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HBOsYacht Rock: A DOCKumentaryis an intergenerational narrative charting the titular scenes peaks and valleys.
Ongoing debates about the field and its boundaries struggle to muster the concise definitions that metal subgenres enjoy.
Were closet jazzers making pop records, Jay Graydon (Airplay, Al Jarreau) says in the film.
Yacht rock has to be conscious of Black music, web series star Steve Huey explains.
Luthercaptures the struggle to be seen and heard.
Vandross sang in television commercials, onSesame Street, and in any session he and his friends could land.
A class of pop upstarts arrived that didnt look like their predecessors.
But the ruddy resemblance to the average American was something they had working for, not against, them.
Yacht-rock discourse through the years tells upbeat stories about feel-good music.
Not everyones complexity gets celebrated in its time as erudition.
The recognition he pined for came without pandering.
It would have been a hoot.
It also nails the tone of theforumsand YouTube comment sections where hypothetical micro-genres take hold.
It yearns to condense what does not ache to be neatly contained.
It is past time for a new lens.
Correction: A previous version of this review incorrectly stated the year the Doobie Brothers albumMinute by Minutewas released.
