Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen Does Not Want You to Consider Them Yacht Rock
Director Garret Price began calling different musicians for his new documentary, Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary, and learned the hard way that not all musicians are partial to the term “yacht rock.” Price opened up about the call he had with Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen, the only surviving full-time member of the ’70s band.
Price wanted to know if Fagen would be interested in being interviewed for the documentary. However, when Price revealed that the doc was all about yacht rock, Fagen responded, “Oh, yacht rock. Well, I tell you what. Why don’t you go f— yourself?” Then, he hung up!
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Despite the cursing and hangup, Fagen’s manager called back and granted the documentary permission to use six Steely Dan songs in the documentary. Price said, “I think it’s a wink. It’s like, ‘I get it. I understand how important this name [“yacht rock”] is to our music. But I’m gonna let you know how I feel about that.’ It’s him being him.”
What is Yacht Rock?
If you’re not familiar, yacht rock is the type of music people say is meant to be enjoyed while sipping a drink on an expensive boat. It generally is a mix of rock, jazz, rhythm and blues, and was popular on the radio in the 1970s and ’80s. If you need a specific example, many fans pinpoint Christopher Cross’ 1980 song “Sailing” as a quintessential yacht rock anthem. The term originated in an online video series airing between 2005 and 2010.
Comedian Fred Armisen explains it well in the new documentary: “Yacht rock to me is a very relaxing feeling. It’s like the singers are all saying, ‘Hey, it’s going to be OK.'” In addition, Cross, Kenny Loggins and David Pack, among others, appear to discuss the genre in the documentary. Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary is coming to HBO on November 29, 2024 and will be available later to stream on Max.
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Now you tell us: Do you agree or disagree with Fagan?
70s Pop Idols
May 2019
The biggest and best from the worlds of rock and disco!
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