Release and Reception
"Touch Me I'm Sick" was released on August 1, 1988, as a 7" vinyl. It was Mudhoney's debut release. Initially, Sub Pop released 800 clear coffee-brown vinyl copies, 200 black vinyl copies and a few assorted vinyl color copies of the single. The limited release numbers were inspired by another indie label, Amphetamine Reptile. Sub Pop owners Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman reasoned the limited supply would increase demand, and utilized different colors of vinyl in order to rationalize further limited pressings and to increase the single's allure as a collectible item. The record, which came in a white paper bag without a picture sleeve, had an inscription on the A-side: "What does the word 'crack' mean to you?". The B-side sticker featured the toilet picture that later became the cover art of the sleeved second edition of the single.
According to Pavitt, "It was just a limited edition, maybe 800 pieces, but people all over America started raving about it. People that we really respected." The single was an indie hit in Seattle, and "Touch Me I'm Sick" became Mudhoney's most recognizable song. When asked in an interview about the sales figures of the single, Turner replied, "The first 1,000, then 3,000 of the reissue, then it was out of print for a while; then they made 2,000 more and those are probably gone." The single's success caught the band by surprise; Arm had initially dismissed the song as a "B-side toss off". "Touch Me I'm Sick" and B-side "Sweet Young Thing Ain't Sweet No More" were later included on the Mudhoney compilation albums Superfuzz Bigmuff Plus Early Singles (1990) and March to Fuzz (2000).
Read more about this topic: Touch Me I'm Sick
Famous quotes containing the words release and/or reception:
“An inquiry about the attitude towards the release of so-called political prisoners. I should be very sorry to see the United States holding anyone in confinement on account of any opinion that that person might hold. It is a fundamental tenet of our institutions that people have a right to believe what they want to believe and hold such opinions as they want to hold without having to answer to anyone for their private opinion.”
—Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933)
“To aim to convert a man by miracles is a profanation of the soul. A true conversion, a true Christ, is now, as always, to be made by the reception of beautiful sentiments.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)