"Invisible Touch" is the title track of the 1986 Genesis
album of the same name. It is their most successful single of
all time and was the band's first (and, to date, only)
number-one single in the United States. It marked the first
instance of a group following an individual band member to the
top of the chart. Prior to this song, Phil Collins had notched
the first four of his seven U.S. number-one solo singles. It
went to number four in Canada, but only reached number 15 in
the United Kingdom. It is a meditation on intangibility,
speaking of a woman whose qualities go beyond what only meets
the eye.
Its B-side is the second part of "Domino", titled "The Last
Domino".
The song came about during a jam for the second parts of
another album tracks "Domino/The Last Domino," Mike apparently
playing a riff while Phil improvises the line "She seems to
have an invisible touch". It was recorded at the band's studio
Fisher Lane Farm during 1985 and 1986.
"Invisible Touch" was bumped out of the number one position
on the Billboard Hot 100 by "Sledgehammer", performed by the
former lead singer of Genesis, Peter Gabriel.
A live version appears on their albums
The Way We Walk, Volume One: The Shorts, and
Live over Europe 2007. As well as on their DVD's Genesis
Live at Wembley Stadium, The Way We Walk - Live in Concert and
When in Rome 2007.
"Invisible Touch" was performed during the
Invisible Touch,
We Can't Dance,
Calling All Stations(with Ray Wilson on vocals) and
Turn It On Againtours. On later tours the song segued
from "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" albeit transposed down a key
to account for the deepening of Phil Collins's voice over the
years. During the latest tour, the song was the finale
featuring fireworks going off as the song ended.
Genesis Live - Invisible Touchwas a single by Genesis,
released on limited edition 7" and CD near the end of their
1991-1992 world tour in support of
We Can't Dance. Both formats were numbered and came with
a booklet; the CD was housed in a box and the vinyl edition in
a gatefold sleeve.
The A-side was recorded during this tour, and is the same
version found on the accompanying live album
The Shortsbut for some minor edits. The B-sides "Abacab"
and "The Brazilian" come from the
Invisible Touch Tourvideo.
The 7" featured an edited version of "Abacab" (it faded out)
while the CD included whole versions of both songs.
Like the albums
The Shortsand
The Longs, and the home video
The Way We Walk - In Concert, the title of the record
was prefixed by "Genesis Live", with "(Live)" appearing as a
suffix on the back sleeve and on the disc itself.
During live performances of "Invisible Touch" Phil Collins
substituted the line
"And though she will mess up your life"with
"And though she will fuck up your life". Consequently
the swear word was bleeped out on the single.
Unlike the original recording of the song, this live version
was a Top 10 hit in the UK, reaching number seven. In one of
the interview sections on the
Way We Walk - Live in ConcertDVD, Phil Collins jokes
about re-releasing the song until it finally becomes a hit.