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Paramount+ To Launch ‘Sometimes When We Touch’ Documentary Exploring The History of “Yacht Rock”

Paramount+ has announced that SOMETIMES WHEN WE TOUCH , a three-part documentary series exploring the history of soft rock music , will premiere exclusively on the service in the U.S. and Canada on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023 and will also stream in the U.K., Latin America and Australia ( Wednesday, Jan. 4 ), Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and France ( Tuesday, April 4 ).

SOMETIMES WHEN WE TOUCH is 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 Piña 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.

The connective stories that propel the series 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.

The series is produced by MTV Entertainment Studios in partnership with Gunpowder & Sky. Produced by Van Toffler and executive produced by David Gale, Floris Bauer, Barry Barclay and Joanna Zwickel for Gunpowder & Sky, co-executive produced by Rick Krim, executive produced and written by Chuck Thompson and executive produced and directed by Lauren Lazin. Bruce Gillmer and Vanessa Whitewolf executive produce for MTV Entertainment Studios, with Jennifer Yandrisevits serving as Senior Director of Production.

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Soft-Rock Doc Series, ‘Sometimes When We Touch,’ Slated by Paramount+ for January (EXCLUSIVE)

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Everybody’s a softie — well, almost everyone — when it comes to a fondness for the not-so-hard-hitting heyday of “soft rock,” which has a strong overlap with what’s come to be known and celebrated as “yacht rock.” Paramount+ is counting on a nation of viewers having a hankering for the soft stuff with its upcoming streaming premiere of a three-part documentary, “Sometimes When We Touch,” slated for the U.S. and Canada on Jan. 3.

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Among the artists whose hits will come up in the series are — besides the aforementioned Daryl Hall and John Oates — Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald, Christopher Cross, Air Supply, Ambrosia, the Carpenters, the Captain & Tennille and Lionel Richie . While some music fans might feel it’s a stretch to consider the last few acts “rock” at all, tell it to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which just inducted Richie last month.

Among those interviewed for the series, not all of them soft-rockers themselves by trade: Sheryl Crow, Stewart Copeland of the Police, Run DMC’s Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, Susanna Hoffs, LA Reid, Richard Marx, Robert “Kool” Bell, Verdine White and, as seen in the trailer (above), Variety ‘s Owen Gleiberman. Verified soft-rock vets showing up for discussion include Loggins, Toni Tennille, Rupert Holmes, Dan Hill, Ray Parker Jr. and Air Supply.

Van Toffler produced, Lauren Lazin executive-produced and directed, and Chuck Thompson wrote and exec-produced. Other executive producers include David Gale, Floris Bauer, Barry Barclay and Joanna Zwickel for Gunpowder & Sky; Rick Krim; and Bruce Gillmer and Vanessa Whitewolf for MTV Entertainment Studios. Jennifer Yandrisevits was senior director of production.

The doc will stream in the U.K., Australia and Latin America on Jan. 4, the day after it debuts in the States. Viewers in Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and France will get their crack at it April 4.

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Paramount+ Goes Behind the Music In a Surprisingly Dark Soft Rock Doc

The next time you’re at a drugstore, pay attention to the music being piped through the aisles. Those pleasant background tunes may not sound menacing, but sometimes, they’ve got histories that would make Ozzy Osbourne blush. That’s one of the fascinating revelations in Sometimes When We Touch , Paramount+’s new docuseries about the rise, fall, and rebirth of soft rock.

To be clear, the show is not revolutionizing the music doc genre. (It debuted on January 3, but some premieres can pass even TV critics by.) Charting the careers of sentimental ’70s and ‘80s acts like Air Supply, Christopher Cross, and Ray Parker Jr., it follows the standard Behind the Music formula: Old-timers talk about their glory days and how they were certain they’d last forever. They discuss the hard times, after some new style pushed them off the charts, and they wrap it up with a hopeful look to the future. But as familiar as this might be, the series has a few ingredients that give the recipe a kick.

First is the willingness to go dark. Several musicians and music journalists discuss how soft rock’s eventual collapse was rooted in a hyper-masculine rejection of men who made vulnerable records. There are damning montages of old movies and newspaper articles all but threatening violence against Barry Manilow, Michael McDonald, and their ilk. While many stories have been told about how the disco backlash was rooted in racism, homophobia, and misogyny, it’s enlightening to consider that similar prejudices hounded The Doobie Brothers, too.

At times, though, the trouble came from inside the house. In the show’s frankest interview, Toni Tennille, half of the duo Captain & Tennille, discusses her loveless marriage with Daryl “The Captain” Dragon. While they were gaining millions of fans with bouncy tunes like “Love Will Keep Us Together,” she was going home to a miserable private life, utterly devoted to a man who was incapable of showing her affection. It’s hard to hear their hit “The Way I Want to Touch You” in the same way after she says she wrote it as a plea for her husband to be nice to her. Similarly, Canadian balladeer Dan Hill alters the context of his hit “Sometimes When We Touch” — yes, the one that gives the series its name — when he describes the slightly obsessive relationship that inspired it.

But despite these dark underbellies, many of these songs remain incredibly satisfying. The show’s other standout trait is its eagerness to ask why. Instead of ironically shrugging at the recent boom in “yacht rock” revival tours, director and executive producer Lauren Lazin digs into what makes this music work for a new generation. This includes both a sharp analysis of our need for gentle art and a sophisticated segment on the melodic structures and production techniques in songs like Elton John’s “Daniel” or Toto’s “Africa.” This is where industry interviewees like producer L.A. Reid and Bangles frontwoman Susannah Hoffs prove invaluable: They have the professional expertise to explain what the average listener might only be able to sense.

Best of all, Sometimes When We Touch drops all this knowledge with a generous sense of fun. The narration is lighthearted but not snarky. The soundtrack respects the breadth of the late ’70s and early ’80s by playing classics alongside forgotten hits like Stephen Bishop’s “On and On.” And all the talking heads, whether they were making this music or grew up listening to it, acknowledge the ludicrous moments while celebrating the transcendent ones. That’s just the balance the series needs to capture an era that produced both cheesy variety shows and timeless ballads in record numbers.

Sometimes When We Touch is now streaming on Paramount+. Join the discussion about the show in our forums .

Mark Blankenship has been writing about arts and culture for twenty years, with bylines in The New York Times, Variety, Vulture, Fortune, and many others. You can hear him on the pop music podcast Mark and Sarah Talk About Songs .

TOPICS: Sometimes When We Touch , Paramount+ , Captain & Tennille , Lauren Lazin , Toni Tennille

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Soft Rock dominated pop music. Then became a punch line. Now its influence is felt everywhere from hip-hop samples to TikTok. The exclusive new series charts a musical movement through its m... Read all Soft Rock dominated pop music. Then became a punch line. Now its influence is felt everywhere from hip-hop samples to TikTok. The exclusive new series charts a musical movement through its most treasured songs, stories and stars. Soft Rock dominated pop music. Then became a punch line. Now its influence is felt everywhere from hip-hop samples to TikTok. The exclusive new series charts a musical movement through its most treasured songs, stories and stars.

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Paramount+ announces documentary series exploring the history of soft rock music, “sometimes when we touch,” to premiere tuesday, jan. 3.

Featuring the Stories Behind Some of Music’s Greatest Songs and Iconic Artists, Including Air Supply, Ambrosia, Captain & Tennille, Carpenters, Christopher Cross, Hall & Oates, Kenny Loggins, Lionel Richie, Michael McDonald and More

Produced by MTV Entertainment Studios in Partnership with Gunpowder & Sky

View Official Trailer HERE

Dec. 12, 2022 – Paramount+ today announced that SOMETIMES WHEN WE TOUCH, a three-part documentary series exploring the history of soft rock music, will premiere exclusively on the service in the U.S. and Canada on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023 and will also stream in the U.K., Latin America and Australia ( Wednesday, Jan. 4 ), Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and France ( Tuesday, April 4 ).

SOMETIMES WHEN WE TOUCH is 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 Piña 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.

The connective stories that propel the series 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.

The series is produced by MTV Entertainment Studios in partnership with Gunpowder & Sky. Produced by Van Toffler and executive produced by David Gale, Floris Bauer, Barry Barclay and Joanna Zwickel for Gunpowder & Sky, co-executive produced by Rick Krim, executive produced and written by Chuck Thompson and executive produced and directed by Lauren Lazin. Bruce Gillmer and Vanessa Whitewolf executive produce for MTV Entertainment Studios, with Jennifer Yandrisevits serving as Senior Director of Production.

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With offices in Los Angeles and New York, Gunpowder & Sky was founded by Van Toffler and Floris Bauer.

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Soft Rock Documentary Sometimes When We Touch Coming to Paramount+

A new three-part documentary about soft rock is coming to Paramount+, Variety reports. It’s titled Sometimes When We Touch and it hits the streaming platform on Tuesday, January 3. Watch the teaser trailer for it below; scroll down for the documentary’s poster.

Subtitled The Reign, Ruin and Resurrection of Soft Rock , the documentary digs into the history of the genre, which boomed in commercial popularity from the seventies through the early eighties. Sometimes When We Touch also features commentary from Kenny Loggins, L.A. Reid, Sheryl Crow, Susanna Hoffs, and more.

MTV Entertainment Studios co-produced Sometimes When We Touch with the studio Gunpowder & Sky. It focuses on performers like Hall & Oates, Loggins, Lionel Richie, Air Supply, and Michael McDonald, among others. Richie, who had solo hits with soft rock cuts like “Hello” and “Truly,” was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame earlier this year.

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Paramount+ sets soft-rock docuseries “Sometimes When We Touch”

The much-maligned, now (somewhat) reclaimed musical genre of soft rock — inescapably known as “yacht rock,” thanks to the popular web series that parodied/paid homage to it — will receive ...

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Season 1 – Sometimes When We Touch

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Kenny Loggins

Ray Parker Jr.

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Docuseries on soft rock coming to Paramount+

A new docuseries on soft rock is set to hit Paramount+ in the new year. According to  Variety ,  Sometimes When We Touch: The Reign, Ruin and Resurrection of Soft Rock  will debut in the U.S. and Canada on January 3.

The three-part series will feature interviews from a whole host of artists, including  Sheryl Crow ,  The Police ’s  Stewart Copeland ,  Run DMC ’s  Darryl “DMC” McDaniels ,  Richard Marx ,  Earth, Wind & Fire 's  Verdine White  and  The Bangle s'  Susanna Hoffs , as well as actual soft rockers like  Kenny Loggins ,  Toni Tennille ,  Rupert Holmes  and  Air Supply .

The series will delve into the popularity of the music, some of which has been deemed "yacht rock" in recent years and has gained in popularity. It will focus on such artists as Loggins, Air Supply,  Daryl   Hall and John Oates ,  Christopher Cross , the  Carpenters ,  Lionel Richie ,  Captain   &   Tennille  and more, and will feature new and archival interviews, as well as concert clips. It promises to celebrate “the impact of soft rock while acknowledging the cringey excesses that sometimes led it astray.”

Soft Rock Gets Close-Up in 'Sometimes When We Touch' on Paramount Plus

Air Supply! Richard Marx! Rupert Holmes!

Docuseries Sometimes When We Touch , detailing the history of soft rock music in three episodes, premieres on Paramount Plus January 3. Air Supply, Rupert Holmes and Kenny Loggins are among the easy-listening rock purveyors who are interviewed.

“ Sometimes When We Touch is 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,” according to Paramount Plus.

Ray Parker Jr., Toni Tennille, Richard Marx and Dan Hill are also interviewed, along with musicians behind not so soft songs, such as Daryl “DMC” McDaniels, Sheryl Crow and Stewart Copeland.

Dan Hill sang the cheesy ‘70s hit that gave the docuseries its title.

Sometimes When We Touch is produced by MTV Entertainment Studios in partnership with Gunpowder & Sky. It is produced by Van Toffler and executive produced by David Gale, Floris Bauer, Barry Barclay and Joanna Zwickel for Gunpowder & Sky , co-executive produced by Rick Krim, executive produced and written by Chuck Thompson and executive produced and directed by Lauren Lazin. Bruce Gillmer and Vanessa Whitewolf executive produce for MTV Entertainment Studios. ■

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Soft rock gets the spotlight in Paramount+ doc ‘Sometimes When We Touch’

Credit: PARAMOUNT+

Soft rock is a subgenre that by its very name is easy to make fun of. It’s goopy. It’s sappy. It’s full of pianos and emotional longing.

Now it’s gotten the documentary treatment on Paramount+. The three-part series is named after the 1977 Dan Hill ballad “Sometimes When We Touch” and includes the subtitle “The reign, the ruin and the resurrection of soft rock.”

The fast-paced, well-crafted doc covers the genre’s big names like the Carpenters, Christopher Cross, Air Supply and Michael McDonald but also gives some lesser known acts room to breath such as Pablo Cruise, Ambrosia, Rupert Holmes and, of course, Dan Hill himself. It chronicles the rise of soft rock in the 1970s into the early 1980s, the mockery and collapse of the genre during the MTV era and the comeback of the sound in recent years.

“Michael McDonald was winning Grammys and selling out arenas, then five years later, he couldn’t get booked in coffee shops,” said Van Toffler, CEO of the documentary’s production company Gunpowder & Sky, which is a partner with MTV Entertainment Studios on the series. Toffler was (ironically) a former MTV president. “Now the Doobie Brothers are back to selling out arenas again. You couldn’t have created a better movie arc than this.”

The series provides historical context to the soft rock revolution, noting that after the tumultuous 1960s, “America was in need of relief and soft rock was there like a sonic colonic,” the documentary’s narrator Pete Sepenuk said early in the first episode.

The first episode breaks down how the keyboard dominates the soft rock sound vs. the guitar for harder rock. The sound is even described as “The Doobie bounce,” which has an R&B inflection, exemplified by the 1979 song “What a Fool Believes.”

“It was interesting to me hearing from studio experts and musicians how much technology instigated and fueled this movement,” Toffler said.

The mini-profiles of key acts provide no shortage of intriguing tidbits. Toni Tennille of Captain & Tennille (”Love Will Keep Us Together”) spent years in a loveless marriage with the emotionally distant “Captain” Daryl Dragon. “I couldn’t make him fall in love with me,” she said in the doc. “I hoped he would.”

Dan Hill was just 19 when he wrote “Sometimes When We Touch” to try to woo an older woman. Her response when he played it to her? “You’re way too intense.” And she moved in with a football player, he said.

Ray Parker Jr., long before he became a famous solo artist, toured with Stevie Wonder before writing a treacly hit “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing” for Leo Sayer (but received no writing credit.)

There are random stats. The Carpenters outsold Jimi Hendrix, CCR, the Sex Pistols and Lynyrd Skynyrd combined in record sales. And Firefall’s debut album in 1976 went gold faster than any album in the history of Atlantic Records, beating Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles and Led Zeppelin.

The series also features musicians in other genres expressing their love for soft rock, including Stewart Copeland of The Police, Daryl “DMC” McDaniels of Run DMC, Nancy Wilson of Heart, Susanna Hoffs of The Bangles and Sheryl Crow.

And there are a few Atlanta faces across the three episodes including the city’s own Yacht Rock Revue, Air Supply’s Russell Hitchcock — who lives in Marietta — and Big Boi of OutKast talking about hip-hop sampling of soft rock songs.

Credit: Akili-Casundria Ramsess

The second episode focuses on how uncool soft rock became when MTV arrived. “It became survival of the photogenic,” said the decidedly unphotogenic Holmes of “Escape (The Pina Colada Song)” fame. The third episode is all about how the genre is now beloved in many circles, how popular yacht rock has become and how current artists such as Dua Lipa, Harry Styles and The Weeknd funnel soft rock in their current music.

The comeback in the 1990s and 2000s also came in part due to rap acts. Toffler said so many hip-hop acts such as Drake and Warren G grew up with parents playing soft-rock songs, so sampling those tunes was natural. “This music wasn’t maligned,” he said. “They were just great melodic songs by the best musicians of that time. Daryl DMC loves Sarah McLachlan.”

The doc wasn’t able to get every big soft rock act available to talk to them. They missed relatively press-shy McDonald and prickly Daryl Hall of Hall & Oates. But they did get Kenny Loggins, Verdine White of Earth, Wind & Fire and Robert “Kool” Bell of Kool & the Gang.

“My biggest regret is we didn’t get Richard Carpenter,” Toffler said. “ He had just written a book . He was done talking about it. The Carpenters were such a rich part of that genre. That to me was a missed opportunity.”

Toffler credits director Lauren Lazin for enabling the series to flow so well. Lazin did dozens of MTV “rockumentaries” for him. “We have a 20-30 year history of doing things with each other,” he said. “That made it really comfortable and easy.”

The bottom line, he said, is the best of soft-rock music still holds up decades later.

“I’m just amazed how good these songs are and how good the playing is,” Toffler said. “It has a lasting impact. I hope people not just enjoy the music they hear in this documentary but all the good stories around the music.”

ON TELEVISION

“Sometimes When We Touch,” available on Paramount+

About the Author

Rodney Ho writes about entertainment for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution including TV, radio, film, comedy and all things in between. A native New Yorker, he has covered education at The Virginian-Pilot, small business for The Wall Street Journal and a host of beats at the AJC over 20-plus years. He loves tennis, pop culture & seeing live events.

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New Soft Rock & Hard Rock Docs In the Works for Paramount+: Exclusive

The streamer has partnered with production company Gunpower & Sky, headed by former Viacom exec Van Toffler.

By Melinda Newman

Melinda Newman

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Paramount+ will travel back in time with two new music docuseries on the streaming service, produced in partnership with Gunpower & Sky.

Sometimes When We Touch: The Reign, Ruin and Resurrection of Soft Rock will look at the history of soft rock (hence the working title from the weepy 1977 Dan Hill hit) from its ‘70s start through the current day. The three-part documentary will include new interviews with soft rock artists, as well as archival and performance footage.

Nothing to Lose: The Untold Story of ‘80s Hard Rock , also a three-parter, explores the hard rock band explosion that launched from LA’s Sunset Strip. “Nothing to Lose” was a track on Sunset Strip mainstays LA Guns’ 1988 debut album.

Bob Dylan to Contribute 'Don't Fence Me In' Cover for Ronald Reagan Biopic

Gunpowder & Sky is in the process of reaching out to iconic soft rock and metal artists to participate in both docuseries.

The move reunites Gunpowder & Sky CEO Van Toffler with Paramount executives. Toffler is the former CEO of Viacom Media Networks Music & Logo Group. Viacom CBS officially switched its name to Paramount in February.

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“As much as I would have loved to have heard what the illegitimate love child of Karen Carpenter and Ozzy Osbourne would have sounded like, the fact is that the soft and hard rock artists lived worlds apart – slinging heaps of mud at each other from the sidelines,” said Toffler, in a statement. ”Yet each genre was so incredibly rich with a long list of diverse, somewhat deviant and insanely talented musicians whose stories and music we will unearth and bring to life in these two docuseries.”

“We’re excited to partner with our good friend and former colleague Van Toffler to bring two new genre-defining music stories to life,” added Bruce Gillmer , chief content officer of music for Paramount+ and president of music, music talent, programming & events for Paramount. “From chronicling the hit-packed, soft rock era and its surprising second life to the exploration of the most dynamic and excessive decade of decadence with 80s metal, Paramount+ continues to deliver the best in music content on a global scale.”

The documentaries will debut on Paramount + this year. Up next for Gunpowder & Sky is a Sheryl Crow documentary, Sheryl , that will premiere at SXSW on March 11.

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Stream It Or Skip It: ‘I Wanna Rock: The ‘80s Metal Dream’ on Paramount+, A Docuseries That Recalls The Heady Daze Of Hair Metal’s Moment In The Sun

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• I Wanna Rock: The '80s Metal Dream
• music documentaries

Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Are You Sure?!’ on Disney+, A Hangout Reality Show Featuring Jimin And Jung Kook of BTS

Stream it or skip it: ‘breakin’ on the one’ on hulu, a documentary zooming in on the moment when hip hop came to prominence, stream it or skip it: ‘it’s only life after all’ on netflix, a documentary the influential folk rock duo the indigo girls, stream it or skip it: ‘disco: soundtrack of a revolution’ on pbs, a docuseries that digs into the underground origins and lasting legacy of a groove .

In the three-part docuseries I Wanna Rock: The ‘80s Metal Dream ( Paramount+ ), musicians whose different backgrounds and entry points into the music industry put them on a collision course with the MTV-addled hair metal universe of the early 1980s discuss what it was like to break into that scene, how it felt to be inside the maelstrom, and all of the feels that came after, once hair metal’s Aqua Net sheen completely wore off . The ‘80s Metal Dream features interviews with Janet Gardner of Vixen, Kip Winger, Skid Row co-founder and guitarist Dave “Snake” Sabo, Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider, and hard rock lifer John Corabi, and includes commentary from additional musicians and music journalists.  

I WANNA ROCK: THE ’80s METAL DREAM : STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?  

Opening Shot: The roar of the crowd, and the stage lights’ hot white glare. “Open up and say ahhh ….” only this isn’t Poison’s platinum second album from 1988. It’s the orthodontic chair in the office of once rocker, now dentist Janet Gardner. “Most of my patients have no idea that I was ever in a band, or any of that.”  

The Gist: Intercut with shots of her work as a dentist and a contemporary interview is archival footage of Gardner as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of Vixen, the all-female rockers whose 1988 single “Edge of a Broken Heart” remains a resonant slice of hooky hair metal euphoria. They take the stage at Spring Break ‘89 to cheers from a raucous crowd full of shirtless dudes in promotional Budweiser painter’s caps and women in mirrored shades, and Gardner’s immaculate Scorpions tour shirt would probably sell for thousands in today’s online vintage clothing shops. “We were all part of that hair metal scene,” Gardner says of the era. “It was like all of a sudden being in the major leagues.” 

With clubs like the Roxy and Whiskey A Go Go on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles as its epicenter, and tracked by the barometer of cool that MTV used to be, hair metal’s popularity went international in the early 1980s. Sunset was the magnet for Gardner and people like John Corabi, a singer and guitarist for a string of bands that eventually included Motley Crue. “Everybody was trying to get the most attention, trying to get that elusive record deal.” But for musicians like Snake Sabo, who formed Skid Row in his native New Jersey, or Kip Winger, who was based in New York City, hair metal was the biggest thing the music industry had going, and they wanted in, too. In Sabo’s case, it helped to be childhood friends with Jon Bon Jovi, whose band was already huge.

“MTV was a visual medium,” Dee Snider says in The ‘80s Metal Dream , “and they were quickly scurrying around to find bands that were visually interesting.” It was therefore ideal that heavy metal already valued visual representation as much as it did sonic power. Leather, chains, androgyny, and teased-out and sprayed-up hair became the norm on the network, along with screaming guitar solos and shouty choruses. And hair metal bands were securing record deals right and left. This was their shot, a chance to really make it, to stand out from every other band on the club circuit. And it was all happening. But as The ‘80s Metal Dream details, all of these rockers learned some hard truths about Music Television being the fickle master of their dreams. “We became the darlings of MTV,” Kip Winger says. “And then, you know, soon after that, everyone started hating us.”

What Shows Will It Remind You Of: Gunpowder & Sky, the production company behind I Wanna Rock: The ‘80s Metal Dream , also teamed up with MTV Studios for the three-part Paramount+ doc Sometimes When We Touch , which explored the mid-70s sound of what these days is often referred to as yacht rock. And Dee Snider and Riki Rachtman also appear in When Metal Ruled the 80s , a four-part Peacock docuseries that follows a similar arc to ‘80s Metal Dream . And of course, when it comes to the creme de la creme of hair metal docs, there’s nothing quite like The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years .

Our Take: The media landscape of the mid to late 1980s was overtaken by hair metal, whether it was in popular magazines like Hit Parader, metal-focused music video and interview shows like Heavy Metal Mania on MTV, hosted by Dee Snider, and its successor, Riki Rachtman’s Headbanger’s Ball , or the massive world tours that packaged heavy hitters like Bon Jovi and Motley Crue and The Scorpions with hair bands just on the come up. Penelope Spheeris’ groundbreaking documentary The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years appeared in 1988. And yet, as the storyline of I Wanna Rock: The ‘80s Metal Dream makes clear, it was all over by 1991, when MTV and the music industry set their sights on Nirvana, grunge, and the alternative music explosion. Hair metal’s story, and how it was silenced by Kurt Cobain’s anguished scream, has been told before. But the route that ‘80s Metal Dream takes to do it, with profiles of the various personalities who made their way into the scene, is an effective one, because it personalizes their efforts to achieve what any musician of any genre wants. Like their peers, they just wanted to be heard. Everything else that came with it, from the hairspray to the increasingly absurd outfits and antics, was just part of being on that rocketship.

The contemporary interview segments in ‘80s Metal Dream really stand out, because of this perspective. But the docuseries also scrounges up some pretty incredible visuals that help set the scene. Kip Winger and friends pulling long hours in a New York recording studio. Tracking shots of the crowds outside the clubs on Sunset, preening for the camera in the familiar manner that would inform their Instagram reels or TikToks if it was happening today. And in one stretch of tape, the early moments of Snake Sabo and Skid Row rehearsing with their new lead singer, a nineteen-year-old tall drink of water in leather pants and wild hair named Sebastian Bach, whose audacity and unpredictability personified what it meant to be a rock star in that era.  

Sex and Skin: “Who didn’t wanna be there?” Janet Gardner recalls of the rock clubs on the Sunset Strip in LA, because if you could draw a crowd, you could get a record deal. And what John Corabi remembers was that crowd having all of the looks. “Wall to wall palm tree hair, long jackets, girls in lingerie, fishnet stockings, high heels, and dudes with as much makeup on as their chicks.” 

Parting Shot: Part two of The ‘80s Metal Dream will focus on what came next as musicians’ longing for rock stardom manifested. “Getting signed, we knew that was a huge step,” Gardner says. “But then when it really happened, it’s kind of like, well what does this actually mean?” And Snake Sabo describes it as a reality check. “You picture champagne being opened, and this atmosphere of celebration for your lifelong dream. And it was not that.” 

Sleeper Star: A notable nugget of comparison here is author Craig Williams’ breakdown of flyer culture in the 1980s. 8 ½ x 11 and pasted onto a pole, they were the one-stop social media promotional tools of the age. “You would try to find a color that nobody else was using. You had to have a really good photo – sort of sexy, or menacing – and then you’d have the name of the band, so you’d need some sort of interesting logo, and hopefully you’d have some dates scheduled if you weren’t a total poseur. And then a ticket hotline, where people could call and it’d be like ‘Hey this is Tommy from Paradise, and we’re gonna rock your ass.’” Shouldn’t hotlines to call and reach a promotional recording from a band make a big comeback? Is Cameo looking for a new revenue stream?  

Most Pilot-y Line: Van Halen were the influencers of their day. Music journalist Katherine Turman says getting established early and already having a full-fledged look and sound gave the Pasadena rockers a leg up. “Van Halen had the template,” Turman says over archival footage of Eddie Van Halen finger-tapping with a lit cigarette stuck in the tuning pegs of his signature red, white, and black Frankenstrat. “The shredding guitarist. The outrageous frontman with the hair. Never would I have called them metal, never would I call them hair metal. But an influence on every single band that was metal that came afterwards, for sure.” 

Our Call: STREAM IT. I Wanna Rock: The ‘80s Metal Dream focuses on the individual perspectives of a cross-section of musicians to tell its story, along the way revealing the look and feel of the hair metal scene, as well as its trajectory as it grew, went gonzo, and eventually got crushed by grunge.

Johnny Loftus is an independent writer and editor living at large in Chicagoland. His work has appeared in The Village Voice, All Music Guide, Pitchfork Media, and Nicki Swift. Follow him on Twitter:  @glennganges  

• Stream It Or Skip It
• The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years

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A hair metal documentary series is coming to Paramount+ and please take our money right now

The three-part I Wanna Rock: The '80s Metal Dream is scheduled to begin on Paramount+ in July

I Wanna Rock: The '80s Metal Dream, a three part-documentary series that promises to reveal much about the hair metal scene of the 1980s , will debut on streaming platform Paramount+ in July.

The series will retell the stories of the early years of Skid Row , Winger, Twisted Sister , Vixen and The Scream. It was made in conjunction with MTV Entertainment Studios in partnership with Gunpowder & Sky, and directed by Tyler Measom, the man behind 2019's I Want My MTV, which told the story of the pioneering music TV network.

"Five young dreamers chasing stardom in the cutthroat world of 80s metal," reads the blurb accompanying the show's trailer. "Some will succeed, some will fail, but each will make you see an entirely new side of the metal genre."

I Wanna Rock: The '80s Metal Dream, described as "a very kick ass (yet emotional) series" by Measom, includes interviews with Dee Snider from Twisted Sister, Winger mainman Kip Winger , Vixen's Janet Gardner, Skid Row founder Dave 'The Snake' Sabo, The Scream and former Mötley Crüe frontman John Corabi, and former Guns N' Roses manager Vicky Hamilton. 

The three episodes are I Wanna Be Somebody, which focuses on the early days of the bands’ careers; Headed For Heartbreak, which tells the story of the struggles faced by the bands; and Smells Like Change , which investigates the rise of grunge and the damage done to the hair metal scene. 

I Wanna Rock: The '80s Metal Dream will debut on July 18 in North America, and on July 19 in the U.K. and Australia.  

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Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 38 years in music industry, online for 25. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.  

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A Gentleman In Moscow | Paramount+ Reveals The Premiere Date And First-Look Images

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Ewan McGregor as Count Rostov in A Gentleman in Moscow episode 1, streaming on Paramount+ 2024. Photo Credit: Ben Blackall/Paramount+ With Showtime

Based on Amor Towles’ Best-Selling Novel, the Lionsgate-produced series, A Gentleman In Moscow, will Debut on March 29 in the U.S., Canada, U.K. and Australia

Paramount+ today released first-look images from its upcoming limited series A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW. And announced that the U.K. original series will premiere on March 29 exclusively on Paramount+ in Canada, the U.K., and Australia. And in the U.S. on the Paramount+ with Showtime plan. With additional Paramount+ international territories to follow at a later date.

BASED ON THE NOVEL

An adaptation of Amor Towles’ internationally best-selling novel, A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW follows Count Alexander Rostov, played by Emmy Award-winning actor Ewan McGregor (Star Wars franchise, Halston, Trainspotting). Who, in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, finds that his gilded past places him on the wrong side of history. Spared immediate execution, he is banished by a Soviet tribunal to an attic room in the opulent Hotel Metropol. Threatened with death if he ever sets foot outside again.

As the years pass. And some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history unfold outside the hotel’s doors, Rostov’s reduced circumstances provide him entry into a much larger world of emotional discovery. As he builds a new life within the walls of the hotel, he discovers the true value of friendship, family and love.

ALSO STARRING

Alongside McGregor, the series stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Ahsoka, Kate, Birds of Prey) as glamorous, self-made film actress Anna Urbanova. Alexa Goodall (The Devil’s Hour, Lockwood and Co) as the Count’s unlikely young friend Nina. Johnny Harris (Without Sin, This is England ’86) as conflicted secret police officer Osip. And Fehinti Balogun (Dune, I May Destroy You) as Mishka, the Count’s best friend from university. Additional cast includes Leah Harvey (Foundation), and Paul Ready (Motherland, The Terror). John Heffernan (Becoming Elizabeth, The Pursuit of Love), Lyès Salem (Coupez, Abou Leila), Björn Hlynur Haraldsson (Lamb, The Witcher). Dee Ahluwalia (Consent, Sex Education) and Anastasia Hille (I Hate Suzie Too).

BEHIND THE SCENES

A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW is produced by Lionsgate Television. In association with Paramount. Ben Vanstone serves as Showrunner on the series. Which is the first production to come through Lionsgate’s first look deal with Tom Harper’s company Popcorn Storm Pictures. Harper (War and Peace, Peaky Blinders) will also executive produce alongside Vanstone. McGregor, Sharon Hughff, (Three Pines), Pancho Mansfield (Queen of the South). Moonriver TV’s Xavier Marchand (Nautilus, Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris) and the novel’s writer, New York Times best-selling author Amor Towles. BAFTA® award-winning director, and Emmy nominee Sam Miller (Surface, I May Destroy You, Luther) serves as director to select episodes and executive producer. Sarah O’Gorman (The Witcher, The Last Kingdom) also serves as director.

A Gentleman In Moscow will premiere on March 29th.

Source: Paramount+ UK & Ireland

Introducing Carl! As the News Editor at Future of the Force, Carl has been an invaluable member of our team since early 2016. His expertise and dedication have made him an integral part of our editorial staff. Beyond his professional role, Carl is a fervent supporter of Liverpool F.C. and an avid follower of pop culture. He has a deep passion for Halloween, Friday the 13th, and the iconic movie franchises Star Wars and Star Trek.

He can be found either at his neighborhood cinema, enjoying the latest releases on the big screen, or at home streaming the newest blockbuster movies.

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Paramount Plus Releases A Trailer For A Gentleman In Moscow

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A Gentleman In Moscow, An adaptation of Amor Towles’ internationally best-selling novel, follows Count Alexander Rostov, played by Emmy Award winning actor Ewan McGregor in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, finds that his gilded past places him on the wrong side of history. Spared immediate execution, he is banished by a Soviet tribunal to an attic room in the opulent Hotel Metropol, threatened with death if he ever sets foot outside again. As the years pass and some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history unfold outside the hotel’s doors, Rostov’s reduced circumstances provide him entry into a much larger world of emotional discovery. As he builds a new life within the walls of the hotel, he discovers the true value of friendship, family and love. Welcome to a mountain of entertainment from Paramount+ UK & Ireland, the streaming service that’s always worth watching. With blockbuster movies, new originals and exclusive series. Plus, a whole world of iconic drama, action, reality, comedy, documentaries and kids shows, there’s something for everyone.

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