Yacht Rock Essentials
Boz Scaggs Silk Degrees (Columbia, 1976) Leisure-suited hot-tub funk from a Jann Wenner protegé and future restaurateur dancing the squeakiest-clean “dirty lowdown” around. Lido misses the boat; Boz watches the harbor lights; backing band turns into Toto.
Steely Dan Aja (ABC, 1977) Agoraphobic beatnik geniuses hooked on crossword-puzzle lyrics and bebop go the cocktail-rock route, riding the crimson tide, watching foreign movies, sipping big black cows and scotch whiskey all night long, and hiring Michael McDonald to sing backup.
(Various Artists) Super Star Collection (K-Tel, 1978) Accidentally all in one place, enough classic singles to yacht-rock the boat if not tip the boat over: Starbuck’s “Moonlight Feels Right,” Sanford/Townsend Band’s “Smoke From A Distant Fire,” Stephen Bishop’s “On and On,” Player’s “Baby Come Back,” Atlanta Rhythm Section’s “Imaginary Lover,” and more.
Gerry Rafferty City To City (United Artists, 1978) A corduroy-voiced erstwhile next-Dylan from Scotland sings of his ark and island and being “home and dry.” But mostly he sings “Baker Street,” winding his way into weariness until someone named Raphael Ravenscroft plays a sax solo for the ages.
Doobie Brothers Minute By Minute (Warner Bros., 1979) No longer content to pass doobies to mere hippie bikers, aging boogie dogs move over, Rover, and let Michael McDonald take over. He recreates what had yet to be created; three decades and three million-plus copies later, the facial hair is still excellent.
John Stewart Bombs Away Dream Babies (RSO, 1979) A daydream-believing Kingston Trio alumnus invents folk-rock disco. When the lights go down in his California town, he drives over Kanan while Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks help turn his music into gold.
Rupert Holmes Partners In Crime (Infinity, 1979) Though his resumé ranged from the Drifters to Barbara Streisand and he’d once peddled a hit song about cannibalism to early ‘70s Wilkes-Barre rock band the Buoys, this Tin Pan Alley throwback charted with only one album of his own. The songs were all singles-bar sleaze; the biggest, which capped the Me Decade with three weeks at No. 1, was a personal ad about preferring piña coladas and sand-dune sex to health food and yoga.
Christopher Cross Christopher Cross (Warner Bros., 1980) An overweight gigolo grabs his album-of-the-year Grammy and goes, riding like the wind to the Mexican border then sailing away to find serenity. Don Henley and Nicolette Larsen – and, oh yeah, Michael McDonald – make sure not to harsh his mellow.
Spin, 2009