Not your father's Yacht Rock

A not-so-subtle tribute to a genre that began as a joke, but has had and continues to wield a lot of influence in music

I first heard the term “Yacht Rock” in 2007 or 2008. A friend online mentioned it, and frankly I thought it was a joke. I was an early subscriber to Spotify, so I looked it up, and sure enough, there was a playlist.

Loaded for bear, it had The Doobie Brothers, Loggins & Messina, Toto, Steely Dan, and others.

I chuckled, because that had always been “Adult Contemporary Rock” in my world. It is the big muddle of mid 1970’s to mid-to-late 1980’s, and

Regardless, while when I was in my formative teens, this was music that held no appeal to me. It was anodyne, formulaic, and boring. Alas, I was just too young to appreciate the genre.

Of course, I grew up when this was being made, thus I didn’t identify with it, as the “olds” loved it.

Fast forward to the late ‘aughts, and a much more mature, seasoned (ahem “middle aged”) me found myself tapping my toes, and lip syncing to Steely Dan, Toto, and others. What the fuck had happened to this 80’s metalhead?

One artist has come to define the evolution of this era, Christopher Cross.

Chris is a player that was making a name for himself in the early 1970’s in Austin Texas, playing his guitar, and doing gigs. How good of a player is he? When Deep Purple came to Texas and they were required to be vaccinated¹, Richie Blackmore had a reaction, so someone tapped Chris to fill in.

Yeah, he stood in for the motherfucking legend Richie Blackmore. That is damn good!

Anyway, his first album, eponymously titled Christopher Cross, swept the 1980 Grammy’s, crowding out a lot of talent.

Cross released his self-titled debut album, Christopher Cross, on December 20, 1979.^[20] Billboard Hot 100 top 20 hits from this album included "Ride Like the Wind" (featuring backing vocals by Michael McDonald), "Sailing", "Never Be the Same" and "Say You'll Be Mine" (featuring backing vocals by Nicolette Larson). "Ride Like the Wind" hit number two on the U.S. Hot 100, while "Sailing" topped the chart for one week.^[2] "Never Be The Same" went number one on the Adult Contemporary chart. Cross, the album, and the song "Sailing" were nominated for six Grammy Awards in 1980 and won five.^[21] Cross was the first artist in Grammy history to win all four general field awards in a single ceremony, bringing home Record of the Year ("Sailing"), Album of the Year (Christopher Cross), Song of the Year ("Sailing") and Best New Artist at the 23rd Annual Grammy Awards.^[a] This feat was not replicated for 39 years, until Billie Eilish won all four awards at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2020.^[22][23] In addition, "Sailing" won for Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s). Christopher Cross has been certified platinum five times in the U.S., selling over 5 million copies.^[24]

One of the songs on this crusher of an album is Ride like the Wind. Much ink has been spilled on this track, and the even bigger hit “Sailing”, but today we are focusing on Ride Like the Wind.

An up-tempo groove, it is pretty standard in structure, yet it showcased Cross’ talents.

And they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Today, in my journeys, I found this cover. Actually, I noticed the title, Ride Like the Wind, and it tickled my fore lobe with a memory of Yacht Rock, so I clicked.

Hoo-boy, this is a smoker. It is Ride Like the Wind, but cranked to eleven. Jorn returns the fire to this Christopher Cross classic. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Now, do the A|B comparison² with the as recorded by the man himself:

Last note. If you have Max (formerly HBO Max) checkout Dockumentary. It will explain the Yacht Rock phenomenon, and have tons of perspectives from the key players, K-Log, Chris Cross, Michael McDonald, Steve Lukather.

Here’s to the SXM Yacht Rock channel!

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1. Yeah, in the 1970’s we as a nation required visitors to be up to date on their vaccines. Oh, how we have slipped. Thanks RFKjr you fucking toad.

2. As I am putting the finishing touches on this post, I am listening to the album version, and the guitar solo/outro that begins at 3:24 is just SMOKING