The History Of Yacht Rock

[Yaman Aksu]

I see Wiki says Fleetwood Mac is yacht rock too. So, a list of some tier1 covers I've bookmarked over the last few years. This list happens to exclude tribute band(s) that cover only F Mac.

P.S. FYI I don't put a cover performance into my "tier1" category if the vocals performance is either uninteresting enough or less than great/excellent from a technical standpoint including sufficient pitch accuracy. Most or all of the great vocalists here, I've heard them do less than tier1 in some other performance or two on youtube – so, to me this makes their select performances worthwhile to bookmark once encountered.

https://youtu.be/-oB0fH00k38
https://youtu.be/IZd1HVkXUyI
https://youtu.be/V1LhC1zGouc
https://youtu.be/ogJeEbu5Of4
https://youtu.be/pOL0Ke_WlMI
https://youtu.be/LW59BGV5ku4
https://youtu.be/TMiNIJRsxVQ
https://youtu.be/TQlY_8u6xSc

[Digital_Man]

I recently saw the band Sad Café referred to as Yacht rock. I'm not sure if many people on here know them but if you do then maybe you can offer an opinion. I listened to some of their stuff on youtube and based on what I heard Yacht Rock might be stretching it a bit although maybe some songs were. It was actually Rate Your Music that described them as Yacht Rock.

[Progbear]

I recently saw the band Sad Café referred to as Yacht rock. I'm not sure if many people on here know them but if you do then maybe you can offer an opinion. I listened to some of their stuff on youtube and based on what I heard Yacht Rock might be stretching it a bit although maybe some songs were. It was actually Rate Your Music that described them as Yacht Rock.

Apart from the proggy stuff on Fanx Ta Ra, their sound I’d say was a peculiarly British take on American AOR. They had a couple of low-ball American hits (“La-Di-Da” and “Run Home Girl”) and one big UK smash (“Every Day Hurts”) that sounds (to me, anyway) like Hall & Oates. Though I am a bit surprised they managed that much, considering the original UK edition of Misplaced Ideals is saddled with one of the most gut-wrenching album covers in history. What was Hipgnosis thinking? (Their US label was wise to opt-out of that stomach-turning image.) Singer Paul Young (R.I.P.) wound up in Mike + the Mechanics, while keyboardist Vic Emerson played with 10cc for a few years.

The band Voyager, something of an offshoot of the prog band Tonton Macoute, had a rather similar sound. They had a minor UK hit with the title track of their debut album, Halfway Hotel (which had a surreal nightmare of a music video directed by Storm Thorgerson...of Hipgnosis. Am I sensing a pattern forming? The infamous “maggots in the eyes” scene from “Owner of a Lonely Heart” was still a few years down the road).

[Digital_Man]

^Ok. Thanks for the explanation.

[Progbear]

If it’s “yacht” from across the pond you’re after, try Germany’s Lake or Norway’s Lava. Or one of the post-modern latter-day purveyors of the style like France’s NightShift or Sweden’s State Cows. Or you could go on a deep dive down the rabbit hole of the currently fashionable “City Pop,” a Japanese subgenre of the 70s and 80s deliberately attempting to crib this very sound. I can definitely vouch for the For You album by Tatsuro Yamashita as a real classic...though the one thing it’s not is original. Still, if it’s a portmanteau of Silk Degrees and Brother to Brother you’re after, you can’t go far wrong:



Fear not, the urge to sing ♫For your love!♪ along to the opening of “Music Book” is completely normal.

[moecurlythanu]

^ I would say that Lake rocked out a little too much for this pseudo-genre.

[Vic2012]

So, "Theme From Gilligan's Island." Yacht Rock, yes or no?

No.

[3LockBox]

Yahct Rock is whatever the hell I want it to be.

[Yaman Aksu]

https://youtu.be/-oB0fH00k38
https://youtu.be/IZd1HVkXUyI
https://youtu.be/V1LhC1zGouc
https://youtu.be/ogJeEbu5Of4
https://youtu.be/pOL0Ke_WlMI
https://youtu.be/LW59BGV5ku4
https://youtu.be/TMiNIJRsxVQ
https://youtu.be/TQlY_8u6xSc

Had recently listed some F Mac covers (above) and had called them tier1 (top-tier). #5 and #6 were by a band called HSCC --- saw news yesterday saying their F Mac cover(s?) caught the attention of a former F Mac manager and they now have a record deal, that's nice -- this band is actually very popular already with youtube audiences with their covers of various bands. Not all their many vocalists are my cup of tea. Pina Del Re stands out, of #5 above, which looks to be the particular performance that caught that manager's attention according to this news clip:
https://youtu.be/3m30t_Hxn7M
But anyway the point is, their various covers with Pina on vocals, on F Mac songs or other songs, are worth checking out.

[Yaman Aksu]

I think another vocalist with them is Kat Jade, who's really good too.