Love the Yacht Rock stuff. That was very much a part of my musical world growing up, even if it was slightly uncool. (BTW, your link to that site only resolves if you put a www at the front of the URL, at least on my browsers.)
Yes - it was inescapable in my youth. I have vivid memories of the radio in my mother's station wagon playing these particular tracks. And thanks for the heads up re the link - I've fixed it on the web version!
Steely Dan - I often see them categorised as Yacht Rock, but I’ve never heard them in the same way as, say, Christopher Cross or whoever. For me - and I probably don’t understand the genre enough - YR is enjoyable enough, but shallow. Steely Dan has more depth, both of meaning and sound.
Thanks - glad you enjoyed the ride! As for Steely Dan ... I am fully with you. Yes, they have YR tendencies - in particular, their search for a crystalline production - but I think that's where the similarities end. Steely Dan is so much more than YR - which, I agree, is really shallow. The depth - and delicious decadence - of their lyrics alone puts them in a completely different league. For me, this was embodied back in the late 90s when I was shopping for a shirt or something in a department store in North Carolina when 'Everyone's Gone to the Movies' suddenly came on over the system. I was suddenly struck by the fact that - here I was, looking for a shirt when suddenly one of the perviest songs to grace the airways began sliding its way through the store - and no one seemed to have any idea about the tale they were listening to. Slick production, excellent musicianship and sheer hedonism: that's SD. And that's why they're one of my all-time favourite bands. Not to mention they're named after a fictional dildo! Best cassette tape I ever made: Side A - Katy Lied; Side B - Pretzel Logic.
And Bryan, that Riddle of the Mountain article is fantastic. Thank you.
Glad you liked it! I had completely forgotten it - and really enjoyed rereading it. One of the pleasures of diving back into the archives.
Love the Yacht Rock stuff. That was very much a part of my musical world growing up, even if it was slightly uncool. (BTW, your link to that site only resolves if you put a www at the front of the URL, at least on my browsers.)
Yes - it was inescapable in my youth. I have vivid memories of the radio in my mother's station wagon playing these particular tracks. And thanks for the heads up re the link - I've fixed it on the web version!
Great journey on The Bus today.
Steely Dan - I often see them categorised as Yacht Rock, but I’ve never heard them in the same way as, say, Christopher Cross or whoever. For me - and I probably don’t understand the genre enough - YR is enjoyable enough, but shallow. Steely Dan has more depth, both of meaning and sound.
Thanks - glad you enjoyed the ride! As for Steely Dan ... I am fully with you. Yes, they have YR tendencies - in particular, their search for a crystalline production - but I think that's where the similarities end. Steely Dan is so much more than YR - which, I agree, is really shallow. The depth - and delicious decadence - of their lyrics alone puts them in a completely different league. For me, this was embodied back in the late 90s when I was shopping for a shirt or something in a department store in North Carolina when 'Everyone's Gone to the Movies' suddenly came on over the system. I was suddenly struck by the fact that - here I was, looking for a shirt when suddenly one of the perviest songs to grace the airways began sliding its way through the store - and no one seemed to have any idea about the tale they were listening to. Slick production, excellent musicianship and sheer hedonism: that's SD. And that's why they're one of my all-time favourite bands. Not to mention they're named after a fictional dildo! Best cassette tape I ever made: Side A - Katy Lied; Side B - Pretzel Logic.