1987 Earth, Wind & Fire – Touch The World
Touch the World is the fourteenth studio album by Earth, Wind & Fire, produced by the band’s leader Maurice White for Kalimba Productions, and released in 1987 on Columbia Records. Touch the World has been certified gold in the US for sales of over 500,000 copies by the RIAA. Touch The World also marked the debut of former Commodores guitarist Sheldon Reynolds to the lineup.
Spawned from the album, the singles “System of Survival” and “Thinking of You” both went to number 1 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play charts and System of Survival went to number one on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks while Thinking Of You went to number three. Touch the World was nominated for a Soul Train Award in the category of Best R&B/Soul Album of the Year.
Tracks
1 System Of Survival (Skylark) 5:00
2 Evil Roy (Philip Bailey, Attala Zane Giles, Allee Willis) 4:52
3 Thinking Of You (Wayne Vaughn, Wanda Vaughn, Maurice White) 4:41
4 You And I (Mark Mueller, Robbie Nevil) 4:03
5 Musical Interlude: New Horizons (Bill Meyers) 2:01
6 Money Tight (Danny Sembello, Maurice White, Allee Willis) 4:37
7 Every Now And Then (Jon Lind, Brock Walsh) 4:22
8 Touch The World (Oliver W Wells) 5:16
9 Here Today And Gone Tomorrow (Philip Bailey, Marti Sharron, Glen Ballard) 3:59
10 Victim Of The Modern Heart (Ian Prince) 3:48
Biography
Musicians
1 System Of Survival
| Drums (programming) | Skylark |
| Drums (programming) | Preston Glass |
| Guitar | Preston Glass |
| Synthesizer | Skylark |
| Synthesizer | Preston Glass |
| Horns | Wayne Wallace |
| Sax | Marc Russo |
| Trumpet | Jerry Hey |
| Trumpet | Gary Grant |
| Vocoder | Maurice White |
| Background Vocals | Skylark |
| Vocals | Maurice White |
| Vocals | Phillip Bailey |
2 Evil Roy
| Drums (programming) | Attala Zane Gilles |
| Guitar | Attala Zane Gilles |
| Guitar | Sheldon Reynolds |
| Programming | Rhett Lawrence |
| Background Vocals | Attala Zane Gilles |
| Background Vocals | Wayne Vaughn |
| Vocals | Maurice White |
| Vocals | Phillip Bailey |
3 Thinking Of You
| Guitar | Ray Fuller |
| Synthesizer | Rhett Lawrence |
| Programming | Rhett Lawrence |
| Background Vocals | Jeanette Williams |
| Background Vocals | Wanda Vaughn |
| Background Vocals | Phillip Bailey |
| Vocals | Maurice White |
4 You And I
| Bass | Nathan East |
| Drums | Jeffrey Porcaro |
| Guitar | Paul Jackson Jr |
| Piano | Bill Meyers |
| Programming | Larry Williams |
| Programming | Rhett Lawrence |
| Background Vocals | Maurice White |
| Vocals | Phillip Bailey |
5 Musical Interlude: New Horizons
| Drums (programming) | Bill Meyers |
| Drums (programming) | Dan De Souza |
| Keyboards | Bill Meyers |
| Keyboards | Dan De Souza |
| Synthesizer | Bill Meyers |
| Synthesizer | Dan De Souza |
| Sax | Andrew Woolfolk |
6 Money Tight
| Drums | Ricky Lawson |
| Drums (programming) | Daniel Sembello |
| Guitar | Sheldon Reynolds |
| Keyboards | Steve Lindsey |
| Synthesizer | Daniel Sembello |
| Sax | Dan Higgins |
| Trombone | Bill Reichenbach |
| Trumpet | Jerry Hey |
| Trumpet | Gary Grant |
| Background Vocals | Phillip Bailey |
| Vocals | Maurice White |
7 Every Now And Then
| Bass | Nathan East |
| Drums | Jeffrey Porcaro |
| Guitar | Paul Jackson Jr |
| Keyboards | Larry Williams |
| Piano | Bill Meyers |
| Synthesizer | Rhett Lawrence |
| Programming | Larry Williams |
| Programming | Rhett Lawrence |
| Background Vocals | Phillip Bailey |
| Vocals | Maurice White |
8 Touch The World
| Bass | Nathan East |
| Drums | Ricky Lawson |
| Guitar | Sheldon Reynolds |
| Synthesizer | Rhett Lawrence |
| Piano | George Duke |
| Programming | Rhett Lawrence |
| Background Vocals | Edwin Hawkins |
| Background Vocals | Lynette Hawkins |
| Background Vocals | Walter Hawkins |
| Vocals | Maurice White |
| Vocals | Phillip Bailey |
9 Here Today And Gone Tomorrow
| Bass | Nathan East |
| Drums | Ricky Lawson |
| Guitar | Sheldon Reynolds |
| Piano | George Duke |
| Synthesizer | Rhett Lawrence |
| Programming | Rhett Lawrence |
| Background Vocals | Maurice White |
| Vocals | Phillip Bailey |
10 Victim Of The Modern Heart
| Drums (programming) | Ian Prince |
| Guitar | Sheldon Reynolds |
| Synthesizer | Ian Prince |
| Sax | Dan Higgins |
| Trombone | Bill Reichenbach |
| Trumpet | Gary Grant |
| Trumpet | Jerry Hey |
| Background Vocals | Phillip Bailey |
| Vocals | Maurice White |
Liner Notes
Producer – Maurice White (Tracks 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
Producer – Preston Glass (Track 1)
Producer – Bill Meyers (Track 5)
Co-producer – Philip Bailey (Tracks 2, 8, 9)
Co-producer – Wayne Vaughn (Track 3)
Arranged By – Jerry Hey (Tracks 1, 6, 10)
Arranged By – Attala Zane Giles (Track 2)
Arranged By – Maurice White (Tracks 3, 10)
Arranged By – Bill Meyers (Tracks 4, 5, 7)
Arranged By – Oliver Wells (Tracks 8, 9)
Arranged By – George Duke (Track 9)
Arranged By – Philip Bailey (Track 9)
Arranged By – Ian Prince (Track 10)
Art Direction – Tony Lane, Nancy Donald
Photography – Max Aguilera Hellweg
Mixed At Larrabee Sound Studios
Mixed At Lighthouse Studios
Recorded At Studio Ultimo
Recorded At Studio D
Recorded At Different Fur Studios
Recorded At Soundcastle
Phonographic Copyright CBS Inc
Copyright CBS Inc