Hold an Old Friend's Hand (song)

"Hold an Old Friend's Hand"
Single by Tiffany
from the album Hold an Old Friend's Hand
B-side"Ruthless"
ReleasedApril 21, 1989[1]
Recorded1988
GenreElectronic rock[2][3]
Length4:24
LabelMCA
Songwriter(s)Donna Weiss
Producer(s)George Tobin
Tiffany singles chronology
"Radio Romance"
(1989) 		"Hold an Old Friend's Hand"
(1989) 		"It's the Lover (Not the Love)"
(1989)
Alternative cover
CD promo single cover

"Hold an Old Friend's Hand" is a song by American pop music artist Tiffany. It is the title track to her second studio album Hold an Old Friend's Hand (1988). It was released as the third single from the album on April 21, 1989 exclusively to North America, Australia and Japan. In Japan, the song was titled simply "Friends" (フレンズ, Furenzu). The song was written by Donna Weiss and was originally recorded by Brenda Patterson in 1973.

The song peaked at number 161 on the ARIA Singles Chart and number 37 on the US Adult Contemporary chart.

Critical reception

Barry Walters of The San Francisco Examiner said the song conjured "images of pedophilia" due to Tiffany's age at the time.[4] John Milward of The Scranton Times-Tribune said the music production was reminiscent of music by the Eagles and defined Tiffany's new sound. Ron Fell and Diane Rufer of the Gavin Report wrote this about it, "Written by Donna Weiss, who co-wrote "Bette Davis Eyes," this song takes Tiffany's career right to the core of A /C radio."[5]

Track listings and formats

7" and cassette single[6]

  1. "Hold an Old Friend's Hand" – 4:24
  2. "Ruthless" – 3:40

Commercial performance

"Hold an Old Friend's Hand" peaked at number 37 on the Adult Contemporary chart on June 10, 1989; it spent one week in the position. It spent 8 weeks in total and was Tiffany's last single to enter a Billboard chart until "Higher" off of her Dust Off and Dance album (2005) peaked at number 19 on the US Dance Club Songs in 2007.

Personnel

Taken from the Hold an Old Friend's Hand booklet.[7]

  • John Duarte – drums and keyboard programming, arrangement
  • Mike Thompson – guitar
  • Richard Elliott – sax and solo
  • Tiffany – background vocals

Charts

Weekly chart performance for "Hold an Old Friend's Hand"
Chart (1989) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[8] 161
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[9] 37
US Adult Contemporary (Gavin Report)[10] 35
US Adult Contemporary (Radio & Records)[11] 25

References

  1. ^ "AC National Airplay: Significant Action". Radio & Records. No. 785. April 21, 1989. p. 101.
  2. ^ Henderson, Bill (January 29, 1989). "Tiffany". The Orlando Sentinel. p. 252. Retrieved October 28, 2023.
  3. ^ Milward, John (January 22, 1989). "Tiffany and Debbie Reach Pivotal Stage: Are They Just Teen Idols or Enduring Stars?". The Times-Tribune. p. 26. Retrieved October 29, 2023.
  4. ^ Walters, Barry (January 5, 1989). "Tiffany: immaterial girl". The San Francisco Examiner. p. 33. Retrieved October 29, 2023.
  5. ^ Fell, Ron; Rufer, Diane (May 5, 1989). "Inside A/C: Reviews". Gavin Report. No. 1755. p. 28.
  6. ^ Hold an Old Friend's Hand (US vinyl single sleeve). Tiffany. MCA Records. 1989. 53612.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  7. ^ Hold an Old Friend's Hand (album liner notes). Tiffany. MCA Records. 1988. MCAD-6267.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  8. ^ "Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 24 May 2016". imgur.com. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  9. ^ "Tiffany Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved April 25, 2024.
  10. ^ "the Gavin Report: Adult Contemporary". Gavin Report. No. 1760. June 9, 1989. p. 32.
  11. ^ "The Back Page: Adult Contemporary". Radio & Records. No. 791. June 2, 1989. p. 96.