Defining Yacht Rock (Part 1)
A Yacht Rock Manifesto - What Gets On The Boat
Posted by Charlie Recksieck
on 2026-02-03
Defining Yacht Rock is a wonderful pastime. I’ve been the arbiter in my social circle for making the call for years.
But everybody who’s passionate about yacht rock does this. "Yacht or Not" is not only a website, but it’s a great musical debate that continues wherever people love music.
I’ve been meaning to write this mega-post ever since I started the blog in late 2021. It’s time.
Buckle up, this is gonna be a long one.
Quick Definitions
Pandora:
Yacht rock is a genre of music made between 1976 and 1984 in Southern California. It is a mellow kind of soft rock that often has a high level of musicality encompassing elements of rock, jazz, and rhythm and blues. Typical yacht rock is more musical than lyrical, and it has more electric piano than acoustic guitar.
Miriam-Webster:
Yacht rock is defined as a type of rock music from the 1970s/1980s that is usually mellow, polished, and jazz-influenced, emerging primarily from Southern California studios with sophisticated harmonies and a mellow sound.
From a marine manufacturer FULL ARTICLE:
Yacht Rock is more than just a subgenre of soft rock; it's a smooth, laid-back sound that emerged in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Characterized by its polished production, mellow vibes, and often jazz and funk influences, Yacht Rock creates an atmosphere of effortless cool. Imagine the perfect soundtrack for a leisurely sail along the coast, and you've got the essence of Yacht Rock. For those interested in exploring the genre further, the yacht rock book offers an in-depth look at its characteristics, significant songs, and influential artists.
Two more great links: Big list from Yacht or Nachyt and a killer definition on a blog
Your Yacht Rock Authority
I feel like I’m a fairly well-qualified person to write about this. I’m a musician. I recorded a studio version from scratch of Kenny Loggins’ "Whenever I Call You Friend", a gorgeous, complex, sophisticated marvel of a song.
While other kids were caught up in the energy of punk rock, I was changing the channel to ABBA and Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds.
My Definition
"Yacht or Not" calls are never easy.
But a few guidelines, concrete and otherwise can help with definitive decisions.
- Polished Sound - It’s gotta be smooth.
Yacht Rock needs to be less crunchy than folk rock and soft rock.
If it sounds "produced" with a capital P, great.
- Recorded Between 1976 and 1982 - Thems the rules.
Try not to step outside of these years if you want Yacht Rock credibility.
- Features LA Session Musicians - If it's got some of these guys on the recording, it really helps make the case: Jeff Porcaro (drums), Steve Lukather (guitar), David Paich (keyboards, songwriter), Jay Graydon (guitar), Chuck Rainey (bass), Jeff "Skunk" Baxter (guitar), David Hungate (bass), Michael Omartian (keyboards, producer), Paulinho da Costa (percussion)
- Lots Of Chords - 7ths and 9ths if you know your music.
See: Steely Dan.
- Jilted Lyrics - Lots of YR classics feature romance AND regret but with some distance
- The "Yacht" Test - Would you tolerate doing a couple of lines of cocaine with a douchebag on a great boat party with that song blasting?
- Songs Vaguely About The Sea - You get a few bonus points for actually mentioning boat stuff.
Christopher Cross's "Sailing" really is too granola, but the subject matter brings it on the boat.
- Some Automatic Artists - Kenny Loggins or Michael McDonald.
And if both of them co-wrote the song, it's Yacht Rock gold: "This Is It", "What A Fool Believes", "Heart To Heart."
- No Women Captains? - It's a little problematic, but yacht rock is mainly a guy thing.
Carly, Barbra and Dionne make appearances on my list but not many ladies on the boat.
- Black? - This one is complicated, and I'll get more into it later in the article.
But though black singers aren't traditionally synonymous with yacht rock, it's tough to lock out James Ingram, Al Jarreau, and George Benson.
HBO Documentary
If you haven't seen it, the Yacht Rock: Dockumentary on HBO is outstanding.
Great footage, it's got its heart in the right yachty place.
Things in it:
* Christopher Cross is cool.
His public persona might have seemed wimpy but he came up with "Ride Like The Wind" while on LSD in a car.
* Thundercat is the best.
If you don't know musician/producer Thundercat before the doc, you're going to fall in love with him.
* Props to the Toto guys.
It's amazing how many songs they recorded.
All of those guys were studio-for-hire legends in LA before and after they formed Toto.
It's great to see them get their due.
* Donald Fagen’s reaction.
Stay til the closing credits for the Donald Fagen haymaker.
I can't say I blame him.
The Bummer Of The "Yacht Rock" Label
Some musicians understandably don’t want to be lumped in there.
They hate being called yacht rock because it's reductive and sort of the butt of some joke.
It sounds like they own a boat, wear loafers without socks, and write music for men divorcing politely. No artist wants to be background music for margaritas.
Yacht rock is no joke.
I could make the case that YR producers, songwriters and musicians did WAY more to permanently change the way music is produced than anything in the punk movement.
And maybe it's just me but when I see concerts or cover bands now with people dressed up in sailor outfits for some sort of ironic musical cosplay, I find it a little nauseating.
White Dude Music?
As I said above, yacht rock is not traditionally a place to find women or minorities.
If you hear a hint of a Latin groove in some music, it's off the boat.
Ladies are pretty rare in the music.
African-Americans role in yacht rock is slightly better but still murky.
There's so much black smoothness in YR underneath the dorky white singer angst.
Musicians like Greg Phillinganes, Chuck Rainey and whatever black dudes were in the Doobie Brothers are instrumental to the sound, pardon the pun.
Yacht rock's signature sound owes a lot to Black session musicians, even if mainstream attention focuses on the white frontmen.
That said, I STRONGLY recommend reading this
Wesley Morris article - though I could read Wesley Morris on just about any topic.
Making The "Is This Yacht Rock" Call
Other genres bump up against YR. Making the Yacht or Not call is tough, but if it were easy, everybody would be able to do it.
When making a Yacht Rock playlist it’s tempting to be too inclusive. But this isn’t a list of pop songs from 1976 to 1982 that I like. It hurts to leave Barry Manilow’s "It’s A Miracle" off the list, but it’s the right thing to do.
When in doubt about a song, ask yourself: Does it belong at all on a list or Sirius channel that plays "What A Fool Believes"?
For me, the key is to get over the idea of defining an
artist as Yacht Rock or not; it’s generally the
song itself that should be judged.
Close, But Not Quite Genres
- Folk Rock (rules out Bread, America and Seals & Crofts for me)
- Smooth Jazz (even though the Venn diagram of musicians on their tracks overlaps a lot)
- Soft Rock (Dan Fogelberg, generally a No - although he's got a great one on my list)
- R&B (just when the scales tip too much away from white dudes lamenting lost love)
- Disco (I shouldn't even have to dignify why disco is separate from yacht rock)
As much as the L.A. session musicians involved on a song can help a song feel like yacht rock, not all L.A. session guys fit into one bucket.
We’ve mentioned that Toto crowd as yacht musician royalty; yet the regulars backing Warren Zevon, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, (Waddy Wachtel, Jorge Calderón, Danny Kortchmar, Leland Sklar, David Lindley) are more rock than yacht rock.
Are we starting to home in on what defines the yachtiness?
Questionable Calls In My List
- James Taylor "Your Smiling Face" - Great example of a non-YR artist coming up with some pure, uncut yacht rock.
- Instrumentals - I allowed two legendary smooth jazz instrumentals on the boat for my list; you probably can guess what those two are.
- Two versions of "What A Fool Believes".
A co-write from Kenny Loggins and Michael McDonald (well documented in the HBO doc).
It's such a seminal track for the genre; we need both versions.
- Andrew Gold "Lonely Boy" has plenty of yachty production and chord changes but doesn't totally feel like it's squarely in the genre.
But because of its placement in Boogie Nights then it starts to pass my "cocaine on a boat" criteria.
Tough Omissions From My List
SONGS: Marty Balin "Hearts", Atlanta Rhythm Section "Imaginary Lover", Hall & Oates "Rich Girl", Seals & Crofts, "Summer Breeze", Dave Mason "We Just Disagree", Player "This Time I’m In It For Love", Neil Sedaka "Laughter In The Rain".
A little controversial.
You'll see these on other yacht lists.
Not mine for just not quite fitting the criteria.
ON THE BUBBLE: Should qualify as yacht rock but just a little lesser known or, let's be honest, not quite as good: Joanna "Alessia Brothers", Finis Henderson "Blame It On The Night", Waters "If There’s a Way", Larsen-Feiten Band "Who’ll Be the Fool Tonight". Maxus "Nobody’s Business", Brian Eliott "Tickets To Rio", Randy VanWarmer, "Just When I Needed You Most"
ARTISTS CLOSE BUT NO: Hall & Oates, Chicago, George Benson, Fleetwood Mac, Jackson Browne, Jimmy Buffett, Pure Prairie League.
Were you paying attention to that?
Hall & Oates is not yacht rock.
George Benson is not yacht rock, as hard as that is for me to say.
Sorry, the oracle has spoken.
Now, Without Further Ado
Have I properly whetted your appetite for my definitive list?
It's coming
next week (available Feb 10, 2026)
