A little while ago I wrote about a 1976 Boz Scaggs album where I wondered publicly if it was the birth of Yacht Rock. And then I thought, “no obviously that would have to be the Doobie Brothers, they were likely first.” Though I have not heard Stampede the first Michael McDonald Doobies album does …
Tag: Yacht Rock
Silk Degrees (1976) by Boz Scaggs
My first exposure to Bozz Scaggs was “Loan Me a Dime”, at a time when I was really into blues rock, and he seemed pretty cool to me. I had no idea the course his career took.
Guilty (1980) by Barbra Streisand
I feel like I grew up with people making fun of these two. I was still an impressionable teenager when I first encountered Mecha-Streisand. And, though the only Barry Gibb impersonation I can think of is relatively recent (i.e. I was an adult when I saw it), I feel like I must have been exposed …
Wilson Phillips (1990)
My memory of “Hold On” was that it was catchier than it is. I’m not saying it’s not catchy, it totally is. But I’m not sure it’s as memorable as I remembered it being. (I have some vision of somebody – in a film? – singing along to it.)
Land of Dreams (1988) by Randy Newman
Full disclosure: I do not like Randy Newman. I have yet to hear more than maybe two or three songs of his that I think are really, truly great. (One of them is on this record.) Sure, most of them are above average, but his reputation far exceeds what I’ve heard, in my opinion.
Diamond Girl (1973) by Seals and Crofts
I am fascinated, on some level, by bands that want to combine “soft rock” and pop with roots music because fundamentally they are two very different things. The whole point of roots music was to return to the pre-rock professionalism, which necessarily embraces the rough edges. But the essence of soft rock, and much if …