Touch

Touch-finalOriginal Cast, 1970 (Ampex/no CD) No stars; not recommended. For years, this seemed the most ubiquitous of all show recordings. It turned up everywhere: at garage sales, school sales, library sales. If you moved into a new apartment, you’d find a copy of Touch in the closet. One has to wonder who on earth bought the thing, but lots of people had to if it ended up in all those places. For the record, this is a sweet-tempered, soft-rock musical, with a score by Jim Crozier and Kenn Long, that got decent notices and had a modest run Off-Broadway. With its environmental and social concerns, the show was certainly well meaning, but its dramaturgy is primitive and its songs are flavorless. There’s very little here to interest musical theater aficionados. — David Wolf