Plot Synopsis

SOMETIMES WHEN WE TOUCH is a three-part documentary series that explores the untold story of soft rock, whose artists dominated pop music worldwide in the '70s, only to crash and burn in the '80s, eventually experiencing one of the most unlikely comebacks in music history. The series presents all-new interviews with some of soft rock's biggest legends, like Air Supply ("All Out of Love"), Dan Hill ("Sometimes When We Touch"), Kenny Loggins ("This Is It"), Ray Parker Jr. ("A Woman Needs Love"), Rupert Holmes ("Escape: The Pina Colada Song") and Toni Tennille ("Love Will Keep Us Together"). Through candid and poignant stories, these stars lead a celebration of the underappreciated music that continues to have a lasting impact on American culture. These stories are augmented by exclusive interviews with dozens of classic and contemporary musicians like Daryl "DMC" McDaniels, John Ondrasik, LA Reid, Richard Marx, Robert "Kool" Bell, Sheryl Crow, Stewart Copeland, Susanna Hoffs and Verdine White; rarely seen archival interview and performance footage; host commentary that embraces the impact of soft rock while acknowledging the cringey excesses that sometimes led it astray; and a review of its continuing power over a new generation found everywhere from hip hop samples and radio remakes to superhero soundtracks and TikTok posts. All three episodes of SOMETIMES WHEN WE TOUCH dropped on Tuesday, January 3, 2023 on Paramount+:

"Reign": After Vietnam and Watergate, the musical question of a generation morphs from "Are You Experienced?" to "Have You Never Been Mellow?" As America gets in touch with itself, major artists of the era and today relive the '70s tsunami of soft rock.

"Ruin": Trashed by the music press, ridiculed in pop culture, left as roadkill by MTV, soft hits rock bottom in the 1980s. Air Supply and Rupert "Pina Colada" Holmes deal with milquetoast accusations as careers plummet and soft rock descends into irrelevance.

"Resurrection": The most fantastic resurrection in music history begins when Warren G samples Michael McDonald then Yacht Rock sets sail. Now a staple of hip hop, movies, TV and social media, soft rockers are finally getting the respect they've always deserved.