Here's a link to my yacht and Westcoast master list, for those who are interested: Yacht Rock and the Westcoast Sound: The 24-Karat Connoisseur’s List, a playlist by James Burke on Spotify And here's the Top 50 list: Yacht Rock: 50 Essential Tracks, a playlist by James Burke on Spotify
The Netflix version of the recent Broadway smash "Oh, Hello!" features a note-perfect Steely Dan parody song over the end credits. (The characters are rabid Dan fans, and Donald Fagen himself came to a performance and loved it.) It's a perfect rip-off of "FM" with ridiculous lyrics and, I'd guess, Nick Kroll doing a decent Fagen impression.
Here's a few... Brenda Russell-Hello People Brian and Brenda Russell- Don't Let Go Pages-You Need a Hero Robbie Dupree-Steal Away Leslie Smith-It's Something Manhattan Transfer-On The Boulevard Boz Scaggs- The Perfect One Boz Scaggs- A Clue Boz Scaggs- Simone Tom Jans-Why Don't You Love Me Earth Wind and Fire-After the Love Is Gone Gino Vannelli-Livin' Inside Myself Sneaker-More Than Just The Two of Us Al Jarreau-Breakin' Away Nielson and Pearson- You Got Me Where You Want Me Sergio Mendes-Alibis Marty Balin-Music is the Light Amy Holland-How Do I Survive? Average White Band- For You, For Love Toto-99 The Brothers Johnson- Closer To The One That You Love The Doobie Brothers-South Bay Strut The Doobie Brothers- Real Love
Yeah, not really. "Reminiscing" is pretty close, although I think it misses the mark, but otherwise their catalog is all over the place and most of it sounds nothing like yacht rock. There are many bands that are much yacht… ier.
I've laughed so many times reading this thread. Great thread! Count me among those who doesn't file Steely Dan in the Yacht Rock bin. I agree that they produced some Yacht Rock songs ("Peg") either through genre exercises or by accident, I'm not sure, but most of their music is far too late-night-New York-urban-liberal arts school-hipster-faux, faux jazz, including "Doctor Wu."
"All Night Long" is definitely not Yacht Rock... the score for this tune is skewed by JD's ridiculous 91.
Yeah, they've been going off the rails a bit lately. That also gave Roger Voudouris' "Get Used to It," which is a marginal—at best—yacht rock track, almost 90 points, which is Crack. Pipe.
Finally got the Numero album on vinyl today. Very pleasant but I think you're right... all a bit underwhelming. Not sure if this will get many spins. As usual with Numero though, the packaging can't be faulted and the booklet is very well done.
I have to say, my girlfriend and I like to listen to the Yacht Rock channel on Sirius XM, although it seems lately their playlist seems to really be contracting. Question: Does any Steve Miller qualify as YR? To me, he's kind of in a category by himself. Classic rock, yes, but in general too hard for yacht rock and too light for AOR.
So I checked. The verdict? Nope. Most of the early stuff was too rockin' or bluesy, Abracadabra was dodgy stab at New Wave, and Italian X-Rays sounds like an aborted Oingo Boingo project. The closest track I could find to yacht rock—although it's not that close—is "I Want to Make the World Turn Around" from 1986's Living in the 20th Century album. See what you think:
Oh, speaking of yachty R&B, ever heard this one? This, my friend, is NEXT LEVEL smooth: The Jones Girls - Nights Over Egypt (HD)
Thanks for the response. Ironically, isn't 1986 the unofficial "cutoff" point for the vast bulk of Yacht Rock? That was the year Michael McDonald's "Sweet Freedom" came out. Not to mention Double's "The Captain of Her Heart."
Yeah, that's pretty much when the fleet came into port and set their anchors. The voyage was complete.
BTW, even Black Oak Arkansas tried to get in on the craze in 1978, if this cover is any indication. Although if there is one word that will never describe Jim Dandy's voice, it's "smooth."
Yep and this is exactly what happened to the song when it was released, R&B and pop didn't know what to do with it. Great sound though, that's probably my favorite era in one song. Yes indeed! The Jones Girls are one of my favorites. Yachty R&B, yep pretty much. During its release, this was restricted to the R&B charts and quiet storm formats. The song is still beloved.
