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Yacht Rock

Started by Ballad of Ballard Berkley, June 11, 2019, 07:31:26 PM

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Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Quote from: rue the polywhirl on June 12, 2019, 08:57:02 PM
Andrew Gold

Yeah, Lonely Boy by Andrew Gold is one of the greatest Yacht Rock songs, although I'm pretty sure hardcore Yachtists would disqualify him from this made-up genre. I haven't had a chance to look at www.yachtornyacht.com yet - ta for the link, Absorb! - but I would imagine that it's devoted to the sort of musical pedantry I enjoy.

While it's true that Yacht Rock is a retrospectively assigned mantle invented by some blokes responsible for a series of cult comedy videos, I do think it's quite a useful piece of shorthand for describing the smooth, commercial, groove-based blue-eyed soul from that particular era.

Whether you like this music or not - and some of it, the worst of it, is just horrible - everyone knows what Yacht Rock, as an umbrella term, is trying to describe.

Twed


chveik

never heard of this stuff before. I already miss my days of blissful ignorance.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Quote from: chveik on June 13, 2019, 02:14:07 AM
never heard of this stuff before. I already miss my days of blissful ignorance.

You've never heard of any of these people?


a duncandisorderly


grassbath

Quote from: Ballad of Ballard Berkley on June 12, 2019, 09:27:28 PM
Yeah, Lonely Boy by Andrew Gold is one of the greatest Yacht Rock songs, although I'm pretty sure hardcore Yachtists would disqualify him from this made-up genre.

Odd song, that Lonely Boy. Have always thought so. It's like it thinks it's much grander and cleverer than it is, despite the awful lyric. The weird way the vocal lines alternate between the on and off beat against the jerky piano in the verses. The grandiose guitar solo in the middle, and the pompous flourish of an extended strings note at the end - this isn't Bridge Over Troubled Water mate. But fuck me, the chorus. Whoever put those chords underneath that melody is a genius. Completely saves it.

Wouldn't really call it yacht rock though personally. I always had him as a sort of 70s piano-rock singer-songwriter type. Somewhere between Nilsson and Billy Joel.

Twed

The sincere naffness of the lyrics in Lonely Boy reminded me of Tim Heidecker's earnest yacht rock/MOR parody album, which is truly excellent:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nptVAr_xoUw

famethrowa

Quote from: Twed on June 14, 2019, 03:36:15 AM
The sincere naffness of the lyrics in Lonely Boy reminded me of Tim Heidecker's earnest yacht rock/MOR parody album, which is truly excellent:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nptVAr_xoUw

Yeah love that album, shame Tim can't sing better but I guess that's the point. A real Tumbleweed Connection vibe from that song

famethrowa

Quote from: grassbath on June 13, 2019, 10:47:12 PM
Odd song, that Lonely Boy. Have always thought so. It's like it thinks it's much grander and cleverer than it is, despite the awful lyric. The weird way the vocal lines alternate between the on and off beat against the jerky piano in the verses. The grandiose guitar solo in the middle, and the pompous flourish of an extended strings note at the end - this isn't Bridge Over Troubled Water mate. But fuck me, the chorus. Whoever put those chords underneath that melody is a genius. Completely saves it.

Wouldn't really call it yacht rock though personally. I always had him as a sort of 70s piano-rock singer-songwriter type. Somewhere between Nilsson and Billy Joel.

A marvellous auditory 3D illusion at the start of that song, hearing just the piano at the start convinces you the first chord is on the first beat. But around 0:20 where the verses come in, you realise it's on the & of the 1, after the beat. Skip back to the start and the offbeat is obvious. Unintentional I'm sure but I like it.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

A reminder that Katie Puckrik's two-part Yacht Rock documentary starts tonight on BBC Four at 9pm.

And here's a three-part series she made for Radio 2 a few years ago... https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03m6xnw

monkfromhavana

Surely this is the best yacht rock tune of all time? it's even about sailing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cBsnopTVmo

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Quote from: monkfromhavana on June 14, 2019, 10:08:55 PM
Surely this is the best yacht rock tune of all time? it's even about sailing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cBsnopTVmo

No electric piano? No soul influence? Not yacht rock.

Nah, you're right. It's one of the hippie godfathers of the genre. Like Loggins and Messina, CS&N actually went to the trouble of being photographed on actual yachts for their album art. Did Hall & Oates ever make that effort? Did they fuck.

Crabwalk

Quote from: jake thunder on June 11, 2019, 10:06:53 PM
I frickin love yacht rock. Before it were cool.

Doobs, The Dan, Little Feet, Halls n Oat, Bobby Caldwells etc...

Buuuut, check out this new band:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mgQsMURGQggu4l2sxzLdpprg0Byl-OdcE

Young Gun, Silver Fox is their name and they completely nail the yacht sound. Every song is a total smash on this album.

Thanks for this recommendation. I've listened to the record a couple of times now and it's excellent. 100% derivative of course, but done with such care and skill.


Quote from: Ballad of Ballard Berkley on June 12, 2019, 09:27:28 PM
Yeah, Lonely Boy by Andrew Gold is one of the greatest Yacht Rock songs

29.5% on YON

Quote from: riotinlagos on June 12, 2019, 12:09:39 PM
Kenny's second cousin Dave was no slouch either - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYMBxgrhS2g

Two entries on YON for Dave

58.25% Dave Loggins - One Way Ticket To Paradise
57.25% Dave Loggins -The Fool In Me

Quote from: riotinlagos on June 12, 2019, 12:09:39 PM

Pages were a bit good too (they went on to become the less good Mr. Mister) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10suuNyzz5U

A whopping six entries for Pages
90.00 Pages - You Need A Hero
83.25 Pages O.C.O.E. (Official Cat Of The Eighties)
66.75 Pages If I Saw You Again
59.00 Pages Clearly Kim
58.00 Pages The Sailor's Song
54.50 Pages Let It Go

dr beat

After reading this thread the other night I dreamt I was in York helping to organize a Yacht Rock themed DJ night.  I had to fill in a form with a suggested name for the night and to suggest 10 songs for the playlist. I came up with the name 'Let York Yacht' but I was a bit crap with the playlist as all I could come up with before waking up were the intro and outro themes to Howard's Way, which I don't think are Yacht Rock, more Yacht Pop if anything.

Can anyone help with this hypothetical Yacht Rock night?

Quote from: dr beat on June 15, 2019, 11:06:56 AM

Can anyone help with this hypothetical Yacht Rock night?

Goto www.yachtornyacht.com and it lists 100's in descending order of yachtiness.

Crabwalk

Part 2 suffered a little from the music becoming mostly awful in the 80s but it was a very enjoyable series overall. Good to hear the wonderful 'Sweet Freedom' get credit as the sound's last hurrah in '86.

Am I the only person who always gets misty eyed at Christopher Cross's 'Sailing'? There's something about the sound and arrangement on that record that pushes my soppiest buttons.

It's certainly not the lyrics, as I hope every yacht on the planet sinks.

non capisco

Quote from: Nowhere Man on June 12, 2019, 10:42:10 AM
Was that at Wembley? If so I saw Steve Winwood and Steely Dan there.

It was at Wembley. The cocky sods, get this, opened with Maneater! It was probably the best greatest hits set I've ever attended, not even spoilt by my friend screeching "Is he a midget?!!!" possibly loud enough for Oates to hear.

Shit Good Nose

Isn't it basically:
Was Michael McDonald involved in any way?
If yes, then yacht rock.
If no, then not yacht rock.

I don't subscribe to it as a proper genre (which it now seems to have become) as it's almost solely based on the "Doobie bounce", which doesn't actually exist much outside of Michael McDonald, not even the Doobies' pre-McDonald stuff - an awful lot of the songs and artists featured in the two shows don't feature the Doobie bounce.  Everything else is just American AOR/MOR soft rock.

Good show though, and John Oates seems like a decent sort, and I've always got time for Jay Graydon.

The Culture Bunker

Quote from: Shit Good Nose on June 22, 2019, 12:44:03 PMGood show though, and John Oates seems like a decent sort, and I've always got time for Jay Graydon.
I did enjoy yer man's Graydon's story about writing the George Benson song while laying cable.

And I read the Yacht Rock guys met Hall and Oates once, and Oates took it all in good humour. Probably because the show had him beating the crap out of Hall over his obsession with writing songs about (or with) Sara.

Shit Good Nose

Quote from: The Culture Bunker on June 22, 2019, 08:32:26 PM
I did enjoy yer man's Graydon's story about writing the George Benson song while laying cable.

The fuller version of that story has him shouting out the tune to Steve Lukather whilst hurriedly wiping so he didn't forget it by the time he got back in to the studio.

shiftwork2

I enjoyed the shows and this thread.  Something about the vaunted wistfulness and longing led me to download a playlist for Saturday's soundtrack and it hasn't disappointed.

Alright, full disclosure.  A very old celebrity crush turned my head enough to watch.  Katie Puckrik not only still has it, she's getting more appealing with age.

non capisco

One of my favourite Instagram accounts is 'Oates from Hall and Oates Pointing At Things'. He doesn't half love pointing at things, John Oates.

Shit Good Nose

Quote from: shiftwork2 on June 22, 2019, 10:20:11 PM
Alright, full disclosure.  A very old celebrity crush turned my head enough to watch.  Katie Puckrik not only still has it, she's getting more appealing with age.

Oh, she's lovely, and always has been.  And good at what she does as well.

However, I would be lying if I said I would have preferred the show to be more objective, but I know the main thrust of it was personal subjectivity.  And maybe yacht rock, both as a created sub-genre and as a type of music - doesn't stand up well to objective scrutiny.

shiftwork2

Still struggling to be honest.  Right Down The Line sounds to the untutored ear like bang-on Yacht yet is denied on YON.  Apart from him being SCOTTISH why isn't this smooth yacht rock?

the science eel

Quote from: Shit Good Nose on June 22, 2019, 12:44:03 PM

I don't subscribe to it as a proper genre (which it now seems to have become)

It fucked me off to hear some of them call it 'yacht', just.

You can get away with 'prog' and 'punk', but 'yacht' used like that sounds fucking stupid.