Touch Me＜Picture Vinyl＞

After her rise to fame as a Page 3 girl, Samantha Fox wanted to get something off her chest: her desire for a career as a pop star. Despite little support in the popular media, Fox's 1986 debut was buoyed by bouncy production and tight arrangements that showcased Fox's best asset -- her cheeky sexuality. The lead single "Touch Me (I Want Your Body)" was a hit on both sides of the Atlantic; while gobs of reverb fleshed out Fox's average voice, she sold the track with a pinup delivery that was at once crass and cooing. "Like a tramp in the night, I was begging for you/To treat my body like you wanted to," she sings. But during the chorus a second later, she sounds genuinely needy in her pleas for touch. It's a fabulous pop trick, and one that sold a collection of wispy dance-pop tracks successfully flashing the same set of tricks over and over again. The hysterical synths of "Wild Kinda Love" seem influenced by Cyndi Lauper, while "Do Ya Do Ya (Wanna Please Me)" could be a hair metal anthem if its cloying keys were replaced by a buzz-saw guitar. Touch Me tends to sag toward its middle and end, but it's nevertheless a solid debut for the resilient Fox. ~ Johnny Loftus