Song – “Touch My Hand”
Artist – David Archuleta
Album – David Archuleta
Season – 7th
Place – 2nd
This week I was trying to decide between a few different songs, and then earlier in the week, I saw MJ’s post about David leaving on his LDS mission. I figured since we might not hear from Archie for two years, I could pick a David song for this week.
For all of you who will miss David while he’s gone, don’t worry. I actually live in Utah as well, and I’m around the same age as David. I’m used to all of my friends leaving on their Mormon missions. It’ll surprise everyone how fast time flies, and I doubt David has any plan on leaving the entertainment industry upon his return.
As far as David and Idol go, let me say this: Season 7 was hands down, my favorite season. It was filled with all my favorite Idols, and they’re still the ones I follow the closest today. Now, because I’m from Utah, of course I was cheering on our hometown kid, Archie, the whole season. This led to my utter disdain for David Cook. Haha. No worries though, eventually I grew out of the hatred, and am a HUGE Cook fan now as well.
Anyway, David ended his season as the runner-up, but he still got a sweet contract with Jive. They released “Crush,” and it seemed like David was on the road to become the next big tween pop star (think Bieber). It shot up to number two on the Billboard Hot 100, (I was SO HAPPY THAT DAY!) and the album had solid sales numbers.
Now let’s discuss “Touch My Hand.” I remember thinking after “Crush” had really hit its peak, “The whole key to David continuing his success is not to be a one-hit wonder.” I had listened to the CD time and time again, and just KNEW “Touch My Hand” would be the next single. It was my favorite track on the album by a mile, and all my friends (non-idol viewers) would specifically single the song out as their favorite. Is it filled with corny lyrics? Sure. Is the title ridiculous? Sure. But has that stopped any other pop star these days from dominating the charts?!
“Touch My Hand” is a perfect pop tune, and I think would have done really well on radio at the time. Especially with the roll David was on. Just as I predicted, word on the street was that Jive had chosen the song as the next single. I was so glad with the direction they were moving. But my excitement was met quickly with disappointment. At the last minute, the single was switched, and “A Little Too Not Over You” was sent to radio instead.
It was from that moment on, I knew David was in trouble. And I was right. “A Little Too Not Over You” never picked up steam and was a flop. Afterwards, they half-heartedly attempted to release “Touch My Hand” as a third single, but it never got any radio ads or push from the label. The only thing that resulted was a horrendous performance of the song on Idol during Season 8.
So after his debut, Archie wasted his time with Christmas CD’s and a sophomore album that was a huge disappointment. At that point, I don’t think the label or Archie believed in the material. Nothing resulted out of that album or any of the “singles” that were released.
So now we have David where he is in his career today. As I’m a HUGE fan of David, it’s not my intention to bash all the moves in his career, but I think it was the decision to switch the single at the last minute that really hindered David. If he could’ve had just a few more successful songs, he might’ve retained more respect and hung in the industry a little longer (think Jordin Sparks).
Regardless, I think Archie has come to terms with the direction his career and life have taken. It’s my opinion that after experiencing the lackluster sales of pretty much anything after his debut album, David really matured. It made him grow up a little and realize how important other things (like his faith) were to him. So if nothing else, at least Archie’s got a good head on him. And this song is still great to jam out to in the car any day of the week.
Please Tweet me and/or follow me for suggestions on song of the week. Thanks!
