While waiting for my daughter’s dentist appointment today, I was subjected to an hour of soft-rock schlock. It inspired this question:

If asked to put together a 12-song, 45-minute mix tape of your favorite 70s and 80s soft rock, could you do it?

I’m not sure if I could. I get stuck after “Baker Street.”

Here are the two rules:

1. The songs have to be legitimate soft rock, that a soft rock radio station would recognize as such. So no sneaking in a “God Only Knows” or a Zep ballad or something uncharacteristically rocking from a soft-rocker (e.g., “Crazy Horses,” “Free Form Guitar”).

2. It has to be a true mix tape, so you can’t just fill it with mostly Steely Dan.

Well . . . can you do it?

Does R&B count? If so, I’d have Anita Baker and Sadé in there somewhere. Probably “Same Old Love” and “Sweetest Taboo”.

Or is that cheating? I could imagine Baker being played but not Sadé on such a station. But that’s more of a function of stations playing “white” music having to have at least one black artist so it’s not super blatant. This is how Lenny Kravitz got so much air time in the Nineties.

Anonymous37 wrote: Tue Jun 27, 2023 7:04 pm Does R&B count?

Is Lionel Ritchie's "Easy" soft rock or R&B?

And, fuck yes I can do this.

Anonymous37 wrote: Tue Jun 27, 2023 7:04 pm Does R&B count? If so, I’d have Anita Baker and Sadé in there somewhere. Probably “Same Old Love” and “Sweetest Taboo”.

Or is that cheating? I could imagine Baker being played but not Sadé on such a station. But that’s more of a function of stations playing “white” music having to have at least one black artist so it’s not super blatant. This is how Lenny Kravitz got so much air time in the Nineties.

I’d say those both count.

Be like taking candy from a baby...

I can even sneak EVH in under the radar...

enframed wrote: Tue Jun 27, 2023 7:07 pm

Anonymous37 wrote: Tue Jun 27, 2023 7:04 pm Does R&B count?

Is Lionel Ritchie's "Easy" soft rock or R&B?

And, fuck yes I can do this.

Counts: “Easy,” “Night Shift,” Ritchie’s solo material.

Doesn’t count: “Brick House,” “Machine Gun”

Anonymous37 wrote: Tue Jun 27, 2023 7:04 pm Does R&B count? If so, I’d have Anita Baker and Sadé in there somewhere. Probably “Same Old Love” and “Sweetest Taboo”.

Or is that cheating? I could imagine Baker being played but not Sadé on such a station. But that’s more of a function of stations playing “white” music having to have at least one black artist so it’s not super blatant. This is how Lenny Kravitz got so much air time in the Nineties.

Just go for the Thin Lizzy cover. Gets you squarely into "Rock..." territory.

Challenge accepted.

I need a minute, though.

Then...

You get Dave through the side door with this one...

(Just caught that it has to stay in the seventies/eighties. Squarely "No Fun...", but still workable...)