A new documentary about that smooth and easy-listening music genre yacht rock will get its TV premiere on HBO on Friday, November 29 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary, the latest installment of the network’s Music Box series, also will stream on Max.
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The film profiles the history of yacht rock, which first enjoyed popularity from the mid-1970s through the mid-1980s. It featured jazz, R&B, and light-rock influences associated with, but not limited to, artists from Southern California. The term “yacht rock” was coined, and the genre defined, by a 2005 parody web series that helped reignite the music’s popularity.
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Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary features interviews with several of the most popular artists associated with the genre. They include Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins, Christopher Cross, and Toto members Steve Lukather, David Paich, and Steve Porcaro.
The film also boasts commentary from younger artists who express their appreciation of yacht rock, including Questlove, De La Soul’s Prince Paul, Vampire Weekend’s Brian Robert Jones, Thundercat, and Mac DeMarco. In addition, the documentary features Yacht Rock web series creator J.D. Ryznar and host Steve Huey, comedian Fred Armisen, and various music producers, journalists, and critics.
The movie was directed by Garret Price, whose previous credits include the HBO documentary Woodstock 99: Peace, Love, and Rage.
About the Yacht Rock Documentary Trailer
A trailer for Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary has debuted on HBO’s official YouTube channel.
Early in the clip, Loggins is shown commenting about his inspirations for songs. “You write what you hear, what you feel,” he says.
McDonald then appears and recalls how Black radio stations started playing his first solo album.
“They made it a hit,” he notes. “It caused a buzz that we weren’t used to getting.”
Cross then comments that his own music “just seemed to really connect with the audience.”
The promo then points out how the style of music later defined as yacht rock began falling out of favor during the 1980s.
“These artists provided the soundtrack of our lives,” Questlove says. “And then suddenly, all that changed.”
Cut to a clip of Cross explaining, “The ‘video killed the radio star,’ it was just absolutely true in my case.” That’s followed by footage McDonald admitting, “I expected to be totally forgotten by the end of the ’80s.”
The trailer then addresses the revitalization of yacht rock thanks to the web series, which playfully mocked the music and the artists who recorded it. Huey comments, “All of a sudden, this new genre we made up started to get embraced by the world.”
In another clip, McDonald admits, “I always thought it was kind of flattering to be made fun of.” Loggins adds, “I began to see that it was a kind of a**-backwards way to honor us.”
The promo ends with McDonald noting, “Obviously, it made an impression on somebody.”
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