When making a "dockumentary" about Yacht Rock, there are beset on both sides by two ditches - you can embrace the parody webseries origin of the genre (and treat it as a joke) or you can ignore the origins and define the genre as the general public has since defined it (Jimmy Buffett, The Eagles, nautical themes, sailor hats, etc.) "Yacht Rock" veers off into neither ditch. In fact, I was surprised at how serious a music documentary it is. This is "The History of Rock 'n' Roll" for 2024.
And, at the same time, they also give proper weight and deference to the group of guys who invented the term.
Highly recommended if you want to see an excellent music documentary.
One of the through-lines that goes between MST3K and "Best of the Worst" and shows like that they're mocking films but they're often doing so while appreciating any traces of good art, even at the service of really bad movies. It's an admirable trait to still find the good within the bad, especially as it's a trait I don't have, or at least, haven't developed. One of the things that struck me as poignant, reflecting on the re-emergence of the Yacht Rock genre is this idea that there are these dusty records that no one wants because they're old and out of fashion and someone listens to them and points out that there's something great there and we should all re-think our biases. Let's face it, Yacht Rock - and Easy Listening moreso - was playing when I was a kid and going to the dentist or shopping for clothes; I have, even subconsciously, dismissed huge swaths of music. I admire anyone who shakes off preconceived notions, paying no service to form or fashion and examines the thing objectively for what it is.
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