★ 8 / 10
Jazz-Infused Soft Rock Genre Worth Revisiting
EUyeshima
I would never mock the so-called "yacht rock" genre because that's the music I loved the most during my high school and college years. I didn't even know this…
I would never mock the so-called "yacht rock" genre because that's the music I loved the most during my high school and college years. I didn't even know this type of easy-to-ridicule soft rock music had a name, and it didn't until a comic pre-YouTube web series dubbed it so in 2005. Directed by Garret Price, this breezy 2024 documentary cogently chronicles the genesis of this music and its brief reign on the pop charts and at the Grammys from the late '70's to the early '80's concurrent with the emergence of punk and disco. Steely Dan is credited for molding the sounds, in particular, with their classic "Aja" album in 1977. Steely Dan's Donald Fagen refused to be interviewed for the film as he found the yacht reference insulting, but the era's other stars are accounted for and provide interesting insights into their creative processes. They include fondly remembered artists like Kenny Loggins, Christopher Cross, and the genre's self-effacing king, Michael McDonald. A nostalgic nugget for those of us who grew up during this period.
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★ 7 / 10
surprisingly insightful and entertaining
paul-allaer
As "Yacht Rock: A Documentary" (2024 release; 96 min) opens, we are in "1982, Santa Barbara, California", and the Doobie Brothers are on stage doing "Taking It…
As "Yacht Rock: A Documentary" (2024 release; 96 min) opens, we are in "1982, Santa Barbara, California", and the Doobie Brothers are on stage doing "Taking It To the Streets". A number of talking heads, including Questlove, talk about the LA music scene in the 70s and early 80s. We then go to "1976" and examine the unlikely influence of Steely Dan on what would become Yacht Rock, a term not invented until decades after the facts. At this point we are 10 minutes into the documentary.Couple of comments: this is the latest from director Garrett Price ("Daisy Jones & the Six"). Here he examines the phenom that has become a musical subgenre called Yacht Rock. If you are a certain age and familiar with/grew up with SoCal music from the mid-70s and early 80s, much of this music is quite familiar, but you probably had never thought of this music as being its own genre. The Doobie Brothers (led by Michael McDonald), Toto, Kenny Loggins, Christopher Cross, and other such acts are among the big names in Yacht Rock. "It rocks, but not too hard, but it rocks!" claims one talking head. I will not spoil how exactly Steely Dan fits in all this, you'll just have to see for yourself. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised how insightful and entertaining this all was. (At the very end of the documentary, the director ends up speaking with Steely Dan's Donald Fagen. Just watch!)"Yacht Rock: A Documentary" started streaming on Max a week or so ago and I just watched it the other night. If you are a music fan, young or old, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.
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★ 9 / 10
Well done!
helentlane
Well-researched and edited survey of the sound that dominated the AM airwaves in the late 1970s and the musicians and technicians who were part of the scene.…
Well-researched and edited survey of the sound that dominated the AM airwaves in the late 1970s and the musicians and technicians who were part of the scene. There are many interiews with members of Toto, Doobie Bros, and contemporary artists that reveal and trace both well and little known connections between diverse artists and bands. The contencious issue of whether or not Steely Dan can be considered Yacht Rock is covered. No spoilers but it's hillarious. As for my husband and I, we are of the belief that Steely Dan can never be considered Yacht Rock because they are such haters. The proof is in the lyrics: Royal Scam, Showbiz Kids, Only a Fool Would Say That, Haitian Divorce, to name a few. They even hate on themselves, and we love them all the more for it!
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7.6/10
2.6K
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Qué manera de bajarle el precio a grandes músicos con ese nombre. Steely Dan, Toto, Doobie Brothers y muchos más son parte de un legado musical exquisito que en Estados Unidos nunca supieron cómo catalogarlos.