I Touch Myself

"I Touch Myself"
Single by Divinyls
from the album Divinyls
Released	1991
Format	CD single, cassette single, 7" single, 12" single
Recorded	1990
Genre	Pop/Rock
Length	3:44
Label	Virgin Records
Writer(s)	Christina Amphlett, Tom Kelly, Mark McEntee, Billy Steinberg
Producer	Christina Amphlett, David Tickle, Mark McEntee
Certification	Platinum (ARIA)
Divinyls singles chronology
"Punxsie" (1988) "I Touch Myself" (1991) "Love School" (1991)

"I Touch Myself" is a 1991 pop rock song written by Christina Amphlett, Tom Kelly, Billy Steinberg and Mark McEntee for Australian rock band Divinyls' self-titled album.

Composition and recording

Divinyls recorded "I Touch Myself" for the first single from their fifth album, Divinyls. Christina Amphlett and Mark McEntee wrote the song with the songwriting team of Tom Kelly and Billy Steinberg (who have written songs such as "I'll Stand by You," "Like a Virgin," "Eternal Flame," "True Colors" and "So Emotional"). Billy Steinberg had "I Touch Myself" in his notebook; he'd written the first verse and the chorus lyric. Amphlett liked it immediately. The next day, McEntee, Steinberg, Kelly, and Amphlett got together and wrote the rest, an unusual move as Steinberg and Kelly rarely collaborated with others.

Putting the song together took a lot of trial and error. It was recorded to two inch tape, making it difficult to edit. After significant experimentation they came up with an unusual structure with the bridge placed after the first chorus.^[1]

Promotion and chart performance

In Australia "I Touch Myself" was released as a CD single in December 1990 and debuted at number thirty-one later that month. After five weeks of being in the chart the song jumped to number-one knocking Vanilla Ice's debut single "Ice Ice Baby" off the top spot and stayed there for another week. It debuted on the UK Singles Chart at position sixty-nine and on its eighth week it peaked at number ten (its peak position in the UK) and spent a total of twelve weeks in the chart. When released in the United States, the song caused a minor controversy. However, it managed to reach the top five of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at number four, and peaked at number two on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, after receiving extensive play on modern rock radio, which was more accepting of the song's crude nature.

In popular culture

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (September 2008)

In an episode of SNL in 1991, Mike Myers and Dana Carvey sang the chorus to the song in their Wayne's World sketch, replacing the words "When I think about you" to "When I think Kim Basinger" when they reveal that she made their "Top 10 Babes List of 1991".

The song was used in the 1997 movie; Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, in the scene when Austin slays the Fem-Bots with his Mojo.

The song is mentioned in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Lie to Me".

As of December 2006 & January 2007, it is the theme song for Conan O'Brien's "Horny Manatee."

In one of the episodes of the sitcom Friends, a member of the audience of Mike's Piano Bar sings the song. Although we don't see the character singing in the episode, several jokes are made about his choice.

In the show Robot Chicken, a man in heaven asks a book that will answer any of his questions, "How many times have I listened to 'I Touch Myself' by the Divinyls?" The book answers, "106", though the man swears he heard it more.

The song appears (In Karaoke form) in the film Good Luck Chuck.

When Paul Reubens, famously known as "Pee-Wee Herman," was arrested for masturbating publicly in an adult theater back in 1991, Radio Personality Kevin Matthews made a cover of this song with a "Pee Wee Herman" impression, and the song had alternative lyrics that referred to Reubens' arrest.

Cover versions

The cover of Tiffani Wood's 2006 version.

In 2000, the Industrial metal band Genitorturers released their album Machine Love which included a cover version of "I Touch Myself", with slightly altered lyrics, making the singer the dominant party in the song, rather than submissive. It is often mistaken to be a Jack Off Jill cover.

Rolf Harris performed a tongue-in-cheek version, accompanied only by his wobble board and asides full of innuendo, for Andrew Denton's Musical Challenge on the MMM Breakfast Show. This recording was released on the first Musical Challenge compilation album in 2000.

In 2005, the a cappella group Last Call ^[2] from Cornell University released their fourth album Straight Up, whose fourth track is a cover of "I Touch Myself". This cover is, obviously, a cappella and is sung at a slightly faster pace. In the same year the Belgium all girls choir Scala & Kolacny Brothers did a classical cover version, and it was remade as a dance song by Lenny B featuring Kristy Kay.

In September 2006, Australian singer-songwriter and former Bardot member, Tiffani Wood, released the song as the third single from her solo album Bite Your Tongue. It did not however make an impact on the ARIA Charts.

In 2007 the The Girls of FHM released a cover version and accompanying video.

On a tour with Ben Kweller and Ben Lee, Ben Folds performed the song live while the trio toured as The Bens.

In 2009 P!nk covered this song during her Funhouse Tour.

The pop-punk band Eve 6 has also done a live cover of this song.

It is notable that Blondie is sometimes listed as having sung this song - and is attributed as such on some notable lyrics^[3] and online radio^[4] web sites. There is no reliable evidence to support the presence of a Blondie cover of this song.

Track listing

• Divinyls version

1. "I Touch Myself"
2. "Follow Through"

• Tiffani Wood's version

1. "I Touch Myself" — 3:28
2. "I Touch Myself" (subsonic remix) — 5:55
3. "I Touch Myself" (instrumental) — 3:28

Charts

References