Divinyls – I Touch Myself
1991 · Directed by Michael Bay
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Best comments
1.“The best part is that this was put out by Virgin Records.”
More comments
- 2.“I remember me and my friend seeing this on MTV when it first came out and just sitting there in dead silence for 3+ minutes... until you heard his mother from the other room: 'What the FUCK are you guys watching?'”
- 3.“Despite months of flirting, my wife wouldn't go out with me – she thought I was too serious and intense. Then at karaoke I chose this song. Imagine a 6'5" burly biker guy singing it really, really well, as straight-faced as I could. I walked over, got down on one knee and sang directly to her. She laughed so hard she couldn't breathe. Four days later we went on our first date... and 12 years later, I still make her laugh.”
The story
Divinyls were an Australian band built around Chrissy Amphlett, a frontwoman who liked to perform in a school uniform and stockings. In 1990 she and guitarist Mark McEntee sat down with Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly, the songwriters behind Like a Virgin. Steinberg had a verse and chorus waiting in his notebook. Amphlett picked it out because the title could be read more than one way. Everybody read it the same way anyway.
It went to number one in Australia, number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and number ten in the UK. Their only American hit, and a big one.
The video was directed by a young Michael Bay, years before Bad Boys and all the explosions. Songfacts describes it as mostly Amphlett from every angle, mixed with floating artwork, black-and-white scenes and a few mystery girls. MTV played it constantly and nominated it for three Video Music Awards, including Video of the Year. Amphlett died of breast cancer in 2013, and the song became the banner for the I Touch Myself Project, which reminds women to check their breasts. She had hoped it would do exactly that. Cheeky song, serious afterlife.
