Donald Fagen's response to the call he got from one of the Producers was spot on.

'FU ! ' , then hung up.

I only saw the part where they called Donald Fagen and he told them bluntly what to do.

The term yacht rock could definitely be offensive to some artists; I don't have any problem with it. Most bands and artists that I've seen interviews with--regarding any genre--rarely like the genre tags and simplifications. I've always loved when bands use major and minor 7ths, as well as some lesser used jazz chords and sus chords and stuff like that; they create a breezy, laid back vibe.

Let's keep in mind that the term 'Yacht Rock' originated as an online video series which followed the fictionalized lives and careers of American soft rock stars of the late '70s and early '80s.

Yacht Rock Episode 1...

All I know is I love steely Dan …

And then he called his management who immediately phoned back and agreed to let them use their songs, etc. Very few musicians are happy with their music being labeled under any single category. It certainly is a better term than elevator music, which is how most normal people would describe Steely Dan. Imagine pretending to be upset like Beato is all for the love of clicks. It’s phony.

Is there really such naïveté as to what this actually is…a re-packaging and re-marketing exercise of pre-existing music that holds a nostalgic appeal for those like myself who experienced and appreciated it on release the first time around…and now holds equivalent curiosity value for younger ‘potential consumers’ who are keen to find out what all the fuss and hype might be about ? Those two factions alone constitute a big potential sales base…

Repackaging requires a marketing hook, and intrinsic to that is a labelling or category creation exercise….so that people are fooled into believing they are buying something new (or at least, a new spin on something old)

It’s not that dissimilar to re-selling a remix or remastered version of an album by one of the bands featuring in the series we’re currently discussing.

It could have been called cocaine rock, big hair rock, yacht rock, Ray-ban rock…as long as the title sounds novel and captivating enough to disguise the underlying practice…which is to repackage and resell something old as a new product.

A label-less product is simply a much harder (if not impossible) sell….and all that’s required of the labelling is to pique curiosity, and a willingness to buy into the fiction of the ‘new product’

It originally was called 'Adult Contemporary' in the day.

Maybe…but only amongst radio stations wanting to differentiate their playlist leanings from competing stations.

In the day there was no internet, and it would have been only a broad generic descriptor…alongside soul, blues, comedy, RnB, devotional/Christian, children’s and ‘light classical’ ?

The Adult Contemporary pigeonhole was so broad and all-encompassing in record stores, that it made more sense to divide up most records within the grouping simply by band names alone.

I was once managing a band that was very original and very eclectic in style.

I was asked by some music rag to "describe this band's style in three words or less".

I answered "No".

The best type of manager would have beat the shit out of him. Just kidding!

I just watched the whole documentary; felt it was really well done. It is probably best to have a bit of tongue in cheek approach to the whole yacht rock thing to begin with. Michael McDonald seems to be a really laid back, easygoing guy, and one of the best points that the documentary had was towards the later parts of it--how jazz influenced rock really had got phased out by the trends. So it is cool that some of those songs and artists are getting a whole new lease on life, because there's tons of great songs in there.

I think Rick missed the mark in his video. The term comes from a 15+ year old YouTube comedy series which is extremely funny, poorly made, and over the top. Criticizing it for musical errors is like hearing a historian take apart Monty Python and the Holy Grail for historical inaccuracies (“King Arthur could not have possibly come across a French Castle in the English countryside solely by banging coconuts together!!”). In addition, the artists are multiplatinum, Grammy-winning, highly successful artists and public figures. Being the subject of parody goes with the territory. A quick search on YT reveals all sorts of Family Guy and Simpson parodies of many of the same artists. I think there are better causes Rick could take up than this one.

There's some music that just makes your yacht rock.

You mean you passed up the golden opportunity to create a whole new style category…named “No genre music” ?

Its really more like "Cab Rock":

..As in: "If ya really hate the fµkin' eagles that much, then just get the fµck outta my cab!"

If I'd heard the Eagles on the cab radio, I'd have gotten out voluntarily.

I suspect that many of us might have left the profession soon after, if we’d been recording engineers engaged for ‘Gaucho’ !

But there’s nothing wrong with admiring the resulting album

https://youtu.be/rGyssg3OFEo?si=hTD2OtuT7KV4pCut

The saxophonist Pete Christlieb did a clinic and concert at my school when I was in college (I had the honor of playing with him along with Bill Holman and his arrangements), and he had some... words... about Donald and Walter.

I won't say what those words were. But they were words.

Sounds a bit "plastic" to me.

The critical reception of the album bears this out also….‘Countdown to Lethargy’ etc.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaucho_(album)

Note also in the above Wiki’s ‘Music & Lyrics’ section the several references to yacht rock, confirmation that it really was a thing…

I’m sure that charge of title track plagiarism (and requirement to pay royalties and co-credit Keith Jarrett) must have really stung them too…

I thought, and still think Gaucho was one of the best albums I ever heard. Babylon sisters is simply a perfect piece of music. Years earlier I was a huge Yes fan, from the yes album and fragile thru relayer - poetic and wonderfully engrossing for a young stoner…which reminds me of my obsession with jethro Tull … the first Chicago album, are you experienced, blood sweat and tears, shapes of things from when jimmy page was with the yardbirds, - yes, I’m that old… good times

I was only referring to the audio engineering.

“At the 24th Annual Grammy Awards, Gaucho won Best Engineered Recording – Non-Classical, and was nominated for Album of the Year and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals”

Not that a Grammy is necessarily a benchmark for excellence in those fields….

Ha......this had came up in my Youtube feed several days ago; it is interesting that it came up on here. It's a really well done video. Sounds like Steely Dan were looking for quantizing and Pro Tools, before it came around. That is cool about the computer; even that was laborious and very limited, but still cool that the guy came up with that.

My musical explorations and trajectory followed in similar direction. I always was blown away by the sound on Gaucho when I was young and discovering SD. But it took a while to get into the songs. Really love the chords on the Gaucho title track to this day.

The problem with the Dan for most people unfamiliar with them is, if you weren’t into jazz, you may have a hard time getting your head around the way those songs, especially vocal melodies , sound. It’s miles away from what people usually got weened on, Rolling Stones. Beatles, Zeppelin and so on.

The lyrics are hilarious…

Wow. I clicked on that YT and immediately, my laptop sounded like surround sound. The sonics, the spaciousness of that mix is phenomenal. One thing about yacht rock - a lot of it showcases the "Golden Age of Tape". Like Christopher Cross' "Sailing" for example. Anything that came out of Caribou Studio.
There were crack studio sidemen and great arrangements. Sometimes I think we look back with love at that music and maybe attribute the sound to tape without crediting the whole scene (with or without cocaine). 'Fraid them days is over ,