Scene from the Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary, visually representing the smooth, sophisticated aesthetic of Yacht Rock music.
Experiencing SiriusXM’s Yacht Rock station is often a revelation, quickly followed by a sense of sonic déjà vu. You realize you’re enjoying a very specific vibe, a smooth and mellow sound, but the playlist feels… limited. This realization echoes the sentiment explored in HBO’s Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary: is Yacht Rock truly a genre, or something more nuanced?
Defining Yacht Rock as a distinct genre can be debated. It’s perhaps better understood as a specific sonic style, a certain sensibility within soft rock, characterized by an air of luxurious indulgence. Beyond the shimmering surface of easy listening, Yacht Rock possesses unique musical DNA. It distinguishes itself from typical soft rock through a pronounced influence of soul and jazz, prioritizing groove and sophisticated musicianship over straightforward songwriting.
The Genesis of “Yacht Rock”
The term “Yacht Rock” itself wasn’t coined by music historians or critics, but rather by a team of comedians in the mid-2000s for their online comedy web series. This series, aptly named Yacht Rock, became an unexpected internet phenomenon, achieving viral status before the concept of “going viral” was commonplace, even predating YouTube’s dominance. While perhaps arriving slightly before the internet fully enabled creators to capitalize on such fame, Yacht Rock as a concept proved to be far more than a fleeting internet meme. The phrase became a cultural lens through which we re-examined the smooth sounds of a mellow era. These comedic crate-diggers inadvertently performed a work of musical criticism, effectively defining and shaping the perception of the smooth sounds that dominated mainstream pop airwaves roughly between 1978 and 1983.
Yacht Rock’s Journey into the Mainstream and Misinterpretations
Like many impactful ideas, the concept of Yacht Rock quickly expanded, sometimes losing its original precision. SiriusXM’s Yacht Rock Radio became a popular fixture, cultivating a vast audience eager for feel-good classic hits. However, this mainstream embrace sometimes overlooks the subtle nuances of the genre. Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary subtly highlights this dilution, showcasing audiences in captain’s hats and aviators, enthusiastically enjoying the Yacht Rock Revue, a tribute band performing music that, arguably, they consider somewhat cliché. Both the audience and these tribute acts often blur genre boundaries, mixing the Bee Gees with the Doobie Brothers, or Jay Ferguson with Christopher Cross, treating it all as nostalgic, easy-listening fodder.
Delving Deeper: Defining the Yacht Rock Sound
However, Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary and its creators are deeply invested in accurately defining the genre, meticulously distinguishing it from generic beachy soft rock. The documentary effectively articulates the specific elements that constitute Yacht Rock, particularly its foundation in studio musicians expertly interpreting Black music. Through flow charts, musical clips, and insightful commentary from musicians, critics, historians, and comedians familiar with rock criticism, the film chronicles the style with both expertise and genuine affection, avoiding any hint of snobbery.
Unlike many music documentaries that primarily focus on narrative, Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary dedicates significant time to critical analysis. A notable example is the explanation of why Daryl Hall & John Oates, despite possessing some sonic similarities, are not considered Yacht Rock. The reasoning? They are deemed too “Philadelphian,” a surprisingly accurate assessment that captures their distinct musical roots. The pivotal figure in understanding Yacht Rock, the documentary argues, is Steely Dan. Their relentless pursuit of studio perfection led them to utilize session musicians who subsequently became ubiquitous on countless records that could be classified as Yacht Rock. While many of these session musicians’ careers began before Steely Dan retreated from touring to become a studio-centric project, the band’s influence is undeniable. Donald Fagen and Walter Becker’s meticulous studio approach, exemplified by their search for the perfect guitarist for the “Kid Charlemagne” solo, essentially created the blueprint and permission for other musicians to follow suit in crafting meticulously produced, smooth music.
This argument is compelling, and Christopher Cross himself confirms on camera that he intentionally aimed for his debut album to emulate the Steely Dan sound. However, the 1970s were indeed a golden era for talented studio musicians across various genres. Dave Grohl’s documentary Sound City celebrated the legendary Los Angeles studio where iconic albums like Fleetwood Mac, Cheap Trick’s Heaven Tonight, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers’ Damn the Torpedoes, and Rick Springfield’s Working Class Dog were recorded. Similarly, the Power Station studio in New York was where Dire Straits crafted Making Movies and Love Over Gold, albums that rivaled Steely Dan’s Aja in hi-fi sonic excellence, as did Roxy Music’s sophisticated Avalon. Exquisite production was a hallmark of mainstream pop/rock during this period, not exclusive to the Steely Dan universe.
The Nuances and the Purists: Yacht Or Nyacht
The sheer polish of mainstream pop/rock in the late 1970s and early 1980s explains why casual listeners often conflate standard soft rock with genuine Yacht Rock, particularly when hits revolved around themes of piña coladas, summer breezes, and tropical locales. While the “yacht” in Yacht Rock evokes images of wealth and luxury, it fundamentally points to the sea, reinforcing the breezy, smooth connotations. For those who don’t dissect the intricacies of session musicians like the Porcaro brothers, distinguishing Kenny Loggins’ smoother, funkier pop from fellow folk-rock artists like America might seem inconsequential.
However, for those who appreciate these nuances, there’s Yacht Or Nyacht, the podcast hosted by JD Ryznar, “Hollywood” Steve Huey, Dave Lyons, and Hunter Stair – the very creators of the Yacht Rock web series and the term itself. (Full disclosure: “Hollywood” Steve Huey is a long-time acquaintance of the author).
Complementing the podcast is the Yacht Or Nyacht website, offering the crew’s expert rankings of songs featured on their show. This curated list reveals surprises, such as Boz Scaggs – an artist frequently played on SiriusXM’s Yacht Rock station and whose Silk Degrees album directly inspired the formation of Toto, a quintessential Yacht Rock band – not dominating their “Essential Yacht Rock Songs” list. Ryznar, Huey, Lyons, and Stair maintain a rigorous, almost purist, approach to their taste. Sonic subtleties are paramount. Their list of “Essentials” – songs rated 90 or higher on their proprietary “Yachtski Scale” – comprises a mere 45 tracks, barely enough for a few hours of radio programming.
Another key aspect of the Yacht Rock team’s essentials is the limited number of massive pop hits within those 45 songs. While the list includes enduring soft rock classics like “What a Fool Believes,” “Heart to Heart,” “Rosanna,” “Sailing,” “Ride Like the Wind,” and “Africa,” it also features deeper cuts and near-misses. This suggests that pure Yacht Rock is more about a specific aesthetic within the mainstream, rather than solely driven by chart-topping success. Billboard chart data supports this: only “What A Fool Believes,” “Sailing,” “Africa,” and “Baby, Come to Me” from the Yacht Rock Essentials list reached the Hot 100 summit. Interestingly, on the Adult Contemporary charts, “What A Fool Believes” – a song so foundational to the style that Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary highlights its influence on numerous subsequent songs – only peaked at number 22. Christopher Cross actually achieved Adult Contemporary number ones with “Never Be the Same” and “Think of Laura,” the latter topping the charts in 1984, slightly outside the generally accepted Yacht Rock timeframe.
Yacht Rock’s Enduring Appeal and Evolving Definition
Yacht Rock’s evocative name is undoubtedly a key factor in its enduring appeal and broader adoption, even beyond its purist definition. It paints a vivid picture in a way that generic terms like “soft rock” or “adult contemporary” simply cannot. It’s not just fans donning captain’s hats who expand the definition of Yacht Rock. Questlove, featured in Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary, acknowledges this broader interpretation with his extensive Spotify Yacht Rock playlist, which he playfully labels “Dentist Office Pop.” This wider, invented term encompasses everything from classic soft rock to the synthesizer-driven pop of Mike + the Mechanics – an icy sound that stands in stark contrast to Yacht Rock’s inherent warmth. While Questlove’s expansive definition dilutes the specific charm of Yacht Rock, a playlist exceeding 52 hours inevitably pushes the boundaries of any genre, especially one as inherently amorphous as Yacht Rock.
While the stringency of Yacht Or Nyacht is admirable, personal listening preferences can diverge. For many, the appeal lies less in adhering to a strict Yacht Rock definition and more in embracing a broader era of adult contemporary pop that coincides with the subgenre’s peak – studio-crafted confections largely created without relying heavily on synthesizers. This broader aesthetic informed the author’s own “Ultimate Yacht Rock” playlist created a decade ago on Spotify. With hindsight, it’s clear that this playlist includes songs that don’t strictly align with Yacht Or Nyacht‘s definition. However, when it comes to music this smooth and enjoyable, personal pleasure takes precedence, and a looser interpretation of soft rock can be perfectly acceptable.
