Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary (2024) ***1/2

 

You have probably heard of yacht rock: soft rock from the 70's exemplified by artists like Michael McDonald and Christopher Cross. There's a Sirius XM channel dedicated to the genre, and there are countless yacht rock tribute acts. It seems in the last decade or so the term is everywhere, but I didn't realize until I watched this documentary that the term “yacht rock” did not exist back when all that music was being made.

As the story goes, a comedian named J.D. Ryznar started reading the album covers from some of his favorite 70s-80s soft rock artists, and noticed that there were certain L.A. based artists of the time who kept cross-pollinating, showing up in the writing and musical credits on each other's albums. The heart of this scene seemed to be Steely Dan, The Doobie Brothers, Toto, Michael McDonald, and Kenny Loggins. For Ryznar, this was the early 2000s, and this music was still just called soft rock or easy listening. Ryznar and some fellow comics created a series of skits about this musical scene and put it on the internet under the name “Yacht Rock.” (Even though almost none of the songs have anything to do with boats.) A genre was born, and for the last 20 years, we've all been talking about yacht rock like we knew about it all along.

“Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary,” streaming on HBO Max, explores the creation of the web series that gave the genre its name and the resurgence in interest in the music that the series sparked. It also does a deep dive into the music. Interviews with the major players give insight into the dynamics between all these artists and really gave me a better appreciation for the musicianship behind all this sweet, smooth music.

You don't have to consider yourself a fan of yacht rock, but this documentary is for people who are at least familiar with the music. If you stopped listening to new music in 1975, or if you don't know any music older than 1985, then this will be wasted on you. For the rest of us, my suggestion is this: first, find the “Yacht Rock” web series on youtube and watch all 12 episodes. The episodes are only 5-10 minutes each, and it's hilarious! Then watch “Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary” on HBOMax, and enjoy a journey to a time when the hair was feathered and the music was smooth. Just don't think that this music is ever going to go away. That's what a fool believes.

3.5 stars out of 5

web series link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNTARSM-Fjc&list=PLBEB75B6A1F9C1D01