Touch by Touch (Diana Ross song)

1984 single by Diana Ross

"Touch by Touch"

Single by Diana Ross

from the album Swept Away

B-side

"Fight for It"

Released

September 1984 (1984-09)

Genre

Pop

Length

4:13

Label

Capitol

Songwriter(s)

Arthur Barrow
Joe Esposito
Richie Zito

Producer(s)

Diana Ross

Diana Ross singles chronology

"Swept Away"
(1984)

"Touch by Touch"
(1984)

"Missing You"
(1984)

"Touch by Touch" is a song by American singer Diana Ross from her fifteenth studio album Swept Away (1984). The song was written by Arthur Barrow, Joe Esposito and Richie Zito; Ross herself produced the record.

The song was released as a single in some countries, where it performed well on the charts. In Belgium, the Netherlands and Norway, the song entered the top ten, but in the United Kingdom it reached only the 47th position. In the US, the song was never released as a single. RCA, deciding which song to make a single, hesitated between "Touch by Touch" and "Telephone", but chose the latter.^[1]

Diana Ross performed the song at the 14th American Music Awards on January 27, 1987.

Critical reception

Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic called this song one of the best on the album.^[2] Paulette Weiss from Audio wrote: "'Touch by Touch' has some unique percussion work, with a slight Caribbean cast and a definite flair for the unusual synthesizer accent."^[3]

Track listing

7" single^[4]: A. "Touch by Touch" – 4:13; B. "Fight for It" (Ray Chew, Bill Wray, Diana Ross, Peppy Castro) – 4:09

12" single^[5]: A1. "Touch by Touch" (Extended Mix) – 5:35; B1. "Fight for It" – 4:09; B2. "Touch by Touch" (Instrumental) – 5:15

Charts

Weekly charts

Weekly chart performance for "Touch by Touch"
Chart (1984)	Peak position
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)^[6]	7
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)^[7]	10
Netherlands (Single Top 100)^[8]	18
Norway (VG-lista)^[9]	10
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)^[10]	11
UK Singles (OCC)^[11]	47
West Germany (Official German Charts)^[12]	49

Year-end charts

Year-end chart performance for "Touch by Touch"
Chart (1984)	Position
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)^[13]	71

References

^ Taraborrelli, J. Randy (2014). Diana Ross: A Biography. Citadel. ISBN 9780806537634.
^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Swept Away Review at AllMusic. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
^ Weiss, Paulette (January 1986). "Swept Away: Diana Ross" (PDF). Audio. Vol. 70, no. 1. pp. 129–130. ISSN 0004-752X. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 January 2023.
^ "Diana Ross – Touch By Touch (1984, Vinyl)". Discogs. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
^ "Diana Ross – Touch By Touch (1984, Vinyl)". Discogs. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
^ "Diana Ross – Touch by Touch" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Diana Ross" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
^ "Diana Ross – Touch by Touch" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
^ "Diana Ross – Touch by Touch". VG-lista. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
^ "Diana Ross – Touch by Touch". Singles Top 100. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Diana Ross – Touch by Touch" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved July 23, 2023.
^ "Jaaroverzichten 1984" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved July 23, 2023.