The legendary ex-Motown group had left Buddah at the end of the '70s where they'd experienced phenomenal success and debuted for Columbia in 1980 with the album 'All About Love' (due to be reissued next month by Superbird), which yielded a top 3 US R&B single in the shape of 'Landlord.' As this splendid reissue reaffirms, 'Touch' was a strong follow-up that adhered to a similar stylistic blueprint as 'About Love' but sadly wasn't able to emulate the substantial commercial success of that album even though the three singles plucked from it –'I Will Fight,' and 'A Friend Old Mine' – made a respectable showing in the Stateside R&B lists.

With its infectious shuffle-style dance groove, Gladys' urgent vocal and a raspy sax solo, 'I Will Fight' made the strongest showing in the US charts, peaking at #21 R&B. 'If That'll Make You Happy' didn't fare as well it just scraped into the Top 40 – but nevertheless it's an elegant mid-tempo romantic ballad with a poignant storyline that Gladys injects drama and pathos into with her majestic voice, which is counterpointed by some slick antiphonal harmonies by The Pips. Another strong number is the delightfully infectious 'Baby, Baby Don't Waste My Time,' which is directly aimed at the dance floor and rides on a propulsive rhythm track. The group's gospel origins are reflected in the rousing inspirational song, 'God Is,' while the last cut, 'I Will Survive,' is a Gladys-esque revamp of Gloria Gaynor's disco anthem rendered as a torchy ballad (a la the group's deconstruction of 'The Way We Were') that mutates into a glitter ball romp. Fantastic stuff!