yacht rock episodes

Sail Away: The Oral History of ‘Yacht Rock’

By Drew Toal

This story was originally published on June 26, 2015

I n the late 1970s and early 1980s, musical artists like Kenny Loggins , Michael McDonald , Steely Dan , Toto , Hall and Oates , and dozens of others regularly popped up on each other’s records, creating a golden era of smooth-music collaboration.

And on June 26th, 2005, an internet phenomenon was born. In 12 short but memorable episodes — first via the the short-film series Channel 101 and then online — JD Ryznar, Hunter Stair, Dave Lyons, Lane Farnham and their friends redefined an era and coined a term for the sultry croonings of McDonald, Fagen, et al.: “yacht rock.”

As “Hollywood” Steve might say, these guys docked a fleet of remarkable hits. This is the story of Yacht Rock, told from stem to stern — a reimagining of a bygone soft-rock renaissance, courtesy of hipsters with fake mustaches, impeccable record collections and a love of smoothness. Long may it sail.

The Michigan Connection JD Ryznar (Director, “Michael McDonald”): I moved from Ann Arbor to L.A., and ended up making friends with all these other guys from Michigan, like “Hollywood” Steve Huey, Hunter Stair, and David Lyons. Pretty much every weekend I’d have “Chinese Thanksgiving” at my apartment — we’d eat BBQ chicken and burgers, drink beer and listen to records of what I called “yacht rock.” You know, like Michael McDonald is singing background vocals and like there’s guys on boats on the covers; it feels like you’re on a yacht listening to it. And the guys were like, oh, we know this music.

Dave Lyons (“Koko”): You know how, in the Seventies, these big bands started playing arena rock? We liked the idea of these smooth bands playing “Marina Rock.” I thought it was a better name.

“Hollywood” Steve Huey (“Hollywood Steve”): What I mostly remember is JD playing Journey records all the time. He was so into Journey that he had photocopied a photo of Steve Perry and pasted it onto his liquid soap dispenser. He wrote “Steve Perry Soap: Clean as all fuck” on it.

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Lane Farnham (editor, “Jimmy Messina”): JD and I had talked about Journey for a year before we did Yacht Rock. In the third episode, that whole “you need to fly like a pilot” bit? Those are direct lines from Steve Perry in this crazy documentary we found. He’s coked to the gills, in the Eighties, just blabbering about who knows what. We got a kick out of that stuff. 

Sail Away: The Oral History of ‘Yacht Rock’ , Page 1 of 12

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Yacht Rock is an 12-part series following the fictionalized lives and careers of American Soft Rock stars of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Created by JD Ryznar, Hunter D Stair and Lane Farnham, it is one of the most successful projects to come out of Channel101 .

J. D. Ryznar and Hunter D. Stair devised the series after noticing the incestuous recording careers of such bands as Steely Dan , Toto , and The Doobie Brothers and the singer-songwriters Kenny Loggins and Michael McDonald . For example, McDonald co-wrote Loggins' "This Is It" and Loggins co-wrote McDonald's band The Doobie Brothers ' "What a Fool Believes" and also performed backing vocals for several other 'yacht rock' artists, including Steely Dan and Christopher Cross. Yacht Rock's episodes were "hosted" by "Hollywood" Steve Huey , a legitimate music critic for Allmusic. It should be noted that the term "Yacht Rock" is never used throughout the series by any characters except for by Huey during his introductions, instead it is always referred to as "Smooth Music". The look of the series was the responsibility of the show's editor Lane Farnham.

The storyline of the series employs a non-linear chronology, jumping back and forth in various points in time. Also, Space.

After the series became a web hit, the term yacht rock was retroactively popularized as the genre name for the style of soft rock featured in the show, marked by high production values, Jazz Fusion and R&B influences, and lyrics about romantic longing and personal follies, acting as an American equivalent to the Sophisti-Pop and City Pop scenes in the UK and Japan, respectively. Ryznar and Stair further specified their definition of the term as encompassing usage of upbeat rhythms, prominent usage of electric piano, and a reliance on elite producers and musicians from Los Angeles . Owed to their discontent with what they saw as the label's dilution, the pair went on to host two podcasts — Beyond Yacht Rock and Yacht or Nyacht? — in which they debate whether individual songs count as being part of their definition of the genre.

Trope examples:

• Arc Villain : Jimmy Buffett, who functioned as an insane cult leader in his lone episode.
• Affectionate Parody : While the show makes fun of the songwriting process, it does still hold the music featured in high regard.
• Batman Gambit : Most of episodes show the "origins" of several yacht rock classics by way of this trope, from " Rosanna " to " Human Nature "
• Big Bad : Gene Balboa runs his entertainment business like a Bond villain.
• Beethoven Was an Alien Spy : Several (real life) characters are revealed to be aliens.
• The Bet : Cartoonishly downplayed in episode 7 where Loggins and McDonald bet a dollar on which one of their songs will end up number 2 on the music charts. McDonald gets the last laugh, though .
• Brainwashed and Crazy
• Carpet of Virility : John Oates, albeit made out of construction paper .
• Canon Character All Along : Hall and Oates' first manager, Gino Basareli turns out to be Gene Balboa after a drastic makeover .
• Cerebus Syndrome : Played for Laughs in the Hollywood Steve host segments for the last two episodes. While Episode 10 ends with him falling in love with the girl he saves from choking, Episode 11 opens with said girl leaving him and Episode 12 with Steve on his death bed.
• In episode 2, when Koko hears Chris Geppert plays his song.
• Happens twice to Ted Templeman, first in episode 8 involving smooth music from a singing walrus being interrupted by two ugly women and in episode 9 with visions of impalement .
• Downer Ending : Episode 2 and 12
• Easy Amnesia : McDonald after he gets run over by Warren G.
• Insistent Terminology : Only Hollywood Steve refers to it as "Yacht Rock" in his introductions. Everyone else calls it "Smooth Music"
• Jerkass : John Oates is depicted as an abusive foulmouthed control freak.
• Jerk Jock : Don Henley and Glenn Frey of the Eagles are depicted as this.
• Halloween Episode : Episode 5, complete with a Vincent Price led exorcism.
• The doo-wop section of Van Halen 's song "I'm the One" is the result of an in-studio scuffle between Koko Goldstein and Ted Templeman.
• " Human Nature " got recorded thanks to Koko's spirit harpooning Michael Jackson 's crotch .
• "I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near)" got sampled in "Regulate" because Nate Dogg and Warren G ran over McDonald.
• Glenn Frey and Don Henley sang background vocals for Steely Dan's song "FM" because they beat the crap out of them after as revenge.
• The title of "Yah Mo B There" came from a drunk Michael McDonald and James Ingram making fun of Kenny Loggins saying over the phone that he would be by to record some music with them later (with a mouthful of apple so it came out as "Yah Mo Be There")...they kept it up the whole time.
• Hostile Show Takeover : Happens twice in the series, with Hollywood Steve's dad in episode 6 and Drew Carey in episode 9.
• Human Aliens : Giorgio Moroder , who hails from Planet Synthos.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice : In episode two, Koko dies by being impaled with his lucky harpoon .
• Manchurian Agent : David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen use a magical amulet on Ted Templeman so that he'll produce their debut album when he hears Micheal McDonald's voice.
• Nobody Loves the Bassist : Provides the page quote.
• Origins Episode : Episode 8 shows how yacht rock got started, from McDonald leaving Steely Dan for The Doobie Brothers to Loggins and Messina in happier days.
• Post-Script Season : Downplayed as there were two more episodes made after the "finale" with episode 10.
• The Power of Rock : All over the place, especially the crotch laser Loggins shoots to defeat the Parrotheads .
• Record Producer : Koko Goldstein , Gene Balboa and Ted Templeman .
• The Reveal : Papa Moroder is Koko, and his body was only a vessel.
• Hollywood Steve introducing the episodes in inconvenient moments, like using the bathroom, attending a funeral, killing a homeless woman .
• Descriptors for Loggins and McDonald.
• Gene Balboa makes increasingly bizarre demands to his unseen manservant Manuel.
• Shout-Out : The final battle in episode 12 resembles the Death Star approach from Star Wars . It even has a Big Damn Heroes moment by the Millennium Falcon!
• Special Guest : Episode 11, Jason Lee as Kevin Bacon and Wyatt Cenac as James Ingram.
• Story Arc : Throughout the series, Loggins tries to move away from the smoothness of yacht rock to straight hard rockin' to make his way up to the top. This is shown to be like him sliding to "the dark side", but Rule of Funny of course.
• Storybook Episode : Episode 6 uses the plot of episode 1 to tell a fairytale version of both the historical and modern Jethro Tull .
• Take That! : Most of the parody is affectionate, but the invectives against Jimmy Buffett are particularly strong. James Ingram: "Yah mo murdered a lot of people out here tonight." Michael McDonald: "They're not people, James Ingram. They're Jimmy Buffett fans." Jimmy Buffett: "...with a cheeseburger in paradise..." Gene Balboa: "Fuck you, Jimmy Buffett!" Kevin Bacon : "Your music is shit!"
• The Unintelligible : Donald Fagen , with some exceptions. Donald Fagen: " Eat. Bat. Prick. "
• The Un-Reveal : Koko Goldstein's killer, as Hollywood Steve died while narrating it.
• Vitriolic Best Buds : Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins
• We Used to Be Friends : Loggins and Messina, especially when Loggins starts going solo and Messina ends up being a drunk.
• Youth Is Wasted on the Dumb
• QuoteSource/Web Video
• Nobody Loves the Bassist
• Wormtooth Nation
• Web Video Series
• YidLife Crisis

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Yacht Rock Episodes

Baby Come Back (w Peter Beckett of Player) - Episode 819

Crazy Love (w Rusty Young of Poco) - Episode 703

"How Long" (Ace) w/Paul Carrack Interview - Episode 618

Hooked on a Feeling (w/BJ Thomas) - Episode 611

Biggest Part of Me (Ambrosia) w/Burleigh Drummond Interview - Episode 608

Escape (The Piña Colada Song) + Rupert Holmes Interview - Episode 606

You Can Call Me Al (Paul Simon) - Episode 319

You Make My Dreams (Hall and Oates) - Episode 303

Life's Been Good (Joe Walsh) - Episode 220

Reelin' in the Years (Steely Dan) - Episode 218

Dance With Me (Orleans) - Episode 210

Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do) - Christopher Cross - Episode 204

• Cast & crew
• Episode aired Jun 25, 2006

Steely Dan and the Eagles settle a long feud with a hit song. Steely Dan and the Eagles settle a long feud with a hit song. Steely Dan and the Eagles settle a long feud with a hit song.

• J.D. Ryznar
• Lane Farnham
• Hunter Stair
• 'Hollywood' Steve Huey

• Michael McDonald
• Kenny Loggins

• Walter Becker
• Donald Fagen

• Gene Balboa …
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• June 25, 2006 (United States)
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