what is the greates yacht rock song of all-time???

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005QD8L/103-6519899-0887055?v=glance&n=5174

YES

"Magnet and Steel" By Walter Egan

Everything by the Little River Band, esp. "Cool Change" and "Reminiscing."

xpost

or Blues Image, "Ride Captain Ride" for that matter (Climax Blues Band might SOUND more yacht-rock, but Blues Image have the words.)

So what's the classic yacht-rock song of the '00s? Off the top of my head I'm thinking "Smooth" by Santana with Rob Thomas, but probably I'm forgetting something. (Kenny Chesney is probbaly too obvious.) (Though maybe Phil Vassar isn't. His songs have hot tubs in them!)

This thread is a service to mankind, by the way. Lots of great songs.

Sade
George Benson
Peaches and Herb

Bertie Higgins: Key Largo

Ironically, "Smooth" itself is insufficiently smooth - the guitar is sweet, but the horns kind of jump out of the mix and the drums are too high. Anyway, in terms of just evoking yachts, I'm thinking the whole Puffy/"Big Pimpin'" genre of luxury rap, which I guess is more a late-90s thing. And, come to think of it, "Smooth" also dates to '99.

I think the whole millenial "return of rock" explosion and the continuing incursions of emo-y bands have somewhat cleared the pop/rock decks of yachtyness, at least for now. These things are cyclical. I'm not sure if we're poised for a "Sailing" type of track, but something with more of a crossover feel - a "Rosanna" or "Throwing It All Away" could be right under our noses. Don't expect it to come from an indie band though - smooth don't come cheap!

xpost "Key Largo" is awesome! Clearly an essential to any broad-minded Yacht Rock collection (ie, one not just tracking the Loggins/McDonald axis of the films).

Indeed, sir. The Bertie Higgins community nearly spilled their Chardonnay when they got wind of the fact that their anthem was omitted.

Michael McDonald was huge on black radio in the late '70s, right through today. I can't think of many white musicians who are as influential on the black music of today.

Devin the Dude is a big fan of lots of Yacht Rock -- Ambrosia is one of his favorite bands.

Wait, what about Maroon 5?? (Assuming they're any good... They're funkier than Coldplay, either way. So is John Mayer. And, um, Jack Johnson, who is a SURFER. Don't think I've ever heard him, though.)

-- novamax (john.loma...), July 4th, 2006.

Thats HOW MUCH I FEEEEEEEEEEEEEEL! (FEEL for you baaaaybeh)

Must go listen to that now.

But many consider Paul McCartny as the father of yacht rock. Afterall Pmac's 'with a little luck' was actually recorded aboard the motor yacht 'Fair Carol' just off the Virgin Islands...

http://www.channel101.com/shows/show.php?show_id=152

Chicago - Colour My World
Gordon Lightfoot - If You Could Read My Mind
James Taylor - Fire and Rain
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Mr. Bojangles
Brewer and Shipley - One Toke Over the Line
Elton John - Daniel
Jackson Browne - Doctor My Eyes
Jim Croce - Time In a Bottle
Seals & Crofts - Summer Breeze
Todd Rundgren - Hello It's Me
Albert Hammond - It Never Rains in Southern California
Carly Simon - You're So Vain
Chicago - Just You 'N' Me
Jim Croce - I'll Have to Say I Love You
Chicago - (I've Been) Searchin' So Long
Chicago - Call on Me
Chicago - Wishing You Were Here
Gordon Lightfoot - Sundown
Terry Jacks - Seasons in the Sun
Al Stewart - Year of the Cat
Ozark Mountain Daredevils - Jackie Blue
Sammy Johns - Chevy Van
Boz Scaggs - Low Down
Dr. Hook - When You're In Love With A Beautiful Woman
Gary Wright - Dream Weaver
Seals and Crofts - Get Closer
Starland Vocal Band - Afternoon Delight
10cc - The Things We Do For Love
Chuck Mangione - Feels So Good
Paul Davis - I Go Crazy
Al Stewart - Time Passages
Gerry Rafferty - Baker Street
Gerry Rafferty - Right Down the Line
Kenny Loggins - Whenever I Call You Friend
Little River Band - Reminiscing
Player - Baby Come Back
Cliff Richard - We Don't Talk Anymore
Herb Alpert - Rise
Quincy Jones & James Ingram - One Hundred Ways
Robbie Dupree - Steal Away
Rupert Holmes - Escape (The Pina Colada Song)
Al Jarreau - We're in This Love Together
Paul Davis - Cool Night
Al Jarreau - Mornin'

Some of these probably don't qualify as yacht rock/pop properly but they seem to fit at least obliquely:

Chris Rhea, "Fool if You Think It's Over"
Steve Forbert, "Romeo's Theme"
Orleans, "Still the One," "Love Takes Time"
Firefall, "You Are the Woman," "Just Remember I Love You"
Jay Fergusen, "Thunder Island"
Gary Wright, "Our Love is Alive"
Starbuck, "Moonlight Feels Right"
Elvin Bishop, "Fooled Around and Fell in Love"
David Gates, "Took the Last Train (to St. Tropez)"
Randy Meisner, "Hearts on Fire"
Frankie and the Knockouts, "Sweetheart"
Dave Edmunds, "Slippin' Away"
King Harvest, "Dancin' in the Moonlight"
J.D. Souther, "You're Only Lonely"
Michael Johnson, "Bluer than Blue," "This Night Won't Last Forever"
Rocky Burnett, "Tired of Toein' the Line"
Some Mike Post t.v. theme music
Dennis DeYoung, "Desert Moon"
Steely Dan, "FM" or "Peg" "No static at all" = yachtitude in a nutshell.

And when the sun goes down I bet this is what yacht rockers spin to get their boogie on:

Patrick Hernandez, "Born to Be Alive"
David Naughton, "Makin It"

how about "I Can't Tell You Why", by the Eagles?

"Baby Ima Want You"
"Make It With You"
"If"
"Everything I Own"

Isn't this one almost like meta yacht-rock though?

There isn't one. This kind of soft rock really faded out in the mid-80s. I blame overcompression and that big, booming drum sound.

I would buy an AM Gold box set in a heartbeat. I.M., wanna tackle this one? :)

Lest we forget: "Sharin' The Night Together" by Dr. Hook. A fascinating, if mortifying, portrait of '70s courting rituals. Or: jerk tries to be sensitive but just comes off smarmy ("Do you wanna dance with me and hold me? You know I wanna be holdin' you. Ah yeah. All right. I'd like to get to know you better; is there a place where we can go?")

more dissing: http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2005/10/this_post_conce.html

I think "Promises" is Eric Clapton's contribution to yatch rock, like "Miss You" was the Stones' turn at disco.

Toby Beau, "My Angel Baby"
Steven Bishop, "On and On"
Exile, "Kiss You All Over"
Robert John, "Sad Eyes"
Poco, "Crazy Love," "In the Heart of the Night"
Andrew Gold, "Thank You for Being a Friend," "Lonely Boy"
Nigel Olsen, "A Little Bit of Soap" - it has that "What a Fool Believes" rhythm to it. Also, "Dancin' Shoes"
Rex Smith, "You Take My Breath Away"
Nicolette Larson, "Lotta Love"
Kenny Nolan, "I like Dreamin'"
Randy VanWarmer, "Just When I Needed You Most"
Dr. Hook also had "Sexy Eyes" and "Better Love Next Time"
Paul Davis, "65 Love Affair"

I get a little iffy around the perimeter. Some of these seem too straight-up mellow gold to have that cocaine undercurrent to them, or are a bit too poppy like Paul Nicholas' "Heaven on the 7th Floor" or Alan O'Day's "Undercover Angel."

Sorry, Eagles are not yacht.

^^^ mention the Eagles to the yacht rock guys and they will end you

yeah, I get that The Eagles are not technically yacht rock, despite featuring in the original video series and "I Can't Tell You Why" appearing on many yacht playlists. nor are Fleetwood Mac or most of Steely Dan's songs (unless Michael McDonald is in da house).
but the success of their West Coast soft rock hits and the slickness of their productions helped create the environment in which yacht rock flourished, so think of them as fertilizer if that helps.

I remember the YR guys saying that Steely Dan inspired Yacht Rock but aren't really a Yacht Rock band in the same way that Slayer inspired Death Metal but are not a Death Metal band.

I'm pretty convinced now, especially after spending **mumble** amount of time watching YouTube covers of it, that it's Pablo Cruise "Love Will Find A Way."

i buy paul's sonic family-tree inclusion of the eagles. also reflects a longer cultural debt, yacht is basically self-involved turn-of-the-70s post-hippie peaceful-easy-feelings, plus material comfort and middle-aged relationship problems.

The one or two-hit wonder aspect of the big YR acts plays a big role, too. Robbie Dupree, Pablo Cruise, Ace, etc. That's why it's hard to accept Steely Dan or The Eagles as yacht rock imho.

The one or two-hit wonder aspect of the big YR acts plays a big role, too. Robbie Dupree, Pablo Cruise, Ace, etc. That's why it's hard to accept Steely Dan or The Eagles as yacht rock imho.

I dunno man, Toto? The Doobie Brothers? Kenny Loggins?

I mentioned this one on an album covers thread, but please take 5 minutes to bask in the smooooothness that is "Rio de Janeiro Blue." I can actually feel the saltwater spray in my face during the flute solo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLkw2Uz3JuU

I want to change my vote from Pablo Cruise to "You Are The Woman" by Firefall. That song is the aural equivalent of a giant marshmallow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=By_clrkw9C8

The Rippingtons - Tourist in Paradise

also perhaps the best music video ever

"I saw your face and that's the last I've seen of my heart" is such a great hook that the whole rest of "You Are The Woman" is essentially an in-between throwaway.

another quintessential tune of that era/sound: England Dan & John Ford Coley - "I'd Really Love to See You Tonight"

Eagles (save maybe "I Can't Tell You Why") not yacht, but Glenn's "The One You Love" surely is!

(bummer Youtube has taken down the so-bad-it's-awesome video)

"casablanca" by dane donahue is a good yachty eagles rip

this music is kinda more about what shirt you're wearing

and night driving

Rich Girl by Hall & Oates, no wait....anything by Hall & Oates.

except "downtown life", that's not very yacht

but it is very street and very good

some mention of Orleans' "Dance With Me" must be made

yeah, I get that The Eagles are not technically yacht rock, despite featuring in the original video series and "I Can't Tell You Why" appearing on many yacht playlists. nor are Fleetwood Mac or most of Steely Dan's songs (unless Michael McDonald is in da house).
but the success of their West Coast soft rock hits and the slickness of their productions helped create the environment in which yacht rock flourished, so think of them as fertilizer if that helps.

― Paul, M

You shall not pass

Summer breeze by seals and croft

My favorite contemporary soft rock pastiche is "You Can Feel It" by Young Gun Silver Fox

Greg Phillinganes on some good yacht funk w/ Lazy Nina

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJMelsJukC0

Koko’s nodding his head along to this one

fresh

Wings' London Town isn't considered "yacht rock" but I just found out a lot of it was actually recorded on a yacht.

‘Sailing’ Was Supposed to Save Christopher Cross. It Drowned Him Instead

i think in this thread i have grossly misunderstood what delineates yacht rock from nyacht but aside from formal qualifications there's an underlying current of disco-era-hedonism-but-somehow-life-affirming vibe in the face of the overwhelming bummer-malaise heaviness that was the late 70s so the fundamental element that connects all the sleazy self-pitying certified yacht and nyacht is that pandora's box straggler that is hope. baby, come back. nothing left for me. there has to be something left over.

this is music of striving; another year and then you'll be happy, but you're crying, you're crying now. the sadness is palpable. what a weird time to be 13. even snowball skate stuff like emotion or wonderful tonight or sweet life have this at their core. there was this girl who sometimes went to my church and i'd skate with her when the time came. hair like farrah fawcett.i loved her so much when i was around her. i didn't know much about her. i had no idea how to talk to her.i'm trying to remember her name. she was so beautiful to me at the time. there was another girl, she was in the eighth grade and i was only in the seventh, she went to to other middle school in our town. i didn't talk to her either, but we skated together during snowball. i could have got her number; i could have gone to basketball games and waved to her across the court. what a gorgeous older woman. she was my barbara cooper. you know how much weight that name carries. this music, the non-yacht stuff, the schmaltzy love songs, the sad eyes, the i just want to be your everything. how deep is your love? so much doubt, so much hope.

yacht is just a subset. imho. it's def a vibe, not quite a genre, but there's a larger zeitgeist that encircles it that has yet to be defined, unless i actually did, but i dunno. liminalcore, between hope and despair.

“this is music of striving; another year and then you'll be happy,”
I don’t hear it, but love this take!

that was my late 70s, i was of a certain age and that was my thing during that time. a few years one way or the other and i'd be talking about other musics.i'm a very specific demographic.

Top 5 YR tracks go

i'd say right down the line but i've been muddling the waters about what is or isn't yacht.

sharing the night together because of the aforementioned "aw yeah, all right" factor.

turn your love around

baby come back

FM

i dunno if i want to hug j d ryznar or punch him in the face.

Yachty aughty aughty aughty aughty aughty aughty aughty
Yachty crazy curvy wavy

The greatest YR song is that David Foster one

i think we just sank the yacht into the marina. has tim heidecker done yacht yet?