NOISE JUNKIES - Yacht Rock

Weird yacht rock? What are these two words really represent? For some, they conjure visions of moms and dads wearing cheap captain's hats and Hawaiian shirts, drunk and swaying to a live cover of Cool Change. For others, it might mean listening to dad rock while being carpooled to a soccer game. I can't argue with either of these characterizations, but I can say that for me and for many others, it means something more.

But how deeply can. We analyze a blatantly arbitrary genrely arbitrary even by the very minds that originally coined the term. But that's my task, Dear listeners on this special episode of Noise Junkies, as I delve into the mystery the majesty of yat Rock. Hello, listeners to this special mini episode of Noise Junkies. I'm hp tonight.

I'm on a solo flight talking about a musical topic that is near and dear to my heart, yat Rock. But to better understand my passion and understand the genre and context, we need to trace things back a bit. First up the year twenty twenty ah March twenty twenty The pandemic is just starting to wend its way into our daily lives. I won't bore you with yet another tale of woe from that wretched period. I'm sure anyone listening to this has their own story to tell.

Suffice it to say there. I was housebound like the rest of us, and like everyone else, I was looking for a piece of light entertainment to help make those long, uncertain days more bearable. Instead of binge watching Tiger King, I found comfort in the by product of a fifteen year old web series that itself cast a long shadow over pop culture. J d Risnar Hunter Stare, David Lyons, and Lane Farnham, four buddies in California with various jobs in the entertainment industry, developed the web series yacht Rock for the Channel one oh one website, using friends and co workers both in front of and behind the camera. Channel one oh one was conceived as a monthly film festival where groups would submit five minute short films that would be screened before a live audience at a theater in Los Angeles.

The audience would vote on which ones they would like to see continue. This process would continue each month until an episode failed to make the top five, at which point it was canceled. The yacht Rock Pilot was submitted on June twenty six, two thousand and five, and ran on Channel one oh one for an almost unprecedented ten episodes until Sunday, June twe twenty fifth, two thousand and six, when it was finally canceled. However, because of its popularity, two more episodes were created and screened, first on January twenty seventh, two thousand and eight, with the twelfth and final episode screened on April twenty fourth, twenty ten. It remains one of the longest running series in Channel one oh one history.

The yacht Rock Web series was designed as a mockumentary depicting the fictionalized stories of aoar smooth acts of the late seventies and early to mid eighties, particularly Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins. McDonald was portrayed by risnar as a musician anxious about his place in pop music heading into the nineteen eighties. Loggins, portrayed by Staire, was depicted as a smooth music king who longed to break free of his smooth shackles and move in a more rock oriented, soundtrack focused direction. Steve Huey, himself an actual writer for the All Music website, introduced each episode in the modern day and acted as a kind of wraparound story for each episode. Lions, a native of Michigan like Huey, Risnar and Stare, portrayed the fictional character of Coco Goldstein, a smooth music impresario who counseled and guided McDonald and Loggins until his untimely harpoon death in episode two.

The pilot episode centered on a nervous Michael McDonald as he worried about his status and the Doobie Brothers eventually writing what a fool believes with the help of Kenny Loggin's. Their shitty music making me barf logging in, this is ridiculous. You're a sentimental fool, Kenny. You think you can come right back here from long ago and recreate your friendship just by mustering a smile and telling some nostalgic tales. That's what a fool believes, Kenny, That's what That's what a fool believes.

Jimmy, looks like you've inspired them to set sail on a voyage straight to the top of the charts. Other musicians portrayed in the series include the members of Toto, holl And Oates, Christopher Cross, and Jimmy Buffett, among many others. The finale even featured a creatively staged recreation of the recording of We Are the World. The series was irreverent, poking fun at the personalities and era that produced the music. It's clear that there's a great deal of affection for both the music and the musicians that were portrayed in the show, and the series boasted guest spots by many popular actors and comedians of the time, including comedian Doug Benson, Dan Harmon, creator of the TV show Community and one of the founders of Channel one oh one, and Chasing Amy actor Jason Lee.

Even Future Price's Right host Drew Carey found time to make an appearance. I had come across the Yacht Rock web series on YouTube sometime earlier and loved it. Being raised in the seventies and eighties, I was familiar with the music in the series, if not a fan of most of it. The writing is consistently funny, and even if some episodes are stronger than others, the self imposed five minute duration means that no episode ever outstays its welcome But now back to twenty twenty, am I search for content to take my mind off of a dreadful present day. A chance search turned up a podcast that never heard of before.

Some six years after the final episode of the out Rock series was screened, Risnar, huey Stare and Lyons debuted a new podcast called Beyond yacht Rock. Ostensibly, the aim of this podcast was to coin other arbitrary musical genres, just as their web series had inadvertently given rise to the term yacht rock. A quick side note, yes, the creators of the term yacht rock freely admit that the genre is arbitrary at please keep this in mind. No one, not even the yacht rock guys, ever claimed they invented a new style of music. Think of yacht rock as a magpie genre, taking a little from aoar here, a little from soft rock there, et cetera.

But even as the four guys moved forward with the new podcast direction, they maintained a connection to what gave them their greatest notoriety. Around episode ten of Beyond yacht Rock, they started peppering in many episodes called Yacht or Yacht, during which they would discuss user submitted songs and assigned scores based on the yachtiness of the track. Some of the criteria for yacht include personnel, anyone who performed on the track, with a history of other similar tracks within the genre, smoothness, R and B feel, and overall theme. Over time, they continued to codify the criteria and eventually the yacht and yacht episodes took over the podcast. The Beyond Yacht Rock podcast was just what the doctor ordered for me.

The co hosts shared a wonderful rapport. It was like listening to four old friends hangout, discussing music and busting each other's chops. But for me discovering the podcast was also slightly bittersweet. The bulk of the series was recorded at least four years prior, so in a sense, it was already over before I had even discovered it. Still, there were over two hundred episodes to dig into, dating from twenty sixteen to late twenty nineteen.

I loved the episodes dealing with new genre mixes, but the more lasting impact came from the yacht and Yacht episodes. I discovered a ton of awesome music listening to those episodes. Having already been a fan of yacht Adjason acts like Steely Dan and the Doobie Brothers. It was almost as if I was pre programmed to enjoy other songs that fell under the yacht rock banner. The overlay of the yacht rock criteria just made it easier to find like minded music of the era.

So what is yacht rock? Oftentimes it seems to be in the ear of the beholder. For example, there's a serious x M yacht rock channel that runs for a limited time each summer, but no true yacht rock fan worth their salt thinks much of the songs they play on this channel. You're more likely to hear soft rock hits like Looking Glasses, Brandy. Your Fine with Me, That's a.

Fun or Escape the Pina Colata song by Rupert. Holmes, if you liked the Komaa. Getting Done in the Rain, if you're not into yon cock, if you. Have a brain. Both of these songs received very low scores when reviewed on Beyond yacht Rock.

This doesn't necessarily make them bad songs, they just don't meet the minimum criteria for yachtiness as set for by the Beyond yacht Rock hosts. For me, I mostly go with the official and I'm using air quotes yacht or yacht ratings. When considering if a song is truly yacht rock, bear in mind that these guys have reviewed more than nine hundred different songs over the years from more than five hundred individual artists, and in doing so, have spent way more time thinking about and discussing this stuff than probably anyone else on the planet. And if it's good enough for the guys that coined the term, it's good enough for me. Some examples of certified yacht rock tracks include What a Fool Believes by the Doobie Brothers, prominently featured in the yacht Rock Pilot.

It's the only song with a perfect one hundred on the yachtsky scale. The song gets yacht points for the bouncy rhythm dubbed the Doobie Bounce, its infectious piano groove ripped off by countless other songs of the time, and the theme of the fool, which was prevalent in the era and a popular marker of yachtiness. Human Nature by Michael Jackson Surprised to hear that the King of pop is YACHTI. The secret sauce of the song lies in the song's writer and backing band. The song was written by Toto keyboardist Steve Percaro and performed by the rest of Toto Steve Lukather on guitar, Jeff Percaro on drums, David Page on synthesizer.

Toto would prove to be integral to yacht rock, as their members were all accomplished studio musicians whose playing appeared all over the era's hits. Toto were almost like a latter day version of The Wrecking Crew, the collective of studio musicians who played on countless hits of the sixties and seventies, yet remained mostly anonymous in their day. Human Nature is as smooth as they come and scores highly, in no small part due to its personnel Yatsky rating ninety five point five. If they say is un Joe that way, they say, is us named Joe. That way?

You need a hero? By Pages. Anyone who is around in the mid eighties probably remembers the band Mister Mister and their MTV hits Broken Wings and Kyrie, but few are aware that this was not the first band for members Richard Page and Steve George. Their first band, called Pages, released three albums between nineteen seventy eight in nineteen eighty one. These albums featured a light funk rock style with jazzy changes, not unlike the style popularized by late era Dan.

Also note that the duo were themselves popular studio musicians, and like Toto, can be found on many hits from that time. You Need a Hero comes off their third and final album, nineteen eighty one's Pages. It's smooth and bouncy and features drums by Jeff Percaro Yachtsky rating ninety. You Need a Hero found new life years later when a sample of it appeared on vapor Wave artist macint Hush Pluses Landmark twenty eleven LP Floral. Shop Rescue.

Song Word. Other surprising artists with certified yacht songs on the Yachtsky scale include Diana Ross. That again, That's how It's start All, That's how you begin again, That's how It's start. Late fitness guru Richard Simmons. If there's one.

Thing away, say you got to. So the way it's got now, then great day. If there's one thing I own, weindessay you got to live. Hold it, Squeeze and Kenny Rogers. But if you won't honesty from this is the way.

It's got to be. Heart like a melody heart. We were around the. Dy daft pump. If I had my way, I would never leave, keep building these undom.

Memories, turning our days into melodies. But since I can't. Stay, I'll just keep playing it back. He's back anto time. Then we where if gold It's moment to shine.

Frank Stallone. Shoes down and no looks up and all to leave and smile when there's no one to call, and she gives up. And finally McGruff the Crime Dog with his nineteen eighty four song warning of the dangers of alcohol. It's no good when you're drinking. Tell you it won't show you the way.

Hey, you'd better start thinking me and straight is okay? It seems so very nice, Ah, but you'd best be looking twice cause y'all we'll have to pay a price. You're gonna lose. Sunday. How about the opposite end of the spectrum.

What are some tracks that are commonly mistaken as yacht rock? Ventura Highway by America? Great song, no question, one of my personal favorites, but it's too early for the era nineteen seventy two and is much more folk oriented in sound than smooth. Think Crosby Stills in Nash Yatsky rating eight point eight seventy five Man Highway. In a.

Shy where the days are long, the nicetrong shot You're Gonna Go? I Know. Baker Street by Jerry Rafferty another favorite of mine, right era, nineteen seventy eight. Nice arrangement, but this is much more of a personal singer songwriter type song and ultimately misses the boat. Yachtsky rating twenty nine point two five.

I Know Dear and then you'll be habit. Just one weird and then you'll be habit. But you're grinding. You're grind. Peaceful, easy feeling by The Eagles, Still too early nineteen seventy two, two country and two wrong Thematically, this song has one of the worst Yachtsky scores to date.

One point five. Because I got a peace for. Ease it be, did I know? Because are all. Standing.

However you define yacht rock, there's no question that it's left a lasting impression on pop culture over the last fifteen years. Today, you'd be hard pressed to find someone unfamiliar. With the term. There are many popular touring bands that have built their entire career around so called yacht rock covers, including yacht Rock Review and Yachtley Crewe. There's even a nod to yacht rock in the recent Disney Pixar movie Inside Out Too.

Main character Riley is asked by her friends about her favorite songs, and in a mad scramble, her emotions can only come up with commercial jingles and Dad's yacht rock. And there are neurobands that are proudly carrying the torch. Sweden's State Cows and Detroit, Michigan Page ninety nine are both continuing to record music in the tradition of classic yacht rock bands of the past. Both bands have even bridged the gap between the past and future by featuring musicians that have performed on yacht rock songs of the past, such as guitarist Michael Landau and singer Bill Champlain. I'm also happy to report that almost four years after the end of Beyond yacht Rock, the four original guys return to podcasting with not one, but two new podcasts in twenty twenty three.

The First Billion Dollar Record Club spotlights and Unheralded or mostly Unloved album in each episode with track by track commentary. The second, The Yacht and Yacht Podcast again features user submitted songs which are discussed and voted on in terms of their yachtiness. Their report is still intact and both podcasts are excellent listens that I recommend without hesitation. Also of note is a long gestating book that the four have been working on for some time that promises to tell the real story of yacht rock. This book was somewhat derailed by the pandemic, but hopefully it will see publication in the near future.

So there you have it. Thank you for indulging my deep dive into yacht rock. As always, please feel free to write us, rate us, review us. We'd love to hear from you in any manner you choose. As for me, you can find me elsewhere on the Weirdingway Network.

I am the co host of the Night Mister Walters Taxi podcast along with Father Alone. I'm also an occasional Culture Cast guest with Chris Dashu, and I also have a bandcampsite Hpmusicplace dot bandcamp dot com. Please check it out. Thanks again for listening, and we'll see you again next time.