Plug of the Week: Yacht Rock

In reality, songwriting is mostly pretty dull to watch. But what if every song had a dramatic story behind it?

The creators of Yacht Rock noticed that there was a lot of similar music in the 70s/80s: smooth sound, tended to have pictures of boats on the cover, made by various collaborations of the same artists. They named this movement "Yacht Rock" and decided to show us the stories behind these oh-so-smooth songs in a short series of online programs.

Snrk.

Through these programs, we learn that Michael McDonald was the leader of a close-knit group of smooth-music devotees that included Steely Dan, Toto, and the rebellious Kenny Loggins. They loved, they fought, they drank, they grew beards, they wrote songs.

Here is a sample, Episode 3, in which Steve Perry seduces Kenny Loggins to the hard-rockin' dark side:

Other episodes show the gang-bangers Hall and Oates, the womanizing Michael Jackson, and the violent feud between the Eagles and Steely Dan at the center of the oh-so-smooth theme to FM.

Please, do yourself a favor. Just set an hour aside and watch this stuff.

Yacht Rock
on Channel 101