"Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)" is the debut solo single of singer

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born Diane Ernestine Earle Ross March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. Known as the "Queen of Motown Records", she was the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown#Major divisions, Motown's most suc ...

, released in April 1970 as the first single from her solo self-titled debut 1970 album by

Motown Records Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

Background

Diana Ross, having just left

The Supremes The Supremes were an American girl group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959 as the Primettes. A premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful Amer ...

after a decade of serving as that group's lead singer, went through a difficult situation trying to piece a solo album together. With Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson writing and producing for her, and

Paul Riser Paul Riser (born September 11, 1943) is an American trombonist and Motown musical arranger who was responsible for co-writing and arranging dozens of top ten hit records. His legacy as one of the " Funk Brothers" is similar to that of most of ...

arranging, Ross recorded "Reach Out and Touch", which carried a heavy

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

influence, and was one of the few songs the singer recorded to express her social conscience, previously experimented with Supremes singles such as " Love Child" and "

I'm Livin' in Shame I Am or I'm may refer to: Language and literature * "I Am that I Am", a common English translation of the response God used in the Hebrew Bible when Moses asked for His name ** I am (biblical term), a Christian term used in the Bible * "I Am" ( ...

". While the song's initial success fell short of expectations, "Reach Out and Touch" became one of Ross' most popular and notable songs. During her concert performances of the song, Ross often had the whole crowd turn to their neighbors, and "reach out and touch" their hands. Ross also performed this song as the finale for the Nobel Peace Prize Concert held in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

, Norway, in 2008.

Reception

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' said that "Diana Ross takes hold of a slow blues-waltz message ballad and turns it into something all her own," and praised the vocal performance and the production. ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' reviewed the single, saying that "Diana Ross is great on her own."

Personnel

* Lead vocals by Diana Ross. * Background vocals by Ashford & Simpson. * Instrumentation by

the Funk Brothers The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972. Its members are considered among the most successful groups of stud ...

. * Written and produced by Ashford & Simpson.

Chart history

"Reach Out and Touch" peaked at number 20 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, number 10 on the ''

'' Top 100, and number 7 on the R&B charts with 500,000 copies sold. It was also a hit in the United Kingdom, making number 33 on the UK Singles Chart in August 1970.

The Supremes & The Four Tops version

In 1970, the same year that Ross released "Reach Out and Touch" as her first solo single, the song was also covered by the group that she had just left at the start of that year, The Supremes (now fronted by

Jean Terrell Velma Jean Terrell (born November 26, 1945) is an American R&B and jazz singer. She replaced Diana Ross as the lead singer of The Supremes in 1970. Biography Early life and career Terrell was born on 26 November 1945 in Belzoni, Mississippi. S ...

, along with other members Mary Wilson and

Cindy Birdsong Cynthia Ann Birdsong (born December 15, 1939) is an American singer who became famous as a member of The Supremes in 1967, when she replaced co-founding member Florence Ballard. Birdsong had previously been a member of Patti LaBelle & The Blue ...

). The Supremes' version was a duet with fellow Motown Records artists

The Four Tops ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

on the two group's joint album ''

The Magnificent Seven ''The Magnificent Seven'' is a 1960 American Western film directed by John Sturges. The screenplay, credited to William Roberts, is a remake – in an Old West-style – of Akira Kurosawa's 1954 Japanese film '' Seven Samurai'' (itself init ...

'' released by Motown toward the end of 1970. In one of her autobiographies, Mary Wilson mentioned that some fans at the post-Ross Supremes concerts used to call out requesting that The Supremes would sing this record live, as some fans erroneously recalled that it had been The Supremes' version, and not Ross's, that had charted as a hit ''Billboard'' single in early 1970.

In popular culture

* On Saturday, July 28, 1984, Vicki McClure sang "Reach Out and Touch" before an estimated TV audience of 2.5 billion people during the Opening Ceremonies of the

1984 Summer Olympic Games The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

held in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, CA. * Ashford & Simpson performed the song with

Teddy Pendergrass Theodore DeReese Pendergrass (March 26, 1950 – January 13, 2010) was an American Soul music, soul and R&B singer and songwriter. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Pendergrass lived most of his life in the Philadelphia area, and initial ...

in the

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

portion of

Live Aid Live Aid was a two-venue benefit concert and music-based fundraising initiative held on Saturday, 13 July 1985. The event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia, a m ...

in 1985. In 2005, Ross performed the song in the closing of Tsunami Aid: A Concert of Hope. * Gospel artist

CeCe Winans Priscilla Marie Love, known professionally by her stage name as CeCe Winans, (born October 8, 1964) is an American gospel singer who has garnered 17 Grammy Awards, the most for any female gospel singer; 33 GMA Dove Awards, 19 Stellar Awards, ...

sang "Reach Out and Touch" on Memorial Day in Washington, DC in 2007. *This song is one of the six most common used in the grand finale medley of the Woolworths Carols in the Domain concerts in Australia since 1982/83. * The 4th episode of series 18 of

Spitting Image ''Spitting Image'' is a British satirical television puppet show, created by Peter Fluck, Roger Law and Martin Lambie-Nairn. First broadcast in 1984, the series was produced by 'Spitting Image Productions' for Central Independent Television ...

features Princess Diana of Wales singing a variation of the song entitled "Reach Out and Touch (Anybody's Hand)", satirizing her attempts to stay in the public's good favor following her divorce from

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

. (Still known as

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

at the time)

References

External links

List of cover versions of ”Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)”
at SecondHandSongs.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Reach Out And Touch (Somebody's Hand) 1970 debut singles Diana Ross songs Motown singles Songs written by Valerie Simpson Songs written by Nickolas Ashford Song recordings produced by Ashford & Simpson 1970 songs