The sight of this summer has been local hipsters grooving to the 70s AOR classics that make up the tenuous genre of “Yacht Rock”. It’s a dubious category and walks a fine line. Despite the awesome view and sunsets Christmas parties were not better for the playing of this:
and there is no way UB40 can pass off as Anthea & Donna in any mix.
But they were totally improved by this lesser known classic by the Alessi Brothers (great Eurodisco hair and cap sleeve shirts included):
which reminded us that our friends in Metronomy had perfect taste.
Toto’s “Africa” divided opinions and fell somewhere between.
Without the sunset to help, BBC Radio 6 made a cunning attempt to try and extend the genre from the classic to the modern and, with the notable failure around Duran Duran (who had a yacht but weren’t at all Yacht), made a pretty good stab with this little playlist (which we once again transformed into a YouTube playlist below)
Steely Dan - Peg
Starbuck - Moonlight Feels Right
Zoot Woman - Jessie
Joni Mitchell - The Hissing of Summer Lawns
The Doobie Brothers - What a Fool Believes
Todd Rundgren - Can We Still Be Friends
Feist - Inside and Out
Robert Palmer - Every Kinda People
Scritti Politti - The Boom Boom Bap
Crosby, Stills & Nash - Just a Song Before I Go
Boz Scaggs - Lowdown
Toto - Georgy Porgy
Carly Simon - You Belong to Me
Hall & Oates - When the Morning Comes
Gerry Rafferty - Baker Street
The Duckworth Lewis Method - Out in the Middle
Sanford & Townsend - Smoke from a Distant Fire
Quincy Jones and The Brothers Johnson - Is It Love That We’re Missing?
Dave Mason - We Just Disagree
Steve Miller Band - Fly Like an Eagle
Seals & Crofts - Castles in the Sand
Duran Duran - Rio
Rilo Kiley - Dreamworld
The Beach Boys - Sail on Sailor
The Internet - Don'tcha
Christopher Cross - Sailing
Which may be the first time you have ever seriously considered playing an Odd Future record next to Christopher Cross! Extra props for (a) not including Haim (or any other other Mac copyists) and (b) for realising Zoot Woman started the AOR revival as “ironic cool”. Well done Jacques Lu Cont.
-TH
top pic by @chrismphillips
