HBO doc tells how Steely Dan and Toto became cool again
Ask two music fans what qualifies as yacht rock, and an argument is sure to ensue.
Does Steely Dan count? (Absolutely.) What about Hall & Oates? (No, on the east coast.)
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the term ‘yacht rock’ did not yet exist. But everyone knew the music of the Doobie Brothers, Toto and Christopher Cross – who won the Grammys in 1980 with his blistering ballad ‘Sailing’.
These acts topped the charts in an era when slick production, smooth melodies and expert chops ruled the airwaves alongside the Eagles’ country-tinged hits. That would all change when MTV came onto the scene. Suddenly, songs like “What a Fool Believes” and “Africa” were consigned to the uncool “soft rock” pile. After the rise of Madonna and Michael Jackson, some of the earlier wave of musicians turned to soundtracks, such as Kenny Loggins with the hit “Danger Zone” from “Top Gun.”
Michael McDonald became a key figure in Yacht Rock, singing and sometimes playing keyboards with Steely Dan, the Doobie Brothers, Toto, Kenny Loggins and Christopher Cross.
HBO
More than twenty years later, in 2005, comedians JD Ryznar and Steve Huey retroactively coined a term for the genre with their tongue-in-cheek web series “Yacht Rock.” With its lo-fi aesthetic, the show re-imagined musicians like Kenny Loggins and Jimmy Buffett who worked to create the jazzy sounds that evoked a possible cocaine-fueled yacht party. Naturally, the music itself played a major role in each episode. The series eventually led to a yacht rock renaissance, with three Sirius XM stations and tribute bands like Yachtley Crew.
One of the Generation X converts was director Garret Price, whose film “Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary” premieres Friday as part of HBO’s Music Box series. Price previously had a darker story with another installment of the series, ‘Woodstock ’99’. This time, he wanted to explore a lighter moment in music history – and how the oldies his parents loved gained a new, younger fandom.
“People always romanticize the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac and Carly Simon – the Troubadour scene,” says Price, editor of the Prime Video miniseries “Daisy Jones & the Six,” which is steeped in a Fleetwood Mac-esque vision of L.A. the seventies. Yet there’s a whole different scene going on with Michael McDonald and Christopher Cross and Steely Dan and the Toto boys, which I don’t think gets as much recognition,” he says.
Coincidentally, Price had recently met Cross’ daughter, who happens to be best friends with ex-Doobie Brother Michael McDonald’s daughter. Madison Cross initiated the idea for the doctor, telling Price that her father was not a fan of the nickname, although Michael McDonald thought it was funny.
Price began interviewing key figures in yacht rock to see what they thought about it. “I always wanted to stay with the Mount Rushmore – Steely Dan, Michael McDonald, Christopher Cross, Kenny Loggins and Toto,” he says.
At first, Cross says he thought the newly invented phrase was “a bit kitschy.” But now the ‘Ride Like the Wind’ singer says: ‘Anything that can bring some levity into this world, I’m happy to serve.’
‘Sailing’ singer Christopher Cross says he initially thought the term ‘yacht rock’ was kitschy, but has since come to appreciate it.
HBO
Price says the others largely agreed: “They’ve come around – they understand this has given a new lease of life to their music and introduced them to a legion of new fans.”
The exception? Notorious cheapskate and co-founder of Steely Dan Fagen, who initially did not respond to his overtures.
After several months, Steely Dan’s longtime manager Irving Azoff told Price that Fagen would call him sometime in the next few weeks. “Be ready to answer,” Azoff told him.
Eventually, Fagen called and Price asked him if he wanted to be part of the documentary, explaining that it was about “yacht rock.” The response, as seen in the film, is short, profane and 100% pure Fagen.
He may not have wanted to be on camera, “but at the same time he licensed all his music to me. So I think it’s kind of a nod,” says Price.
Why is Steely Dan’s inclusion in the genre so controversial?
“I think people have a hard time lumping the guy who wrote ‘Sailing’ with the guy who wrote ‘Peg,’” Price says, referring to the debate over whether the cerebral Steely Dan should be associated with the soft rock of Cross of Poco. .
Whatever their feelings about today’s label, the bands of Price’s Mount Rushmore share a common DNA. “It’s actually rooted in R&B and soul and funk and jazz and black music. And it all took place in Southern California, within this ecosystem of studios with the session guys,” he says.
And the band continues to have an impact: modern artists such as Questlove, Thundercat and Mac deMarco describe in the doc how those jazzy pop tunes influenced their own sound. Thundercat even recruited McDonald and Loggins to contribute to his 2017 song “Show You the Way.”
“These are white musicians influenced by black music. They tried to take what they liked and create a new kind of pop music era,” says Price. “It makes perfect sense when hip hop discovers this music from the late 1970s to start sampling with revolutionary artists like De La Soul and Warren G, who have delved into these kinds of funky aspects of this music.”
It’s fitting, he says, that “Yacht Rock” will premiere the day after Thanksgiving, when families might be looking for multigenerational entertainment.
“There is humor in it, yes, but there is also reverence, love and respect.”
