A very special second post of the day, written as I finished the Max production Music Box: Yacht Rock: A DOCKumentary (HBO) over the weekend. I had no idea that I needed this hour and a half nugget of musical history in my life, and I have no idea how I went through my life up until this weekend without it.
My backstory, my lore, my E! True Hollywood Story: the parentals enjoyed classic rock of the 70s, in the 70s. They lived out Dazed and Confused. I grew up looking through records and cassettes of the bands they favored, and concert tee shirts, photographs, pins, magnets, and other memorabilia from the concerts that they attended. While their favorite bands included the classics (The Eagles, The Rolling Stones, The Cars, The Police {lol remind you of The Strokes, The White Stripes, The Vines, The Hives much?}), my parents were also into more eclectic sounds that we now come to refer to collectively as Yacht Rock.
I have distinct memories of being single digits old, living in Brunswick, Maine, and enjoying a Steely Dan soundtrack to trips to the Maine Mall in Portland. Steely Dan in the early 1990s was not…particularly hip that I recall. It was not a roller rink staple. But even then I remember catchy lyrics, feeling at ease when the Aja cassette was popped in, usually lulling asleep in the backseat of the old sedan to Do It Again.
It would not be until the summer of 2020, that I discovered a Yacht Rock playlist on Spotify while sitting on the rooftop pool deck, sipping a spritzer, with my husband and infant son. The sounds were soothing at a time of most uncertainty. Only then was I cognizant that Steely Dan and similar artists that gave me feel good vibes, shared a sound. It was like a lightbulb went off in my head.
Music Box: Yacht Rock: A DOCKumentary (HBO) examines the roots and highlights the story of the microgenre. The audience is granted first person storytelling from the artists – many of which session artists – who originated the style, as well as the aughts comedy troop who shone a light on – and kickstarted appreciation for – the genre decades later. What the latter discovered upon checking out some bargain bin soft rock media, was that commonly regarded albums credited a tight cadre of musicians.
As for Donald Fagen, half of Steely Dan…