Touched by the Hand of God

"Touched by the Hand of God" was a single released by New Order on 7 June 1987. The song was originally recorded for the soundtrack to the film Salvation! and the version released as a single was remixed by Arthur Baker. The B-side was a dub remix, titled "Touched by the Hand of Dub", and the release had the catalogue number FAC 193; its production is credited to New Order.[2]

"Touched by the Hand of God"
Single by New Order
from the album Salvation!
Released7 June 1987
GenreAlternative dance, Hi-NRG, synthpop
Length3:42 (7"), 7:04 (12")
LabelFactory - FAC 193
Songwriter(s)Gillian Gilbert, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris, Bernard Sumner[1]
Producer(s)New Order
New Order singles chronology
"True Faith"
(1987)		 "Touched by the Hand of God"
(1987)		 "Blue Monday 1988"
(1988)

Although not a track taken from a studio album, "Touched by the Hand of God" appears on the 2008 Collector's Edition of New Order's album Brotherhood in its remix version, on the 1994 compilation The Best of New Order and in remixed form on 1995's The Rest of New Order. In the US, the song was released as the B-side to the group's following single "Blue Monday 1988", though it was billed as a double A-side on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play and Maxi-Singles charts.

Video

The video that accompanied the song was directed by Kathryn Bigelow, and parodied glam metal groups of the same period, with the band miming to the music while wearing long wigs and leather clothing. The video also contains a love scene that is intercut with the performance shots, and stars Femi Gardiner and Bill Paxton. The concept was proposed by manager Rob Gretton, and was inspired by the band having seen the clichés of then-popular videos on MTV while touring America. Bassist Peter Hook said in a 2000 interview that one of the bands that served as inspiration for the spoof video was Mötley Crüe, whose song “Girls, Girls, Girls” played in heavy rotation on MTV at the time.[3]

Track listings

All tracks are written by Gillian Gilbert, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris and Bernard Sumner; except where indicated.

7": FAC 193-7 (UK)
No.TitleLength
1."Touched by the Hand of God"3:47
2."Touched by the Hand of Dub"4:11
7": Qwest 7-27979 / Cassette: Qwest 4-27979 (US)
No.TitleLength
1."Blue Monday 1988" (single mix)4:10
2."Touched by the Hand of God" (single version)3:41
12": FAC 193 (UK)
No.TitleLength
1."Touched by the Hand of God"7:02
2."Touched by the Hand of Dub"5:30
12": Qwest 0-20869 (US)
No.TitleLength
1."Blue Monday 1988" (12" Mix)7:09
2."Blue Monday 1988" (Dub)7:16
3."Touched by the Hand of God" (Remix)7:02
4."Touched by the Hand of God" (Dub)5:30
CD: FACD 193 (UK)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Touched by the Hand of God" 7:02
2."Confusion Dub 1987"Arthur Baker, Gilbert, Hook, Morris, Sumner5:23
3."Temptation" (actually the 1987 recording but incorrectly labelled as the Original Mix) 7:00

Chart positions
Chart (1987-88) Peak
position
Australia ARIA Singles Chart[4] 15
German Media Control Singles Chart[5] 37
Irish Singles Chart[6] 10
Italian Singles Chart[7] 36
New Zealand RMNZ Singles Chart 5
Norway VG-lista Singles Chart[8] 10
UK Singles Chart[9] 20
UK Independent Singles Chart[10] 1
US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play 1 1
US Billboard Hot Dance Singles Sales 1 8

Notes:

  • 1 – Charted with "Blue Monday 1988"

References
  1. ASCAP entry
  2. "Factory Records: FAC 193". factoryrecords.org.
  3. "New Order Interview 1987".
  4. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970-1992. St Ives, NSW, Australia: Australian Chart Book. p. 215. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  5. "Charts Surfer - UK, German and French charts". charts-surfer.de. Retrieved 2008-09-03.
  6. "The Irish Charts". IRMA. Retrieved 2008-10-02.
  7. "Hit Parade Italia - Indice per Interprete: N". Hit Parade Italia. Retrieved July 6, 2012.
  8. New Order at VG-lista
  9. "The Official Charts Company - New Order". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2008-10-02.
  10. "Indie Hits "N"". Cherry Red Records. Archived from the original on 2011-06-06. Retrieved 2008-10-02.

Touched by the Hand of God official video on YouTube

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