I expected to see a flood of comments after we ran our Yacht Rock commentary the other day ... this seems to be a very sensitive subject between yacht rock aficionados ... but actually the response was pretty tame (save for a thought-provoking piece from Paul Haney of Record Research.)
Read on ...
Hi Kent,
The term "Yacht Rock" really seems to be misunderstood by a lot of music fans. Too many songs and artists are mistakenly labeled Yacht Rock when they really aren't.
The term was created by four music fans: J.D. Ryznar, Hunter Stair, Dave Lyons and Hollywood Steve Huey. They host a regular podcast where they rate each song on what they call the "Yachtski Scale." Each of the four gives an individual score from 1-100 and the average of the four is the final score. The only song to get a perfect 100 score is "What A Fool Believes" by The Doobie Brothers, so at least your #1 song is correct. If a song scores 50 or higher it's "on the boat" but if it's below 50 it's not considered Yacht Rock.
Looking at your list, the following are NOT considered Yacht Rock (with the final Yachtski Scale score listed):
#8 - Brandy (You're A Fine Girl) - Looking Glass (36.825)
#11 - Rich Girl - Daryl Hall & John Oates (37)
#13 - Summer Breeze - Seals & Crofts (21.75)
#15 - Escape (The Pina Colada Song) - Rupert Holmes (35.25)
#17 - Lido Shuffle - Boz Scaggs (47.5)
#18 - Dreams - Fleetwood Mac (32)
#21 - I'd Really Love To See You Tonight - England Dan & John Ford Coley (44)
#22 - Baker Street - Gerry Rafferty (29.25)
#24 - Diamond Girl - Seals & Crofts (47.5)
#25 - Sara Smile - Daryl Hall & John Oates (32)
#28 - Right Down The Line - Gerry Rafferty (32.25)
#29 - We Just Disagree - Dave Mason (17.75)
#39 - Jackie Blue - Ozark Mountain Daredevils (18.75)
#44 - Lonely Boy - Andrew Gold (29.5)
#45 - Still The One - Orleans (31.25)
#46 - You Are The Woman - Firefall (28.5)
#47 - I Can't Tell You Why - Eagles (41.5)
#48 - Year Of The Cat - Al Stewart (29.25)
Since these are the guys that invented the term, I believe they should be the ones to decide what is "Yacht" and what is "Nyacht".
Here's a link to their "Yachtski Scale" master list:
https://www.yachtornyacht.com/
(As you can see, I'm very passionate about Yacht Rock!)
Paul Haney
Then maybe somebody really needs to tell all the Yacht Rock stations out there (Sirius XM, Amazon Music, Me-TV-FM, and numerous others) to stop playing them … because all of these songs are on the air CONSTANTLY on what passes for Yacht Rock Radio!!!
Checking out THEIR official list, there are dozens and dozens of songs on here that we NEVER hear on the Yacht Rock stations … in fact, there’s probably over a dozen that I’ve never heard before in my entire life!!! That being said, maybe Yacht Rock Radio needs to expand their horizons a little bit to include more variety in their playlist!
(We now have Yacht Rock Deep Cuts and Yacht Rock Soul … so there’s no telling where all of this will end!)
And look how many of these tunes crossover to what is also branded as Essential Classic Rock … how something like Toto’s “Hold The Line” became a “soft rock” song is beyond me … at the time, it was one of the rockin’-est songs on the radio!
The lines are definitely blurred … and Robin Thicke doesn’t even make the list! (kk)
Kent,
In your coming up with your favorite yacht songs if you were on a yacht cruise, reminded me of a survey I took years ago in which the question was simply, '"If you were on a deserted island and assuming you had electricity and a phonograph player, what three songs (records) would you want?" As Ace Cannon said in an instrumental from 1962, that was a TUFF question.
The first record I thought of when CB (Cabin Boy) wrote in was this one ... from 1956 on Josie Records … CABIN HIDEAWAY by the Limeliters.
Larry
Make no mistake about it … and to be perfectly clear … these are NOT my favorite Yacht Rock songs but rather my OBSERVATION as to which songs get played repeatedly over and over … truth is, most of them have become “button pushers” for me now, they’re just so overplayed.
Check out the list Paul Haney sent above … I’ve never even HEARD of many of these songs in my entire lifetime … so I’m not quite sure how they rate so highly on the scale presented by the “inventors” of Yacht Rock! (kk)
The whole premise of their podcast is that listeners send in songs for them to judge, thus you'll get some oddball ones from time to time. There are actually new bands out there nowadays trying to mimic the Yacht Rock sound!
I don't know if you've ever seen the Yacht Rock Dockumentary, but here's the trailer:
Paul
Oh yeah, we promoted this series when it first came out … and watched every bit of it. (In fact now, after all this Yacht Rock discussion, we just watched it again the other night ... and I will say that it is VERY well done.)
I wonder what these guys will think of Keith Urban’s new album, an homage to Yacht Rock, where he covers some of HIS favorites … plus one new track, written and recorded by Urban and Michael McDonald, the KING of Yacht Rock. (HE’s your captain, yeah yeah yeah yeah!) kk
Here’s what we said on this topic three years ago …
https://forgottenhits60s.blogspot.com/2023/01/were-going-little-soft-on-you-today.html
A FEW RANDOM COMMENTS:
Rupert Holmes does not belong on the Yacht Rock Artists List
Then how come I hear “Escape (The Pina Colada Song)” forty times a week on there??? (kk)
While I think “Lowdown” by Boz Scaggs qualifies for Yacht Rock because of the jazz undertones, “Lido Shuffle” does NOT – that’s a flat out rock beat.
You’re missing “Heart To Heart” by Kenny Loggins … definitely one they play all the time (and a good one, too!)
Much respect is shown for Kenny in the Yacht Rock "Dockumentary." Incredible for me to think that this whole genre of music was something that was originally dreamed up as a comedy sketch!!! Look where it’s gone from there! (kk)
BTW, the Yacht Rock Dock is available On Demand thru HBO Max ... if you haven't seen it, you owe it to yourself to check it out. And even if you HAVE seen it, it's well worth watching again.
By the way, BBC Music Magazine recently released its ranking of the “21 Greatest Yacht Rock Albums Of All-Time” ... and the #1 spot goes to Michael McDonald’s legendary "If That’s What It Takes" (1982)
(I will admit to owning TWELVE of these Top 21 Albums ... but I will ALSO tell you that there are FOUR artists on this list that I have never even HEARD of before ... much less heard their music on the radio ... so I don't understand how they rank in The Top 21! -- kk)
60 YEARS AGO TODAY:
5/20/66 – The Who were scheduled to perform a gig at The Ricky Tick Club in Windsor, England, but John Entwistle and Keith Moon were very late showing up. Aggravated, Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey took the stage with the bass player and drummer of the local band that opened the show. When Moon and Entwistle finally arrived in the middle of the set, a fight broke out, with Townshend hitting Moon on the head with his guitar. Moon and Entwistle quit the band … but rejoined a week later. (Hooligans, each and every one!)
