"Human Touch" is a song recorded by the American rock singer

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...

. It was the first

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from his 1992 album of the same name and was released on March 9, 1992. The song features future ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to A ...

'' judge

Randy Jackson Randall Darius Jackson (born June 23, 1956) is an American record executive and television presenter, perhaps best known as a judge on ''American Idol'' from 2002 to 2013. Jackson began his career in the 1980s as a session musician playing bas ...

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and s ...

and

Toto Toto may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters Pets * Toto (Oz), Toto (''Oz''), a dog in the novel and film ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' * Toto, in Japanese ''The Cat Returns#Plot, The Cat Returns'' Characters of agency * a ...

Jeff Porcaro Jeffrey Thomas Porcaro (; April 1, 1954 – August 5, 1992) was an American drummer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his work with the rock band Toto but is one of the most recorded session musicians in history, working on ...

on drums. It is sometimes played by Springsteen and the E Street Band in concert despite their having been dismissed at the time of the original recording. The song reached number one in Denmark, Italy, Norway, and Spain and was a top-10 hit in several other countries, including Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland. In the United States, the song reached number 16 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100—charting as a

double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

with "Better Days"—and topped the

Album Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in Ma ...

chart for three weeks. "Human Touch" was nominated for Best Rock Song at the

1993 Grammy Awards The 35th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 24, 1993 and recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. The nominations were announced on January 7, 1993. The evening's host was the American stand-up comedian Garry Shand ...

. The music video, directed by

Meiert Avis Meiert Avis is an Irish music video and commercial director. Avis has directed videos for artists such as Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, U2, Avril Lavigne, Paramore, Alanis Morissette, Flyleaf, Jennifer Lopez, New Found Glory and Josh Gro ...

, received an

MTV Video Music Awards The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honour the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category ...

nomination for

Best Male Video The MTV Video Music Award for Best Male Video was one of four original general awards that have been handed out every year since the first MTV Video Music Awards in 1984. In 2007, though, the award was briefly renamed Male Artist of the Year, and ...

Track listings

CD maxi # "Human Touch" – 6:28 # "Souls of the Departed" – 4:16 # "Long Goodbye" – 3:26 7-inch vinyl # "Human Touch" – 6:28 # "Souls of the Departed" – 4:16

Personnel

According to authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon: *

– vocals, guitar *

– bass *

– drums, tambourine *

Roy Bittan Roy J. Bittan (born July 2, 1949) is an American musician best known as a long-time member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. Nicknamed "The Professor", Bittan joined the E Street Band in 1974. He plays the piano, organ, accordion and synth ...

– keyboards *

Patti Scialfa Vivienne Patricia Scialfa ( ; born July 29, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. Scialfa has been a member of the E Street Band since 1984 and has been married to Bruce Springsteen since 1991. In 2014, Scialfa was inducted into ...

– backing vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1992 singles 1992 songs Bruce Springsteen songs Columbia Records singles Music videos directed by Meiert Avis Number-one singles in Denmark Number-one singles in Italy Number-one singles in Norway Number-one singles in Spain Song recordings produced by Bruce Springsteen Song recordings produced by Chuck Plotkin Song recordings produced by Jon Landau Songs written by Bruce Springsteen