Songfacts®:

• This was the very first hit for the London Rock group the Arrows. It was composed by Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn, who wrote many of the songs for Suzi Quatro and Sweet. It was released on RAK Records, distributed by EMI, by The Arrows producer Mickie Most. In a Songfacts interview, Arrows' lead singer Alan Merrill tells the story of how "Touch Too Much" literally fell into their lap. Producer Most had originally offered the song to David Cassidy, who turned it down because he doubted its hit potential. Most was taken aback, feeling that Cassidy had snubbed his professional judgment. Cassidy was also just saying goodbye to the Partridge Family, and had previously turned his nose up at what he called "bubblegum pop." So Most took the then-new Arrows into the studio and had them cut "A Touch Too Much," when the group had been together for only a couple of months.
• In the same interview, Alan Merrill goes on to talk about the English music scene: "I loved the English market when I was in Japan, and when I was a kid growing up in New York it was like that was the Everest, that if you could have a hit in England, you'd arrived. That was a good feeling."
• Other artists who turned this song down: Suzi Quatro and the UK group Sweet (as in "Ballroom Blitz"). What does a producer have to do to get some respect?
• "Touch Too Much" was later covered by Roman Holiday in the 1980s, and Hello in the 1990s.
• The Arrows' most famous song is actually better known as a cover done by Joan Jett & The Blackhearts in 1981. That song would be "I Love Rock And Roll," whose gritty, grainy black-and-white video would be one of the first to play on the then-brand-new MTV. The Arrows had a short, but very interesting career, and even had their own TV show for a while. Get the whole story in our interview with Alan Merrill.