Yacht Rock is an 12-part series following the fictionalized lives and careers of American Soft Rock stars of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Created by JD Ryznar, Hunter D Stair and Lane Farnham, it is one of the most successful projects to come out of Channel101.
J. D. Ryznar and Hunter D. Stair devised the series after noticing the incestuous recording careers of such bands as Steely Dan, Toto, and The Doobie Brothers and the singer-songwriters Kenny Loggins and Michael McDonald. For example, McDonald co-wrote Loggins' "This Is It" and Loggins co-wrote McDonald's band The Doobie Brothers' "What a Fool Believes" and also performed backing vocals for several other 'yacht rock' artists, including Steely Dan and Christopher Cross. Yacht Rock's episodes were "hosted" by "Hollywood" Steve Huey, a legitimate music critic for Allmusic. It should be noted that the term "Yacht Rock" is never used throughout the series by any characters except for by Huey during his introductions, instead it is always referred to as "Smooth Music". The look of the series was the responsibility of the show's editor Lane Farnham.
The storyline of the series employs a non-linear chronology, jumping back and forth in various points in time. Also, Space.
After the series became a web hit, the term yacht rock was retroactively popularized as the genre name for the style of soft rock featured in the show, marked by high production values, Jazz Fusion and R&B influences, and lyrics about romantic longing and personal follies, acting as an American equivalent to the Sophisti-Pop and City Pop scenes in the UK and Japan, respectively. Ryznar and Stair further specified their definition of the term as encompassing usage of upbeat rhythms, prominent usage of electric piano, and a reliance on elite producers and musicians from Los Angeles. Owed to their discontent with what they saw as the label's dilution, the pair went on to host two podcasts — Beyond Yacht Rock and Yacht or Nyacht? — in which they debate whether individual songs count as being part of their definition of the genre.
Trope examples:
- Arc Villain: Jimmy Buffett, who functioned as an insane cult leader in his lone episode.
- Affectionate Parody: While the show makes fun of the songwriting process, it does still hold the music featured in high regard.
- Batman Gambit: Most of episodes show the "origins" of several yacht rock classics by way of this trope, from "Rosanna" to "Human Nature"
- Big Bad: Gene Balboa runs his entertainment business like a Bond villain.
- Beethoven Was an Alien Spy: Several (real life) characters are revealed to be aliens.
- The Bet: Cartoonishly downplayed in episode 7 where Loggins and McDonald bet a dollar on which one of their songs will end up number 2 on the music charts. McDonald gets the last laugh, though.
- Brainwashed and Crazy
- Carpet of Virility: John Oates, albeit made out of construction paper.
- Canon Character All Along: Hall and Oates' first manager, Gino Basareli turns out to be Gene Balboa after a drastic makeover.
- Cerebus Syndrome: Played for Laughs in the Hollywood Steve host segments for the last two episodes. While Episode 10 ends with him falling in love with the girl he saves from choking, Episode 11 opens with said girl leaving him and Episode 12 with Steve on his death bed.
- Dreaming of Things to Come: Parodied:
- In episode 2, when Koko hears Chris Geppert plays his song.
Koko: I heard this same song in my childhood dreams played by a man named Christopher Cross. You must take that name and sing to the world.- Happens twice to Ted Templeman, first in episode 8 involving smooth music from a singing walrus being interrupted by two ugly women and in episode 9 with visions of impalement.
- Downer Ending: Episode 2 and 12
- Easy Amnesia: McDonald after he gets run over by Warren G.
- Insistent Terminology: Only Hollywood Steve refers to it as "Yacht Rock" in his introductions. Everyone else calls it "Smooth Music"
- Jerkass: John Oates is depicted as an abusive foulmouthed control freak.
- Jerk Jock: Don Henley and Glenn Frey of the Eagles are depicted as this.
- Halloween Episode: Episode 5, complete with a Vincent Price led exorcism.
- Historical In-Joke:
- The doo-wop section of Van Halen's song "I'm the One" is the result of an in-studio scuffle between Koko Goldstein and Ted Templeman.
- "Human Nature" got recorded thanks to Koko's spirit harpooning Michael Jackson's crotch.
- "I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near)" got sampled in "Regulate" because Nate Dogg and Warren G ran over McDonald.
- Glenn Frey and Don Henley sang background vocals for Steely Dan's song "FM" because they beat the crap out of them after as revenge.
- The title of "Yah Mo B There" came from a drunk Michael McDonald and James Ingram making fun of Kenny Loggins saying over the phone that he would be by to record some music with them later (with a mouthful of apple so it came out as "Yah Mo Be There")...they kept it up the whole time.
- Hostile Show Takeover: Happens twice in the series, with Hollywood Steve's dad in episode 6 and Drew Carey in episode 9.
- Human Aliens: Giorgio Moroder, who hails from Planet Synthos.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: In episode two, Koko dies by being impaled with his lucky harpoon.
- Manchurian Agent: David Lee Roth and Eddie Van Halen use a magical amulet on Ted Templeman so that he'll produce their debut album when he hears Micheal McDonald's voice.
- Nobody Loves the Bassist: Provides the page quote.
- Off-the-Shelf FX: In Episode 11, Jimmy Buffet's cassette player is an Atari 1010 Program Recorder
◊. - Origins Episode: Episode 8 shows how yacht rock got started, from McDonald leaving Steely Dan for The Doobie Brothers to Loggins and Messina in happier days.
- Post-Script Season: Downplayed as there were two more episodes made after the "finale" with episode 10.
- The Power of Rock : All over the place, especially the crotch laser Loggins shoots to defeat the Parrotheads.
- Record Producer: Koko Goldstein, Gene Balboa and Ted Templeman.
- The Reveal: Papa Moroder is Koko, and his body was only a vessel.
- Running Gag:
- Hollywood Steve introducing the episodes in inconvenient moments, like using the bathroom, attending a funeral, killing a homeless woman.
- Descriptors for Loggins and McDonald.
- Gene Balboa makes increasingly bizarre demands to his unseen manservant Manuel.
- Shout-Out: The final battle in episode 12 resembles the Death Star approach from Star Wars. It even has a Big Damn Heroes moment by the Millennium Falcon!
- Special Guest: Episode 11, Jason Lee as Kevin Bacon and Wyatt Cenac as James Ingram.
- Story Arc: Throughout the series, Loggins tries to move away from the smoothness of yacht rock to straight hard rockin' to make his way up to the top. This is shown to be like him sliding to "the dark side", but Rule of Funny of course.
- Storybook Episode: Episode 6 uses the plot of episode 1 to tell a fairytale version of both the historical and modern Jethro Tull.
- Take That!: Most of the parody is affectionate, but the invectives against Jimmy Buffett are particularly strong.James Ingram: "Yah mo murdered a lot of people out here tonight."
Michael McDonald: "They're not people, James Ingram. They're Jimmy Buffett fans."
Jimmy Buffett: "...with a cheeseburger in paradise..."
Gene Balboa: "Fuck you, Jimmy Buffett!"
Kevin Bacon: "Your music is shit!" - The Unintelligible: Donald Fagen, with some exceptions.Donald Fagen: "Eat. Bat. Prick."
- The Un-Reveal: Koko Goldstein's killer, as Hollywood Steve died while narrating it.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins
- We Used to Be Friends: Loggins and Messina, especially when Loggins starts going solo and Messina ends up being a drunk.
