“I Touch Roses” by Book of Love

"I Touch Roses" was the second single from Book of Love, the American synth-pop group, and it followed their first single, "Boy", right up the dance charts in 1985, reaching number 8 on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play chart. The Hot 100 never came calling, but the clubs were enough: its success helped seal the deal for a full album on Sire, and it landed on their self-titled debut in 1986. Ted Ottaviano wrote it, and he later admitted there was no master plan; people simply latched on to the song and the album followed.

Ivan Ivan produced, and it's a lovely, dreamy piece of electro-pop, all chiming synths and hushed, romantic vocals, pretty and a little strange at once. "Lost Souls" was on the flip side.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.