Yacht Rock!

This is an older post from heyheyrenee. It needs to live here too.

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A while back I was listening to The World Cafe on the way down to Denver. It was then that I learned about Yacht Rock. Here's the link to the episode, which you should listen to before going any further.

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The podcasts guests were clever, creative, and funny. And, they knew their stuff about music. Because anyone who'd take time out of their life to invent an arbitrary music genre obviously loves music. Or they were broke, part of being an artist. Maybe both? I don't care. They did it.

I filed away the podcast. Then gave it a listen, started listening to Beyond Yacht Rock, here:

The guys on the podcast are JD Ryznar, David B. Lyons, Hunter Stair and Steve Huey. Creative geniuses. They're funny -- really funny. And they know music.

I don’t know if they’re doing the podcast any more. Last I checked they weren’t. But all the episodes are still up. Give it a listen, it’s worth it.

There's Yacht Rock imposters out there, pay no attention to them. The official and definitive Yacht Rock source are these 4 dudes.

So what is Yacht Rock? It's not disco or soft rock. Yacht Rock had a short life. It's as early as 1976, no later than 1984. The sweet spot is 1977 to 1982. It's got a "Doobie Bounce" -- a sound similar to the Doobie Brothers, specifically Michael McDonald. A Yacht Rock song should have personnel connected Toto. There's a jazzy sound akin to Steely Dan. Not all Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan, or Toto songs are Yacht Rock. A Yacht Rock song has to be "smooth", "yachtie", and polished.
Yacht Rock is fun, technical, and sexy.

Listening to the guys do their thing is funny. They're so creative. When I listen to the podcasts I learn about music. Because of them, I'm now paying attention to lyrics and instruments like never before.

Listening to Yacht Rock makes me horny. I wanna do it with Renee and shake my booty.

So at this point you might be thinking you know what Yacht Rock is? Yacht Rock isn't about what you or I think. It's about what these 4 dudes think, based on a Yachtski score. Because Yacht Rock is an arbitrary genre they invented - not that we invented. A Yachtski score of 50+ gets the song on the boat. A score below 50 is Nyacht, Yacht Rock.

Here's the Yachtski scale: