Supremes:

J5:

----

Motown was wrong for the J5's version. Getting a 15-year-old to sing about satisfying someone sexually. Must've been out their mind. That's why I prefer the Supremes, plus the J5's version sounded too fucking corny to me lol

Look, "boy".

Slow down, you gotta an old woman here!

I like the Supremes version more.

TD3 said:

Look, "boy".

Slow down, you gotta an old woman here!

I like the Supremes version more.

You're young at heart.

And @ you liking the Supremes' version more.

I love the '70s Supremes but I got to give this battle to Renee Geyer. The production by Frank Wilson is superb and Renee's vocal is above and beyond the rest IMHO.

[Edited 3/16/11 14:18pm]

Timmy84 said:

Supremes:

J5:

----

Motown was wrong for the J5's version. Getting a 15-year-old to sing about satisfying someone sexually. Must've been out their mind. That's why I prefer the Supremes, plus the J5's version sounded too fucking corny to me lol

True that! I remember when I first heard the J5 version I was like um...really? No one thought this was too mature for them back then? Whose crazy idea what that? I'm goin with the Supremes version.

What's the difference between the J5 singing this and other youth performed songs like Love Jones Let Me Be The One, or Iesha? Even I Want You Back and Who's Lovin' You weren't teenybop songs. There were teen singers like Etta James, Betty Wright, Shanice Wilson, Evelyn Champaign King, etc. who sang more adult material. Also Janet was doing a Mae West impersonation in Vegas and on TV at 6 or 7 years old. People don't complain about that. Many kids/teens started out performing in bars, clubs, or strip joints like The Beatles, Louis Armstrong, Michael Henderson, Jackson 5, Ray Parker Jr, Dorothy Dandridge, and Billie Holiday.

Timmy84 said:

Motown was wrong for the J5's version. Getting a 15-year-old to sing about satisfying someone sexually. Must've been out their mind. That's why I prefer the Supremes, plus the J5's version sounded too fucking corny to me lol

Michaelw as only 14, i agree it was too grown for him, i didn't know it was a cover son. I think he did well with it but i remember first hearing thinking that was too much for him. I;m still used to the J5 version more but the version by Renee is beautiful.

MickyDolenz said:

What's the difference between the J5 singing this and other youth performed songs like Love Jones Let Me Be The One, or Iesha? Even I Want You Back and Who's Lovin' You weren't teenybop songs. There were teen singers like Etta James, Betty Wright, Shanice Wilson, Evelyn Champaign King, etc. who sang more adult material. Also Janet was doing a Mae West impersonation in Vegas and on TV at 6 or 7 years old. People don't complain about that. Many kids/teens started out performing in bars, clubs, or strip joints like The Beatles, Louis Armstrong, Michael Henderson, Jackson 5, Ray Parker Jr, Dorothy Dandridge, and Billie Holiday.

It's just fucking surreal man. I guess when you wanna be taken seriously at fourteen, fifteen, you gotta do that shit. But I know Michael was personally bothered by it. Anyways, WHAT YOU preferred?

I'm with ya on this Timmy. Motown wasn't right for allowing a 15 year old kid talk about stuff like that. Just for that, I'd prefer The Supremes version because it's more mature sounding. If Mike was 18 when he sang this, then who knows, I might've liked it more.

Yeah plus the whole point about kid performers doing adult songs ain't nothing new but at least IWYB and IBT were age appropriate at least but at the same time appealed to everyone (ABC and TLYS also appealed to everyone). But I think someone like Betty Wright would've been more equipped at 17 to sing about "Pure Love" than Michael would've been singing "Touch" though both singers give you that feeling they've experienced it. It still sounds crazy that Motown execs were trying to speedy up his growth. Good thing they left the label when they did.

Timmy84 said:

Yeah plus the whole point about kid performers doing adult songs ain't nothing new but at least IWYB and IBT were age appropriate at least but at the same time appealed to everyone (ABC and TLYS also appealed to everyone). But I think someone like Betty Wright would've been more equipped at 17 to sing about "Pure Love" than Michael would've been singing "Touch" though both singers give you that feeling they've experienced it. It still sounds crazy that Motown execs were trying to speedy up his growth. Good thing they left the label when they did.

What about Janet doing Mae West? Mae was an adult oriented act in her day. I Want You Back might have related to Jackie, but I don't know about the others. Then there's kids on sitcoms like Bud & Kelly Bundy on Married ...With Children. Those characters are way beyond this song. I hear kids in the neighborhood saying a lot worse. I've never believed in the "children are innocent and pure" stuff. They weren't when I was one and going to school, and they're not now. The idea of "childhood" as being a time only to "run and play" is fairly recent and wasn't around centuries ago.

MickyDolenz said:

Timmy84 said:

Yeah plus the whole point about kid performers doing adult songs ain't nothing new but at least IWYB and IBT were age appropriate at least but at the same time appealed to everyone (ABC and TLYS also appealed to everyone). But I think someone like Betty Wright would've been more equipped at 17 to sing about "Pure Love" than Michael would've been singing "Touch" though both singers give you that feeling they've experienced it. It still sounds crazy that Motown execs were trying to speedy up his growth. Good thing they left the label when they did.

What about Janet doing Mae West? Mae was an adult oriented act in her day. I Want You Back might have related to Jackie, but I don't know about the others. Then there's kids on sitcoms like Bud & Kelly Bundy on Married ...With Children. Those characters are way beyond this song. I hear kids in the neighborhood saying a lot worse. I've never believed in the "children are innocent and pure" stuff. They weren't when I was one and going to school, and they're not now. The idea of "childhood" as being a time only to "run and play" is fairly recent and wasn't around centuries ago.

Mickey!!!

I asked you which version you prefer, not give me a history lesson.

um... the jackson 5 version in my opinion makes the supremes version sound g-rated. i have both albums, and i cannot listen to the J5 version at all. it's creepy. but in a funny way, i think THIS song is creepier:

why did they make him sing this stuff??!!

and no, i don't think if betty wright, little esther (williams), etta james, or even frankie lymon sang this song, it would sound as creepy as when michael sings it. it's just plain WRONG.

even michael singing 'find me a girl' on 'goin' places' sounds strange. i'm just sayin'.

[Edited 3/18/11 3:23am]

LoL what's up with the moral panic here

I guess there's a difference between Europe and US on how we judge these subjects lol...the legal age of concent in most European countries is 14-16.

Anyway, about the song...I like both of the versions actually. I think Jermaine and Michael offers good vocals although the corny factor is a bit higher than in The Supreme version.

manthevan said:

LoL what's up with the moral panic here

I guess there's a difference between Europe and US on how we judge these subjects lol...the legal age of concent in most European countries is 14-16.

Anyway, about the song...I like both of the versions actually. I think Jermaine and Michael offers good vocals although the corny factor is a bit higher than in The Supreme version.

it's not about the age of consent though... i know more than a few europeans who would not let something like this fly. it's more about familial values. in some states in the u.s. the age of consent is 15-16.

and as we can see in texas, people are defending the rape of an 11-YEAR OLD GIRL by saying she dressed much older than she was.

getting back to the subject... the song, it. just. sounds. creepy.

Timmy84 said:

Mickey!!!

I asked you which version you prefer, not give me a history lesson.

I wasn't the one who brought up the brothers (or at least Mike, who was singled out) were too young. I just pointed out that it wasn't anything unique to the J5 to sing songs of this nature and other teen singers performed the same type of songs.

MickyDolenz said:

Timmy84 said:

Mickey!!!

I asked you which version you prefer, not give me a history lesson.

I wasn't the one who brought up the brothers (or at least Mike, who was singled out) were too young. I just pointed out that it wasn't anything unique to the J5 to sing songs of this nature and other teen singers performed the same type of songs.

Micky, what are we gon' do with you?

ANYWAYS, back to what y'all prefer. Which version, folks?

I'm not about to let this go to Defcon 2. Best believe it.

[img:$uid]http://991.com/newGallery/The-Supremes-Touch-514526.jpg[/img:$uid]

The Supremes' version of "Touch" was one of the first times longtime Supremes member Mary Wilson sung lead on a Supremes single (though both Jean Terrell and Cindy Birdsong also had lead spots) and was also one of the first ones during the Frank Wilson era (1970-71) of the group's tenure to miss the Top 40. I think this was Frank's last album with the Supremes also.

The album also featured this big hit:

Bananarama later covered the song in 1988.