Yacht Rock a Dockumentary (4 Viewers)

[superchuck500]

In the original Yacht Rock series, episode 2, we meet Christopher Cross - a Texas kid trying to make his way in LA with smooth sounds. Note that he is played by Justin Roiland, co-creator of Rick and Morty (the other, Dan Harmon, plays a producer in two of the episodes).

One of the funniest things to me about Yacht Rock (the original series) is how John Oates is a total dick. I don't think there's much basis for it, just a gag. Hollywood Steve said that the show needed an antagonist and Hall and Oates were from Philly, so they seemed like a good choice to be dicks. lol

Sail Away: The Oral History of 'Yacht Rock'

Michael McDonald, Donald Fagen, Hall and Oates and others tell the complete story of most popular history-of-smooth-music series ever made.

www.rollingstone.com

 

[superchuck500]

i do think that 1977 is too early for YR, it’s really 1978-1982 for me .. interestingly , on the Sirius XM Yacht Rock channel’s intros and outros between songs they mention exactly two cities- Marina del Rey and Siesta Key- and i have in my life resided in both places ! So i guess i was meant to be a yacht rocker .

One of the Yacht Rock (series) creators said something to the effect that the big 70s rock bands were called "arena rock" . . . the 70s smooth bands are "marina rock"

I'm gonna have to go ahead and disagree with you there about 1977. I think the flower is clearly blooming at that point - and the Steely Dan stuff on Aja to me is the fine Columbian of yacht rock. In fact, it's as important of a year for yacht rock as any other, perhaps even the most important because you have to credit the vanguard.

These sounds are so smooooooth!

1977 songs in the Yacht Rock hall-of-fame:
- Pablo Cruise "Love Will Find a Way"
- Boz Scaggs "Lido Shuffle"
- Steely Dan "Deacon Blues", "Josie","Black Cow"
- Player "Baby Come Back"
- Loggins f/ Stevie Nicks, "Whenever I Call You Friend"

 

[Mr. Blue Sky]

One of the Yacht Rock (series) creators said something to the effect that the big 70s rock bands were called "arena rock" . . . the 70s smooth bands are "marina rock"

I'm gonna have to go ahead and disagree with you there about 1977. I think the flower is clearly blooming at that point - and the Steely Dan stuff on Aja to me is the fine Columbian of yacht rock. In fact, it's as important of a year for yacht rock as any other, perhaps even the most important because you have to credit the vanguard.

These sounds are so smooooooth!

1977 songs in the Yacht Rock hall-of-fame:
- Pablo Cruise "Love Will Find a Way"
- Boz Scaggs "Lido Shuffle"
- Steely Dan "Deacon Blues", "Josie","Black Cow"
- Player "Baby Come Back"
- Loggins f/ Stevie Nicks, "Whenever I Call You Friend"

I think anyone who regularly posts here would know thta i think the world of almost all the tunes you listed above.. Whenever i Call You Friend might be the greatest duet in the history of recorded music…. but i think the thing is that ive never seen the orig YR series from 2007 or whenever, and i havent yet seen the new documentary.. so my idea of what YR is or isnt might be different than other YR aficionados.. kinda like we all like dipping different things into our fondue pot ! Some like the melted cheese sauce, some dont…. Ive seen list of “YR classics” for instance that include songs like Brandy You’re a Fine Girl.. which came out in 19 freaking 72.. way too early to be YR.. or Toto’s Africa, on the cusp of YR chronology, but MUCH more an “80s song’, which is different from a YR song.. it is kinda like what that politician famously said about pornography- I cant define it, but I know it when i see it .

ETA i guess what im tryna say is people take way too much liberty with the term YR, to me it’s far more narrow and niche .

 

[efil4stnias]

it is kinda like what that politician famously said about pornography- I cant define it, but I know it when i see it .

ok that EXACT line is in the documentary ( music journalist says it in interview ) LOL

you are indeed meant to be a YRer.

Watch the doc- what is it like Sat 4 am where you are? you got time

 

[Mr. Blue Sky]

ok that EXACT line is in the documentary ( music journalist says it in interview ) LOL

you are indeed meant to be a YRer.

Watch the doc- what is it like Sat 4 am where you are? you got time

Haha no it’s 9:30pm Thursday night here and i have to get up early tomorrow morning so im in bed.. But the truth is, i dont actually have Max.. i have a hookup with a guy here, via IPtv, where i get 10,000 channels from around the world for $80 per YEAR… it’s awesome, i get all the streaming services, and all the local affiliates in America- i can watch Saints pre and post game stuff, hell i could watch Nash Roberts from 9,000 mi away if he were still alive.. but the downside is sometimes it takes a few days to get the newest streaming shows, so might be next week or so til i can watch the dockumentary .

So funny that they used that same line though .

 

[superchuck500]

I think anyone who regularly posts here would know thta i think the world of almost all the tunes you listed above.. Whenever i Call You Friend might be the greatest duet in the history of recorded music…. but i think the thing is that ive never seen the orig YR series from 2007 or whenever, and i havent yet seen the new documentary.. so my idea of what YR is or isnt might be different than other YR aficionados.. kinda like we all like dipping different things into our fondue pot ! Some like the melted cheese sauce, some dont…. Ive seen list of “YR classics” for instance that include songs like Brandy You’re a Fine Girl.. which came out in 19 freaking 72.. way too early to be YR.. or Toto’s Africa, on the cusp of YR chronology, but MUCH more an “80s song’, which is different from a YR song.. it is kinda like what that politician famously said about pornography- I cant define it, but I know it when i see it .

ETA i guess what im tryna say is people take way too much liberty with the term YR, to me it’s far more narrow and niche .

I hear you - and I think my view on it (which of course is highly refined and defensible ) is much closer to yours than others. And definitely many people don't really "get" what makes yacht rock and are thus inaccurate with their identifications, IMO.

I think that Brandy (You're a Fine Girl) is proto-yacht-rock at best. I get why it's considered but it doesn't meet the actual criteria. But certainly that sound of the earlier 70s was part of the synthesis that became yacht rock.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

you are indeed meant to be a YRer.

I consider MBS to be an easy rocker with YR tendencies

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

I think that Brandy (You're a Fine Girl) is proto-yacht-rock at best.

maybe some venn diagram overlap, but I don't think any of the (60s) 70s story folk (Lightfoot, Chapin, et al) are YR

 

[efil4stnias]

maybe some venn diagram overlap, but I don't think any of the (60s) 70s story folk (Lightfoot, Chapin, et al) are YR

ohhh we get to see a slap fight between intellectuals.

 

[superchuck500]

maybe some venn diagram overlap, but I don't think any of the (60s) 70s story folk (Lightfoot, Chapin, et al) are YR

Agreed - they're not

 

[Bayouboy]

Nice little dock. While I don't mind the sound and could chill to it, it's not my cup of tea. I much rather the hair bands. Don't judge.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

I much rather the hair bands. Don't judge.

too late

 

[Saintman2884]

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.

The rise of MTV and music video completely changed how popular music was presented, marketed and promoted and late 70's artists like Cross, Michael McDonald or Loggins didnt have the great visual appeal or aesthetic that would them more relatable as sex symbols or would-be actors. David Bowie sort of copied a bit from Peter Gabriel's playbook in reinventing his solo career in the early 80's by recording and producing odd, peculiar (yet very successful) albums and off-kilter music videos like Gabriel did (although not nearly as weird or unusual like "Sledge Hammer").

Guys like Phil Collins and Genesis may not have been "matinee idols" but they were saavy and career-conscious enough to adapt to MTV's new musical video aesthetics. Here's a thing that documentary didnt tell you: maybe Phil Collins wasnt some MTV Brad Pitt of the early 80's but like his daughter Lily Collins, he grew up being an actor and was completely comfortable transitioning for that role on MTV as much as he was respected and revered as a singer-songwriter, producer and drummer. In the early 80's, although she was struggling with some substance abuse issues (mostly cocaine) Stevie Nicks was still considered a major sex symbol and talented singer-songwriter and front-woman in her own right along with Lindsey Buckingham.

 

[Saintman2884]

too late

Don't feel ashamed that you felt then that bands like Motley Crue, Poison, Ratt, Cinderella, and rest of mid-late 80's Sunset Strip hair bands sucked and still do. I feel the same way, frankly, Guido and I'm so forking glad an angrier, potent yet more politically and socially relevant PNW punk offshoot called Grunge killed them off. Popular music needs a long-overdue, underground more genuine genre or off-shoot like Grunge to make music, culture and our overall society a little more interesting then over-commercialized retreads or worn-out cliched gimmicks. In the late 70's, The Who's Pete Townsend wrote and recorded a song called "Music must change" amidst the transatlantic punk explosion in U.K. and U.S.A. and that sentiment remains as true now as it did 45 years ago.

I'm actually glad bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains and Mud Honey ruined the careers of Warrant, Winger, Mr. Big, Poison, Ratt, and humbled Motley Crue a little bit out of their high-flying 80's stupid, inane and fake "Girls, Girls, Girls" decadence. It epitomized everything that Kurt Cobain pointed out that was fake, superficial and over-commercialized about the L.A. hair metal scene.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

The rise of MTV and music video completely changed how popular music was presented, marketed and promoted and late 70's artists like Cross, Michael McDonald or Loggins didnt have the great visual appeal or aesthetic that would them more relatable as sex symbols or would-be actors. David Bowie sort of copied a bit from Peter Gabriel's playbook in reinventing his solo career in the early 80's by recording and producing odd, peculiar (yet very successful) albums and off-kilter music videos like Gabriel did (although not nearly as weird or unusual like "Sledge Hammer").

Guys like Phil Collins and Genesis may not have been "matinee idols" but they were saavy and career-conscious enough to adapt to MTV's new musical video aesthetics. Here's a thing that documentary didnt tell you: maybe Phil Collins wasnt some MTV Brad Pitt of the early 80's but like his daughter Lily Collins, he grew up being an actor and was completely comfortable transitioning for that role on MTV as much as he was respected and revered as a singer-songwriter, producer and drummer. In the early 80's, although she was struggling with some substance abuse issues (mostly cocaine) Stevie Nicks was still considered a major sex symbol and talented singer-songwriter and front-woman in her own right along with Lindsey Buckingham.

Probably the biggest song right before MTV took off was Escape /Pina Colada - a song targeted for people in their 30s (ish) as almost all yacht rock was
The real sea change for Mtv is that the age demo shifted by a decade or two
It went from gearing to adults who were going to buy concert tickets to kids at home eating pizza rolls

And I think your inclusion of Bowie gets it backwards- Bowie, other glam rockers and funk bands like Parliment and EW&F presaged the visual elements of music
MTV did what Bowie, et al were already doing, not the other way around