# Yacht Rock: what is it and what's its origin? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [December 24, 2024, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yacht-rock-what-is-it-and-whats-its-origin/1012120 "2024-12-24T15:49:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yacht-rock-what-is-it-and-whats-its-origin/1012120/21 "2024-12-22T03:28:33Z")
MAX has the Documentary. I’ll watch it soon. Looking forward to the music they feature. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yacht-rock-what-is-it-and-whats-its-origin/1012120/22 "2024-12-22T05:02:40Z")
I thought it was because “Sailing” is considered the quintessential yacht rock song. And you sail on a… ---
**Author:** ![Strenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@Strenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strenger)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yacht-rock-what-is-it-and-whats-its-origin/1012120/23 "2024-12-22T05:33:46Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > They lured Larry Carlton into playing lead guitar on a couple songs. Larry played on Steely Dan’s "[Kid Charlemagne](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kid_Charlemagne) See, that’s part of the thing I don’t get. Steely Dan? Yeah, sure, probably due to the meticulous “curated” nature of the production, you’ll hear it in a grocery store or something. But what’s actually there in the music are burning, innovative guitar solos, backed by the very best bassists and drummers who ever recorded in a studio. The best of the dozen or so musicians on each instrument who tracked for Fagen and whom he selected during the mixing process. Speaking for myself alone, as someone who _despises_ pop music in general, ever since Cher started abusing the Autotune effect and since Ice-T became a full-time actor instead of an influential presence in music, Steely Dan doesn’t belong on the list of shame. And BTW, edited to add, that clip from CNN is worth watching! I never watch random crap like that, but Donald Fagen’s response is very nice. “Well, I’ll tell you: why don’t you go fuck yourself!” (Yeah, that’s a spoiler, but it needed to be spoiled for those who don’t have any interest in sound bites from random news websites). ---
**Author:** ![Section\_Maker\_Jupe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/section_maker_jupe/32/1424_2.png) [@Section\_Maker\_Jupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Section_Maker_Jupe)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yacht-rock-what-is-it-and-whats-its-origin/1012120/24 "2024-12-22T05:45:51Z")
In a similar vein is Soma radios channel Left Coast 70s… My gf and I play “name that tune” when we tune in. (often because we cant agree on what to listen to…default to Left Coast) > **[Left Coast 70s from SomaFM](https://somafm.com/seventies/songhistory.html)** > > Mellow album rock from the Seventies. Yacht not required. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yacht-rock-what-is-it-and-whats-its-origin/1012120/25 "2024-12-22T06:24:24Z")
Not only is the term meant to be insulting, I actually thought Steely Dan was the only yacht rock band.\* I figured Sirius was straining the definitions to make a whole channel. I mean, the Doobie Bros? Alan Parsons? No way. Why is it insulting? It’s music clueless rich people play to look sophisticated and get laid. They don’t like it for the music, they like it as a means to an end. \*IMO, whichever genre Steely Dan is, they are the only band in it. They sound like no one else, and no one sounds like them. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yacht-rock-what-is-it-and-whats-its-origin/1012120/26 "2024-12-22T06:40:05Z")
Okay boomer. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yacht-rock-what-is-it-and-whats-its-origin/1012120/27 "2024-12-22T07:04:20Z")
> [@XOldiesJock](#): > > Is “Yacht Rock” synonymous with “Dad Rock?” (Pop music from the 70s and 80s that your Dad would play). Either term is meant to be somewhat derogatory, a snobbish dig at people who did some very listenable music. Some of it was crap and still is. There’s no comparison between “Sometimes When We Touch” (aargh!) and “Real Love” by the Doobies or even “Thunder Island” by Jay Ferguson, which I heard somewhere recently and enjoyed. (I always play air guitar during the riff in the middle of “Rosanna” by Toto. C’mon, admit it. You do too.) I can see why some of the artists might be offended by the term, but that doesn’t mean their music was not worthy. I played most of that as a radio DJ at the time, and still enjoy it today. “Dad Rock”, to me, means Huey Lewis and guys like him. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yacht-rock-what-is-it-and-whats-its-origin/1012120/28 "2024-12-22T07:08:13Z")
Is “yacht rock” derogatory to the artists? Probably not, as long as the residuals keep pouring in. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yacht-rock-what-is-it-and-whats-its-origin/1012120/29 "2024-12-22T15:05:07Z")
In the web series Yacht Rock, it was implied that any song with Michael McDonald was fair game. So “Peg” by Steely Dan, I’m looking at you… ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yacht-rock-what-is-it-and-whats-its-origin/1012120/30 "2024-12-22T17:00:36Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > In the web series Yacht Rock, it was implied that any song with Michael McDonald was fair game. So “Peg” by Steely Dan, I’m looking at you… I would put some Steely Dan in the category. Not all of it. Certainly nothing on Royal Scam. I think of the term Yacht Rock like the term Hair Metal. It’s derogatory but in a good natured way. Kind of like “Can you believe we listened to this? But actually it’s kind of great.” Both Yacht Rock and Hair Nation are on my presets. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yacht-rock-what-is-it-and-whats-its-origin/1012120/31 "2024-12-22T17:42:49Z")
Hopefully Fagan’s wife knows not to use the term ---
**Author:** ![rickp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rickp/32/17521_2.png) [@rickp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rickp)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yacht-rock-what-is-it-and-whats-its-origin/1012120/32 "2024-12-22T20:42:24Z")
Steely Dan’s music is well crafted and melodic but never in a million years would I call it yacht rock. “Reeling’ in the Years” off their first album is one of the most scathing put down songs of all time. Not something the stereotypical yachtsman would want to hear while cruising on the bay. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yacht-rock-what-is-it-and-whats-its-origin/1012120/33 "2024-12-22T21:01:52Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I’ve recently heard songs on that station such as **Jackson Browne’s “Running on Empty,”** Nicollete Larson’s “Lotta Love,” and Dan Hill’s “Sometimes When We Touch” – certainly soft rock from that era, but not what I picture as yacht rock. Okay, the last two I see fitting the category, but since when is “Running On Empty” _soft rock_, let alone _yacht rock?!?_ ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yacht-rock-what-is-it-and-whats-its-origin/1012120/34 "2024-12-22T22:26:43Z")
> [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](#): > > And you sail on a… A Sail Boat. Yachts have engine rooms and Flying Bridges. At least in my book. You see, with a sailing vessel, you have to know what you’re doing. You gotta have skills. You can just sit around with a drink on a Yacht. Hell! Pay somebody else to drive it! ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yacht-rock-what-is-it-and-whats-its-origin/1012120/35 "2024-12-22T22:34:21Z")
Just watched Hozier on SNL. Yacht rocks lives. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yacht-rock-what-is-it-and-whats-its-origin/1012120/36 "2024-12-22T22:37:57Z")
I doubt anyone would consider Fountains of Wayne to fit in the category. However, they are definitely rocking on a yacht in the video for “Mexican Wine”. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yacht-rock-what-is-it-and-whats-its-origin/1012120/37 "2024-12-22T22:57:23Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > Okay, the last two I see fitting the category, but since when is “Running On Empty” _soft rock_, let alone _yacht rock?!?_ I’d classify Jackson Browne as “heartland rock”, along with Springsteen, John Cougar Mellencamp, and to a certain extent Bon Jovi. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yacht-rock-what-is-it-and-whats-its-origin/1012120/38 "2024-12-22T23:01:14Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I’d classify Jackson Browne as “heartland rock”, along with Springsteen, John Cougar Mellencamp, and to a certain extent Bon Jovi. Whereas I classify him in the “1970s singer-songwriter” group, along with James Taylor, Cat Stevens, and Jim Croce. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yacht-rock-what-is-it-and-whats-its-origin/1012120/39 "2024-12-22T23:09:55Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > James Taylor, Cat Stevens, and Jim Croce There’s some overlap, but none of those guys did anything as heavy as “Running on Empty”, and thematically I think Browne has more in common with Springsteen than Taylor. (As an aside, I recently heard Joan Baez’s cover of “Fountain of Sorrow” for the first time, and I can’t decide whether I like it better than the original.) ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2024, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yacht-rock-what-is-it-and-whats-its-origin/1012120/40 "2024-12-22T23:34:31Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I listen to _Christopher Cross_ album regularly. The 8th track is _Sailing_. > > That could be the inspiration for Yacht Rock. That was the first (and only) song I thought of in connection with the “genre”. I can understand how Fagen wouldn’t want to be associated with soft pop-rock carrying that label, making it sound simultaneously elitist and lame (picturing 60-somethings\* wearing turtlenecks, Dockers and penny loafers). I’m not sure why Sirius would devote a channel to it. Aren’t there already at least half a dozen others playing similar stuff? \*I also laughed at this meme: [![](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/af/73/ac/af73ac336f44cdf7d93f057700e6cdce.jpg) ](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/af/73/ac/af73ac336f44cdf7d93f057700e6cdce.jpg) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yacht-rock-what-is-it-and-whats-its-origin/1012120.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yacht-rock-what-is-it-and-whats-its-origin/1012120.md?page=3)