Yacht Rock a Dockumentary (1 Viewer)

[efil4stnias]

Holy cow this is great. It's on Max.
Some.of the music everyone had heard growing up while riding in car, in dentist or doctors office or elevator.
It's awesome. Started with Steely Dan and just evolved off that sound.
Michael McDonald
Christopher Cross ( who wrote Ride like the wind while on acid driving from Houston to Austin to record it lolol)
Kenny Loggins

Great 96 min documentary

 

[Mr. Blue Sky]

Ive been meaning to watch it for the last few days, will probably check it out tonight .. my sizzling hot take is that i dont think Yacht Rock is as gimmicky and formulaic as some people think (ok maybe a little formulaic)- i think it’s actually just legitimately great music .

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

Holy cow this is great. It's on Max.
Some.of the music everyone had heard growing up while riding in car, in dentist or doctors office or elevator.
It's awesome. Started with Steely Dan and just evolved off that sound.
Michael McDonald
Christopher Cross ( who wrote Ride like the wind while on acid driving from Houston to Austin to record it lolol)
Kenny Loggins

Great 96 min documentary

efil became Superchuck
I knew it was bound to happen eventually

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

Ive been meaning to watch it for the last few days, will probably check it out tonight .. my sizzling hot take is that i dont think Yacht Rock is as gimmicky and formulaic as some people think (ok maybe a little formulaic)- i think it’s actually just legitimately great music .

It’s the Threes Company of music

 

[efil4stnias]

Ive been meaning to watch it for the last few days, will probably check it out tonight .. my sizzling hot take is that i dont think Yacht Rock is as gimmicky and formulaic as some people think (ok maybe a little formulaic)- i think it’s actually just legitimately great music .

Bingo.

And it is.

I totally forgot Chrisopher Cross won 4 Grammy in 1981 ...FOUR.

But the composition, melodies and writing was such on a different level that wasn't apparent to a 12 yr old me. 53 year old me can now hear the influences in the arrangement and instruments and realize how ahead of the time all these people were and how influential they would become.

 

[superchuck500]

The lady and I will be watching soon.

Though I’m sure it’s nowhere near as good as the original .

 

[superchuck500]

efil became Superchuck
I knew it was bound to happen eventually

Pfft - he wishes

 

[tenordas]

It’s the Threes Company of music

Is that meant as a compliment or a put down?

I don't consider Steely Dan "yacht rock" for even a second. It's jazz fusion and not anywhere near "poppish" enough to be thrown in with the likes of Cross, Loggins, etc. And I admit my bias as one who is not a fan of yacht rock.
While I'm okay with the tunes Michael McDonald wrote for The Doobie Brothers, I will quickly tell you they are near the bottom of my list of Doobie Brothers songs. His solo stuff you can have. Just my taste...

 

[Mr. Blue Sky]

Is that meant as a compliment or a put down?

I don't consider Steely Dan "yacht rock" for even a second. It's jazz fusion and not anywhere near "poppish" enough to be thrown in with the likes of Cross, Loggins, etc. And I admit my bias as one who is not a fan of yacht rock.
While I'm okay with the tunes Michael McDonald wrote for The Doobie Brothers, I will quickly tell you they are near the bottom of my list of Doobie Brothers songs. His solo stuff you can have. Just my taste...

100% compliment .



I too have a major issue with what does, and does not, constitute Yacht Rock.. i AM a fan of yacht rock, yet i cant consider anyhting prior to ‘77 or post ‘83 as being yacht rock- and even those bookend years are stretching the limits.. for example, Climax Blues Band are basically a two hit wonder; their two hits are both good songs, but there’s no way that Couldn’t Get It Right could be considered YR.. it came out mid 70s but sounds like it’d be more at home late 60s or turn of the 70s, around ‘70 or ‘71.. NOT yacht rocking at all, but an excellent tune.. their only other big hit is a love song from like ‘81 and is very much aligned with yacht rockism…


Steely Dan for me though, is a gray area in re to whether or not it is YR .

 

[efil4stnias]

Is that meant as a compliment or a put down?

I don't consider Steely Dan "yacht rock" for even a second. It's jazz fusion and not anywhere near "poppish" enough to be thrown in with the likes of Cross, Loggins, etc. And I admit my bias as one who is not a fan of yacht rock.
While I'm okay with the tunes Michael McDonald wrote for The Doobie Brothers, I will quickly tell you they are near the bottom of my list of Doobie Brothers songs. His solo stuff you can have. Just my taste...

I think the Dockumentary does a good job of explaining how the Steely Dan "sound" was the impetus for the whole "yacht rock" genre- what Steely Dan did, musically, in studio, is what led to this sound. Off-time rifs and chords, r&b/jazz infused timing and sound coupled with lyrics and in some instances, voices, that birthed this whole thing. It was crossover music before crossover music was even a thing.

What surprised me was just how almost every one of the artists in this genre were originally simple session players. Shoot, i had no idea Toto ( the entire band ) were more interested in playing session music than their own. The drummer played on over 5000 studio recorded songs for every artist you can think of.

Oh and Michael Jackson- didnt write Human Nature. ( and how it came to be on the album- the story behind it- thats the reason i watch these documentaries. you find out/hear some really interesting and crazy stories )

 

[Sun Wukong]

Bingo.

And it is.

I totally forgot Chrisopher Cross won 4 Grammy in 1981 ...FOUR.

But the composition, melodies and writing was such on a different level that wasn't apparent to a 12 yr old me. 53 year old me can now hear the influences in the arrangement and instruments and realize how ahead of the time all these people were and how influential they would become.

The rise of MTV and the music video kinda killed Christopher Cross and erased him from popular music history for a while. There was nothing marketable about his look or style at all and his career basically vanished over night. He went from topping the charts to not even being able to chart within 4 years.

 

[efil4stnias]

The rise of MTV and the music video kinda killed Christopher Cross and erased him from popular music history for a while. There was nothing marketable about his look or style at all and his career basically vanished over night. He went from topping the charts to not even being able to chart within 4 years.

they talk about that. Not just Christopher Cross either.

 

[Poppy]

Holy cow this is great. It's on Max.
Some.of the music everyone had heard growing up while riding in car, in dentist or doctors office or elevator.
It's awesome. Started with Steely Dan and just evolved off that sound.
Michael McDonald
Christopher Cross ( who wrote Ride like the wind while on acid driving from Houston to Austin to record it lolol)
Kenny Loggins

Great 96 min documentary

I love this genre of music and thanks for sharing this. But Kenny Loggins is horrible IMO. compared to bands like, america, steely dan, supertramp, Gerry Raferty, ambrosia etc.

 

[efil4stnias]

I love this genre of music and thanks for sharing this. But Kenny Loggins is horrible IMO. compared to bands like, america, steely dan, supertramp, Gerry Raferty, ambrosia etc.

Watch the Dock.

His musical and song writing talent is remarkable.

 

[superchuck500]

I too have a major issue with what does, and does not, constitute Yacht Rock.. i AM a fan of yacht rock, yet I cant consider anyhting prior to ‘77 or post ‘83 as being yacht rock- and even those bookend years are stretching the limits.. for example, Climax Blues Band are basically a two hit wonder; their two hits are both good songs, but there’s no way that Couldn’t Get It Right could be considered YR.. it came out mid 70s but sounds like it’d be more at home late 60s or turn of the 70s, around ‘70 or ‘71.. NOT yacht rocking at all, but an excellent tune.. their only other big hit is a love song from like ‘81 and is very much aligned with yacht rockism…


Steely Dan for me though, is a gray area in re to whether or not it is YR .

So this is a fascinating issue - and I think we have to start with the history of the term "yacht rock" itself. While the musical sub-genre took place from the mid-70s to the early 80s - the term yacht rock didn't come about until the mid 2000s. It's hard to know its very original use, but the first documented use is in the series "Yacht Rock" (with Hollywood Steve) that some LA area film students produced and posted online. I posted episode 1 above and was familiar with it back then (2005 ish).

What this means is that the whole notion of yacht rock developed organically 25 or so years later based on what a bunch of songs from an era share stylistically. Yes, there's some genuine basis to attribute it to a sort of smooth, yuppy-ish, slightly jazzy sound to a boating vibe - but it's that specific sound and production value that defines yacht rock and not necessarily hard swim lanes about specific artists, or even dates.

Steely Dan, for example, definitely made some yacht rock. The Aja album has Deacon Blues, Black Cow, and Babylon Sister and are as yachty as rock gets. But most of the Steely Dan earlier catalog is not . . . not only because the timing isn't right but the sound/style isn't right. Aja came out in 1977, when the yacht rock sound was well underway, but there's probably examples of genuine yacht rock before that. Also, I think the genuine era was short, by about 1981, the real stuff was mostly over.

BUT all this means there's ample room for debate.