Last week I wrote an opinion piece of “Top Ten Yacht Rock One Hit Wonders”. Yacht rock has generated controversy—but I had no idea of the depths until I set sail last week into the Facebook Yacht Rock sea by posting my article in a fan group. I awoke the next morning to a barrage of hate-mail comments: only four of the songs I picked were officially approved on a list in a genre I was unqualified to discuss, some are debatable as one-hit wonders, and I’m a failed journalist who’s broken the rules of Yacht Rock (YR).
In over 30 years and over 1000 published articles, nothing I’ve written has generated so much controversy and response as a piece that talked about the song “Steal Away” by Robbie Dupree (because I dared disrespect the song by calling it a one-hit wonder). Intense Facebook-shaming for offending “the founders and creators of Yacht Rock” smacked of cult-culture on the silliest frat-boy level possible. I don’t know if the podcast originators platoon social media themselves or whether they’ve assembled an army of Michael McDonald-wigged minions, but there’s a reason Lonely Island’s “I’m On A Boat” was satire, and these guys are truly rocking nautical-themed pashmina afghans.
Arguments have remained contested, from whether YR is even a real genre to complaints about fan gatekeeping and objections from some of the artists themselves. One of the most common criticisms of YR is that it wasn’t actually a genre when the music was being made since the term didn’t exist then.
Artists such as Christopher Cross, Steely Dan, Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald, and Boz Scaggs were never marketed as yacht rock performers during their commercial peak. Their records were categorized as soft rock, adult contemporary, blue-eyed soul, pop, jazz-rock, or simply Top 40. The term “yacht rock” emerged in 2005 when creators J.D. Ryznar, Hunter Stair, and Lane Farnham launched their comedic web series Yacht Rock. The series affectionately poked fun at the interconnected world of Los Angeles studio musicians and songwriters responsible for many of the era’s smoothest hits.
Critics argue that because the label was invented decades after the fact, YR functions more as a retrospective category than a real musical genre. Unlike punk, hip-hop, or grunge, there was never a scene of musicians identifying themselves as YR artists. The genre was effectively created by fans, critics, and comedians looking back at a particular sound and era; it hasn’t stopped the label from becoming widely accepted, but remains one of the central debates surrounding YR today.
The “Yacht or Nyacht” list is considered by acolytes to be “the bible,” it’s ranked by a scoring system, and according to Facebook page rules, you can agree with it or be wrong, since their list has already determined what’s canon law. For rebel listeners who dare have unique opinions, the term applies broadly to mellow, sophisticated pop music from the late-1970s and early-1980s. For cult loyalists, the definition is far more specific, involving particular musicians, production techniques, jazz influences, and connections among Los Angeles session players.
This has led to endless debates over artists who seem like obvious fits but remain controversial. Hall & Oates, Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles and Jimmy Buffett, sounds you’d think fit the era and soft rock sound are all rejects by the yacht rock coast guard. The creators painstakingly etched rating systems onto stone tablets to determine whether a song is “Yacht” or “Nyacht.”
Supporters argue that these distinctions are necessary because they help preserve the unique musical characteristics that separate yacht rock from generic soft rock. Critics argue that the genre’s increasingly complex rules have created an exclusionary culture where fans spend more time on social media policing definitions than enjoying the music. It doesn’t seem like the modern criticism and hysteria matches the laid-back tongue-in-cheek jocularity of the original podcast at all.
A genre celebrated for its relaxed atmosphere has developed one of the most passionate gatekeeping communities in popular music. Music appreciation will always be objective and if people collectively like a type of music, they should celebrate it together, not find negative, nitpicky ways to ruin it.
Interesting YR criticism comes from the musicians of the era. Over the years, several artists associated with YR have expressed skepticism—or hostility—toward the term. Daryl Hall publicly dismissed yacht rock as a label that never made sense to him, arguing that much of the music grouped under the banner was rooted in rhythm and blues, soul, and sophisticated pop songwriting, and yacht rock was a nickname that gained momentum long after the records were released.
The most notable example occurred when, for the Yacht Rock Dock-umentary, upon inquiring of one of the genre’s musical founding fathers, Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen about whether he’d like to be interviewed, in a response that would be helpful to keep in mind anytime arguments erupt over Ambrosia or any other soft hits of the 1970s and 80s: Fagen replied, “Why don’t you go fuck yourself?”