yacht rock schooner vs yacht rock revue

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All Aboard for the Yacht Rock Revue

The celebrated American cover band debuts its greatest hits on Escape Artist 

The men and women of Yacht Rock Revue make a good living playing their renditions of the FM hits of the ’70s and ’80s.

The band takes their name from a term coined by comedians Hunter Stair, JD Ryznar and Lane Farnham, who created a comedy series on L.A.’s Channel 101 in 2005. They imagined a gathering of folks like Hall & Oates, The Doobie Brothers, Kenny Loggins and others, hanging out and playing smooth tunes at L.A.’s Marina Del Rey. The term Yacht Rock took off and became the name of a new genre. 

“We didn’t set out to become a successful cover band,” said Nick Niespodziani . He told Rock & Roll Globe that he co-founded the band that became Yacht Rock Revue with his longtime friend, Peter Olson, when they were studying at Indiana University.

“Peter and I had a band in high school,” he continues. “Before he became a high school teacher, my dad played in rock ‘n’ roll bands. Every year, back in Columbus, Indiana, he’d put on a year-end concert for the kids. He’d play the hits of the day and, between songs, he’d talk about the history of the bands, and their music. It became a big event, the annual American Pie Concert. My first time on stage was playing harmonica on a Dylan song, to impress my girlfriend, at one of my dad’s concerts. I was hooked on performing from then on.”

Niespodziani’s mom was a piano teacher. He picked up keys at an early age and also sang in the choir . In college, at Indiana University, he started another band with Olson, Y-O-U. After graduation, they began looking for a place to relocate, one that would afford them the opportunity to play gigs and become professional musicians. 

“We took a trip to Atlanta, Georgia, to check out the scene. We considered New York, L.A. and Chicago, but one night, we saw a show with a metal band, a soul band, and a pop band on the same bill, playing to a packed audience that loved it all. The cost of living was lower and we knew we could focus on music without having to get two jobs to get by.”

Y-O-U was successful enough to make a few albums and tour, but they were still struggling. “The turning point was getting a residency at a club. They gave us Thursday nights and told us we could do anything we wanted. We did a comedy show and a Fleetwood Mac vs. Tom Petty show and a show based on 70s hits, songs you’d hear in a dentist’s office. The 70s show was a big hit, so we kept doing it. The audiences kept growing and we morphed into the Yacht Rock Revue. 

“Now, years later, we have an office, healthcare plans and no day jobs. We tour widely and manage and book ourselves. We even book another band, Yacht Rock Schooner, who plays the same kind of music.”

After almost 20 years as a successful cover band, Niespodziani and the others decided it was time for the next step. In 2020 they recorded Hot Dads in Tight Jeans , an album of original tunes. 

“We were trying to figure out our own voice as a band,” Niespodziani said. “We were writing our own music, touching on country, power pop, metal and jazz, but looking at it through the lens of being in a yacht rock band. They needed to be tight pop songs, that held to the modern yacht rock ideal.” 

The band was going to tour to promote the album, but the pandemic shut everything down. During lockdown, they got together and started working on Escape Artist , their second album of original material. 

“We forgot about genres and started writing songs the way an artist does, expressing our feelings about what’s going on in our lives and the world. We had a lot more creative freedom this time around. I produced it and mixed it myself, so this album was just us, from beginning to end. We took the time to get everything right. Listening to the playback, it doesn’t sound like a band trying to be anything but itself.

“Playing these tunes live may be difficult for us,” Niespodziani said. “Most of our fans aren’t familiar with our original music, but there’s a subset of fans ravenous for the new record. Others we have to treat as people we have to win over. They’re used to us singing ‘Rich Girl’ and ‘The Piña Colada song.’ It’s going to be a delicate dance to get it right, but we’ve earned the trust of our fans, so if we want to do a song or two of our own, they’ll roll with us on it.” 

The songs on Escape Artist pay tribute to the band’s signature style. It sounds like a greatest hits album from the 70s that you’ve never heard before. “What A Year” is a Gospel influenced tune that was written by Niespodziani and Keisha Jackson, one of the band’s singers. She delivers a touching vocal, recalling the fervor of a bygone relationship and her desire to relive the good times. A choir comes in on the chorus to amp up the emotion. 

VIDEO: Yacht Rock Revue “Tropical Illusion”

Niespodziani wrote “Tropical Illusion” with Elliot Lurie of Looking Glass. It has a soft Latin groove, with the band’s David Freeman playing meandering sax lines that dance around Niespodziani’s breezy vocal. “We’ve shared the stage with Elliot many times,” Niespodziani said. “It was great to collaborate with him on this tune.” 

“Lost in the Meantime” is a bossa nova, written by Niespodziani and the band’s drummer, Jason Nackers. Niespodziani duets with Kourtney Jackson, describing a perfect day, lost in the haze of a summertime love. 

Escape Artist has 21 tunes and will be released in various formats over the next few months.

“We didn’t know we were making a double album,” Niespodziani said. “We went into the studio with 22 or 23 tunes, thinking we’d cut it down to 12 for the record. Each song was showcasing something a bit different and they took on a life of their own. The arrangements evolved in the studio. Everyone in the band had a chance to shine, like they do on stage. It’s an important aspect of our live show, because we have so many talented players in the band, to give everyone a moment to step up and connect with the audience. I wanted to share that energy on the album, so we included everything we cut.” 

The band will be playing tunes from Escape Artist on their summer tour, opening for Train and REO Speedwagon. They’ll also be playing a bunch of headlining tours later this year.

For more information, visit the band on their site .

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j. poet has been writing about music for most of his adult life. He has contributed to the San Francisco Chronicle, East Bay Express, Harp, Paste, Grammy.com, PlanetOut.com, American Profile, Creem, Relix, Downbeat, Folk Roots, New Noise and more national and international publications and websites than he can remember. He wrote most of the Musichound Guide to World Music (Visible Ink, 2000) and had two stories in Best Rock Writing 2014 (That Devil Music). He has interviewed a wide spectrum of artists including Leonard Cohen, Merle Haggard and Godzilla. He lives in San Francisco. 

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If the Yacht Is a Rockin': Riding the Yacht Rock Nostalgia Wave

By maggie serota | jun 12, 2020.

It’s not often that an entire genre of music gets retconned into existence after being parodied by a web series, but that’s exactly what happened after writer, director, and producer J.D. Ryznar and producers David B. Lyons and Hunter D. Stair launched the Channel 101 web series Yacht Rock in 2005. Hosted by former AllMusic editor “Hollywood” Steve Huey, the series was a loving sendup of the late '70s/early '80s smooth jams to which many Millennials and late period Gen-Xers were likely conceived.

The yacht rock aesthetic was innovated by a core group of musicians and producers including, but not limited to, Christopher Cross, Steely Dan, Robbie Dupree, Kenny Loggins, Toto, David Foster, and hirsute soft rock titan Michael McDonald, along with scores of veteran session musicians from the Southern California studio scene.

The Yacht Rock web series was perfectly timed to coincide with a contemporary renaissance of smooth music from the late '70s, the kind that was previously considered a guilty pleasure because it fell out of fashion in the mid-'80s and was soon thereafter regarded as dated and square compared to other burgeoning genres, like punk rock and hip-hop.

Yacht Rock's Early Years

The yacht rock era began roughly around 1976, when yacht rock pillar Kenny Loggins split up with songwriting partner Jim Messina to strike out on his own. That same year, fellow yacht rock mainstay Michael McDonald joined The Doobie Brothers. The two titans of the genre joined forces when Loggins co-wrote the definitive yacht rock hit “What a Fool Believes” with McDonald for the Doobies. They collaborated several times during this era, which was par for the course with such an incestuous music scene that was largely comprised of buddies playing on each other’s albums.

"Look at who performed on the album and if they didn’t perform with any other yacht rock hit guys then chances are [it's] ‘nyacht’ rock,” Ryznar said on the  Beyond Yacht Rock podcast, referencing the pejorative term frequently used to describe soft rock songs that just miss the boat.

"The basic things to ask yourself if you want to know if a track is yacht rock are: Was it released from approximately 1976 to 1984? Did musicians on the track play with Steely Dan? Or Toto?," Ryznar said. "Is it a top 40 radio hit or is it on an album meant to feature hits?" And, of course, does the song celebrate a certain breezy, SoCal aesthetic?

Building the Boat

There are certain key ingredients necessary for a track to be considered yacht rock. For starters, it helps (though is not necessary) to have album art or lyrics that specifically reference boating, as with Christopher Cross's landmark 1980 hit “Sailing.” The music itself is usually slickly produced with clean vocals and a focus on melody over beat. But above all else, the sound has to be smooth . That’s what sets yacht rock apart from "nyacht" rock.

"Its base is R&B, yet it’s totally whitewashed," Ryznar explained on  Beyond Yacht Rock . "There [are] jazz elements. There can be complex, challenging melodies; the solos are all cutting-edge and really interesting. There’s always something interesting about a true yacht rock song. It goes left when you expect it to go right."

Yacht rock’s complex musicianship can be attributed, in part, to the session players on each track. Musicians like percussionist Steve Gadd, guitarist and Toto founding member Steve Lukather, and Toto drummer Jeff Porcaro don’t have much in the way of name recognition among casual soft rock listeners, but they’re the nails that hold the boat together. Steely Dan, “the primordial ooze from which yacht rock emerged,” according to Ryznar, famously cycled through dozens of session musicians while recording their 1980 seminal yacht rock album Gaucho .

"These musicians were not only these slick, polished professionals, but they were highly trained and able to hop from style to style with ease,” Huey explained on  Beyond Yacht Rock . “Very versatile.”

In Greg Prato’s 2018 tome, The Yacht Rock Book : An Oral History of the Soft, Smooth Sounds of the 70s and 80s , Huey broke down “the three main defining elements of yacht rock,” explaining that it requires “Fusing softer rock with jazz and R&B, very polished production, and kind of being centered around the studio musician culture in southern California … It’s not just soft rock, it’s a specific subset of soft rock that ideally has those elements."

Soft rock untethered

Whereas the music of the late 1970s and early ‘80s is often associated with the anti-establishment music of punk pioneers like the Dead Kennedys and the socially conscious songs being written by early hip-hop innovators like Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, yacht rock is the antithesis of the counterculture.

Yacht rock occupies a world that is completely apolitical and untethered to current events. Between the oil crisis, a global recession, and inflation—not to mention the fact that the U.S. was still licking its wounds from the loss of the Vietnam War and the disgrace of Watergate—the late '70s were a dark time for Americans. Yet yacht rock, at its heart, is a tequila sunrise for the soul, whisking the listener away to a world where they have the time, and the means, to idle away the hours sipping piña coladas at sea while decked out in flowy Hawaiian shirts and boat shoes.

Yacht rock was never edgy, nor did it ever feel dangerous. Yacht rock didn’t piss off anyone’s parents and no one ever threatened to send their kid to boot camp for getting caught listening to Kenny Loggins's “This Is It.” Yacht rock tracks are more of a siren song that invite your parents to join in on the chorus anytime they hear Toto’s "Rosanna."

Yacht rock songs are meant to set the soundtrack to a life where the days are always sunny, but as Ryznar pointed out on Beyond Yacht Rock , there’s “an underlying darkness”—just not the kind that’s going to derail a day of sailing to Catalina Island. No, yacht rock has elements of low-stakes heartbreak with sensitive male protagonists lamenting their own foolishness in trying to get back together with exes or hitting on women half their age.

The aspirational aspect of the genre dovetailed nicely with the overarching materialism defining the Reagan era. “Yacht rock was an escape from blunt truths, into the melodic, no-calorie lies of ‘buy now, pay never,’ in which any discord could be neutralized with a Moog beat,” Dan O’Sullivan wrote in Jacobin .

Some Like it Yacht

Although the cult comedy series Yacht Rock ceased production in 2010, the soft rock music revival it launched into the zeitgeist is still going strong. For the past few years, SiriusXM has been running a yacht rock station during prime boating season, or what those of us without bottomless checking accounts refer to as the spring and summer months. Yacht rock tribute acts like Yacht Rock Revue are profitable business endeavors as much as they are fun party bands. There’s also a glut of yacht rock-themed song compilations for sale and a proliferation of questionably curated genre playlists on Spotify.

Whether you believe yacht rock is an exalted art form or the insidious soundtrack to complacency, any music lover would probably agree that even a momentary escape from the blunt truths of life is something we could all use every now and then.

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The accidental success of Yacht Rock Revue

One night in 2008, singers Nicholas Niespodziani and Peter Olson and drummer Mark Cobb, then members of the Atlanta-based indie rock band Y-O-U, showed up to their weekly residency at 10 High with an unusual set list. “As a gag, we thought we’d play cheesy soft rock hits from the 1970s, stuff that you’d hear in the dentist’s office,” says Niespodziani. The fans ate it up, so they did it again. And again. It wasn’t long before Y-O-U had given way to Yacht Rock Revue.

Today the Atlanta tribute band/comedy troupe has become a booming business. On August 22, the act returns to Piedmont Park for the fifth annual Yacht Rock Revival, where thousands of so-called Nation of Smooth faithful sing along to hits from Hall & Oates, Steely Dan, and other soft rock icons—some of whom show up to play alongside the band. To keep up with booking demands, they’ve even spawned Yacht Rock Schooner, a second cover act. Recently Niespodziani discussed their career trajectory.

On playing alongside recording artists like Robbie Dupree, Firefall, and Journey singer Steve Augeri . . . They come and they realize that while we’re not taking ourselves seriously, we are taking the music seriously. We approach Little River Band as if it’s AC/DC.

On accidentally reuniting the Atlanta band Starbuck . . . Jimmy Cobb, the bass player in Starbuck, played with us a few times, and we put him and another former band member on the poster for the 2012 show. Before the gig, the band’s singer, Bruce Blackman, showed up with our flyer in his hand, asking, “What is this?” He was a little pissed. Backstage, these guys talked for the first time in 30 years. Bruce came on stage that night, and the next year they got the whole band back together.

On being named both “Best Overall Music Act in Atlanta” and “Best Place to Get Drunk With Your Dad” . . . We’re pretty proud of the “Drunk with Your Dad” distinction. We actually had a fan in Charlotte who came up to us with his pregnant wife and said, “Oh man, we got pregnant the last time you were here. We went in the club’s bathroom while you guys were on stage!” Clearly, we’re setting a mood.

On the calendar: On August 22, coast to the smooth sounds of easy-listening at Yacht Rock Revival at Piedmont Park. pleaserock.com

This article originally appeared in our August 2015 issue.

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Yacht or Not?: Sailing the Seas of Yacht Rock

Louis Armstrong said, “If you have to ask what jazz is, you’ll never know.” Duke Ellington said, “There are simply two kinds of music: good music and the other kind.” Christopher Cross said, “If you get caught between the moon and New York City, the best that you can do is fall in love.”

What do these pieces of wisdom add up to? Music, like love, doesn’t follow rules. Musicians as diverse as Armstrong, Ellington and Cross don’t want to be boxed in by genre. They want to write, record and perform and not spend time deciding if they play bebop or hard bop, blues or Southern rock, funk or disco.

But as temperatures heat up and people think of sailing away to find serenity, yacht rock playlists start to float in on the breeze. And that means drawing boundaries with enough latitude that artists don’t object to being boxed in and  still foster playlists with a sense of meaning, a sense of continuity and depth. Peaks and valleys must be smartly balanced against the total annihilation of a common aesthetic. (Yes, despite a fascination with sailing and pina coladas, yacht rock can be taken seriously!)

And so, much to Armstrong’s chagrin, we have to ask, “What is yacht rock?” If it seems obvious, take a look at Spotify’s recent “Yacht Rock” playlist . Spotify is a global streaming leader with some 350 million monthly users, an army of music experts and cutting edge artificial intelligence, and yet the company filled its playlist with songs such as Tears for Fears ’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” Rockwell’s “Somebody’s Watching Me,” Van Morrison ’s “Brown Eyed Girl” and Bruce Hornsby ’s “The Way It Is.”

If somebody wants to create and enjoy a stack of songs that runs from tunes by the J. Geils Band , to the  Police , to Bad Company , to Talking Heads (yup, the company has all these artists on its playlist and even included Ray Parker Jr.’s “Ghostbusters”), they should do that with gusto! It sounds like an evening full of classic jams and fun left turns so cheers to the endeavor. But if a major player in the music business wants to do that and call it yacht rock, we need to take a step back and consider what is and isn’t yacht.

We know breezes, islands, keys, capes, cool nights, crazy love and reminiscing help define the yacht aesthetic (see works by Seals & Crofts , Jay Fergeson, Bertie Higgins, Rupert Holmes, Paul Davis, Poco , and Little River Band ). But let’s get beyond the captain’s caps and map the waters of this perfect-for-summer style.

Watch Bertie Higgins' Video for 'Key Largo' 

Yacht Rock Sets Sail With Help From a 2005 Web Series

Before 2005, people generally placed Toto ’s “ Africa ” and Holmes’ “Escape (The Pina Colada Song)” in the soft rock genre. Maybe if they were getting fancy, they’d call them AM Gold. But in 2005, the online video series Yacht Rock debuted. It fictionalized the careers of soft rock artists of the late ’70s and early ’80s. The cheeky show capitalized on the building renaissance of artists such as Steely Dan and Michael McDonald , who embraced the silliness of the series.

“When it came on I remember watching it pretty avidly,” McDonald admitted in 2018 . “My kids got a huge kick out of it. We would laugh about the characterizations of the people involved. At this point it’s a genre of its own. You’re either yacht or you're not.”

He might be right that you’re either yacht or you’re not. But calling it a genre doesn’t quite work (more on that in a minute).

Listen to the Doobie Brothers' 'Minute By Minute'

Riding the Waters From the Radical ’60s to the Sincere ’70s

By the late ’60s, rock ‘n’ roll had become “art.” The Beatles started as simple teen heartthrobs covering early rock ‘n’ roll, but graduated to the supreme weirdness of the  White Album . Chuck Berry gave birth to the Rolling Stones who gave birth to Led Zeppelin and the gonzo bombast of “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You.” And all sorts of acts went wild from the Grateful Dead , to Pink Floyd , to Frank Zappa  and beyond. The sunshine of ’70s AM Gold came as a reaction to these wonderful excesses. Singer-songwriters aimed to take rock and pop back to the simple pleasures of tight, light tunes such as Beach Boys ’ classics, Motown hits and Brill Building-crafted songs.

Hippies looking for revolution and Gen X-ers on the hunt for rage, irony and sharp edges bristled at the genuine lyrics of tenderness and heartbreak neatly packaged in finely-crafted Top 40. Where the stars and fans of '60s and ’90s rock wanted arty and experimental music, anger and angst, yacht took listeners on a voyage powered by pure earnestness: think of the sincere and intense conviction of Dave Mason’s “We Just Disagree,” Captain & Tennille's "Love Will Keep Us Together," and “Love is the Answer” by England Dan & John Ford Coley.

(Which is why placing the Police or Talking Heads on any yacht mix doesn’t work.)

Yacht rock embodies the final charge of unbridled, heartfelt pop.

“I think these songs remain so popular because they are unabashedly pop,” Nicholas Niespodziani, leader of the hugely successful tribute band  Yacht Rock Revue , explains to UCR. “They’re not self conscious. You couldn’t write a song like ‘Africa’ now. What are they even singing about? Who knows? But it’s fun to sing.”

Watch Captain & Tennille's Video for 'Love Will Keep Us Together'

Music That’s Jazzy, But Sure Isn’t Jazz

Yacht rock doesn’t just have an earnestness to its lyrics, the sax solos come with the same level of sincerity.

If the style was the last gasp of unadulterated pop, it was also the dying breath of jazz’s influence on rock. Jazz rock started in the ’60s with Zappa, Chicago , Santana and Blood, Sweat & Tears , but slowly simple drums and growling guitars stomped horn lines and rhythmic shifts into the ground. However, yacht rock features echoes of swingin’ saxophones, big band horns and Miles Davis ’ fusion projects.

Yacht rock is very pop, but legitimate musical talents made those hooks. Chuck Mangione logged time in jazz giant Art Blakey’s band then took what he learned and crushed complex harmonic ideas into the pop nugget “Feels So Good,” which is basically a Latin-bebop-disco-classical suite. (If you dig “Feels So Good,” dig deeper and groove to smooth jazz mini-symphony “Give It All You Got.”)

Nearly every classic from the style features either an epic sax solo or dazzling guitar part. For horn glory, go spin Little River Band’s “Reminiscing,” Gino Vannelli’s “I Just Wanna Stop” or Grover Washington Jr. and Bill Withers ’ “Just the Two of Us." For six-string wizardry as astounding as anything Jimmy Page came up with (and much more economical), try Atlantic Rhythm Section’s “So Into You,” Pablo Cruise’s “Love Will Find a Way” and pretty much every Steely Dan cut.

(Which is why placing Tears for Fears’ “ Everybody Wants to Rule the World ” and Rockwell’s “Somebody’s Watching Me” on any yacht mix doesn’t work).

Watch the Little River Band's Video for 'Reminiscing' 

A Vibe, Not a Genre or Gender or Demographic of Any Kind

Being a style, a feeling, an aesthetic, a vibe means that yacht rock can pull a song from a wide variety of genres into its orbit. It also means that it’s not just a catalog of hits from bearded white dudes. Yes, Kenny Loggins , McDonald and both Seals and Crofts helped define yacht rock. But quintessential songs from the style came from the women and artists of color, soul singers, folk heroes and Nashville aces.

For every Loggins' tune in a captain’s hat, there’s a Carly Simon track dressed up as your cruise director. Yes, there's Steely Dan's jazz influence, but also  Crosby, Stills & Nash 's folk legacy (“Southern Cross” remains definitively of the style). Yacht rock playlists should also be littered with appropriate R&B gems, such as the Raydio’s “You Can’t Change That” (which features Ray Parker Jr.!), Hall & Oates ’ “Sara Smile” and Kool & the Gang’s “Too Hot.” Likewise, country acts of the era tried to go Top 40 while attempting to retain some twang and managed to make Love Boat music (see Juice Newton’s “Angel of the Morning,” Eddie Rabbit’s “I Love a Rainy Night,” Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers ’ “Islands in the Stream”).

It’s hard to tell if the Commodores’ “Sail On” is pop or R&B, harder still to know if George Benson’s “Give Me the Night” is pop, R&B or jazz. But they both feel yacht.

(Which is why Santana can do psychedelic Latin music and can do yacht on “Hold On,” and why the Pointer Sisters can do new wave disco with “Neutron Dance” and yacht with “Slow Hand.")

Wishing You a Bon Voyage on the Seas of Yacht

Spotify was right to think about diversity when making its playlist, though the company got the type of diversity wrong. Yacht has some pretty specific sonic parameters, but has no demographic restrictions when it comes to the kind of artists contributing to the style’s catalog. That means when you hit the high seas of yacht, you don’t need to be afraid to fight for your favorites to be included, just please don’t have one of those favorites be “Ghostbusters.”

We began talking about drawing boundaries with enough latitude that artists don’t object to being boxed in. The wide latitude yacht rock affords matters because music comes to define eras and outlines cultural trends (remember that yacht came in reaction to art rock and that says a lot about the swing from the late '60s to the early '80s). Calling Christopher Cross soft rock might feel right, but it doesn't tell us much about where he was coming from and what he was trying to accomplish. Calling Cross yacht rock, now that we know it's not a pejorative, illuminates his aesthetic.

Cross came out of the Texas rock scene that produced blues aces the Vaughan Brothers and guitar shredder Eric Johnson (who plays on a lot of his albums). He loves Joni Mitchell and that shows in his craft. He's jazzy but not jazz (see those horns and guitar on "Ride Like the Wind") with a vibe that's completely yacht -- developed from the scene that took '60s pop, updated it and sheltered it from the trends of punk, metal, new wave and hip hop. The same can be said for Loggins, McDonald, Simon, Lionel Ritchie and so many others.

Spotify needs to tweak its algorithm so it gets this right. Or, better yet, connect with the genre-crossing vibe that makes yacht so unique.

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Yacht Rock Schooner

Yacht Rock Schooner Bio:

The Yacht Rock Schooner.

A fast, light version of the Yacht Rock Revue.

The Yacht Rock Schooner enjoys walks on the beach, umbrella drinks, relaxed high-seas piracy, low velocity skinny skiing, stepping to the left first, and shopping for bell bottoms and deck shoes that match.

Yacht Rock Schooner Songlist:

50 Ways to Leave Your Lover – Paul Simon

Africa – Toto

Afternoon Delight – Starland Vocal Band

All Night Long – Lionel Richie

Arthur’s Theme (The Best That You Can Do) – Christopher Cross

Baby Come Back – Player

Baker Street – Gerry Rafferty

Biggest Part of Me – Ambrosia

Brandy – Looking Glass

Couldn’t Get It Right – Climax Blues Band

Dance With Me – Orleans

Diamond Girl – Seals & Crofts

Doctor My Eyes – Jackson Browne

Escape (The Pina Colada Song) – Rupert Holmes

Grease – Frankie Valli

Hey Nineteen – Steely Dan

Hold the Line – Toto

Hot Child in the City – Nick Gilder

How Long – Ace

I Can’t Go for That – Hall & Oates

I Keep Forgetting – Michael McDonald

I Wanna Kiss You All Over – Exile

I’m Alright – Kenny Loggins

Jive Talkin’ – The Bee Gees

Just the Two of Us – Bill Withers / Grover Washington

Lido Shuffle – Boz Scaggs

Little Jeannie – Elton John

Lonely Boy – Andrew Gold

Lonesome Loser – Little River Band

Lotta Love – Nicolette Larson

Love Boat Theme- Jack Jones

Lovely Day – Bill Withers

Lowdown – Boz Scaggs

Minute by Minute – The Doobie Brothers

Moonlight – Starbuck

More Than a Woman – The Bee Gees

My Love is Alive – Gary Wright

Nights On Broadway – The Bee Gees

Peg – Steely Dan

Private Eyes – Hall & Oates

Reminiscing – Little River Band

Rich Girl – Hall & Oates

Ride Captain Ride – Blues Image

Ride Like the Wind – Christopher Cross

Right Down The Line – Gerry Rafferty

Rikki Don’t Lose That Number – Steely Dan

Rosanna – Toto

Sailing – Christopher Cross

Silly Love Songs – Paul McCartney & Wings

Sister Golden Hair – America

Somebody’s Baby – Jackson Browne

Steal Away – Robbie Dupree

Stuck In The Middle With You – Stealer’s Wheel

Summer Breeze – Seals & Crofts

Takin’ It To the Streets – The Doobie Brothers

Thunder Island – Jay Ferguson

Tin Man – America

Too Hot – Kool & the Gang

What a Fool Believes – The Doobie Brothers

What You Gonna Do? – Pablo Cruise

Who Can It Be Now? – Men at Work

You Are – Lionel Richie

You Should Be Dancing – Bee Gees

You’re So Vain – Carly Simon

You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling – Hall and Oates

You’ll Never Find a Love Like Mine – Lou Rawls

Young Americans – David Bowie

The Daily Iowan

Yacht Rock Revue pays tribute to smooth rock classics that are more relevant than ever

Providing entertainment and relaxation for their audience is always top of mind for the members of Yacht Rock Revue. The smooth rock tribute band has been jamming in front of live audiences for nearly two decades, and it shows no signs of chilling out — unlike its music.

These purveyors of pure relaxation will bring their nostalgic sound to Coralville’s 4thFest on July 3. Ahead of its concert, Yacht Rock Revue frontman and singer Nicholas Niespodziani expressed how exciting it is to play for large crowds. When the band formed in Atlanta in 2007, it was mostly restricted to clubs and small venues.

“We were playing in places that are sweaty and drunk, it was a debaucherous time,” Niespodziani said. “Now we’re older and distinguished and playing big venues with massive audiences, and people treat us like artists.”

The band wasn’t always strictly a yacht rock group. Several band members, including another founding member and frontman Peter Olson, formed an indie rock band first. It wasn’t until a gig which was initially intended to be a one-off show that Yacht Rock Revue was formed.

To fit the style of the club they were performing at, the band members played a few soft rock classics and immediately noticed a reaction from the crowd. Choosing the genre the band would adhere to wasn’t a long deliberation process. It happened then and there.

“It was pretty much an accident,” Niespodziani said. “People loved it so much that the club owner told us we needed to come back, and so we did.”

The band was made up entirely of Atlanta musicians at the time, many of whom were in school. Although they had experienced minor success with their indie rock venture, with songs in local commercials and going on small tours, the band shifted to yacht rock completely and renamed itself “’70s AM Gold,” a name which would not last long as they quickly learned the term “yacht rock” drew much more attention.

Niespodziani dropped out of law school, and the band became real. Now bolstering a roster of 10 band members, Yacht Rock Revue has only grown since its humble beginnings in 2007.

Throughout their career, they’ve played alongside various artists whose music they tribute every night. When being joined on stage by the very legends who inspire them, they find they’re met with skepticism at first.

“We’re on stage with old-timers who say, ‘What is this? Who is this tribute band?’ But as as they realize how serious we are about the music, we win them over,” Niespodziani explained. The band’s dedication to revitalizing the music has landed it an opening act spot on tour with Train and REO Speedwagon this summer.

“It’s going to be nuts. We’re playing in giant amphitheaters on a level we’ve never experienced before,” Niespodziani said excitedly. As soon as the band leaves 4thFest, it’ll be hopping in tour buses to play to larger crowds than it’s ever seen. “We’re hopeful we can win over REO Speedwagon too.”

Both their 4thFest appearance and nationwide tour are stops in their usually 80-100-show year. Despite the high number of performances, Niespodziani never finds himself growing tired of it. In a time when yacht rock seems to be growing in popularity once again, the band is experiencing more and more success.

“We’re trying to bring that yacht vibe back to 2024,” Niespodziani explained. “It’s music of escape; it’s made to get away from the troubles of the world.”

At a time when people need an escape from the world more than ever, Yacht Rock Revue will bring its nostalgic sound and calming atmosphere to Coralville’s 4th Fest. Niespodziani is as excited as the audience is to experience the concert.

“I love what I do, singing songs that make people happy,” said Niespodziani. “It’s a great way to unplug, sing silly songs, and have fun. That’s why the music is so timeless.”

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Yacht Rock Schooner

Yacht rock schooner ,.

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The Yacht Rock Schooner throws the smoothest dance party on the high seas, taking you and your guests on a journey to a time when good-times music had heart and musical integrity.

The 7-man Schooner specializes in the smooth sounds of the late ’70s and early ’80s. It’s a party that spans generations, and the band is composed of some of Atlanta’s top players with a dual keyboard setup, multiple ace vocalists and (of course) a sax man.

If you’re a big fan of Hall & Oates, Steely Dan, Kenny Loggins, and Michael McDonald, this is the band for you.

Yacht Rock Schooner has performed hundreds of shows across the country and into the Caribbean Sea since their inception in 2009. As one of the longest running soft rock tributes, second only to the OGs in Yacht Rock Revue, Schooner has spread the smooth sounds of the late 70s & early ’80s to sold out audiences across metro ATL.

From the historic stage of Variety Playhouse to sharing the stage with YRR at Chastain Park Amphitheater for The Greatest Yacht Rock Revival in the Universe, this 7-man outfit of light rockers never disappoints. Schooner has the smooth cred of having shared the stage with original yacht rockers, Bobby Kimball (Toto), Wayne Nelson (Little River Band), Peter Beckett (Player), Walter Egan, and Robbie Dupree.

This show is at Union Stage

740 Water Street SW Washington, DC 20024

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'Man, they came to party': Yachtley Crew sails back to Indian Ranch with more yacht rock

When Yachtley Crew came to Indian Ranch by the shores of Indian Lake in Webster last summer, it was evidently a very popular voyage through the smooth waters of a yacht rock tribute show.

"We love Indian Ranch. Man, they came to party. They were amazing," recalled Phillip Daniel, also known as Yachtley Crew's Philly Ocean and lead vocalist, about how the the show went and the reaction of the audience.

Yachtley Crew will be setting sail again for an appearance at Indian Ranch on July 25. "If it's anything like last year, we're stoked," Daniel said.

'Sailing ... takes me away ....'

The seven-member band, which dresses in nautical suits with captain's hats and wears aviator sunglasses, is currently on its "Full Steam Ahead" nationwide tour, the biggest tour since it was founded in Los Angeles in 2017. Upcoming dates also include South Shore Music Circus in Cohasset on July 26, Providence Performing Arts Center in Providence on July 27, and the Cape Cod Melody Tent in Hyannis on July 28.

Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.

The band is riding the yacht rock wave since a 2005 video series launched the term in 2005 in an affectionate send up of artists such as Christopher Cross and Hall and Oates. Cross, who was at Indian Ranch July 7 with Justin Hayward of Moody Blues fame, had a big hit in 1979 with the soft rock song " Sailing " which is about getting away from everything on a sail boat and so helped form the archetype of Yacht Rock.

Yachtley Crew also call themselves "The Titans of Soft Rock."

Asked for a definition of yacht rock, Daniel said "it's one of those elusive things ... I think the most easy way to define it is the iconic soft rock hits from the late 70s and early 80s music." Except that, instead of soft rock, "yacht rock just sounds kind of more fun."

Yachtley Crew's first recording release "Seas the Day" (2023) includes its renditions of songs that have become regarded as yacht rock classics such as Boz Scaggs’ “Lido Shuffle,” Ace’s “How Long,” Robbie Dupree’s “Steal Away,” the Bee Gees’ “How Deep Is Your Love” and Christopher Cross’ “Ride Like the Wind.” Other songs in the band’s set include Toto’s “Africa,” Looking Glass’ “Brandy” and Rupert Holmes’ “ Escape (The Piña Colada Song).”  

Indeed, "The Piña Colada song, that is a great yacht rock core song, like 'Ride Like the Wind,'" Daniel said.

Audiences often dress up for the shows in yacht-themed attire and love to sing-along. Other yacht rock tribute and fun party bands include Yacht Rock Revue who will be performing at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield on Aug. 4.

'It has to be smooth'

Elsewhere, there has been some rather pedantic debate in some quarters about what makes true yacht rock, with terms appearing such as "nyacht" rock. An article in Mental Floss magazine helps keep things straightforward by saying " But above all else, the sound has to be  smooth . "

Daniel's vocals are certainly smooth, and the depth of sound that Yachtley Crew brings to its music is enhanced by having a sax player.

Daniel has memories of listening to the soft music of the late 70s/early 80s era while riding around with his father in a car and singing along to the radio. Later, he was in several original bands in Los Angeles. Besides Daniel (Philly Ocean) Yachtley Crew is made up of drummer Rob Jones (Sailor Hawkins), bassist Chaz Ruiz (Baba Buoy), guitarist Thomas Gardner Jr. (Tommy Buoy), backing vocalist Curt Clendenin (Stoney Shores), saxophone/flutist Paul Pate (Pauly Shores) and keyboardist Matt Grossman (Matthew McDonald).  

"Each of us had careers with bands," Daniel said. The crew started to be assembled by Jones and Ruiz who are long-time friends and were listening to yacht rock music and felt they could do something with it. They put out a Craigslist ad and found guitarist Gardner. Daniel is friends with Gardner and also came aboard.

"Everything came together really organically," Daniel said.

'I think we have something here'

The idea of uniforms for the band came early. "Just the idea of yacht rock is such fun," Daniel said. But the group spent several months rehearsing to get the music down right. "We wanted to embody what people remember about these songs."

When the curtain was pulled on their first gigs Daniel recalls the shock on the faces of the audiences when they saw a band in nautical uniform. However, "They got it within two or three songs. They were screaming and dancing ... (I thought) Man, I think we have something here."

Yachtley Crew was soon selling out local venues and were noticed by the late legendary Jimmy Buffett who signed them to his own Mailboat Records label. The group have appeared on SiriusXM’s Yacht Rock Radio “Yacht Rock 311” show as the first ever Yacht Rock band to perform live at the station.

Just as the band was about to get ready for its first nationwide tour in 2020, the pandemic struck. "We had a ton of shows booked," Daniel said. Yachtley Crew made music videos, put on live-streamed concerts and played at some drive-in concerts that were organized in the Los Angeles area. "People seemed to really respond.'

As the lockdown eased, "I think there was so much pent up demand for live music it really helped us. We got all the gigs back and places we'd never played before were selling out," Daniel said.

'Something original'

The "Seas the Day" recording also has Yachtley Crew's first original song, "Sex on the Beach," ostensibly about the drink that bears the name.

"We wanted to put something original out there," Daniel said. The challenge for the band was to come up with a song that sounds like it could have been written in the late '70s/early '80s soft rock era. "We wanted to capture the same vibe," he said. The video for "Sex on the Beach" has a guest appearance by the Access Hollywood & iHeart host Mario Lopez.  

The song and video includes a list of names of drinks, a couple falling in love, and "innuendo," Daniel said. All the members of Yachtley Crew contributed to the song. Once they had the concept, "we had the song written in 30 minutes. Everyone brings something unique to it." Fans have started requesting the song at shows.

Yachtley Crew has "two albums in the works" and two more original songs "in the mix." With that, "The core will always be the iconic songs," Daniel said.

The band has been venturing out across the seven seas with appearances abroad, including the United Kingdom.

"Total world domination," Daniel joked when asked about his ultimate goal for Yachtley Crew. Or at least, "To play for a stadium full of people," he said.

"We want to play the music for as many people as we can all over the world. When people come to our shows they're creating memories they will have for the rest of their lives. That's what it's about."

Yachtley Crew — Full Steam Ahead tour

When: 7 p.m. July 25 (doors 5:30 p.m.)

Where: Indian Ranch, 200 Gore Road, Webster

How much: $25 to $35. Indianranch.com