Unlimited Touch
{{Short description|New York-based post-disco group}}
{{use mdy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox musical artist |
| name = Unlimited Touch
| image =
| caption =
| background = group_or_band
| alias =
| origin = New York, United States
| genre = Post-disco
| years_active = 1980–1981, 1983–1984
| instrument =
| label = Prelude
| past_members = Audrey Wheeler
Philip Hamilton
Tony Cintron
Sandy Anderson (deceased)
Stephanie James
Lenny Underwood
}}
Unlimited Touch was an American, New York–based disco and post-disco group, most active in the early 1980s.{{cite web|last=Kellman|first=Andy|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/unlimited-touch-mn0000222065/biography|title=Unlimited Touch - Music Biography|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=2013-03-28}} The group's most famous song in its short lifespan was "I Hear Music in the Streets", which made number 6 on US Dance chart in 1981.
Overview
The group consisted of Audrey Wheeler (lead singer), Philip Hamilton, Tony Cintron, Sandy Anderson, Stephanie James and Lenny Underwood.{{cite book|last1=Whitburn|first1=Joel|title=Joel Whitburn Presents Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles, 1942-2004|date=2004|publisher=Record Research Incorporated|location=University of California|isbn=9780898201604|page=598|edition=5th, illustrated}} Raymond Reid and William Anderson from New York–based band Crown Heights Affair instigated Unlimited Touch in the early 1980s, but they were not part of the band. The group was signed to Prelude Records (via Epic Records in the UK) and released their self-titled debut album in 1981.{{cite web|title=Unlimited Touch Albums and Discography|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/unlimited-touch-mn0000222065/discography|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=7 May 2022}} Charles Richards was the executive producer of the group. Lenny Underwood co-wrote "I Hear Music in the Streets" and "Searchin' to Find the One", which were minor hits in the US Billboard R&B chart.
Due to a label and group dispute, they disbanded by the end of 1981,{{cite web|url=http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/Unlimited%20Touch.html|title=Unlimited Touch Page|website=Soulwalking.co.uk|access-date=September 4, 2020}} but re-formed in 1983 with a new line-up of just three of the original members: Wheeler, Anderson, and James. They released a second album Yes We're Ready in 1983. Their final single "Reach Out (Everlasting Lover)" reached number 54 on the US Dance chart in 1984, but the group disbanded again not long after this. In 1993, Unidisc Music issued the Searching to Find the One compilation album.
In 1997, "I Hear Music in the Streets" was sampled by Rampage, along with Billie Lawrence on their song "Take It to the Streets".{{cite magazine|magazine=Billboard|title=Reviews & Previews: Singles|first=Larry|last=Flick|date=28 June 1997|page=75|volume=109|issue=26|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|issn=0006-2510}} The song has also been sampled by producer Sean Combs who sampled the bass guitar and drum breakdown for the Faith Evans song "All Night Long" in 1999.
On March 31, 2020, bassist Sandy Anderson died from the COVID-19 virus.{{cite magazine|last1=Kantor|first1=Justin|title=Sandy Anderson of 80s group Unlimited Touch dies from COVID-19 virus|url=https://www.soultracks.com/story-sandy-anderson-dies?fbclid=IwAR1OGUfxHlOrZo7zPZVeP424Oki8zg0vN5Kp0prtWlQ5dFgZQWe5E1qDqxo|magazine=SoulTracks|access-date=7 May 2022|date=March 31, 2020}}
Discography
=Studio albums=
=Compilation albums=
- Searching to Find the One (1993)
=Singles=
| class="wikitable" |
| scope="col" rowspan="2"| Year
! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Title ! scope="col" colspan="3"| Peak chart positions |
|---|
| style="width:45px;"|US Dance ! style="width:45px;"|US R&B ! style="width:45px;"|UK |
| rowspan="1"| 1980
| "I Hear Music in the Streets" | align=center | 6 | align=center | 33 | align=center | ― |
| rowspan="2"| 1981
| "Searching to Find the One" | align=center | — | align=center | 29 | align=center | 76 |
| "Love to Share"
| align=center | — | align=center | — | align=center | — |
| rowspan="3"| 1983
| "No One Can Love Me (Quite the Way You Do)" | align=center | — | align=center | — | align=center | — |
| "Happily Ever After"
| align=center | — | align=center | — | align=center | — |
| "Yes, I'm Ready"
| align=center | — | align=center | — | align=center | — |
| rowspan="1"| 1984
| "Reach Out (Everlasting Lover)" | align=center | 54 | align=center | — | align=center | — |
| colspan="5" style="text-align:center; font-size:9pt;"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. |
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.discogs.com/artist/29819-Unlimited-Touch Album and singles discography] at Discogs.
{{Authority control}}
Category:American post-disco music groups
Category:Musical groups established in 1980