levipatrick - Slow Hand

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levipatrick

Jul 24, 2025 04:07pm

<p><img src="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.owPeWbR4iWOGMvnmxNQggAHaHa%26pid%3DApi&amp;f=1&amp;ipt=a128d8f84502d4cbe85d42178f3fb832cb95e084f8276e98d187e5a0d604005a&amp;ipo=images"></p><p><br></p><ul><li>In the early '80s, Karen Carpenter wanted her lover to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.songfacts.com/facts/carpenters/touch-me-when-were-dancing" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Touch Me When We're Dancing</a>&nbsp;and Olivia Newton-John wanted to get "<a href="https://www.songfacts.com/facts/olivia-newton-john/physical" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Physical</a>," but The Pointer Sisters made it clear that slow, sensual love was their priority. The songs were all written by men - this one by John Bettis and Michael Clark.</li></ul><p><br></p><ul><li>This song followed in the vein of "<a href="https://www.songfacts.com/facts/the-pointer-sisters/fire" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Fire</a>," a 1978 hit for The Pointer Sisters that was written by Bruce Springsteen. That one finds them boiling over with passion for the man who is pulling them close, presumably with a slow hand.</li></ul><p><br></p><ul><li>Conway Twitty showed that this song has a great deal of country appeal when he recorded it in 1982. His version went to No1 on the Country chart.</li></ul><p><br></p><ul><li>The lyricist John Bettis also wrote the words to several Carpenters' hits including "<a href="https://www.songfacts.com/facts/carpenters/top-of-the-world" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Top Of The World</a>" and "<a href="https://www.songfacts.com/facts/carpenters/goodbye-to-love" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Goodbye to Love</a>" as well as Whitney Houston's "<a href="https://www.songfacts.com/facts/whitney-houston/one-moment-in-time" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">One Moment In Time</a>."</li></ul><p><br></p><ul><li>This was featured in a Schick razor commercial in the late '80s when more and more songs were being used to promote products in exchange for hefty compensation or corporate sponsorship. It was a thorny issue for industry veterans and artists who turned their noses at "selling out." Not so for John Bettis.</li></ul><p><br></p><ul><li>"In a way it's the ultimate compliment. It's like your song is part of the culture, so recognizable that it's a kind of celebrity. As long as these commercials are tasteful - and I think the Schick one is - it's fine," he told&nbsp;<em>BAM</em>&nbsp;magazine. But, he warned, there's a catch: "By allowing a song to be used in a commercial, you're cutting off any immediate follow-up cover possibilities. For instance, 'Slow Hand' was a No 2 hit for the Pointers. A year later, Conway Twitty recorded it and had a No 1 country hit. Had I allowed it to be used in a commercial right after the Pointers had a hit with it, Twitty would never have covered it. So you've got to be careful."</li></ul><p><br></p>