Touch and Go (The Cars song)

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"Touch and Go"
Single by the Cars
from the album Panorama
B-side"Down Boys"
ReleasedAugust 25, 1980 (1980-08-25)
Recorded1980
Genre
Length4:55 (album version)
3:41 (single version)
LabelElektra 47039
Songwriter(s)Ric Ocasek
Producer(s)Roy Thomas Baker
The Cars singles chronology
"Double Life"
(1979) 		"Touch and Go"
(1980) 		"Don't Tell Me No"
(1980)
Panorama track listing
10 tracks
Side one
  1. "Panorama"
  2. "Touch and Go"
  3. "Gimme Some Slack"
  4. "Don't Tell Me No"
  5. "Getting Through"
Side two
  2. "Misfit Kid"
  3. "Down Boys"
  4. "You Wear Those Eyes"
  5. "Running To You"
  6. "Up and Down"

"Touch and Go" is a song by American rock band the Cars from their 1980 album Panorama. The song was written and sung by bandleader Ric Ocasek.

Composition[edit]

The song's verses feature the use of polymeter. The bass and drums are playing in a time signature of 5
4, while the vocals, keyboards, and guitar are playing in 4
4.[1] The guitar solo was played over music similar to the chorus, but with some sections extended to give Elliot Easton more measures on the chords E minor, F major, and G major, to build his flashy, melodic solo which resolves to a C major seventh chord.

Easton said of his solo on the song, "That solo on 'Touch And Go,' I worked on in my hotel room while we worked on other parts. So, I came in with it already written and just recorded it."[2]

Release[edit]

"Touch and Go" was released as the debut single from Panorama. It reached number 37 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1980, making it the highest charting American single from Panorama.[3] Its follow-up singles, "Don't Tell Me No" and "Gimme Some Slack" failed to chart.

"Touch and Go" has consistently appeared on many of the Cars' compilation albums, including Greatest Hits, Just What I Needed: The Cars Anthology, Complete Greatest Hits, Shake It Up & Other Hits, and The Essentials. Aside from Just What I Needed: The Cars Anthology, it is the only track from Panorama to appear on said albums.

Reception[edit]

"Touch and Go" has generally received positive reception from music critics. Billboard said that "After the jerky introduction a fluent slight '50-ish melody takes over", that it has "a strangely appealing change in rhythm midway through the song" and also praised the bass playing.[4] Record World called it an "oddly affecting rocker [with] arty vocals delivering an effective hook between sharp rhythm shifts."[5] AllMusic critic Greg Prato said the song was a standout on Panorama "which merges off-time keyboard flourishes with some great textural guitar work by Elliot Easton."[3] Donald Guarisco, also of AllMusic, described the track as "a surprisingly straightforward ballad that became a minor hit for the group", also stating, "the melody is appropriately moody, consisting of attractive verses that hypnotically ebb and flow, a constantly ascending pre-chorus bridge that builds tension and a gorgeous call-and-response chorus that releases that tension", concluding that the song was "a sleek tune perfect for the car radio."[6] Music critic Robert Christgau said that the song was one of the peaks of Panorama.[7]

John Lennon's opinion[edit]

Former Beatle John Lennon mentioned the song in his final interview on 8 December 1980, praising it for its 1950s sound and comparing it with his current record at the time, "(Just Like) Starting Over." He said, "I think the Cars' 'Touch and Go' is right out of the fifties 'Oh, oh...' A lot of it is fifties stuff. But with eighties styling, but, but... and that's what I think 'Starting Over' is; it's a fifties song made with an eighties approach."[8][9]

Charts[edit]

Chart performance for "Touch and Go"
Chart (1980) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[10] 62
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[11] 16
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[12] 42
US Billboard Hot 100[13] 37
US Cash Box Top 100 Singles[14] 38

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Polymeter/Polyrhythm". Guitar Alliance. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
  2. ^ Matera, Joe (8 May 2022). "The Cars' 'Panorama': How daring sonic left turn led to avant-pop excellence". Goldmine Magazine: Record Collector & Music Memorabilia.
  3. ^ a b Prato, Greg. "Panorama". allmusic.com.
  4. ^ "Top Single Picks". Billboard. September 6, 1980. p. 73. Retrieved 2023-01-21.
  5. ^ "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. September 6, 1980. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-02-07.
  6. ^ Guarisco, Donald. "Touch and Go". allmusic.com.
  7. ^ Christgau, Robert. "The Cars". www.robertchristgau.com.
  8. ^ Sholin, Dave; Kaye, Laurie (December 21, 2013). "John Lennon's last interview, December 8, 1980". Beatles Archive. Retrieved April 17, 2015.
  9. ^ McMahon, James (September 18, 2019). "The Cars' 10 Best Songs". NME. Retrieved September 19, 2019.
  10. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  11. ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 4701a." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved October 17, 2016.
  12. ^ "The Cars – Touch and Go". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
  13. ^ "The Cars Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
  14. ^ "Cash Box Top 100 Singles – Week ending October 25, 1980". Cash Box. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
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