Daryl Hall isn’t a fan of yacht rock. While speaking on the Broken Record podcast, the Hall and Oates singer revealed why the term “yacht rock” irks him.
Videos by American Songwriter
“This is something I don’t understand. First of all, yacht rock was a fucking joke by two jerk offs in California and suddenly it became a genre,” he said. “I don’t even understand it. I never understood it.”
The term yacht rock was coined in 2005 when a Los Angles-based comedy group launched a web series of the same name. Today, the genre largely includes soft rock tunes from the ’70s and ’80s.
“It’s just R&B, with maybe some jazz in there. It’s mellow R&B, smooth R&B,” Hall said. “I don’t see what the yacht part is.”
As for the fact that much of Hall and Oates’ catalogue fits into the genre, Hall said, “People misjudged us because they couldn’t label us.”
“They always came up with all this kind of crap, soft rock and yacht rock and all this other nonsense,” he said. “And none of it, none of it really describes anything that I do really.”
Daryl Hall Is On Tour
Hall’s statements came amid his tour. He kicked off his tour with Glenn Tilbrook back in March in Houston, Texas. The U.K. leg of the shows will begin on May 17 in Glasgow.
After stops across the U.K., Hall will head stateside. He’ll play Mashantucket, Connecticut, on July 11. Hall will continue touring the U.S. throughout the year, before wrapping up the shows on Nov. 4 in Denver, Colorado.
Earlier this year, in an interview with The Times, Hall expressed excitement about his upcoming shows.
“[Playing live] is the way that music is supposed to be communicated, and it’s unforgiving,” he said. “What you do is what people hear.”
Speaking to NPR‘s North Texas station, Hall added, “I have a great legacy of music that sustains me, and I go out on the road and people seem to understand where I’m coming from and what I’ve done. And that’s good enough for me.”
Photo by Scott Legato/Getty Images
Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.