Yo…
Posted this experience on my Facebook back on May 18, 2024…since we’ll all looking back at the year that was. I wish I could provide stronger closure to this moment.
For Now...cue the memory:
It’s a warm Saturday afternoon so I drove to the library to pick up some fresh books. I tend to park near an industrial/loading dock area. (My library faces the butt of a dying shopping mall.)
Got out of the car and instantly saw a Sunshine glint on one of the wooden pallets. Well, curiosity killed the cat but I’m a human so I wandered over.
There on the stack of the pallets was a cassette tape: Soft Rock. And Volume 3 no less!
Man: I’m dying to know what’s on this mixtape!
Careless Whisper maybe? Though really that’s a Volume 1 jam…you drop that heat right away. Is that even soft rock?!
Pearl Jam’s Black has gotta be on one of these Volumes.
I don’t even know what soft rock even means? KISS: I Was Made for Lovin’ You? That’s a mixtape special. That’s romance, too: in yo’face Hallmark.
Fleetwood Mac? Bon Jovi?
I gotta go to a vintage or second hand store and buy a cheap Walkman.
I’m certain there’s some sweet gems on this…Volume 3, too!
Yo…what do you think is on this mixtape? Comments are below.
We’re counting down to New Year’s Eve and that means an expected evening of…enchanted music.
If you’re watching live countdown shows a popular choice is CNN’s live with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen. Musically that’ll offer 50 Cent to Sting to Shania Twain. That’s clearly a little bit of something for everyone.
Locally, George Stroumboulopoulos will host a live New Year’s Eve special on CHCH-TV. (The same sweet channel I watch Knight Rider on every day at 4 pm.)
George will be counting down and cueing up Death From Above 1979 and Basia Bulat. (Solid lineup!)
And of course, if you’re attending a house party…there will be Much Music and dancing.
While you can expect all the big hits…some Madonna, some Michael Jackson and more…be sure to request the DJ drop some fresh Yacht Rock.
You wanna groove into the 2025 with a soulful reflection?
Trust me…Yacht Rock is the way to go.
Culturally; we seem to be slowly coming around to acknowledging the enriching value of the ‘70s.
In the last 2 years we’ve had:
The Holdovers: set in 1970,
Saturday Night (The SNL movie set in 1975),
Daisy Jones & The Six (1977) and
Woman of the Hour (1978: the Anna Kendrick movie about a serial killer on The Dating Game).
Happily before all that we enjoyed cinematic classics like Crowe’s Almost Famous, Ferrell’s Anchorman and Fincher’s Zodiac. (All 3 are remarkable films.)
Our collective response to the ‘70s is different from the odd Wonder Years nostalgia we seem to have for the peace and love ‘60s. Like an archeological dig we’re slowly unearthing the value of this slightly overlooked decade.
And that includes recognizing all the dope music such as Yacht Rock.
Yacht Rock is a pejorative term and a term of endearment: sarcasm is in the mouth of the beholder.
Does Steely Dan count as Yacht Rock? (Absolutely!)
What about Hall & Oates? (Nope, that’s a whole different Philadelphia sound.)
To quote the comedian creators of the Yacht Rock term: “All Yacht Rock is soft rock but not all soft rock is Yacht Rock.”
In the late ‘70s and early ’80s, Yacht Rock as a term was not yet a thing; however the genre was real. The music was and is spectacular: Toto, early Kenny Loggins, Steely Dan, Michael McDonald and Christopher Cross.
This is what and that is who the HBO Yacht Rock documentary is all about:
Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary is part of HBO’s Music Box series co-founded by Bill Simmons. What Bill did for 30 for 30s at ESPN—living at the intersection of culture and sports—he’s musically doing at HBO with the Music Box series. This time the intersection is culture and music.
In fact the Yacht Rock director Garret Price kicked off the Music Box series with Woodstock ’99 in 2021, as Season 1 Episode 1.
From the first slate I’ve checked out DMX: Don’t Try to Understand directed by Christopher Frierson, Listening to Kenny G directed by Penny Lane and Juice WRLD: Into The Abyss directed by Tommy Oliver. (In 2021 I interviewed Penny Lane the director of Listening to Kenny G.)
(I’ve yet to watch the Alanis Morissette documentary Jagged. We all have nerd homework.)
My impression is the Music Box docs are not having the same cultural impact as those early 30 for 30s but yeah, man do check em out. (We got a butload…crapload?…of music docs in 2024 across all the streamers. Like a lot.)
As Garret Price tells me in this attached My Summer Lair conversation Woodstock ’99 was a darker story; while Yacht Rock is fun and light. Obviously, it’s reflective in the music for both docs.
Duh. One featured Limp Bizkit’s Break Stuff, the other doc cruised with Steely Dan’s Peg.
Indeed when Sirius XM recently brought back their Yacht Rock station; I was happy. Clearly, there’s a velour quality to this ‘70s music…is velour fashion? Some would say no and sadly, they’d be wrong.
I cheered the return of the Sirius XM Yacht Rock station by scoring a pulled pork poutine.
In this charming HBO documentary Questlove affirms: “It’s perfect sitting down dancing music.” Which is exactly why it pairs so well with pulled pork poutine.
While Fred Armisen who opens the documentary chips in: “Yacht Rock, to me, it’s a very relaxing feeling. It’s like the singers all seem to be saying: “Hey it’s gonna be okay.”
And that’s it right there: Fred Armisen nailed it.
That’s the ROI for Yacht Rock listeners.
For music makers contemporary artists like Questlove and Thundercat describe how those old school smooth and soothing pop tunes influenced their own sound.
Thundercat even recruited Mike McDonald and Kenny Loggins to contribute to his 2017 song Show You the Way.
If you close your eyes and just listen to this song…what year do you think it came out in?
There’s a couple of notable notables as you watch this HBO documentary (also streaming on Crave for Canadians): First Yacht Rock is a scene.
There’s an Ancestry.com element that connects a lot of the musicians who played on all these different albums so they’re all connected. I never really thought of it as a scene until I saw it laid out in this Yacht Rock documentary.
Now that I’ve seen it, oh yes I see it as a scene.
Two: even if you don’t know the bands, trust me: you know the music. Honestly, as you’ll hear director Garret Price tell me: “I call Yacht Rock the soundtrack of our lives, whether you like it or not, because it’s been in your whole life.”
He’s right. In grocery stores, gas stations…when you’re on hold with your insurance company and they’re playing hold music: Yacht Rock is safe rock. Even if you don’t know the bands or the song titles all the music peppered throughout the documentary isn’t new to you.
And even if you don’t know the originals you probably know the samples. I like that Garrett’s Yacht Rock documentary acknowledges how often this music has been sampled for rap music.
Remember Warren G’s monster hit Regulate? The West Coast hip hop track samples Michael McDonald’s song I Keep Forgettin’ (Every Time You’re Near).
Listen to the first 30 seconds of his song…see? You do know this music. Even if it’s just through hip hop and being on hold with your insurance company.
Oh and if you wanna go down this sonic rabbit hole here’s a helpful Yacht or Nyacht? list to get you started.
Supa Fresh from 1977 Player’s Baby Come Back is my Yacht Rock jam! (Years later like a true Player I’d fist pump to Baby Got Back. A wonderful full circle pop culture moment.)
Turn it up and slowly groove:
I closed this My Summer Lair conversation with director Garret Price by asking for his Top 5 Yacht Rock jams:
What A Fool Believes by Michael McDonald & Kenny Loggins (1978)
Heart to Heart by Kenny Loggins & Michael McDonald (1982)
Ride Like The Wind by Christopher Cross & Michael McDonald (1980)
Rosanna by Toto (1982)
Peg by Steely Dan (1977)
Pretty solid and safe list. I was hoping he’d mix it up and include a couple of deep cuts, you know?
And man! No love for Baby Come Back? Yo, son!
Fun effortless documentary with a solid soundtrack if you wanna groove while you heat up Christmas dinner(s) leftovers.
If you’re looking for good vibes, mellow music infused with a sunny LA mood Music Box: Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary is your jam. Now streaming on HBO Max and Crave: #SetTheVCR.
Welcome back to the ‘70s, right?
When SCTV was king.
Here’s Rick Moranis as Michael McDonald recording backup vocals for Christopher Cross’ massive hit Ride Like The Wind.
If you dig the More Cowbell sketch on SNL (Will Ferrell, yo!) this is equally outstanding comedy.
I’ll conclude these Yacht Rock reflections by wishing you the best in 2025 via yacht-sailing puns: lots of smooth sailing sure and yet may you Rock The Boat and Make Waves.
Make 2025 a good year before you Keel Over.
Thank you to all my readers and subscribers. You made 2024 amazing. You’ve never left me High and Dry…(that was the last one.).
Anchors away ‘til next time—stay classy, captain!
Sammy Younan
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Sammy Younan is the affable host of My Summer Lair podcast: think NPR’s Fresh Air meets Kevin Smith: interviews & impressions on Pop Culture.
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