LP Review: Touch the World
Released: 1987
LP Charts: #3 R&B, #33 pop
After the abominable Electric Universe (D), Earth, Wind & Fire spent four years apart with lead singers Maurice White and Philip Bailey doing some solo projects. Finally in 1987 the band got back together. Well, the remnants of the band. Turns out White and Bailey were basically the only musicians from the classic band to grace this album. Besides them, only saxophonist Andrew Woolfolk makes a return… and that was just on one track, “New Horizons (Musical Interlude)”.
Close EWF associates Wanda Vaughn of the Emotions and her husband Wayne Vaughn do appear on a few tracks, though.
With so little of the old band here, naturally White and Bailey brought in some well-known El Lay cats to play and co-produce on Touch the World.
Guests on Touch the World
Skylark—drum programming, synthesizers
Jeff Porcaro—drums
Paul Jackson—guitar
Nahtan East—bass
George Duke—piano
The Hawkins Singers—background vocals
The end result is fine. EWF certainly doesn’t sound embarrassing like they had on Electric Universe. I also think the musical scene in 1987 was better than it was in late 1983 and 1984. It was more forgiving of live instruments again, but also had fully incorporated the sparse programmed funk of Prince and Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis.
Look no further for this than the album opener penned by Skylark, “System of Survival” (#1 R&B, #1 dance, #60 pop). It’s far and away the best song on this album with a contemporary production style that was still limber. Furthermore, the message of the song fits right in with EWF’s ethos. I will admit the tone is a bit darker than their normal selves with an audio intro that has clips of late-80s America in despair.
Then come the lyrics:
A city night
I walk the street in fear
While politicians brag about
A paperwork solution, ow
Another life
I shed another tear
I'm waiting for somebody new
To lead the revolution
So I dance
Of course EWF’s solution to problems is dancing. It’s always dancing (or perhaps mysticism). Fortunately the song has a righteous groove to dance to since there is a vivacious saxophone and Prince-adjacent drumming.
Allee Willis—co-writer of large portions of the I Am (B) album—helps co-author “Evil Roy” (#22 R&B), which is another delightfully funky song that tackles the ills of society. This song is even more despondent than “System of Survival”:
Well can't you see that your way
Is going nowhere fast?
And your time is just running out?
And fighting fire with fire
It will never pass
If evil's what your life's about
But it does have kalimba! And some funky Minneapolis Funk rhythm guitar.
The Other Slightly Memorable Songs
“Touch the World” shouldn’t even be credited to Earth, Wind & Fire since the Hawkins Singers do most of the vocal work and as we’ve seen the band on this album was a bunch of studio musicians, not EWF. Anyways, this gospel song could have been a classic, if it were given proper instrumentation. The 80s drums aren’t too oppressive and the bass is pretty good, but the cheesy keyboards should have been ditched in favor of a Stax soul arrangement.
“Thinking Of You” (#3 R&B, #1 dance, #67 pop) is catchy pop-soul, but is hampered by late-80s production. It’s not bad at all, but you can tell this song woulda been much better if it had come along even five years earlier.
“Money Tight” is satisfactory lite funk. “Victim of the Modern Heart” is a little tougher, but ends up with about the same amount of listening pleasure. “Here Today and Gone Tomorrow” is an affectionate, if depressing love song. Constantly reminding your love that we could all die at any moment isn’t lighting any fires in the bed sheets.
The Rest
“You And I” (#29 R&B) is a sparse ballad and NOT a remake of the 1979 song with the same name from I Am. The one from I Am is really good. Go back and listen to that. “Every Now and Then” is another sparse ballad, but pretty limp.
ALBUM GRADE: C+
A weak C+, but I’ll be nice since EWF showed some life after their four-year hiatus following the disastrous Electric Universe. No more grading on a curve though for future albums.
Song Scores
System of Survival: 7.5/10
Evil Roy: 7/10
Thinking Of You: 6.5/10
You And I: 5/10
Money Tight: 6/10
Every Now and Then: 4/10
Touch the World: 7/10
Here Today and Gone Tomorrow: 6/10
Victim of the Modern Heart: 6.5/10