Anyone else enjoy playing Yacht rock??

[lermgalieu]

The reason people want to talk about the name is that it is a made up thing from the 90's or 2000's and those of us who were around when this music was current don't find it congruent with any sort of experience we had as music listeners. It's hella annoying.

There were few categories for music back then; radio stations didn't start really targeting specific demographics until the late 70's and 80's and the early targeting was very broad. Contemporary soft rock was played alongside other hits of the day in various genres; you could hear many different kinds of music in a top 40 set and the only thing that sort of got said about these songs, maybe, was that they were soft rock.

The label seems silly to those of us who were actually there, but apparently we don't have a right to act as historians and educate younger generations on music history. That's too bad. I appreciated those who taught me about the music I was too young to know much about but we live in a world where being well-educated is a sign of weakness now.

I'm 52

 

[lermgalieu]

The reason people want to talk about the name is that it is a made up thing from the 90's or 2000's and those of us who were around when this music was current don't find it congruent with any sort of experience we had as music listeners. It's hella annoying.

There were few categories for music back then; radio stations didn't start really targeting specific demographics until the late 70's and 80's and the early targeting was very broad. Contemporary soft rock was played alongside other hits of the day in various genres; you could hear many different kinds of music in a top 40 set and the only thing that sort of got said about these songs, maybe, was that they were soft rock.

The label seems silly to those of us who were actually there, but apparently we don't have a right to act as historians and educate younger generations on music history. That's too bad. I appreciated those who taught me about the music I was too young to know much about but we live in a world where being well-educated is a sign of weakness now.

Just to elaborate: this isn't a "when I was coming up" subject, really. I grew up in the 70's and early 80's. I have no reverence to genre titles or musical categories. The name "yacht rock" was invented maybe a decade ago. So what? I don't really care, and I don't think the issue is about education of the youth. As to the name of a musical genre? Respectfully, who cares? That's not what the question was about. The way I see the question, and I have no idea how old the OP is, is "hey, some of these old 70s tunes are actually fun to play!" What's bad about that? Why the generational warfare?

 

[lildrgn]

I started a yacht-rock-adjacent band a few years ago. Not so much the dreamy stuff; more the groovy stuff (i.e Baby Come Back, Love Is Alive, How Long, Brandy). After the guitar player groused about not having much to do on certain songs, it occurred to me that one of the defining characteristics of our set was fun bass lines.

It's unapologetically fun, I say.

That's a really great way to look at it. Some of the guitar parts and some of the songs are very very basic. But there are really no songs that my band plays where I'm falling asleep or not enjoying it.

 

[bmusic]

That's a really great way to look at it. Some of the guitar parts and some of the songs are very very basic. But there are really no songs that my band plays where I'm falling asleep or not enjoying it.

like even the really simple lines (like How Long or Couldn't Get It Right)…the groove just hangs on them. It's fun to settle in and just drive it along gently.

 

[filmtex]

I'm more into Billy Idol or Bill Nelson than I am into Billy Ocean. But after 40+ years playing in cover bands, I'll play anything that puts cash in the tip jar and keeps them happy. Whatever floats yer boat! Pun intended.

 

[Lance Bunyon]

I love Yacht Rock. I'm no Chuck Rainey. If I hit the Powerball I'll put a 1970s era Steely Dan tribute act together.
Which means we will destroy studio musicians and engineers lives every day and never gig.

 

[LBS-bass]

What I read was that he got the name because he was always wearing that hat when he was playing with the Beach Boys.

That could be true, as well. It's been a few years since I read that story so might not have all the details right. But yes, the got the name from them and stuck with it

 

[LBS-bass]

I hate that label. Really. It sticks Steely Dan in the same category as Criss Cross. So dismissive...

Basically anything with keys that isn't 50's rock & roll ala Jerry Lee Lewis gets stuck with this label. If you played a nice chord inversion and more than four chords and it wasn't frantically fast, you were guilty

 

[LBS-bass]

I'm 52

That's my point. I'm 64. You were a baby when this was going down.

 

[Lance Bunyon]

It should be called Credit Card Rock. I priced Steely Dan/Eagles tickets in Atlanta...$399 for the cheapest seat.
I'm not in that tax bracket!

 

[ToddB1963]

Whenever someone mentions Yacht Rock, this tune always springs to mind.

Yacht Rock - I dig it.

(3) Robbie Dupree - Steal Away (Official Audio) - YouTube

 

[Belka]

I thought that it was more commonly known as 'Smooth Music' than Yacht Rock.

RIP Koko

 

[dougjwray]

I thought that it was more commonly known as 'Smooth Music' than Yacht Rock.

RIP Koko

50 years ago, the radio stations who were still playing pre-rock 'n' roll pop music (Nat King Cole, Dean Martin, Perry Como, et al.) called the format things like "Beautiful Music" or "The Music of Your Life." Maybe it's time now to bring back those terms for Starcastle, Pablo Cruise, Ambrosia, Christopher Cross, the Captain and Tennille and the rest of the "Yacht Rock" crowd!

 

[dougjwray]

From roughly November 1968 (Cream's farewell concert) to October 1971 (death of Duane Allman), we had the Great Collapse, which also saw the end of the Beatles and the deaths of Hendrix, Joplin and Morrison.
Into the void created by the departure of these 1960s revolutionaries came the 1970s people we're talking about. From the Tepid Sea, they sailed their Yacht of Tameness to our sad shores.
That's where the term "yacht rock" originated.