Working in radio music research, I noticed something interesting about “Sometimes When We Touch” years ago. Besides being surprisingly enduring at AC and Classic Hits radio, Dan Hill’s 1977 hit was often liked even more by younger demos than those who had lived through it as a current. Those younger listeners never knew they weren’t supposed to like that song.
Sometimes When We Touch: The Reign, Ruin, and Resurrection of Soft Rock runs with that premise, suggesting that ‘70s/early ‘80s soft rock has found acceptance with younger listeners in the same way as ‘60s garage rock or ‘70s funk, accepted as timeless music that no longer needs to be couched as a guilty pleasure. But even those whose relationship with soft rock is more complicated will be drawn to the three-part documentary that debuts January 3 on Paramount +. So will many Ross on Radio readers.
Those three episodes are structured exactly as the title suggests, but are interspersed with mini-profiles of ’70s/early-’80s acts, including Air Supply, the Captain & Tennille, Ray Parker Jr., Kenny Loggins, Christopher Cross, Michael McDonald, Rupert Holmes, and Hill, who recalls scaring off his first, older girlfriend with the song’s candor and intensity. McDonald and Loggins are saved for the climactic moments of the third episode about the resurgence of ’70s/early-’80s soft rock through Hip-Hop sampling, Yacht Rock, Mamma Mia, American Idol, and more. The artist vignettes provide many of the series’ best moments. There’s even a tribute to 1975’s cult film, That’s The Way of the World, in which Harvey Keitel wants to sign Earth, Wind & Fire, but is pressured to help create a new Carpenters-type family act instead.
Writer Chuck Thompson and director Lauren Lazin do a good job of letting the ’70s acts speak, and surrounding them with newer artists (mostly from the generation immediately after — Susanna Hoffs, Richard Marx, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels) and current pundits who have an actual considered opinion on the music, something not always found in today’s music documentaries. A procession of music videos means that the archival footage used here is also an upgrade from similar endeavors.
There’s also a small but key representation of radio, particularly “Mellow Rock” KNX-FM Los Angeles PD Steve Marshall and Jhani Kaye, whose AC KOST helped put KNX-FM out of business in 1983. The KNX-FM to KOST transition paralleled a shift in musical leadership from Donald Fagen to David Foster, a subtle change that is quickly alluded to, but soft rock never really went away. Some acts (Loggins, Hall & Oates, Lionel Richie, Don Henley and Glenn Frey) followed the trends and remained radio hitmakers. Others like Chicago and Steve Winwood were back in the high life soon. Even Hill managed a comeback. The new-wave disruptors fostered by MTV (a producer here) ended up as soft rockers themselves–Tears for Fears, Spandau Ballet, even the Police, although Stewart Copeland appears here as the voice of the next generation.
But other 1979-83 hitmakers did experience “reign/ruin/resurrection” on the timetable portrayed here, particularly those acts now associated with Yacht Rock. That phenomenon’s creators Steve Huey and David Lyons are especially prominent in that third (and best-observed) episode. Sometimes When We Touch’s thru-line works best as the story of those jazz/pop/R&B fusion acts who dominated radio in 1979-83 and helped fuel a Soft AC revival five years ago. (Huey and Lyons are writing their own history of the more tightly defined Yacht Rock sub-genre they helped identify and popularize.)
Sometimes When We Touch will resonate with viewers who made The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart a surprise hit for HBO two years ago, especially if they prefer “How Deep Is Your Love” to “Night Fever.” I was surprised by the magnitude of the reaction to that documentary at the time, but shouldn’t have been. Ironically, soft rock’s dominance in 1980-82 was in part a radio reaction to disco (something not explored here), but as writer/producers, the Bee Gees were a big part of this era as well.
Many Ross On Radio readers never entirely drifted away from soft rock to begin with. Over the last five years, readers have been big fans of the resurgent Soft AC format on stations like KISQ (The Breeze) San Francisco, as well as more ’70s-based stations like KDRI (The Drive) Tucson, Ariz., and various KNX-FM tribute stations. Sometimes When We Touch will be of intense interest to them (but, of course, not intense), as well as anybody in Saturday afternoon’s American Top 40 Twitter thread, and readers of ROR’s Lost Factor columns.
Sometimes When We Touch debuts Jan. 3 on Paramount+ in the U.S. and Canada. Look for a companion Ross on Radio take on Soft AC when we return in 2023.
