First a summary of events from the Yacht or Nyacht Podcast(s) and then a personal anecdote.
On the Beyond Yacht Rock Podcast, Episode 99, they're listening to audience suggestions to determine, officially, whether the song is Yacht Rock. The suggestion is "Can't Stop Runnin'" by Roby Duke (above). The deck is stacked against it. They are decidedly anti-Christian and isn't Christian rock always lame? To top it off, the cover of the album, a photo of Roby himself, looks like this:
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| Rock Star. |
And now a personal anecdote.
When I was a young teen, this one singer would sometimes visit my church to do concerts and/or lead the music in the service. I always especially enjoyed when he would make an appearance because he had such a relaxed, casual, somewhat goofy style. He was constantly talking, telling stories and making jokes, even at the expense of the music, if need be. He was like 60% singer with an acoustic guitar, 30% storyteller and 10% stand-up comedian. And when you're a kid in church, that's a really great break from the norm. The singer was Roby Duke.
The thing was, every time I saw him it was pretty much him with an acoustic guitar; he may have had a backing track sometimes but it was never a full band. Furthermore, I only saw him in church, I never investigated any of his albums. So how shocking it was to find that a small Yacht Rock podcast is listening to the "unknown acoustic guitar guy." And how much more shocking to find that he was not just a Yacht Rock artist all along but actually a Yacht Rock legend. Mind blowing.
Roby Duke's albums today are rare and seem to fetch hefty prices; some are apparently being imported from Japan. I learn from the internet that Roby Duke died in 2007. RIP.
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.
Two years ago I briefly mentioned that I was looking for a song/melody that I couldn't place:
There is a certain melody played by brass instruments that I remember from the 1980s that I can't place. Last night before going to sleep I added a todo list item "Chicago hits."
It wasn't found in Chicago. I also tried Herb Alpert, it wasn't found there. I thought it might be a TV theme ("Too Close for Comfort" is similar) but no luck. For a few years, from that day until now, I've been trying to find it. Today I found it via a Short of a Baseball clip suggested by Youtube.
The song is Bobby Caldwell - "What You Won't Do for Love"
The part that was in my head was the outro.
And it's smooth. Is it smooth enough? Should we push our luck and see if it's Yacht Rock? IT'S YACHT ROCK. Nice.
An opera singer hearing Michael McDonald for the first time. Nice.
Watch the precision here. She zeroes in on both the "bounce" and the smoothness. The Yacht Rock genre is defined by two characteristics: 1) Smoothness and 2) The Doobie Bounce (with some exceptions). Not surprisingly, "What a Fool Believes" is the only song to achieve a perfect 100 on the Yachtski Scale.
Of course she also asks: if Michael McDonald was a smoothie, what kind of smoothie would he be? So there's that.
Her "Happy Songs that are Actually Sad" genre suggestion is eerily similar to a genre I've been thinking about for a while. Maybe I'll write more about that some day. I think the two things are different enough that it could still be valid.
Is it Yacht or Nyacht?
In terms of the song itself, I'm saying this is strongly in the Yacht column. Donny would do well to get another vocalist, he's not a great singer, his role as lead singer would not last long if Steely Dan are anywhere near the studio. I'm going to say this is solidly in the Yacht Rock category, it's smooth, it has the Doobie bounce, I'm going to give it a Yachtski Score of 70.
