Hold an Old Friend's Hand

Hold an Old Friend's Hand is the second regular studio album by Tiffany, released in November, 1988. It was reasonably successful, with a platinum certification, peaking at #17 on the U.S. charts and yielding one top-ten single ("All This Time") and another in the top 40 ("Radio Romance"); however, it didn't equal the multiplatinum success of her first album, which had two #1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100. In her summer tour, where she was to once again have the New Kids on the Block as her opening act as she did the year before, the sudden popularity of the New Kids caused their roles to be reversed, with Tiffany opening for them, although they were officially billed as co-headliners. The title track was actually a cover, though the original version (released by Tracy Nelson in 1974) was not famous enough to be widely known. It was written by Donna Weiss, who also co-wrote "Bette Davis Eyes", a hit for Kim Carnes (another artist for whom Tiffany's manager/producer George Tobin has produced records). It was an unusual song to be sung by somebody so young (Tiffany was 17 at the time), as its lyrics seem to be sung from a perspective of many years' experience.