Katharine McPhee’s ‘Touch Me’ Gets the Remix Treatment

American Idol, Bonnie McKee, Katharine McPhee, Music News, Remixes, Ryan Tedder, Single Reviews One comment
    Katharine McPhee Touch Me Jump Smokers

    I suppose it was only a matter of time before Katharine McPhee‘s DELICIOUS new single, “Touch Me” was given the royal remix treatment.  Serving as the first single off of the official SMASH soundtrack, “Touch Me” was produced and written by Ryan Tedder (Leona Lewis, Kelly Clarkson) with Brent Kutzle (Beyonce, Cobra Starship), Bonnie McKee (Katy Perry, Britney Spears) and Noel Zancanella (The Wanted, Demi Lovato) serving as co-writers on the track.  “Touch Me” appeared in the March 26th episode of NBC‘s hit TV show and was used heavily in TV spots for the series.  In it’s original form, “Touch Me” is an up-tempo party track with but remixes from Jump Smokers, DJ Kue and Jody den Broeder take it to a whole other level.  “Touch Me” is just BEGGIN‘ for that #1 spot on Billboard‘s Hot Dance Club Songs chart, and with proper promotion and support from the club scene, I think it has the potential to get there.  Listen to the SICK Jump Smokers remix BELOW.

    “Touch Me” isn’t Katharine McPhee‘s first attempt at conquering the dance charts, in fact two of McPhee’s earlier singles have been remixed with the clubs in mind.  Debut single, 2007’s “Over It” was served remixes from popular American DJ Mike Rizzo (Britney Spears, Erika Jayne) and Miguel Migs (Beyonce, Macy Gray).  The “Over It” mixes on the whole seemed more pop than full fledged house mixes, in particular, the MigTight remix was far more urban leaning than it was close to dance.  McPhee’s follow up single, the Danja-produced “Love Story” (one of my favorite McPhee tracks) got the full on club remix treatment with a hot promo package featuring mixes by Solar City and Tony Moran & Warren Rigg.  It’s really a shame that neither one of these songs hit the club charts.  Here’s hoping that “Touch Me” changes all of that.

    Smash Touch Me Katharine McPhee

    I’ve always said that McPhee’s debut was beyond flawed, being that it was the Idol runner up’s debut album, it appeared that the label was pushing McPhee in a more mainstream pop direction against her will.  Who knows what really went down in the meetings following her initial signing with RCA regarding the direction of her debut, but whatever happened it didn’t much matter.  The album was a flop and McPhee left the label.

    McPhee went on to sign with Verve Forecast Records (part of Universal Music Group), where she released her sophomore album, Unbroken in 2010.  This album saw McPhee undergo a drastic transformation, moving away from generic dance pop into a more singer/songwriter, vocal pop-jazz direction.  In addition to this musical shift, McPhee’s image changed as well, ditching her trademark brunette and replacing it with a short blond do, in turn looking more like a mainstream pop star (and more like Marilyn Monroe) than she did before.  In 2011, following her joining the cast of Smash, McPhee signed with Columbia Records, in conjunction with the label pairing with NBC to release music from the show.  McPhee is currently in Los Angeles working on new solo music, presumably for her upcoming third album.

    The Music Of Smash

    The Music of Smash will be released May 1st by Columbia Records.  Available in both a Standard 13-track edition and as a Target Exclusive with five bonus tracks, the soundtrack features both original pieces (written by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman) from the show (including “Touch Me“) as well as some of the covers performed by the cast (Jessie J‘s “Who You Are“, Christina Aguilera‘s “Beautiful“).  Check out the track listing BELOW.  Smash airs Monday nights on NBC in the US and Saturdays on Sky Atlantic‘s Subscription Channel and On Demand services in the UK. Download music from Smash BELOW and pick up the official soundtrack on May 1st (US iTunes).

    Track Listing:

    1. “Touch Me” (featuring Katharine McPhee)
    2. “Stand” (featuring Katharine McPhee)
    3. “Who You Are” (featuring Megan Hilty)
    4. “Crazy Dreams” (featuring Megan Hilty)
    5. “Beautiful” (featuring Katharine McPhee)
    6. “Haven’t Met You Yet” (featuring Nick Jonas)
    7. “Shake It Out” (featuring Katharine McPhee)
    8. “Brighter Than the Sun” (featuring Katharine McPhee)
    9. “Let Me Be Your Star” (featuring Katharine McPhee and Megan Hilty)
    10. “The 20th Century Fox Mambo” (featuring Katharine McPhee)
    11. “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” (featuring Megan Hilty and Will Chase)
    12. “Let’s Be Bad” (featuring Megan Hilty)
    13. “History Is Made at Night” (featuring Megan Hilty and Will Chase)

    Target Exclusive Tracks:

    14. “September Song” (featuring Anjelica Huston)
    15. “Our Day Will Come” (featuring Katharine McPhee)
    16. “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” (featuring Bernadette Peters)
    17. “Breakaway” (featuring Megan Hilty)
    18. “Run” (featuring Katharine McPhee)



    Check out Katharine McPhee on the web: