Touch Me

by Donald A. Guarisco Gary Glitter's second album is a different beast from the retro-oriented Glitter: this time the material is predominately original and many of the tunes have a harder, funkier edge to them (example: "Come on, Come in, Get On" has enough distortion on it to qualify as heavy metal). The album's best songs are the ones that became big pop-chart hits in England: "Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)" is a surprisingly lusty mid-tempo slice of glam that was later successfully covered by Joan Jett and "Hello, Hello, I'm Back Again" combines a double-time beat with call and response vocal performance to create a truly infectious single. The album also features one of Glitter's best non-single tracks in "Sidewalk Sinner," a cult favorite that speeds up Glitter's traditional glam beat and adds some surprisingly funky rhythms into the mix. The problem with Touch Me is that the remainder of the album tracks aren't quite as solid as these highlights: "Come on, Come in, Get On" has an interesting sound but is lacking in strong hooks and the cover of Paul Anka's "Lonely Boy" is a little too campy for its own good. In the end, Touch Me lacks the strength or variety that would allow it to appeal to anyone beyond glam rock's cult audience but it contains enough solid songs to appeal to lovers of glam. The CD reissue of this album further sweetens the package by adding four non-album songs, including the English hit ballad "Oh Yes You're Beautiful."