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Miles Archer

(19,498 posts) Sun May 11, 2025, 06:59 PM May 11

So Daryl Hall went off on a rant about Yacht Rock. Hates the term, don't call Hall & Oates Yacht Rock, etc etc etc [View all]

I didn't bother with the link because it was a couple of sentences that I summed up in the subject line.

I happen to LIKE "Yacht Rock." Well, maybe 60 to 70 percent of it, like Jay Ferguson, Christopher Cross, America.

The other 30 to 40 percent is pablum to my ears.

And I don't CALL it "Yacht Rock." Soft Rock, maybe. The term is useful because if I go to Tidal or Amazon Music there are a LOT of Yacht Rock playlists, and I make my own playlists based on the songs I actually like.

"Sara Smile" is a PROTOTYPICAL "Yacht Rock" song. And that's not the ONLY Hall & Oates track that fits the definition, just the first one that comes to mind.

An unfortunate genre name, perhaps, but people seem to be at their happiest when they can label things.

37 replies

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So Daryl Hall went off on a rant about Yacht Rock. Hates the term, don't call Hall & Oates Yacht Rock, etc etc etc [View all] Miles Archer May 11 OP

It's kind of a douchey term some millennials came up with to irritate their elders Blues Heron May 11 #1

No it isn't and neither is H&O. What they are is the prototypical blue-eyed soul ms liberty May 11 #2

So the weakest pop songs in the genre define the genre... Miles Archer May 11 #3

Why slam those two songs as the weakest? ms liberty May 11 #5

You're incorrect about what constitutes yacht rock Wiz Imp May 11 #8

If I was speaking about something I had to look up on Wiki or Spotify, I might agree with you ms liberty May 12 #17

Well, I'm A Boomer RobinA May 15 #35

Yea, I'm a boomer too. I see it as a retroactive category name created for a satellite radio station ms liberty May 15 #37

++++yes Diamond_Dog May 12 #28

I'm viewing this thread True Dough May 11 #4

A DU'zy for you! ms liberty May 11 #6

I think it's safe to say Donald Fagen of Steely Dan is also not fond of the genre Blue Owl May 11 #7

Steely Dan RobinA May 15 #36

Message auto-removed Name removed May 11 #9

Probably not. GP6971 May 11 #10

Message auto-removed Name removed May 11 #12

You're so funny!!! GP6971 May 11 #13

The moniker is silly but I like a lot of the music... hlthe2b May 11 #11

Message auto-removed Name removed May 11 #14

I have no idea what the hell "yacht rock" even means. ShazzieB May 11 #15

From Wikipedia Wiz Imp May 12 #16

Kind Of Sketchy Definition ProfessorGAC May 12 #20

"Sounds like those 4 guys were looking for a justification for a pseudo-genre they thought up" Wiz Imp May 12 #24

And, Your Last Bit... ProfessorGAC May 12 #27

Interesting, thanks. ShazzieB May 12 #21

never heard of it untill today AllaN01Bear May 12 #19

bah humbug ! anything other than jazzz. AllaN01Bear May 12 #18

It's better than "Easy Listening." So shut up, Daryl. Iggo May 12 #22

You beat me to it... Paladin May 12 #25

Music pretty much stays the same, the labels we give it however, are legion Torchlight May 12 #23

One that came to my mind... Mike Nelson May 12 #26

Daryl Hall is an immensely talented musician MichMan May 12 #29

Did you see the rpisode with Darius Rucker a few years ago? ms liberty May 12 #31

He has had so many great guests MichMan May 12 #32

His show is a real treasure. ms liberty May 12 #33

Yeah, but I step back and look at the entire vibe of "Daryl's House"... Iggo May 13 #34

Back (way back) when I was in radio the genre was officially called Adult Contemporary rsdsharp May 12 #30