Comments on: Mark Siano, Star of <em>The Soft Rock Kid</em>, Names His Top 8 Songs to Softly Rock To http://thesunbreak.com/2010/02/27/mark-siano-star-of-the-soft-rock-kid-names-his-top-8-songs-to-softly-rock-to/ Curious Georges in a conversation with Seattle Wed, 18 Feb 2015 07:17:37 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1 By: Michael van Baker http://thesunbreak.com/2010/02/27/mark-siano-star-of-the-soft-rock-kid-names-his-top-8-songs-to-softly-rock-to/#comment-1046 Sun, 28 Feb 2010 19:19:00 +0000 /2010/02/26/mark-siano-star-of-the-soft-rock-kid-names-his-top-8-songs-to-softly-rock-to#comment-1046 This is a great question, bilco. I would lean toward the “band that does nothing else” side of the spectrum, or (subset) a band that is known for nothing else (allowing for one-hit soft rock wonders). But that said, there are clearly instances where once a soft rock station claims a song, it’s done for.

]]> By: bilco http://thesunbreak.com/2010/02/27/mark-siano-star-of-the-soft-rock-kid-names-his-top-8-songs-to-softly-rock-to/#comment-1045 Sun, 28 Feb 2010 06:58:00 +0000 /2010/02/26/mark-siano-star-of-the-soft-rock-kid-names-his-top-8-songs-to-softly-rock-to#comment-1045 Still struggling to understand the arbitrary genre of ‘soft rock’. Is it just a ballad by a rock band? Or does it need to be done by a band that does nothing else?

The recent, heavy Olympic rotation ad for ATT (I think) that uses Lou Reed’s ‘Perfect Day’ is a good case in point. When Transformer came out, I was in thrall, but this tune (while lovely) always seemed out of whack with the rest of the disk. Of course, ATT has cut the line ‘I wish I was someone else – someone good’, rendering it awfully mushy.

The movie Trainspotting used the song for the decent into heroin bliss. Now it’s a corporate anthem (think Iggy’s Lust for Life). But unlike Lust, Perfect Day does seem to be, well, soft rock.

Is that bad? Or is this just something the hipster ironists have foisted upon us?

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