What Makes A Song Yacht Rock?

Yacht rock, also known as the West Coast sound or adult-oriented rock, is a unique genre of music that emerged in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It is characterized by its smooth, mellow sound and polished production, often associated with the Building the Boat genre. Key ingredients for a track to be considered yacht rock include album art or lyrics that are smooth and melodic, and typically combining elements of jazz, rhythm and blues, and rock.

Yacht rock music was most prevalent in the 1970s and 1980s, with artists like Loggins Messina, Hall Oates, and Steely. The genre conjures up a particular lifestyle, but beneath the surface lies a treasure trove of sophisticated hits that continue to resonate. Even some of those who signed up to the genre have continued to create their own unique sounds.

The definition of Yacht Rock is much more nuanced than one might expect, as it refers to soft rock music from the late 70s and early 80s. The genre was defined by well-written songs, great production, and catchiest melodies that mixed blue-eyed soul with rock. The iconic yacht rock song “What a Fool Believes” by Michael McDonald is considered the holy grail, garnering a full 100% on the Yachtski Scale.

The song’s lyrics should mention yachts or sailing, and the music is based on a folk genre like the Fleetwood Mac. The genre has managed to evade concise definition since its inception, making it a popular choice for many listeners.

Is Michael Jackson yacht rock?

The number one song was “Rock With You” (Michael Jackson), now considered a core Yacht Rock contribution.

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What is the number one yacht rock song?

1. “Sailing”, Christopher Cross.

How does one describe yacht rock? The folks at MasterClass did a pretty good job. Essentially, it’s a component of soft rock, adult contemporary, and Album-oriented rock (AOR) all rolled into one. Popular in the late 1970s and into the ’80s, there are some notable tunes of the ilk (smooth rhythms, light or “breezy” vocals, well-polished and produced) from earlier in the ’70s that fall into this category.

In the spirit of easy listening fare, here is our ranking of 22 great yacht rock tunes.

A Chicago native, Jeff Mezydlo has professionally written about sports, entertainment and pop culture for parts of four decades. He was an integral member of award-winning sports sections at The Times of Northwest Indiana (Munster, Ind.) and Champaign (Ill.) News-Gazette, where he covered the NFL, PGA, LPGA, NCAA basketball, football and golf, Olympics and high school athletics. Jeff most recently spent 12 years in the editorial department at STATSPerform, where he also oversaw coverage of the English Premier League. A graduate of Northern Illinois University, Jeff’s work has also appeared on such sites at Yahoo!, ESPN, Fox Sports, Sports Illustrated and NBA.com. However, if Jeff could do it again, he’d attend Degrassi Junior High, Ampipe High School and Grand Lakes University.

Is Pablo Cruise yacht rock?

“Our headquarters was an 82-foot schooner in the Corinthian Yacht Club in Tiburon,” says Cory Lerios, who co-founded Pablo Cruise in 1973. “So, we were definitely yacht rockers back before yacht rock was a term.”

From that base, the band has delivered some defining gems in what is now known as the yacht rock genre, which celebrates the smooth a.m. radio staples of the ‘70s and early ‘80s delivered by such artists as Toto, Nicolette Larson, Poco and the Little River Band.

Most notably, Pablo Cruise was responsible for the meticulously produced soft-rock numbers “Whatcha Gonna Do?” and “Love Will Find a Way,” both of which were Top 10 hits and rank as first-tier yacht rock staples.

Who is the father of yacht rock?

Christopher Cross is known for two things: The first artist to sweep the “Big Four” Grammy Awards in one year (best album, song, record and new artist, in 1981) and the unwitting father of yacht rock.

However, he’d be happy to do without the yacht rock label, inspired by the title of his Grammy-winning song “Sailing” and applied retroactively to an assortment of 1980s lite-FM pop-rock.

“It pigeonholes you into one time in your career. I continue to make records. I’ve made 12 albums. It precludes people from hearing or being aware of your later work. For me, it’s about writing and making music. That’s why I got into it and that’s why I do it. With my new boxed set (‘The Complete Works’), I’m trying to draw people into my later catalog.”

What does yacht rock sound like?

Also known as the West Coast Sound or adult-oriented rock, it’s a style of soft rock from between the late 1970s and early 1980s that featured elements of smooth soul, smooth jazz, R&B, funk, rock and disco.

Although its name has been used in a negative way, to us it’s an amazing genre that makes us feel like we’re in an episode of Miami Vice wearing shoulder pads and massive sunglasses.

Not the reggae classic of the same name, this 1977 track was Player’s biggest hit.

Why is it called a yacht rock?

Perhaps unusually, the phrase itself was coined as a kind of lighthearted castigation of the adult-oriented rock that seemed to exude privileged opulence: of days in expensive recording studios followed by hedonistic trips on private yachts, typically around southern California. The web TV series of the mid-00s that parodied the lifestyle was even named Yacht Rock; one of the biggest hits of a chief exponent of the sound, Christopher Cross, was, of course, “Sailing.”

The recent resurgence in the long career of another staple, Michael McDonald, is testament to the durability of a style that was, after all, grounded in musicianship and melodicism of the highest order. Nearly 40 years after he and fellow yacht rock principle Kenny Loggins co-wrote and performed the Grammy-winning “This Is It,” the pair were afforded the high praise of a collaboration with acclaimed modern-day jazz-funk bassist Thundercat, on his track “Show You The Way.” Ahead of that, McDonald’s guest appearance with Thundercat at the 2017 Coachella Festival was a viral sensation.

Thundercat- Show You the Way feat. Michael McDonald @ Coachella 2017 Day 2.

Who is the king of yacht rock?

The term is meant to suggest the kind of smooth, mellow music that early yuppies likely enjoyed while sipping champagne and snorting cocaine on their yachts. Significant “yacht rockers” include Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins, Christopher Cross, and Toto.”

While the excessive ’80s are long gone, the specter of Yacht Rock still floats on. Which is precisely why we decided to count down our Top 10 favorite Yacht Rock songs of all time (with a few “honorable mentions” tossed in for good measure).

So grab your bubbly, your skipper’s cap, and a scantily clad femme fatale with a fake tan and crank the Nakamichi up to 11.

Of course no Top 10 list, especially one dedicated to such a maligned sub-genre as Yacht Rock, would be complete without a few Honorable Mentions:

What the heck is yacht rock?

Yacht rock is a genre of music that emerged in the 1970s and 1980s, characterized by smooth, melodic, and often soft rock songs with a nautical or coastal theme.

This begins with a post I saw yesterday in an 80s Facebook group that read “Who remembers Yacht Rock”. One person asked, “What the f**k is Yacht Rock lol!”

So It Goes Like This. Yacht Rock is that music that only cool, old rich white men listen to, it is exactly what it reads. You are sitting at the bay watching the silvery sunshine on the calm water, jet skis dashing here and there. You take a sip of your beer and a big, beautiful yacht drifts by, and playing very loudly over its sound system is Steely Dan’s “Do It Again” song.

Chillin on the nose of this yacht are some young women dancing around in bikinis, with a drink in one hand. Then you see on the deck of the ship, the owner, an old white man who looks like he’s in his 60s and used the tanning bed too much; for years! Though this man is old, dry-skinned, and balding, he still thinks he’s got it going on.

Who is the godfather of yacht rock?

Michael McDonald #michaelmcdonald #ikeepforgettin #whatafoolbelieves #takinittothestreets #yachtrock.

Is Fleetwood Mac considered yacht rock?

But even these roughly outlined “rules” can be flouted and still considered yacht rock. Plenty of bands that are typically deemed “nyacht” rock have made their attempts at the genre: Crosby, Stills & Nash got a bit nautical with “Southern Cross,” leading with their famed tightly knit harmonies, and Fleetwood Mac also entered yacht rock territory with “Dreams” – which, although lyrically dour, offers a sense of melody in line with yacht rock.

Given its undefined parameters, the genre has become one of music’s most expansive corners. From No. 1 hits to deeper-cut gems, we’ve compiled a list of 50 Top Yacht Rock Songs to set sail to below.

Younger generations might be more apt to recognize Jay Ferguson from his score for NBC’s The Office, where he also portrayed the guitarist in Kevin Malone’s band Scrantonicity. But Ferguson’s musical roots go back to the ’60s band Spirit; he was also in a group with one of the future members of Firefall, signaling a ’70s-era shift toward yacht rock and “Thunder Island.” The once-ubiquitous single began its steady ascent in October 1977 before reaching the Top 10 in April of the following year. Producer Bill Szymczyk helped it get there by bringing in his buddy Joe Walsh for a soaring turn on the slide. The best showing Ferguson had after this, however, was the quickly forgotten 1979 Top 40 hit “Shakedown Cruise.” (Nick DeRiso)

What classifies music as yacht rock?

Yacht rock (originally known as the West Coast sound or adult-oriented rock) is a broad music style and aesthetic commonly associated with soft rock, one of the most commercially successful genres from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s. Drawing on sources such as smooth soul, smooth jazz, R&B, and disco, common stylistic traits include high-quality production, clean vocals, and a focus on light, catchy melodies. The term yacht rock was coined in 2005 by the makers of the online video series Yacht Rock, who connected the music with the popular Southern Californian leisure activity of boating. It was considered a pejorative term by some music critics.

The term yacht rock did not exist contemporaneously with the music the term describes, which was produced from 1975 to 1984. It refers to “adult-oriented rock” or “West Coast Sound”, which became identified with yacht rock in 2005, when the term was coined in J.D. Ryznar et al.’s online video series of the same name. Understood as a pejorative term, yacht rock referred, in part, to a stereotypical yuppie yacht owner enjoying smooth music while sailing. Many “yacht rockers” included nautical references in their lyrics, videos, and album artwork, exemplified by Christopher Cross’s anthemic track, “Sailing”. Long mocked for “its saccharine sincerity and garish fashion,” the original stigma attached to the music has lessened since about 2015.

In 2014, AllMusic’s Matt Colier identified the “key defining rules of the genre:”

What are the elements of yacht rock?

It is most commonly classified as a form of soft rock with elements of rhythm and blues, smooth soul, disco, and jazz influencing the music. When there are words, they are breezy, intellectual, and musically complex. The electric piano is often highlighted, and there is very little acoustic guitar.

Yacht rock songs are upbeat and have bouncy rhythms with a glossy production feel to them.

Artists & Bands That Play Yacht Rock. There is some contention as to what qualifies as true yacht rock and which bands and artists embodied this style. For example, while some call Rupert Holmes’s song “Escape (the Pina Colada Song)” the epitome of Yacht Rock, others claim that it is not musically interesting enough and too wordy to be classified as such.