Soft rock, hard partying: The six greatest Yacht Rock songs of all time in Asbury Park
Yacht Rock has made a big splash in the music world.
Here in Asbury Park, fans set sail quite a few years ago for Yacht Rock. Five years ago, to be exact, when DJ Atom Worth started hosting his multimedia Yacht Rock Night at the then-named Asbury Park Yacht Club.
It's now called Low Dive and DJ Atom Worth and Yacht Rock return Friday, Aug. 25.
Yacht Rock is the term, first used in a 2005 online music parody, for the Southern California soft rock of the late ‘70 and early ‘80s. Call it a grand repackaging with polyester shirts and bell bottom jeans. Dance, hang or watch the Yacht Rock videos at Low Dive on Friday.
It's a night of soft rock and hard partying.
“Seventies sleaziness (in dress) is encouraged,” said Worth previously to the USA Today Network NJ. “We usually get a few people who show up in captain’s hats.”
In honor of the event, we present the Top 6 Yacht Rock songs, as enjoyed by Asbury Park fans, with the help of Low Dive entertainment director Peter Mantas.
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“Sailing” Christopher Cross (1980)
The chimes, background synths and arpeggio guitar chords on “Sailing” does indeed make one feel that one is sailing. Or, perhaps, the feeling is more like floating. Cross was floating on air after the year's Grammy awards. The song won Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Arrangement of the Year, while Cross picked up the Best New Artist award.
“I'm Alright” Kenny Loggins (1980)
Loggin's gamboling free-spirit anthem has plenty of hooks, nooks and production tricks that will make you smile on the first listen or two. After that, frankly, it becomes annoying. The track is from the hit movie comedy “Caddyshack,” and it predates an even bigger movie-related '80s smash for Loggins, the similarly cloying “Footloose.”
“I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)” Hall and Oates (1981)
One can argue that after a promising blue-eyed soul start (“Sara Smile”) in the '70s, Philly's Hall and Oates lost their artistic way in the '80s. Yet, they did find their way to the bank for plenty of withdrawals in the decade, thanks to pop-lite hits like “I Can't Go For That (No Can Do).” To be fair, it's not a terrible song, but the tempo needed to be slowed and the production needed to be reined in to make it a high-quality work.
“Baby Come Back” Player (1977)
The irony of “Baby Come Back” is that it sounds eerily like Hall and Oates' 1973 smash “She's Gone,” which is a great song. Yet, the Yacht Rock crew seems partial the sub-standard '80s Hall and Oates material, rather than their superior '70s sounds. Still, “Baby Come Back,” by the British and American group Player, was a No. 1 hit in 1977 and it’s a great song.
“Rio” Duran Duran (1982)
“Rio,” the 1982 MTV hit by Duran Duran, is not quite Yacht Rock, but the video was filmed on a boat in a tropical setting so it makes the list.
“Escape (The Pina Colada Song)” Rupert Holmes (1980)
The classic story song tells of a couple who “had fallen into the same old dull routine” and both place personal ads in the newspaper — this was way before Tinder, folks. Imagine the surprise when they both show up at O'Malley's to find each other — again. Pina Colada on the house!
Go: DJ Atom Worth's Yacht Rock Night, 9:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 25, Low Dive, 1000 Ocean Ave., Asbury Park. Free. www.lowdiveap.com.
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Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers entertainment and features for the USA Today Network New Jersey. Contact him at @chrisfhjordan; cjordan@app.com
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: The six greatest Yacht Rock songs of all time in Asbury Park
