appear again on other singles, and a live version would appear on the album Secret World Live released in 1994.
1983 version
In 1983, Gabriel and Peter Walsh re-recorded the track featuring an extended instrumental section, first released as a b-side to the 12" single of "Walk Through the Fire", a non-album track from the motion picture Against All Odds in 1984. An edited remix of this version was later released on the 12" single of "Sledgehammer" and the 1990 compilation album Shaking the Tree: Sixteen Golden Greats.
1996 version
In 1996, Gabriel remixed "I Have the Touch" with Robbie Robertson for the movie Phenomenon. For the first time, the song charted. This version was released on the 2002 compilation album Hit.