Yacht rock

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Yacht rock

Development phase: Mid 1970s
Place of origin: Los Angeles and Southern California
Stylistic precursors
The Beach Boys
Pioneers
The Doobie Brothers • Toto • Steely Dan
Instruments typical of the genre
E-piano • e-guitar • polyphonic singing • saxophone
Stylistic successor
New Wave • Alternative rock
Singer-songwriter
Christopher Cross • Kenny Loggins • Nicolette Larson
Music inspired by yacht rock
Vampire Weekend • Carly Rae Jepsen • Haim • Phoenix • Chromeo
The Doobie Brothers in 1976 in Berkeley, California
Steely Dan 2007 in Lucerne, Switzerland
Christopher Cross 2008 in Beaumont, California
Toto 2007 in Trondheim, Norway

Yacht Rock is the name of a mixed style in the style of the Doobie Brothers , Toto , Steely Dan and singer / songwriters like Christopher Cross , which originated on the American west coast in the 1970s and was characterized by country music , white soul , jazz and polyphonic vocal writing . The name, which was coined in 2005 by the producers of the online video series “Yacht Rock”, is derived from the association with the southern Californian attitude towards life of the time, from the relaxed existence by the sea and on the sea.

term

When the genre was active - from around 1975 to 1984 - the term “yacht rock” did not yet exist. Originally called " Adult Orientated Rock " (AOR) or "West Coast Sound", the style of music was first known as "Yacht Rock" when J. D. Ryznar u. a. released an online video series of the same name. The series caricatured the lifestyle of well-known yacht rock musicians - their “elitist, megalomaniac behavior, the desire for luxury, Californian coolness, mirrored sunglasses, tanned skin, scantily clad girls, drugs, sex and inner emptiness.” Understood as a derogatory term, was used So yacht rock first of all for the catchy music that a yuppie who owned a yacht would enjoy while sailing.

definition

The sound of the music is “smooth” with a gentle bass line and minimal use of drums . In contrast to soft rock , yacht rock incorporates elements of funk , jazz and R&B . The e-piano often carries the melody, and there are melodic guitar or saxophone solos in many pieces . The music is usually very complex and extremely carefully produced and is played by excellent studio musicians . The lyrics are about a carefree life; But there are also melancholy themes - quite a few songs are about longing and unhappy love.

history

Whereas the 1960s and the first half of the 1970s were still characterized by the political commitment of young people for civil rights and against the Vietnam War ( movement of 68 ) on the one hand and by the anti-cultural youth movement of the hippies on the other, at the end of the 1970s and 1980s there were others Goals and values ​​in the foreground. These were consumption, material prosperity, hedonism - personified in the image of the yuppie , the “young urban professional”.

The Yacht Rock reflected this change; his texts reflected “introspective individualism ”, were apolitical and escapist . Yacht rock was an era of pop music that was largely detached from the politics of its time.

From a musical point of view, the roots of yacht rock can be traced back to the music of the Beach Boys , whose aesthetics were adopted by other musicians, first from Rupert Holmes . Captain & Tennille , who were members of the Beach Boys Life band, won a Best Record Grammy in 1975 for “Love Will Keep Us Together ”. Another Beach Boys title, Sloop John B (1966), is believed to have originated Yacht Rock's fondness for the aesthetics of sailors and beach lovers.

By the early 1970s, when the genre that would later be called "Yacht Rock" emerged in Los Angeles , those who had protested the Vietnam War and promoted free love the previous decade had grown up and established themselves. Seals and Crofts' "Summer Breeze" (1972) was an early hit, soon followed by Steely Dan's "Only a Fool Would Say That" (1972). The Doobie Brothers excelled with their upbeat sounds and driving rhythms known as “Doobie Bounce” in songs like “It Keeps You Running” (1976) and the Grammy-winning “What A Fool Believes” (1979). Toto perfected the art form z. B. in " Africa ", which reached number 1 on the American Billboard charts in 1983 .

The heyday of yacht rock came to an end when listeners grew tired of the style and turned to new wave music , which relied heavily on electronic sounds and disco influences . Others went to alternative rock bands like REM . Yacht Rock was now viewed as cheesy and uncool.

The 2005 web series “Yacht Rock”, although it primarily wanted to caricature the music and musicians of the 70s and 80s , revived interest in the music that has now been named after the series. There are now Yacht Rock playlists on all major streaming services ; at Spotify about one with over a hundred thousand followers.

With this new attention, the debate has reawakened as to what distinguishes Yacht Rock. In addition to Journey , Foreigner and Kenny Loggins , the Spotify playlist also includes artists like George Michael , Billy Joel and Fleetwood Mac .

JD Ryznar, Hunter Stair and David Lyons, co-founders of the Yacht Rock web series, tried to define the term yacht rock precisely. In 2016 they invented the term "Nyacht Rock" to denote songs that are sometimes classified as Yacht Rock, but which, in their opinion, do not correspond to the definition. In their podcasts “Beyond Yacht Rock” and “Yacht or Nyacht?” They examined numerous songs and classified them as being within or outside the genre - yacht rock or “Nyacht”.

Factors that are relevant for your classification as "Yacht Rock":

  • Employing the best Los Angeles-based studio musicians and producers
  • Involvement of the most important yacht rock musicians
  • Noticeable jazz and R&B influences
  • Use of electric piano
  • Complex and ironic texts
  • Preferably a geographic connection to Southern California or the West Coast
  • an optimistic rhythm ("Doobie Bounce")

A not quite so puristic perspective also recognizes belonging to this music genre when it comes to songs about sailing or those with other nautical motifs or when influences of folk rock are recognizable, such as B. at Fleetwood Mac .

Resurgence

In recent years the Guardian and The Week have given positive reviews of Yacht Rock; BBC Four broadcast Katie Puckrik's documentary "I Can Gor for That: The Smooth World of Yacht Rock" (June 2019). In Germany, “ Zeit ”, “Tagesspiegel” and “ taz ” published appraisals of the genre in connection with the release of three samplers (“Too Slow to Disco”) by Marcus Liesenfeld alias DJ supermarket.

Since 2007 cover bands have been founded that concentrate on the yacht rock idea, such as B. the Yacht Rock Revue. The band hosts a Yacht Rock Revival concert every year where they invite members of the original bands they have covered to join them on stage for a few songs, including Walter Egan, Robbie Dupree , Peter Beckett ( player ) and Bobby Kimball ( former lead singer of Toto), Jeff Carlisi ( 38 Special ), Bill Champlin ( Chicago ) and Denny Laine ( Wings ).

The genre's resurgence is attributed by some to its function as an antidote to the negativity of the Trump era in the United States (Steven Orlofsky in: The Week). Just like in its original context when Yacht Rock created the perfect soundtrack for listeners who wanted to ignore Watergate and Vietnam , it now allows all political issues to be faded out again.

Music inspired by yacht rock

Elements of yacht rock were adopted by new bands such as Vampire Weekend , Foxygen and Carly Rae Jepsen , while the vaporwave genre of electronic music, which began in the 2010s, adopted the “nautical iconography ” of yacht rock. Sugar Ray's 2019 album Little Yachty is a deliberate homage to yacht rock; it contains a cover of the song " Escape (The Piña Colada Song) " sung by Rupert Holmes in 1979 . The Canadian band Chromeo integrates yacht rock elements into their electro-funk; In 2010 she performed with Hall & Oates at the Bonnaroo Music Festival . And Haim , the trio of sisters from Los Angeles, are very attached to the music of Fleetwood Mac .

literature

  • Greg Prato: The Yacht Rock Book: The oral History of the soft, smooth Sounds of the 70's and 80's. English original edition, Edition Olms, Oetwil am See 2018, ISBN 978-3-283-01284-7 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jon Kamp: Can You Sail to It? Then It Must Be 'Yacht Rock'. In: The Wall Street Journal . October 11, 2015, accessed November 14, 2019 .
  2. ^ A b Elisa Bray: From Haim to Chromeo: The new wave of Yacht-rockers. In: The Independent . June 6, 2014, accessed November 15, 2019 .
  3. Jump up ↑ Drew Toal: Sail Away: The Oral History of 'Yacht Rock' . In: Rolling Stone . June 26, 2015, accessed November 14, 2019 .
  4. ↑ a b Martin Böttcher: Yacht Rock: Return of Soft Music. In: Die ZEIT Online. August 16, 2014, accessed November 14, 2019 .
  5. ↑ a b c d e J.L .: More than a feeling. Now playing: yacht rock. In: The Economist . July 5, 2019, accessed November 14, 2019 .
  6. ^ A b c Jack Seale: I Can Go for That: The Smooth World of Yacht Rock review - lushly comforting. In: The Guardian . June 14, 2019, accessed November 14, 2019 .
  7. ^ Dan O'Sullivan: California About Everything: The Empire Yachts Back . In: Jacobin. September 4, 2012, accessed November 14, 2019 .
  8. ↑ Beyond Yacht Rock. June 7, 2016, accessed November 14, 2019 .
  9. ↑ David Dye, Talia Schlanger: That '70s Week: Yacht Rock. In: NPR World Cafe. March 15, 2017, accessed November 14, 2019 .
  10. ↑ Steven Williams: What Even Is Yacht Rock Anyway? Accessed November 14, 2019 .
  11. ^ A b c d Steve Orlofsky: In defense of yacht rock. In: theweek.com. June 15, 2019, accessed November 14, 2019 .
  12. ↑ Martin Böttcher, Christian Schröder: Pacific feelings, soft pop. In: Der Tagesspiegel . August 16, 2014, accessed November 14, 2019 .
  13. ↑ Detlef Diederichsen: There is morass under the blanket. In: taz . March 28, 2015, accessed November 14, 2019 .
  14. ↑ Deroy Murdock: Yacht Rock Revue Sails Into Gramercy Park. In: Townhall. February 8, 2018, accessed November 14, 2019 .
  15. ^ Richard L. Eldredge: The accidental success of Yacht Rock Revue. In: Atlanta Magazine. August 20, 2015, accessed November 14, 2019 .
  16. ↑ Steve Baltin: Sugar Ray frontman Mark McGrath's Guide To Yacht Rock . In: Forbes. July 23, 2019, accessed November 14, 2019 .