Yacht Rock - A DOCKumentary - Review

By Kira Zahara Ahsan | KZA Entertainment

I've always loved 70s & 80s soft rock, but until I started being inundated with commercials for "Yacht Rock: a DOCKumentary" on HBO Max, I had never heard specifically of the term Yacht Rock.

I highly recommend this informative and meaningful documentary. I was fascinated by the discussion of the origins of the term "Yacht Rock" from a viral video series started before the YouTube era, 20+ years after the songs were huge hits dominating the airwaves. It turns out that so many of these beloved tunes were created lyrically and musically by the same core group of session musicians in southern California.

This truly special group of musicians all collaborated on one another's albums, and the interviews with 4 main characters don't disappoint. Michael McDonald, Christopher Cross, Kenny Loggins, and one of the main guys from Toto have interesting origin stories to tell regarding the inspirations for their songs and how they ended up coming together with a combination of unique vocals, life experiences, talented session musicians, and lots of luck. Christopher Cross, for example, dropped his demo tape off to the wrong office at a record company -- and the person he handed it to happened to listen and loved "Ride Like the Wind" so much that he forced an influential executive to listen. Had Cross given his demo to the proper office, it would have likely been tossed aside since the label was not seeking new artists at that time.

As MTV became a dominating force in the music industry in the early 80s, the "Yacht Rock" songs fell out of favor with the cultural zeitgeist and were relegated to bargain bins in record stores. Ironically, the guys behind the viral video series started to love and explore this music because they could only afford $1 records. They noticed in the liner notes of the album covers that these "smooth and classy" songs had common musicians and songwriters, and of course the unmistakable voice of Michael McDonald on so many tracks.

As their Top 40 prowess began to fade, several of the main "Yacht Rock" artists transitioned to success on movie soundtracks. In fact, it turns out that this song "Arthur's Theme (The Best That You Can Do)" was done by Christopher Cross for a movie called...wait for it...ARTHUR. I now want to see the movie and review it, but meanwhile I can't stop listening to the song. It gives me all the feels -- be warned that the tune may be stuck in your head for a long time if you happen to give it a listen here.

The Yacht Rock documentary has sent me down the greatest of rabbit holes -- going to YouTube to check out the entire catalogues of each main artist. I'm rediscovering some old radio-staple favorites that I'd forgotten about, as well as unearthing some new gems.

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