Is there any official qualifications for a song to be "Yacht Rock" or is it just a meme term?
At work we were all told to pick our favorite YR song, and one of my coworkers was going to make a mixtape of all our choices, and when when we listened to it we had to guess who chose what, and the person at work who chose the most correct would drink free at our work night out we have every 3 months.
So I chose Mandolin Rain by Bruce Hornsby, and when i messaged her she was like "THAT IS NOT A YR SONG", and I was like "Yes it is, Mandolin Rain is a great Yacht Rock song", and she replied "NO, pick again". I dont know where she is getting this judgement Mandolin Rain is not a YR song. Isnt YR essentially what they used to call "soft rock", or am i wrong?
A subset of soft rock. I don't think yachtrock extends much beyond the late '70s.
Jacob Martinez
You have to drink a lot of Pina Coladas and get pussy but also not be cool enough to have been considered Metal,Alternative,Prog (yeah ik),or Pink in The Late 70s-Early 1980s. Forgive me if I'm wrong but I don't think anyone pre-9/11 was using the term to describe music they actually listened to.
Kayden Brown
The song you picked came out almost 10 years after yacht rock's prime, so she's right that it doesn't count. It's pretty much slick soft rock with some R&B/jazz influence from the late 70s/early 80s. Typically it's upbeat, smooth, and associated with the west coast (USA).
Carson Wright
I always thought it was more RnB and Country Music but I might be thinking more of Pub Rock (a mostly Australian term).
Elijah Gonzalez
I fucking love yacht rock, anybody got a yacht rock-core list or if not, just some good reccs?
Cooper Rodriguez
Is Steely Dan yacht rock or does the strong jazz edge push it off that category?
the guys who made Yacht Rock the webseries maintain this yacht rock rating site, it's pretty cool
Luke Nelson
Thank you fren :)
Angel Nguyen
It's just soft rock, they play ballads and easy listening music the bands that are associated with this genre are; toto, speedwagon, journey, asia...
It's amazing that a lot of these bands had virtuoso musicians or were prog bands in the beginning. Steely Dan is definitely not Yacht Rock, aja is the closest thing to it but I don't put them there
Austin Young
Early Doobie Brothers was country influenced, so there is definitely some of that in the genre too.
There's a literal website that ranks whether or not a song qualifies as yacht rock. yachtornyacht.com/
But to answer your question, I guess it depends on the time and place. Yacht rock was more of a loosely connected scene considering that guys like Michael McDonald, Steve Porcaro and Ted Templeman and all worked with various yacht rock affiliated groups throughout their career (Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan, Toto etc.)
But even disregarding that, there's songs like Fragments of Time by Daft Punk which don't feature any yacht rock stalwarts on them but still have that unmistakeable smooth sound about it.
Hunter Richardson
Steely Dan often get mistaken for "Yacht Rock" because of their jazzy delivery, but if one were to look at the lyrics, they are NOT YACHT ROCK!
William Davis
yes, a white guy wearing a sailor captains hat
Elijah Flores
Isn't it more just the sound? (Fuck I hate Jazz but Reelin in The Years is not a bad song)
Gabriel Sanders
I have been playing music and browsing this board for over a decade, what the fuck is Yacht Rock?
Jaxson Ortiz
Early Seapunk
Cameron Nelson
Marvin... this is pathetic. You post on Any Forums?? holy shit, I'm going to bring this up at work tomorrow AHAHA
