YACHT ROCK: A DOCKUMENTARY (2024) ***

Yacht Rock is one of those love-it-or-hate-it genres.  There are so many songs that fall under the banner that are excruciating to listen to for me.  However, when you do hear that handful of bangers from the genre, you just have no choice but to sing along.  This documentary (or “dockumentary”, if you will) is a fun look at the Yacht Rock phenomenon.  It keeps things light (although it refuses to put its tongue firmly in cheek) while simultaneously giving all the artists involved their due (even if critics and music snobs refuse to). 

The filmmakers talk to all the giants of the genre.  We get interviews with Michael McDonald, Christopher Cross, Kenny Loggins, the members of Toto, and more.  What we learn is that the genre more or less sprung out organically as many artists knew one another and played either as session musicians or guests on each other’s albums.  (Most of the artists just saw themselves as a new generation of session musicians a la The Wrecking Crew.)  This sort of crosspollination is the reason why so many of the songs sounded so similar and gave the genre its distinct sound. 

The film charts the beginning of the Yacht Rock movement with McDonald joining The Doobie Brothers.  His addition to the line-up caused sort of a changing of the guard as the band transitioned from hippie rock to more of a jazzy lite rock sound.   Other highlights are McDonald’s duet with Loggins, Steely Dan’s Aja album, and Cross’s smash debut.  While the music dominates airwaves and wins countless awards, the death knell sounds with the advent of MTV.  Fortunately, gangster rappers come to the genre’s rescue when they sample some of the best bits for their songs.  (Most notably, McDonald’s “I Keep Forgetting” for Warren G.’s “Regulate”.)  In doing so, it gives the genre a second life.  Later, a web series coins the “Yacht Rock” term, and that, coupled with music lovers’ nostalgia, creates a monster.

It’s funny seeing who does and doesn’t embrace the title of “Yacht Rock”.  (Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen’s refusal to be interviewed provides the film with its biggest laugh.)  The interviews are mostly entertaining and some of their anecdotes are amusing.  Overall, like the songs from the genre itself, Yacht Rock:  A Dockumentary is fun and breezy and a tad forgettable.