Episode 10 - The Yacht Rock Roundtable

SPEAKER_05 0:02

Somewhere between open water and poor judgment, three adults with minimal sailing experience have gathered to settle questions no one asked them to settle. The music is smooth. The thought processes will not be. From the Drain Battery Society, this is the Yacht Rock Roundtable, an unnecessarily serious examination of exceptionally unserious music. At the helm, your captain, host, and moderator for this plank walking, Peter Conway. Let's make some enemies.

The Smooth Roundtable Open

SPEAKER_05 1:02

And today, you will experience something nowhere near as monumental. The Drain Battery Society Yacht Rock Roundtable. For decades, reasonable people have disagreed over some of the most important questions facing humankind. Things like, is Steely Dan Yacht Rock? Does Holland Oates belong on the boat? How many members of Toto have to play on a song before it automatically qualifies? And perhaps most importantly, is Michael McDonald a musician or a requirement? These questions have divided families, destroyed friendships, and made grown adults point aggressively at Spotify and each other and say, no, that's soft rock. Today we attempt to heal those wounds, but in the event we can't, I brought salt just in case. I have assembled a semi-distinguished panel of Yacht Rock scholars of a sort, if you're flexible with your definition of panel and scholar. People who have spent literally decades conducting research in basements, garages, backyard cookouts, cassette decks, CD collections, and the front seats of automobiles. There will be controversy. There will be disagreements. There may be a fist fight. There usually is. Someone will almost certainly nominate a song that causes the rest of us to question whether we ever really knew them at all. But by the time we're finished, we intend to settle absolutely nothing. And that's the beauty of Yacht Rock. Nobody completely agrees what it is, but somehow we all know when we're listening to it. So go make yourself something with an umbrella in it, loosen your top three buttons, find a captain's hat you have absolutely no business owning, and prepare yourself for enough electric piano, saxophone, layered harmonies, and questionable facial hair to sink a moderately sized pleasure craft. The marina is open. The arguments are about to begin. Welcome to a very special tenth episode of the Drain Battery Society, the Yacht Rock Roundtable. Barely floating, fully smooth. Ahoy,

Welcome and Deep-Cycle Marine Battery Check

SPEAKER_05 3:10

mates. Welcome to the Drain Battery Society. I am your host and moderator, Peter Conway. And today we're setting aside our normal business to address a matter that has gone unresolved for far too long, especially on this podcast. Talking about Yacht Rock, if you missed the first 73 hints. I want to be clear about something from the onset. This is not a retrospective or a celebration. And this is certainly not three middle-aged people sitting around talking about songs they remember from high school. I'm talking about you. This is a round table, a summit, if you will. I've brought in high caliber talent and also the two ladies joining me. You might recognize the put those fingers away. You might recognize the voices from such places as this podcast, department stores, when I've wandered off, and any neighborhood where children run unleashed. Please say hello to the fabulous Beth P. Say hi, Beth.

SPEAKER_02 4:08

Hi, Beth.

SPEAKER_05 4:10

Say hi with some volume, Beth.

SPEAKER_02 4:12

Hello.

SPEAKER_05 4:13

There we go. Thanks for having me. To my right and your left, let's give a drain battery society. Welcome to Kimberly Q Delaney. Are you looking forward to quitting smoking? How's it going filtering to switching to filtered pole malls?

SPEAKER_03 4:26

Ahoy there, Mi Hardy.

SPEAKER_05 4:30

All right, enough tomfoolery. We are we are here to establish already established standards to challenge long-held assumptions, we assume. To examine the historical record and hope it has some bangers on it. And where necessary, to tell somebody sitting three feet away from us uh that they are demonstrably wrong about ambrosia. I don't expect this process to be easy. Strong positions have already been taken, mostly by me. There are disagreements over artists. We've been talking about this for weeks, but I may start other agreements just for fun. Uh I can tell you for sure there are disagreements over songs, and I won't have anything to do with those, so you can still keep me on your pedestal, people. Uh there are I know I'm not on a pedestal. There are disagreements over whether certain songs belong anywhere near a yacht in the first place. It's called nyat. And I have been advised that at least one member of this panel may hold opinions that under normal circumstances would have prevented them from being invited into my home. Nevertheless, diplomacy requires that all sides be heard, but if she starts talking out her ass, I may shut down the Strait of Morboze.

SPEAKER_03 5:38

I see you looking at me.

SPEAKER_05 5:39

I'm looking right at you. Before negotiations begin, however, protocol requires that we determine the operational readiness of everyone involved. So, in recognition of today's proceedings, the traditional Drain Battery Society battery check has been temporarily redesignated the Deep Cycle Marine Battery Check. The standards remain unchanged. 100% means you arrive prepared, rested, and capable of participating in a serious discussion of late 70s and early 80s studio production for an extended period of time. 75% means you're fine, but you'd rather we not spend 40 minutes defining the word smooth. 50% means you're present and for our English-speaking friends, technically functioning, which I am not. 25% means you intend to contribute primarily through facial expressions, which is always awesome on an audio-only podcast. And 0% means you've already put your head down on the table, and we're going to periodically check that you're still breathing. Uh I am currently operating at about 100%. I I was born for this moment, for this discussion. I thank you should probably see a doctor about that clap, though. Uh for this discuss for this discussion, uh I I was born. Uh I asked my mother, and she agreed that I was born for no other purpose. So I'm not quite sure what that means. Uh I know that it does mean I am medically cleared to discuss Christopher Cross, but we're gonna have to monitor my condition to if we get deep into Steely Dan. Uh, but I need a status report from the rest of the delegation. So let's go around the table. Uh so yeah, say your name, your currently current battery percentage, and and keep your explanation for your number brief. Why don't we why don't we start with you, Beth?

SPEAKER_02 7:32

Sure, sure. Thank you. Um I would say I'm uh above a 75%. So this I'm gonna go with 80. 80. So this is yes, you're this is lucky. Jesus. Lucky club here.

SPEAKER_05 7:46

Lucky club. All right. Okay. And why why do you think you're at 80%?

SPEAKER_02 7:51

Oh, for nothing other than uh the equipment's working. Uh-huh. Um, you know, we've got uh great topics of conversation, so I'm really looking forward to it. I'm prepared.

SPEAKER_05 8:04

I was hoping that you wouldn't be. Uh Kim.

SPEAKER_03 8:07

All right, that was I think I may be a little less prepared, so I'm gonna go with 75%.

SPEAKER_05 8:12

75%.

SPEAKER_03 8:13

I mean, I'm fairly prepared. Not because we've already discussed this. Um but you know, it's Wednesday though. It's been a week. I don't know if I'm allowed to say it's Wednesday, because I don't know when this will air. But well, it comes out on a Tuesday. It's Tuesday. And it's been a week. It's the third, third Monday.

SPEAKER_02 8:37

Third Monday.

SPEAKER_03 8:38

And uh, you know, I just uh think I'll do all right though.

SPEAKER_05 8:44

Yeah?

SPEAKER_03 8:44

Yeah, but I don't want your 40-minute discussion of the word smooth.

SPEAKER_05 8:49

Oh, it's coming. Yeah, it's coming. All right. Uh we have important work ahead of us, ladies. Uh the table is open. Now that we've heard from all participants, it seems like a good time to tell you that this yacht rock roundtable is brought to you by Dockin' Awe, luxury marina accessories for people who believe owning a boat isn't enough if nobody else feels bad about theirs. Dockin' awe. Making your slip the reason Gary stops talking about his. All right. In order to have a solid discussion about yacht rock, we have to first define it. So I want

What IS Yacht Rock?

SPEAKER_05 9:21

you each to give the audience your definition just off the top of your head. Let's start with Kimberly Q. Delaney.

SPEAKER_03 9:27

Okay. When I think of soft rock, I think of um men singing in falsetto all the time.

SPEAKER_05 9:36

Like Robert John?

SPEAKER_03 9:37

Like Kenny Loggins. All right. He's not he's not the top, the top pick, but he goes pretty high though.

SPEAKER_05 9:44

Like his balls are a vice.

SPEAKER_03 9:46

He does. Yeah. But I do, I feel like it's those smooth sounds. Uh-huh. A lot of falsetto. Uh-huh. Um, you know, singing about how their lady did them wrong. So weak.

SPEAKER_05 10:01

All right. Okay. Over to you, fabulous Beth P.

SPEAKER_02 10:04

Sure. Um, I mean, I think I would describe uh what we're gonna our topic of discussion as anything that sounds good on a boat, right? I think I'm gonna go right back to basics with it. If I can picture listening to it on a on the water, then that's that's the jam.

SPEAKER_05 10:26

On the water. Yeah. Okay. That's fair. All right. Um, so I would tell you that yacht rock has been around since 2005. It was supposed to be a gag that connected the highly polished studio sound of the late 70s with rich dudes on sailboats. The four guys responsible for the genre made a uh a list of all the qualities a yacht rock song uh should include. Um, and that includes a few well-known studio musicians, uh, one of whom should be a member of what would become Toto, though it's not a requirement. It should have a soft rock, jazz, and RB feel to it. Um should have been released from 76 to 1984, and the song should focus on romance, heartbreak, longing for romance or heartbreak, or evoke an emotional vulnerability while feeling sleek, smooth, and easy. So that brings up a question. Uh, it's been portrayed as a genre of music, or at least it's been accepted as one. Do you think it's a genre or a vibe? Kemp.

SPEAKER_03 11:30

I think it started as a vibe that's morphed into a genre. I I would agree with that.

SPEAKER_02 11:39

And as um, you know, chat says, it could be both things could be true.

SPEAKER_05 11:45

Both things could be true.

SPEAKER_03 11:46

Because I think like back in 2005, you didn't have like yacht rock review, right? So all of a sudden it's like just become I think a much bigger thing than what's the yacht rock review? You know, the bands that go and sing the yacht rock songs at Hampton Beach Casino.

SPEAKER_05 12:07

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, okay. All right.

SPEAKER_02 12:09

Here's a question on the show. I mean, when back in the day, right? Go but go back in time and the first time you were hearing this type of music. Yeah, did you like when you hear a heavy metal or you know, 80s rock, like you knew it's a rock and roll song.

SPEAKER_04 12:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:26

But for this, it was just the music. Like it was what was on. It wasn't like right. Um it wasn't like a station. It was just on the rock, it was just music.

SPEAKER_03 12:39

The one that came in.

SPEAKER_05 12:40

Yeah, WPZ Boston.

unknown 12:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 12:43

Playing on the old dial, the old manual dial radio.

SPEAKER_03 12:46

The push button. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 12:47

Well, now you're getting a little advanced. And this is real technology you're talking about.

SPEAKER_03 12:52

Dating back to my AMC Concord push button radio.

SPEAKER_05 12:57

Yeah. Um, yeah, I look, I you're absolutely I didn't even thought about that, actually. You're absolutely correct.

SPEAKER_02 13:03

Like there wasn't a genre for it. It wasn't yacht rock, it was just music. Just music.

SPEAKER_05 13:07

Yeah.

unknown 13:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 13:08

All right. Ambrosia was just another band.

SPEAKER_03 13:10

Yeah, but it was always John Cassidy.

SPEAKER_05 13:14

All right. Well, look, I I I have to say it's a vibe, since I think it it can incorporate several genres of music. Um, next question. Can yacht rock can a yacht rock song be too rock? And and are there any examples? Uh Beth.

SPEAKER_02 13:32

Oh, I'm on the spot with that one. Um, I think yes, it can be too rock, but I like the ones that have that kind of crossover feel to them, which I think uh maybe some stuff from Blondie. I think she would have a little bit of like the the reggae, the rap, the um, you know, the rock, and then some of the like the little disco-y type of feel to it.

SPEAKER_05 14:01

So you think blondie falls under yacht rock?

SPEAKER_02 14:04

No, this is the the yacht rock that would not be Yacht Rock. Yacht rock. It's kind of the crossover.

SPEAKER_05 14:12

Nyacht or or marina?

SPEAKER_02 14:14

Nyacht.

SPEAKER_05 14:15

Yacht with an N. Yacht.

SPEAKER_02 14:17

With an N.

SPEAKER_05 14:17

All right. Well, so I mean, we're just talking about a yacht rock song, and a yacht rock song. Uh let's think of one. Thunder Island, Jay Ferguson. To rock?

SPEAKER_02 14:28

Oh, absolutely not. It's it's got it's got the party vibe. Yeah. It's you know, island implies water somewhere. So surrounding it even. So yeah, I'm all in with that one.

SPEAKER_05 14:46

Oh, okay. All right. So so so you don't think it can be too like Man on Your Mind by a Little Riverband, right? That's actually a jam and tune. I mean, nobody, you know, really Yeah, but that seems like a little hard for Yacht Rock, even though it's I don't even know if it is Yacht Rock. We could we'll we'll check later.

SPEAKER_03 15:05

I would argue that Africa is not yacht rock.

SPEAKER_05 15:09

Correct.

SPEAKER_02 15:10

Yeah, correct, but it's Toto. I would argue that as well.

SPEAKER_05 15:14

I would I would say And that's a staple on the Yacht Rock stations.

SPEAKER_02 15:18

I don't think I don't think it belongs there. I I don't think it belongs there either. That that's a that's a these are strong opinions.

SPEAKER_05 15:27

Huh. Okay. All right. So uh Kim, do you do you think a yacht rock song can be too rock? And and do you have any examples?

SPEAKER_03 15:34

I just gave you one.

SPEAKER_05 15:35

I don't I don't think that that was an example. That is not too rock. That is not rock enough.

SPEAKER_03 15:42

Um that was Kid Rock. That was Kim Rock, you mean that was Kim Rock.

SPEAKER_05 15:49

Kim Rock. What do you got?

SPEAKER_03 15:52

Well, I mean, that's an to me, that's an example of a song that doesn't really belong in Yacht Rock, but is it too rock? Maybe not.

SPEAKER_05 16:00

Are there any yacht rock songs that do belong that are too rocky?

SPEAKER_02 16:04

Um, all right. So here's you know, if I was gonna think of just some prime offenders, right?

SPEAKER_05 16:10

Prime offenders.

SPEAKER_02 16:11

Yeah. All right. Um 1977, Eddie Money.

SPEAKER_05 16:16

Eddie Money.

SPEAKER_02 16:17

Yep. Two tickets to paradise. That's not baby hold on to me.

SPEAKER_05 16:22

Um it has to be a yacht rock song.

SPEAKER_02 16:26

And I like a like uh uh I mean looking at um some if we're gonna do a quick research, Toto Hold the Line comes up as a that just came up. That just came up for me as well. That's a good one. Um being too too rocky, too rocky for the yachty.

SPEAKER_03 16:49

I I sometimes feel like Toto doesn't really belong.

SPEAKER_05 16:53

In Yacht Rock at all.

SPEAKER_03 16:55

In Yacht Rock at all. That would be correct. Sorry, I know unpopular.

SPEAKER_02 16:58

They belong on MTV with the pop music countdown.

SPEAKER_05 17:05

What what about uh too rocky? Um how about how about how about Ride Like the Wind?

unknown 17:16

Right?

SPEAKER_05 17:16

Jam and guitar solo. It's Christopher Cross. But just because it's Christopher Cross doesn't mean that it's gotta be yacht rock, right? No, it does. No, it doesn't.

SPEAKER_02 17:26

I would I think that I think no, I think that belongs. Okay, here's one. Um this is uh Robert Palmer had a trilogy that he did with uh sailing shoes, sneaking sally through the alley.

SPEAKER_05 17:42

Right, right, right, right. Oh, that's pretty good.

SPEAKER_02 17:45

Yeah, I don't know that it qualifies, but I think I think that could be right on the border.

SPEAKER_05 17:52

I should play that a little bit more on the stations. Yeah, sneak and sally through the alley. Uh sailing shoes?

SPEAKER_02 17:58

Yeah, sailing shoes. It was um oh god.

SPEAKER_05 18:03

Oh, it was a good song. Yeah. Anyway. All right. Uh for so for me, uh Yacht Sok wrong. Uh Yacht Lord. Yacht sock. Yacht sock wrong. Yacht sock wrong. Belongs on your feet. Yacht rock suck. Reeling in the ears is a uh perfect example. I I think Steely Dan uh is definitely a Yacht Rock staple, but not all of their songs make it. Um Reeling in the Ears, which is is absolutely my favorite Steely Dan song, uh, has a guitar solo by Elliot Randall that blisters my ears. It's fantastic. But too much rock, not enough yacht. So I I think it can happen. Um, how about a song being too poppy for yacht rock? Uh for me, Hollow Notes are huge offenders uh on the surface of it, right? Everything they did is yacht rock, but if you dive deeper, they had a band, they weren't a bevy of um uh professional studio musicians, they had the RB sound, they were famous for it. But on a song like You Make My Dreams, there's no smoothness or sophisticated chord structures there that make it yacht rock, but it is super, super poppy. Beth, what do you think?

SPEAKER_02 19:12

I would completely agree.

SPEAKER_05 19:14

Um, but do you do you do you feel like is there any song that comes to mind that might be too poppy for yacht rock? I mean, they don't call it yacht pop.

SPEAKER_02 19:23

Um well, I mean the hollow notes really I think any of their songs, I think that they are right uh along with Todo. That it's just it came a little bit, I don't know, in my head. It's not that smooth, um you know, soulful, jazzy, or um sincere feelings.

SPEAKER_05 19:49

So yeah, yeah. All right, Kim.

SPEAKER_03 19:53

I'd probably also go hollow notes, but you know I love the song Sarah Smile. Sarah Smiles.

SPEAKER_04 20:01

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:02

Does it belong to the Yana popular? Sure, yeah, yeah. But too poppy? Maybe too poppy. Huh.

SPEAKER_05 20:10

All right. All right. Um okay. All right. I I'll never be the same, Christopher Cross. So, like I'm I'm sitting here busting Christopher Cross's balls all day long, but you are I love Christopher Cross, but you guys are hammering on Toto, so you know. Uh um but uh all right, here's another question you might like. Is everything with Michael McDonald on it, everything with Michael McDonald on it, considered yacht rock? Kim.

SPEAKER_03 20:40

Yes.

SPEAKER_05 20:43

Thank you for your in-depth analysis there, Kim.

SPEAKER_03 20:46

Uh well, I gotta I gotta say that I I think back to and and Beth introduced me to this skit, but the SNL skit where Rick Moranis was playing uh Michael McDonald and basically driving from studio to studio.

SPEAKER_05 21:05

I thought he kept coming back to the studio.

SPEAKER_03 21:07

Well, there was like two songs he like kept trying to leave, but then it would be like he'd have to go back in for the backup vocals. Um but I mean I do you know, I I listen to Yacht Rock Radio on XM, and there's a lot of songs where he is in the background.

SPEAKER_05 21:31

In it or he's singing it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But okay. What about you, Beth?

SPEAKER_02 21:37

Oh, I would agree. Yeah. Michael McI mean, he's you know, he probably I would be devastated to learn if he hated Yacht Rock because he is Yacht Rock. He is the father of Yacht Rock. One of them. You know, whether he asked for it or not.

SPEAKER_05 21:56

Yeah. Okay. Well my vote is is no. Uh not everything with Michael McDonald on it would be considered yacht rock. Sweet Freedom, one of my uh favorite Michael McDonald songs, uh, is not yacht rock. Released too late for it, lacks the emotional requirement and the smooth yacht rock feel. So, does anybody here think owning a boat helps? And is it better to own your oat own boat? Is it better to own your oats? Better to own your own boat or have a friend who owns a boat?

SPEAKER_03 22:31

A friend who owns a boat. Boats are too much too much maintenance. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:35

I I hear.

SPEAKER_05 22:36

100%?

SPEAKER_02 22:37

100%. Boat is just a hole in the water that you put money in.

SPEAKER_05 22:42

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 22:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 22:43

Good thing you guys don't have strong opinions. All right. We are just warming up the engines. Uh, who wants to take us out to commercial?

SPEAKER_02 22:52

I will. All right. Please stay tuned, and here's a word from our sponsor.

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SPEAKER_05 22:58

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The Mount Rushmore of Yacht Rock (and a trip to the back of the mountain)

SPEAKER_05 24:22

back for the Art Rock Roundtable with Kimberly Q. Delaney and the fabulous Beth P. My microphone is sinking. I am still your host and the moderator of this shipwreck, Peter Conway. Kim, speaking of ships, have you shipped your pants yet?

SPEAKER_03 24:38

I shipped my pants.

SPEAKER_05 24:39

Very convenient. We're gonna move on to the Mount Rushmore of Yacht Rock. We have not prepared lists ahead of recording this, so let's go over the rules. It's fine to have repeat artists. Kim might like one person, I might like the same person, and Beth might think we're both full of ship. So to make this fun, let's disallow the true Mount Rushmore of Yacht Rock. Michael McDonald, Christopher Cross, Kenny Loggins, and Toto collectively. You have 40 seconds to make your choices and then we'll talk about them. Go. All right. Kim, let's start with you. Four artists for the Mount Rushmore of Yacht Rock.

SPEAKER_03 26:02

Oh, I only get four. Four, I think I got five. Okay. It's Mount Rushmore. I know, I know, but you know, could add to it. It's a lot of rock. It's a lot of rock. I want to rock.

SPEAKER_04 26:17

Rock.

SPEAKER_03 26:18

Okay. So I would say my one of my top ones that I actually woke up with in my head this morning. Really? Baker Street.

SPEAKER_05 26:31

Jerry Rafferty.

SPEAKER_03 26:32

Love it.

SPEAKER_05 26:33

Sure.

SPEAKER_03 26:33

Love it.

SPEAKER_05 26:34

Alright. So Jerry Rafferty.

SPEAKER_03 26:36

Okay. Um baby come back.

SPEAKER_05 26:41

We're not talking songs. We're talking the artists.

SPEAKER_03 26:44

No, I thought you said songs. No, no, no. Oh, the artist. Okay. All right. Um player than the artist. Player. Player. Um Stephen Bishop.

SPEAKER_04 26:56

Oh, yep.

SPEAKER_03 26:58

Um, I'm gonna go Bill Withers.

SPEAKER_00 27:02

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 27:02

And oh, did I already give you four? Yeah. Dang it. Okay.

SPEAKER_05 27:07

Yeah? All right. Well, alright, just for the sake of argument, who's your alternate?

SPEAKER_03 27:12

In reserves, in my alternate, I have Dave Mason.

SPEAKER_05 27:15

On the back side of the mountain. Yeah. Dave Mason's on the back side of the mountain. Well, I've just disagree.

SPEAKER_03 27:20

Because we just disagree. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:22

Yeah. Love that song. All right. Same. All right. Beth, how about you?

SPEAKER_02 27:28

So um, so my four that I would never turn off the station. Um, Bertie Higgins, Key Largo.

SPEAKER_05 27:37

Well, these remember these are not songs that we're talking about. We're talking about artists. Artists. Yeah. So Bertie Higgins.

SPEAKER_02 27:44

Bertie Higgins. Yeah. Yeah. He's it's right there. Yeah. Um Boss Skags.

SPEAKER_00 27:49

Oh. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 27:52

Yeah. Um, we're gonna go with Little River Band and Robbie Dupree.

SPEAKER_00 28:01

Okay. Yeah. All right.

SPEAKER_05 28:03

All good choices. What okay, what if Michael McDonald actually didn't like Robbie Dupree? What would he would that just be? It would have been a fight. Like a rip in the space-time continuum. Absolute fight. Can you imagine the beard hair that just torn out and scattered all over the floor? All right. Uh mine. Mine. Uh what is yours? That's an excellent question, Beth. Yeah. I'm glad you asked that.

SPEAKER_02 28:29

Yeah, I'm curious.

SPEAKER_05 28:30

Yeah. Um, so Carly Simon, uh, James Ingram, Little River Band, and Patty LaBelle.

SPEAKER_03 28:40

Patty LaBelle.

SPEAKER_05 28:42

Patty LaBelle. She had some tunes.

SPEAKER_02 28:46

What is your favorite Patty La Bell yacht rock song, Freeway of Love?

SPEAKER_05 28:52

That's Aretha Franklin, you donkey.

SPEAKER_02 28:56

With respect.

SPEAKER_01 28:58

Freeway. What are you? Drunk? Uh and Radish. Oh my God.

SPEAKER_02 29:07

Respect.

SPEAKER_05 29:11

You know.

SPEAKER_02 29:12

I put you on the spot. Sorry, sorry.

SPEAKER_05 29:14

Oh, Patty LaBelle. Uh baby come to me with Michael McDonald.

SPEAKER_03 29:18

Well, that makes the argument for Michael McDonald.

SPEAKER_02 29:21

But it does. Maybe it's Michael McDonald with Patty LaBelle.

SPEAKER_05 29:24

No, it's not. I'm saying Patty, Patty LaBelle. That's my choice.

SPEAKER_02 29:27

My choice. You know what? I like it. It's your choice. Go with it.

SPEAKER_05 29:30

And you had Carly Simon in there, too. Carly Simon. Yep. James Ingram, right? Little River Band. So can we all agree? No. Kim doesn't agree with the Little River band, but Yes, she does. Kim doesn't agree with anybody.

SPEAKER_03 29:46

I don't I don't disagree with it.

SPEAKER_05 29:50

Jesus. All right. Let's move on. I've been begging for weeks for listeners to submit secret shame, things they're embarrassed about, old things they're nostalgic for, but don't tell anyone. It's kind of an ongoing theme. I'm not going to ask you about your most uh embarrassing

Yacht Rock Guilty Pleasure - SHAME!

SPEAKER_05 30:07

moments, but I do want to know what song is your yacht rock guilty pleasure and why? I'm going to start. I was going to go with Barry Manilo at first. Barry is always my first go-to because he is also my secret shame. My mother had his records when we were growing up. There was nothing on the TV because we had three stations and PBS. We hadn't joined Columbia House yet, so all we had were my dad's Conway Twitty and Freddie Fender albums and my mother's Captain and Teneal and Barry Manilo records. I will say though, to this day, when I see a sunset that looks like a cover of uh his Even Now record, I stop and take a picture. I've been trying to recreate that photograph for 40 years. Um, but it's not Barry. And we are on a first name basis now. I think Air Supply is my Yacht Rock Guilty Pleasure. Uh I would have to think that All Out of Love would be my Yacht Rock uh song, the guilty pleasure song. It's not my favorite song, just my guilty pleasure. Um I'm gonna check to see where on the yacht or not scale it is. And it scores of 15. So yeah, I know. Not good. Uh it's not even yachty. Uh so it shows what I know, but it's very low down. It is. Oh, there's a Boz Skags joke for you. Uh it's got the uh the strings, the big polished sound came out in 81 or 82, but alas, uh more of a power ballad than yacht rock. Um, no snappy blues-oriented syncopation. Instead, it has soaring theatrical emotion. Damn it. You saw air supply, right, Kim?

SPEAKER_03 31:45

I've seen air supply like three times.

SPEAKER_05 31:47

Three times, as an adult.

SPEAKER_03 31:48

As an adult, probably with within the last five years.

SPEAKER_05 31:51

Really? Yeah. Good lord. Amazing. Do you have some sort of air supply tattoo now or uh no? Are you a groupie?

SPEAKER_03 31:58

I'm tat-free.

SPEAKER_05 31:59

Tat free, okay.

SPEAKER_03 32:00

Uh no, but we got tickets to see them at Hampton Beach Casino, and I thought, you know, as a kind of a a lark, I guess, you know, I was like, oh, you know, no way are they gonna be able to hold those notes and pull it off, and you know, these guys with their high notes and um yeah. I was stunned. Stunned stunned, yes, get them all. Yes, sweet. They are so good. Really? Yep. I can't I I'm not even lying. They are every time I've seen them, nobody got shirtless though, did they? No, thank god.

SPEAKER_05 32:34

Yeah, that would be awkward.

SPEAKER_03 32:36

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 32:37

We saw Billy Idol uh up in up in uh Canada, I don't know, a few years ago, and that dude got shirtless at oh, is he 70 something? 70 something. Got shirtless. He's still ripped. I'd like to be a well, I am a grandfather. I I certainly don't look like that, but is what it is. All right. Uh Beth, did you ever see air supply?

SPEAKER_02 33:00

I did not see air supply. Um, but I um Saw everybody else? I saw everybody else, yes. No, um, I would I believe that they're good. You know, I I have this this kind of thing that I use if a band is coming around, whether I want to go see them or not, is I like a smaller venue just so that I can well see because I'm old. Um but um but I I like a more intimate atmosphere. Uh but the other thing is the age of the the band that's playing. And when these are professional musicians who have been doing this for 30, 40, 50 years, they're gonna be amazing. Um, they're gonna have the technology to help them.

SPEAKER_05 33:52

I'm telling you right now, these guys volume and and marina toilets off to either two.

SPEAKER_03 33:57

These guys, I swear, I was like, no way are they hitting those notes. They hit everyone. The little dude with the black little dude. Yeah, he came out looking like someone's grandma. I hope he never listens to the I'm pretty sure nobody's probably not listening. Um, but he did. It's like he came out in like a like a sequined blazer with the sleeves rolled up.

SPEAKER_05 34:20

Looking like what, liberace?

SPEAKER_03 34:21

At some point, felt a little bit liberace-ish, but at some point during the show, he did take the blazer off and had like a sleeveless shirt on. So he was flexing, you know. Um oh no, we're talking like full sequin. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 34:39

Oh, see, you guys can't see it right now, but uh there's a a terribly handsome man in some sort of uh clothing shop, antique shop. And what?

SPEAKER_03 34:50

I said dang.

SPEAKER_05 34:51

Yep, and and and he has on uh a sequined black jacket that that is uh bedazzled with like diamond things and it's all rhinestones. Rhinestones.

SPEAKER_03 35:03

Almost a rhinestone. He almost looks like a rhinestone cowboy.

SPEAKER_05 35:06

Almost wow. That that's a handsome fellow though. Damn. All right. But anyway, yeah, I I So that's your that's your your whole kind of that's what you measure it up in.

SPEAKER_02 35:17

Yeah, I think if you're going to see uh a band, even if it's not your favorite music, uh if they these are professional musicians, I think it's gonna be amazing. I think they're gonna have this uh you know the sound guys that have been doing it uh along with them.

SPEAKER_05 35:35

I mean they're deaf too, though. And they all have to pee. Let's take a metamusle break. Uh well, I mean, look though, we we saw Whitesnake, right? And and and and it was I mean, obviously not yacht rock, but it was decidedly not. Well, it could be. Should have been.

SPEAKER_02 35:51

Uh the it's the age tracks.

SPEAKER_05 35:54

Well, yeah, the age tracks, right? But uh oh god, it the lights were great. Some of the and the music was good, but the performance and the singing terrible, terrible, terrible. So, you know, it doesn't always translate, so it's nice to hear that air supply uh has it uh has it going on. Um who wants to go next? Secret yacht rock shame.

SPEAKER_02 36:16

Oh, I'll go.

SPEAKER_05 36:16

Guilty pleasure. Go ahead.

SPEAKER_02 36:18

Guilty pleasure. Yep. Uh that would be uh Jay Ferguson, Thunder Island.

SPEAKER_05 36:23

That's a guilty pleasure.

SPEAKER_02 36:25

Oh, yes. Love it.

SPEAKER_05 36:27

I I I mmm. I'm actually disappointed that that's a that you feel bad about uh liking that.

SPEAKER_02 36:34

Why why because I listen to it every time.

SPEAKER_05 36:37

Well, yeah, but it's so singable. Yeah, it's uh why why is why do you feel guilty about that? Um is your singing bad? Is that what you feel bad about?

SPEAKER_01 36:47

Or no.

SPEAKER_05 36:49

No?

SPEAKER_01 36:50

No, it's just I don't know.

SPEAKER_05 36:54

I need answers. America demands answers, man.

SPEAKER_02 36:57

No, America does not. Um guilty pleasure. Private, yes. Maybe I got the question wrong.

SPEAKER_05 37:04

I would say.

SPEAKER_02 37:05

Um I have no guilt. No guilt I listen to.

SPEAKER_05 37:12

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 37:12

It's either on or off.

SPEAKER_05 37:14

That's it. Yes. Like you're not like like you're not a like a secret swifty kind of thing.

SPEAKER_03 37:20

Or I mean I know you're a gets in the car and you shut it off. Yeah, that. So what was that? If I said when someone gets in the car with you and you shut the song off.

SPEAKER_05 37:34

Let's say Jenny T in the step stools comes on. Do you shut it off or not?

SPEAKER_02 37:39

I don't know who that is.

SPEAKER_05 37:40

Yes, you do. Oh, yes, you do. Um, so all right, so we're gonna scratch that then.

SPEAKER_02 37:52

So I I misunderstood the guilty pleasure. Yeah. Secret secret shame secret. Secret shame.

SPEAKER_05 37:57

Yeah. Yeah, Rock Secret Shame.

SPEAKER_02 38:00

Um back to me. What's what's I don't know that song.

SPEAKER_03 38:05

I was gonna say come back to me. I don't know. Yeah. I was gonna offer to sort of take over if you wanted to think for a minute.

SPEAKER_05 38:13

She was floundering, if we may also continue with the code. Yeah, we're gonna have to scratch. I'm gonna I don't think so. We're gonna get that out.

SPEAKER_03 38:24

See? See your reaction. So bad.

SPEAKER_05 38:31

I wish I would.

SPEAKER_03 38:32

I listen to it every time, but I would totally shut it off if somebody got in the car.

SPEAKER_05 38:37

That song, but I will sing, I sing along as well. And I'll but I'll tell you why though, right?

SPEAKER_02 38:41

Can I say why?

SPEAKER_05 38:42

When I yeah, go ahead.

SPEAKER_02 38:43

Absolutely. Because this is what happens is he will start singing it, but it's not the word him.

SPEAKER_01 38:50

Oh it's Kim. What are we gonna do about Kim? It's Kim.

SPEAKER_03 39:01

Every time. We almost don't know the ruling. Oh my god. Now that's all I'm gonna think of when I hear.

SPEAKER_02 39:09

You don't think of it already?

SPEAKER_03 39:11

Of course not. You need to do nothing about me. I don't know nothing about birth and no babies.

SPEAKER_05 39:23

Not my brand, you understand? Oh no. Sometimes the girl forgets. Oh, God, that was funny. Holy cow. All right, we're uh we're making good time with traffic. Nicely done to all. We're gonna take a quick break so I can change my life vest and my diaper, and we'll be right back.

Commercial Break 2! Commodore Casual and WakeMaster Bowthrusters

SPEAKER_05 39:42

Stay tuned, or so help me, I will pull this car over. Introducing Commodore Casual, performance yachting apparel for men who demand more from their clothing while doing considerably less. Moisture wicking polos, four-way stretch shorts, UV protection rated for an entire afternoon beside the docksidebar, and reinforced elbows, perfect for leaning on someone else's boat while explaining what they bought wrong. Gary owns the entire collection, and he hasn't untied his boat since Memorial Day. Commodore Casual, technical apparel or recreational standing. You've docked your boat a hundred times. Then you see Gary standing on the dock, arms crossed, watching. Suddenly, Port is starboard, reverses forward, and 15,000 pounds of fiberglass is headed towards something expensive. Introducing Wake Master bow thrusters. Precision control for those moments when Gary's rearranging your neural pathways. Wake Master. Dock like Gary isn't watching. And now back to the Drain Battery Society. Welcome back to the Drain Battery Society's Yacht Rock Roundtable in celebration of the 10th

When did you first discover Yacht Rock?

SPEAKER_05 41:07

episode. Might not seem like a big deal, uh, but you know, these shows take some work. And and think about when your kid turned 10. Did you make a big deal about moving to double digits forever? I bet you did. Alrighty then. Around the table we have Drain Battery Society darlings, Kimberly Q Delaney, and the fabulous Beth P. Both of them are kind enough to voice spots for me from time to time and absolutely kill it. I am so I was hoping I could catch you while you were sucking down your wine. Uh I am so impressed with the talent level that you two have. Seriously, let me just take a moment, in all seriousness, uh, to publicly thank you for your work. Uh uh, both, you know, the the work that you've done and the work that you will do for me in the future. That is correct. Uh, this is a sweatshop, and you two are swimming in the deep end of the talent pool. Uh, now that I have swung it back to water unintentionally, let's talk about first-time discoveries of yacht rock as a thing. And and Beth brought up a little bit earlier that, you know, it it wasn't yacht rock then, it was just music. So, yacht rock as a thing. What what was your first uh kind of discovery? Like, oh, yacht rock.

SPEAKER_03 42:16

Honestly, I mean, for me before it was always just the music, but then I came here for a party or something, and you guys had yacht rock radio on. Really? And I was like, what is this station? And you guys were like, it's fire. And it's yeah, and you were like, it's yacht rock radio. I was like, what is it? Is it one banger after another?

SPEAKER_02 42:43

It was every song is like a childhood memory.

SPEAKER_04 42:48

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 42:49

Yeah, all of them good, but it's okay.

SPEAKER_04 42:52

We have plenty of those. All right.

SPEAKER_03 42:54

Sometimes you have to leave South Boston behind. Yeah, god damn it. All right, um, rolling around, sliding across the back seat of the giant uh of the LTD, the Delta 8080.

SPEAKER_02 43:08

Delta 88. Yep, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 43:10

Oh god, right. Yeah, yeah. 1976, Ford L T D. That's right. Holy cow.

SPEAKER_03 43:15

But yeah, it was here. It was like you guys had my birthday. People over. I think I feel like it was been before that. But just like a regular like having people over, yeah, like us over for dinner or whatever, and you had yacht rock radio playing, playing, and yeah, and I was like, what the heck? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 43:36

All right. So that was it for me. All right.

SPEAKER_05 43:38

Beth, how about you? Um was it when Kim came over?

SPEAKER_02 43:41

It was when Kim came over. No. Um I mean, besides when when, you know, when we were kids, that's what was on. Um but when you realized it was yacht rock.

SPEAKER_05 43:52

Like when it was like boom.

SPEAKER_02 43:54

It was, I think there was one day you had, you know, discovered the yacht rock staff.

SPEAKER_04 44:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 44:01

And you just kind of put it on, and we were listening to it, and every song was just, you know, like something from the past. And it was um, every song was like, oh, I remember this one, and oh gosh, I love this song. And it uh I I wanted to listen to all of them again. It was and it wasn't like I was, you know, a teenager when these songs were on. You know, it wasn't like I was I wasn't reliving, you know, the party of the heyday, you know. But I mean, we were little.

SPEAKER_05 44:41

Yeah, well, I mean, sure. I mean, I I think of uh like not yacht rock related, but I think of uh uh uh gosh, like an Eagle song, like uh uh Take It Easy, right? Yeah, so I think it was like around 76 or so, and uh my father would um uh you know just have his radio and it was like this yellow box, uh like white, but it had the like the part where the the numbers were for the the the the the frequencies uh were in this yellow thing, and it was like a cranky little plastic hand dial. So some shitty little speaker. But I remember like the eagles were coming out of it, and Jim Crocey, and it was just like this is the best thing ever. Um, and and and and it was just amazing, right? So it started my love affair with music, but um, for Yacht Rock though, it was it was actually driving up to the White Mountains with uh you, Beth. Um Sirius XM had this show on Yacht Rock called I'm the Captain Now, and and I wish they still had it on, but they would bring in celebrity DJs or or just celebrities to talk about their favorite Yacht Rock songs and and artists. And uh the first one that we heard was the Bacon brothers, Kevin and and I don't know, Macon. Bacon and uh I don't know, Bacon's still want to see them. What's his name? The brother. I'll look it up for you. Anyway, yeah, so the Bacon brothers, right? And at one point they're talking about the song Wildfire by Michael Martin Murphy, and it was a 1975 song about a horse, which you know sounds sexy as hell, right? But uh in the ending of the song, Michael Martin Murphy is riffing a little, and after one of the wildfires, uh the Bacon brothers were sure that he was singing, we're gonna leave South Boston behind. And what he actually was saying was, We're gonna leave sodbusting behind. So the way they told it was just so funny and so cool that there was this story that someone else had for a Yacht Rock song, and and I was totally hooked. I, you know, we like we've been talking about, we grew up on that music. It was just what was on the radio, but man, oh man, was it good. But that's that's what started there, uh, you know, the yacht rock thing for me, uh, in in terms of recognizing it as a as a thing.

SPEAKER_03 46:58

It's Michael, by the way. Michael Bacon.

SPEAKER_05 47:00

Michael Bacon.

SPEAKER_03 47:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 47:02

I don't like it. I like Macon.

SPEAKER_03 47:03

Macon Bacon.

SPEAKER_05 47:04

Yeah, that's better. All right. Uh

How would you introduce YR to a first-timer?

SPEAKER_05 47:06

the next question for you to ponder is what song should someone hear if they've never ever listened to Yacht Rock before? Like, hey Beth, I've never listened to Yacht Rock before. Can you recommend a good song that I should listen to that is very representative? So you tell me, tell me why you you think it should be the song, and we'll check it on the Yachty uh scale. There can be no duplicates, though.

SPEAKER_02 47:29

Okay, yeah. This is easy. Yeah, um, I'm gonna go with um Steal Away, Robbie Dupree.

SPEAKER_01 47:35

Robbie Dupree.

SPEAKER_02 47:36

Yeah. This is a um it it's got the beat, the the the romantic words and language. It's got um that uh uh great void vocals. Um it's and and it's not Michael McDonald, so I think it kind of next best thing, right?

SPEAKER_05 48:03

But all right, all right, Robbie Dupree. So that is actually number uh 14 on the Yachtsky list, uh with a with a score of 94.

SPEAKER_02 48:15

That's pretty high up there.

SPEAKER_05 48:16

It is high up there. Uh you know, so so so just to to so everybody's clear, right? Anything between uh uh 150, anything over 50 is yachty. Everything underneath that is gnaw. Yacht or gnaw, anything under 50 is gnaat. So this is definitely we are we are strong in the green with steel away.

SPEAKER_03 48:39

Good.

SPEAKER_05 48:39

Uh Kim, how about you?

SPEAKER_03 48:41

I'm going, and it's kind of obvious, but I'm going sailing.

SPEAKER_05 48:47

Sailing you're leaving to go sailing or wish, but um, yeah, Christopher Cross.

SPEAKER_03 48:55

Sailing. Yep.

SPEAKER_05 48:57

All right. Okay. Yeah, I mean, great friggin' song, right? So uh that actually 94.5 is the uh is the score. So that is one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. Number ten. That's number ten.

SPEAKER_03 49:13

I'll take it.

SPEAKER_05 49:13

Also, firmly in the green. And and it sounds like I'm cheating, but but it's not uh it's not. Uh no, mine is uh I keep forgetting by Michael McDonald. Um it's uh uh got that yearning, right? Keep forgetting, we're not in love anymore. Unrequited love, funky sound, uh and by default, right? Michael McDonald. So the beat's fantastic. Sound is smooth RB. I'd give it an 85 because I could dance to it, Dick. Uh and but so it's number three on the Yatsky scale. It's uh 98.5. So uh that also makes it an essential, which I think is pretty cool, right? We're all three of us deeply in the green with that one. All right, along the same lines, it's understood that not every yacht song uh

Get off my boat!

SPEAKER_05 49:59

or yacht rock song, sorry, is is great. Some downright suck. Uh it's the same for every genre. So for you, what yacht rock song gets skipped every single time without fail? It comes on, you're like, God damn it, no.

SPEAKER_02 50:13

Yeah, that is um magnet and steel.

SPEAKER_05 50:16

Walter Egan. Yeah. Magnet and steel. You don't like it.

SPEAKER_02 50:19

I it's maybe it was just overplayed. I don't know. I I still haven't recovered.

SPEAKER_01 50:26

So it's off.

SPEAKER_05 50:30

All right. Okay. Um Kim, I'll I'll go if unless you've got something handy.

SPEAKER_03 50:36

Uh go ahead. You can you can jump in.

SPEAKER_05 50:38

So I was thinking I'm a Steely Dan fan, uh man. And uh Dan fan? I'm a I'm a Steely Dan fan man. Uh Dan man. The song I skip, Babylon Sisters. Uh Okay. You know it?

SPEAKER_02 50:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 50:52

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 50:52

Uh so you know It's probably even you could probably add three more that they do that I would skip.

SPEAKER_05 50:57

Black cow, I'm not a huge fan. Um but uh you know the one thing I do like about it is the shuffle beat. Uh you could take the vocal out and I'd probably be fine, but once the singing starts, I am I'm out. Uh bit of a deep cut, I realize, and I don't hear it that often, but it just screams, run to me. Uh how about you, Kim?

SPEAKER_03 51:16

Uh I am going, We're in this love together. Algero. Algero. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 51:22

I just did he do the moonlighting theme also.

SPEAKER_03 51:24

He did.

SPEAKER_05 51:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 51:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 51:26

There we go.

SPEAKER_03 51:26

But I don't know. I just like cherries on the you don't even have to explain or offer any.

SPEAKER_05 51:33

You just say the word like, no, don't listen to that. I'm I've turned it off.

SPEAKER_02 51:37

Yeah. Accepted.

SPEAKER_05 51:39

Don't you know we no nothing?

SPEAKER_03 51:41

Nope.

SPEAKER_05 51:42

Nope, nothing. Okay. All right.

SPEAKER_03 51:44

Okay. It doesn't move me.

SPEAKER_05 51:47

I do have some Miralax if you want to try that. I know you do. You're a little stuck. Uh I saw it. All right. Did you try to boost my secret stash?

SPEAKER_03 51:58

It's for help.

SPEAKER_05 52:01

Fear colon help.

SPEAKER_03 52:05

This segment is brought to you by Miralax.

SPEAKER_05 52:08

It's for Masemicolon. It's smooth. Smooth. All right. Uh, we're gonna give Beth some time to reapply her makeup and run out for a mani petty, but we'll be right back with the Drain Battery Society Yacht Rock Roundtable Snake Draft. Stay tuned.

Commercial Break 3! Horizon Yacht Brokers and SlipRank

SPEAKER_05 52:25

Hey, you want anything? I gotta make a dunks run. Be here when I get back. Last summer, Gary had everything: 38 feet, twin engines, two heads, and a wet bar. Gary was happy. And Steve in Slip22 bought a 40-footer. Gary's gonna need a bigger boat. At Horizon Yacht Brokers, we understand. Sometimes upgrading isn't about what you need, it's about what Steve has. 38 feet used to be plenty until Steve changed the rules. Horizon Yacht Brokers. At the marina, reputation matters. That's why SlipRank analyzes the factors that determine your true dockside standing. Boat length, engine count, electronics, sunglasses, smoothness. Gary scored a 914. Then Steve helped the Richardsons carry groceries down the dock. Gary762. Steve 938. Turns out people liking you makes a difference. Slip rank. Know your score. Know your place.

SPEAKER_06 53:44

We're back, baby.

SPEAKER_05 53:47

Hey, thanks for sticking around. Beth's back with fresh nails. Kim has whipped up something from a fancy magazine that's full of dairy, so I can't wait to get all glottal with her. We're uh epiglottled.

SPEAKER_03 54:02

Epiglottled.

SPEAKER_05 54:04

All right, we're ready to go, I think. Um this one is being done with no prior

The Yacht Rock Roundtable Snake Draft! Playlist on the website!

SPEAKER_05 54:09

knowledge, uh, no prior talk, and no prior warm-up. So I hope it's fun. We're gonna draft a playlist. Uh nobody tells Sean Q Delaney, he'll grab a mic and start talking fantasy baseball. The guy hears draft and he's just overcome with lust. Anyway, um we'll go we'll go five rounds. Uh we cannot have duplicate songs on our playlist, and you'll have to explain every pick that you make. So we'll go around the table starting on my left and go clockwise, and what we come up with will become a playlist for the audience that I will post on the website after the show airs. Uh doesn't have to be high on the Yachtsky scale, and it only has to be uh as far yacht as yacht rock adjacent, so uh on the dock or or in the marina. Um and did you actually know that marina rock is a is a thing? It's not yacht rock, it's not uh on the boat, it's playing at the dive bar next to the boat.

SPEAKER_03 55:06

It's Jimmy Buffett on land.

SPEAKER_05 55:08

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it can be close. Um this is opinion driven, but it has to make sense. Uh when I post it on the website, I'll add the Yatsky score next to it and and who chose it, so you have to own your choices. All right. Uh let's start and we'll keep it brisk. Let's start with you, Beth. Your first choice in the five-round draft.

SPEAKER_02 55:28

Yeah, this is um this is an easy one. Okay. Um we haven't brought it up yet, but I'm gonna go with um Crosby Steels and Nash, the Southern Cross. Ah sorry. I had to I had to get it, make sure it was on the list. This is That was my number one. Um This is just a beautiful song. Stunning. I I wish I wish it was remade. I wish more people remade it.

SPEAKER_03 55:57

I just listed and it was actually a real it. I didn't mind it.

SPEAKER_05 56:01

I didn't care for it, but I it was okay.

SPEAKER_03 56:04

It was okay, but I feel like you can't be theoretical.

SPEAKER_02 56:06

Imagine if like 15 artists remade it and just made one album of that song each one.

SPEAKER_05 56:12

Oh, that would be amazing.

SPEAKER_02 56:13

I would like that. Yep.

SPEAKER_05 56:14

What if they did like a we are the world thing with it? Not so much.

SPEAKER_02 56:18

No, no, just individuals. Just a whole album.

SPEAKER_03 56:22

In the church of making we're theme our own life. You have to hold you have to hold your earphone on, like to do it.

SPEAKER_05 56:31

This is an audio medium, though.

SPEAKER_00 56:34

Oh, hang on.

SPEAKER_03 56:34

I I'll start recording.

SPEAKER_00 56:36

True, we make a bit of D. Just you and me. Ah, let me hear you. Go ahead, Kim.

SPEAKER_03 56:41

Alright. I'm going Baker Street. Oh. Fun. I love that song. I again I woke up with it in my head this morning. I was thinking about like just the music, the lyrics. I yeah, I love it.

SPEAKER_05 56:59

Yeah. Oh my god, it's a fantastic song. That's that's that's the best. Um, all right, so for me, uh Ride Like the Wind, Christopher Cross. Um you know, I never I never liked it, but the more like after I learned the words, I really came to appreciate it. And I think it was always just Christopher Cross's voice more than anything else. It just kind of bothered me a little bit. And then um, you know, it's kind of a cowboy outlaw song, and it's not necessarily something you would equate with Christopher Cross, but that song is actually badass. Um, like that whole record is spectacular, but that song for me is is one that I would draft in the first round, to be sure. All right. So we're going over to Beth uh for the start of round two.

SPEAKER_02 57:44

Yeah, absolutely. Um I'm gonna add to the list um Bertie Higgins Key Largo. Um it's just just a fun song. It's smooth, it's I it's unabashedly romantic. It's super romantic, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 58:02

Get me a moist. Yep. You know who else gives me a moist? Merv Griffin.

SPEAKER_03 58:09

Mac Douglas.

SPEAKER_04 58:10

Oh Merv Griffin.

SPEAKER_03 58:20

Sorry, that used to be your answer. Apparently he's been replaced.

SPEAKER_01 58:23

The hell are you talking about, you old bat?

SPEAKER_05 58:27

All right, okay, yeah, I love it. Key Largo, awesome. All right, Kim, what do you got?

SPEAKER_03 58:31

All right. Uh I'm going, um, we just disagree. Dave Mason.

SPEAKER_01 58:36

Yep. Why?

SPEAKER_03 58:40

I feel like that song just tells a story. It tells a story, it like kind of wrenches your heart a little bit, you know. It's like, I don't know. I love it. I just love it.

SPEAKER_05 58:56

I do. Yeah. I that song is great to sing with karaoke for sure. And and and we'll do that sometime. Well, yeah. And uh gosh. Um yeah, that I that to me was always like a divorce song, right? Uh it's just sort of like, yeah, we had a thing and adios.

SPEAKER_04 59:16

And yeah.

SPEAKER_05 59:19

Yeah. I just I never got this like the sense of like, are you trying to come together? Are you breaking up, or you know, what's happening there? All right. Um, so for me, uh, my second round pick is smoke from a distant fire, Sanford Townsend band. Just love that tune. It's just, you know, it it's quick, right? The the the lyrics are are snappy and witty. Um yeah, those guys know how to turn a phrase, and and there's just you know, great drums and the the the saxophone, of course, and uh just just love it. Um fantastic harmonies, also. Uh smoke from a distant fire, Sanford Townsend Band. All right, uh Beth, start around three.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:02

Gosh, this is going quick. All right. Um I've got some beautiful songs on the list. Um, I really enjoy when we brought up before the Little River Band. Um there's quite a few to choose from, but um I think I think cool change. Yeah, you know, it's just it it's again like that, it's it's just romantic, but um thoughtful.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:36

It's very thoughtful, right? It's it's it's it's uh I always get that image, right? It's this guy alone on a boat where just thinking. He's just singing out loud his thoughts. It's yeah, yeah, it's really cool. Yeah, what do you think? A Beth's choice, I mean.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:49

Oh, I I agree. I like it. Yeah, yeah, it's a good choice.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:54

Yep. All right, what do you got?

SPEAKER_03 1:00:56

On and on. On oh Stephen Bishop. Did I take it from you? Yep. Yep, yep, yep.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:05

All right, Stephen Bishop.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:06

It's another like real smooth one. I don't know. It's just I don't know. I like I just like songs that really speak to you. Like they songs that tell a story, songs that really like speak to your to your heart, and you know, and yeah, it does.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:22

Yeah, I actually like the little um like kind of uh uh bongos in there, right? Got the sun on my shoulder and my toes in the sand.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:33

Anyway, uh brings it. Let me put some other man up, but I don't care. I'll just dream and stay tan. We could go on and on. Oh, oh, hey!

SPEAKER_05 1:01:49

Completely by accident there. Okay. Uh for me, I think um Biggest Part of Me by Ambrosia. Uh just a you know, smooth beat, right? Just great band. For me, that's that's kind of a quintessential rock song. Um uh yeah, I I I I don't know what else to say about it. It's just uh uh I like it better than some of their others. Um yeah, yeah, I think I think that's as far as I can go with that one. Without crying. All right.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:28

Uh Beth, start of round four.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:31

All right, so I mean it's it wouldn't be complete without um Thunder Island, Jay Ferguson. That's just a that's a party.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:42

Yep, a banger.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:44

That is a banger, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:45

As we all know from trivia, who did the guitar solo?

SPEAKER_02 1:02:49

That would be Joe Walsh.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:50

Joe Walsh and the James gang.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:53

I think.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:54

It was not the James, it was just Joe Walsh. Just Joe Walsh, maybe he was with the Eagles. He was oh they were recording in the same studio and they ran into each other in the hallway. And uh Jay Ferguson said, like, hey, I'm doing a record, and you want to come play guitar just on a lark, and you know, Joe Walsh was like, sure, man, you know, and just sounded just like that, too. It probably well. I'm so high. Sure, man. Yeah, man, yeah, yeah, yeah. All right. You know, you know what's funny is I I I I grew up a a huge KISS fan, and uh Yep, and and and so the start of that song, right? The music, the you got the guitar, the dun da. The drums come in, and Jay Ferguson, like the first lyric, is ooh yeah, right? And I always thought that that sounded just like Paul Stanley, and so I would listen to that song over and over because I'm like, Kiss is getting some airplay, something besides Beth. Yeah, it was like no offense. Uh but something I yeah, it was. I was drawn to it. And then uh boy, I saw a picture of that guy, and I'm like, look at all that hair. Like he just looks like a looks like a cat toy. Um and then uh and then I saw him like in a video, and I I don't know that I've ever seen worse teeth on a man. Look like Mike Myers and Austin Powers included. Bad teeth. Jay Ferguson. He has Ferguson teeth.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:21

I have to uh look this up right now.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:24

I don't think so.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:25

I don't think so. For the record.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:28

I think Beth is one of my favorite kiss songs. Just saying. It's the only one I know. I know it word for word. In fact, Sean and I were going, we were going, oh, I think we when we were going up to Waterville, it came on.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:45

And you're both singing.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:47

And he he he changed the the chant, like he changed the song. It was on his Pandora.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:52

Does he still have a hand?

SPEAKER_03 1:04:53

I said, Did you slap me? I said, I like that song, and he had to put it back on. And I sang every word.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:07

Good. That's why we're friends. That's why I sing Kim. See when what are we gonna do about Grimms comes up?

SPEAKER_03 1:05:17

What are we gonna do about Kim?

SPEAKER_05 1:05:22

Sometimes I sing, what's Pete gonna do about Kim? Instead of what's he gonna do about him? What's she gonna do about him? It's what's Pete gonna do about Kim. Uh I I've actually forgotten where the heck we are. We are in round four, and it's time for Kim.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:37

Okay, so baby come back. What? Yes, Playa. What you talking about, Playa? What are you talking about, Playa?

SPEAKER_05 1:05:45

All right. I can't say come back. Great song.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:49

So good.

SPEAKER_05 1:05:50

What's your favorite thing about it?

SPEAKER_03 1:05:53

Oh bass player. I don't know. Again, it just it's another one that. Just kind of tells a story to me, and I don't know. It just you feel like kind of that angst and sure, you know.

SPEAKER_05 1:06:08

Oh, there's definite angst. There's angst. Yeah. Yeah. And you know the bass player from Player uh was on like Young and the Restless or something. He became a soap opera actor. Oh, yeah. Yeah. You remember that guy Stone Phillips that used to be a journalist for uh NBC, I think? Yeah, it kind of looks an awful lot like him. He's got that big square jaw. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:28

All right.

SPEAKER_05 1:06:28

Yeah. I mean, I'm straight, but that's an incredibly attractive man. It's just just saying. Uh, so yeah. Uh all right. Number five, round five, back to bell.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:42

But did you did you do one? Oh, sorry, I didn't.

SPEAKER_05 1:06:44

You're absolutely correct.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:45

Oh good catch. I'm keeping track.

SPEAKER_05 1:06:49

Thank you. Uh I'm gonna go with Hey 19 by Stele Dan. It's one of my favorite songs. Great little um uh drum fill in that one. Uh I think it's just a song about I'd like to say it's a song about getting older. I think it's more about a song about an old guy dating a younger woman. Uh as she kind of is is sort of realizes though that she's a little uh inexperienced. Um she's 19, exactly. So yeah.

unknown 1:07:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:07:24

Sweet G. Really?

SPEAKER_01 1:07:25

Are you do you want to rethink your No, that's my choice.

SPEAKER_05 1:07:28

I'm sticking with it. Yep. I'm sticking with it. Uh all right. So, Beth, now round five to you. Last round.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:37

All right. Um, so boy, we've got some good ones. Uh, it's hard uh to come up with something that we might have missed that's gonna you know round out the the the playlist, but um do we have do we have any Boz Skags on here?

SPEAKER_00 1:07:57

Um I don't think so.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:59

Uh no. No, okay then. That has to happen. Okay, and I it has to be Leto. Uh Lido Shuffle. I like that one. Yeah, it's fun. That's just a fun song. It is a fun song.

SPEAKER_05 1:08:12

Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah, I do love that song. My goodness. This is quite a playlist that we're coming up with here. I I'm I'm digging it. Uh Kim, what do you have?

SPEAKER_03 1:08:21

Okay. Um last one for me. I'm gonna do it.

SPEAKER_05 1:08:29

Do it.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:30

Him.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:31

Oh doing it.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:33

That's such an easy song to sing. It is.

SPEAKER_05 1:08:37

This is this is gonna be made public, you know.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:39

Oh, I know. Yeah, might as well put my guilty pleasure.

SPEAKER_05 1:08:42

Unbelievable. All right. All right. I I will close this thing out with reminiscing by the the Little River Band. Um do we even have I don't I don't know that we've even had any uh Little River Band on here yet.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:57

So yeah, I did the um cool change.

SPEAKER_05 1:08:59

Oh yeah, that's right. That's right.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:02

I almost went Lovely Day, but I had to put him in there. I don't care for that song. So that should be the one you turn off.

SPEAKER_05 1:09:08

What lovely day?

SPEAKER_02 1:09:09

Lovely day.

SPEAKER_05 1:09:10

It's a bad song. Yeah, but him is terrible.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:13

No, no, no.

SPEAKER_05 1:09:13

I mean, Bill Withers, bad. Rupert Holmes, terrible. You know, we did not do the escape song. Uh sorry, the Pinya Colada song.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:22

Which I was blasting in your driveway when I got here. Yes, I was. Yeah. Wasn't that it? Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:09:28

Uh I think so. Yeah. Yeah. Blasting it in the driveway. She was playing playing air beating.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:34

I would turn that off if somebody heard me, but I do listen to it.

SPEAKER_05 1:09:38

I have literally seen our homes. Oh, I have literally seen people play air drums and air guitar. I've never seen anyone except Kim play air bass. She's playing.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:48

Did you ever see that movie I Love You Man? She Paul Rudd. Yeah. Plays air bass. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:09:55

Not like you, though.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:56

He's a cool cat.

SPEAKER_05 1:09:58

Because that's a movie. And you're real, I think. You're real dumb. All right. That was fun. Thank you for your questionable choices right up to the end there, Kim. Uh, we're gonna take a quick break and be right back to close the round table out.

Commercial Break 4! Teak Envy Marine Wood Care and The Good Neighbor Award

SPEAKER_05 1:10:21

Drain Battery Society, barely charged, currently being monetized. Actually, we're not monetized at all. I don't know why I lied. Some men have teak. Gary has teak. Rich, supple, hand rubbed until it hurt. He spent six hours doing it Saturday. Then another two sitting nearby waiting for someone to notice. Nobody did. But Gary knows. Teak envy Marine Woodcare. Your wood matters. Nice teak, Gary. All summer Gary worked to become a better neighbor. He helped the Havensteens with their groceries, complimented three older boats, and once asked someone a question about their boat. It wasn't easy, but tonight it all pays off. And this year's Harbor Club Good Neighbor Award goes to Steve. Congratulations, Steve. Fair winds and following seas, Gary. Jackass. Welcome back from the break. No need to get up. I certainly didn't. Welcome back to the Drain Battery Society's Yacht Rock Roundtable. I'm your host, Peter Conway, here with the fabulous Beth P and the infamous Kimberly Q Delaney. I want to take a moment to thank both of you today for participating in a meaningful way. We belong to a generation that has a certain knowledge that is particularly useful right now. And while both of you have opportunities to share your knowledge and lives well beyond this podcast, are you still showing off pictures of Jay Ferguson's teeth? What's happening?

SPEAKER_03 1:12:21

She just came up with Year of the Cat. Oh my God.

SPEAKER_05 1:12:24

How did we miss that? I don't know. Year of the Cat by Al Stewart. Oh my God, it is so bad. We did. I think we we we may have to go back and do some corrections, some, some, some what are they looping? What do they call that when you do it in the movie? Anyway. Yeah. So uh, you know, you you have many opportunities to share your knowledge and lives well beyond this podcast, um uh, which is is fantastic for you. But uh you know, this is all I have to prove that I is kind, I is smart, and I is impotent. Not impotent. Big big difference. Big difference. And you listener, don't listen to me.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:10

That's not how it's pronounced.

SPEAKER_05 1:13:11

Don't listen. I want to say thank you uh to to to to you, listener. Uh as we uh build he has two teeth. Uh as as we build the audience, and and I hear from more and more of you, um, it reminds me of what I say all the time. We are in this thing together, and I know what you're thinking. We are in this love together, right? Yeah, like cherries on the vine. Uh the the aches and pains, dropping things, not remember where we put our glasses or keys, and the thousands of other little things that that serve as reminders every single day that we are no longer 30. Or 40. Or 50 in many cases. And I know there are probably a few of you out there saying, or 60 right now, and I want you to know that I hear you too, and we are here for you as well. Settle down. I'm kidding. Listen, thanks to all of you for making this ride worthwhile. All right, as we close out episode 10, I want to ask both of you one

Songs for the End of the World

SPEAKER_05 1:14:14

more question. It should be easy because it really limits your choices. You ready? All right, good answer. Uh if yes. Oh, there we go. Look, the mics are on. Uh, if the world was ending and you could save one yacht rock song forever, what song would it be? And if you want, you can throw a marina rock song uh in there just for fun. Uh for me, uh, it's Baby Come Back. It's not the quintessential yacht rock song, but hits every wicket, right? Certified yacht rock because of the opening bass line, the yearning, right? And Peter Beckett's lyrics, nice short melodic guitar solo, great harmonies, uh as we talked about. I think it's probably only missing a member of Toto. Um uh I I my marina song would be Thunder Island by Jay Ferguson. I think that just goes without saying, right? Thick song, jams, love the drums. We talked about Joe Walsh doing the guitar solo. Um, yeah. So I mean that that what a lucky get that was. Can you imagine walking back into the studio with Joe Walsh and being like, guys, uh got somebody here that wants to play on the record? Uh Jimmy, why don't you sit down over there and we're gonna let this guy see what he can do? And it was Joe Walsh. Um, so what do you have?

SPEAKER_02 1:15:26

I mean, I think I would go with um so for the yacht rock, uh had to listen to it, What a Fool Believes.

SPEAKER_04 1:15:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:36

So much fun.

SPEAKER_04 1:15:37

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:37

Um, and then the uh marina rock. Yeah. Uh what about uh Jerry Rafferty right down the line?

SPEAKER_05 1:15:48

Ooh, that's a good one.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:50

It's got a it's just a fun song.

SPEAKER_05 1:15:53

It is, it moves. Yep, yeah. Moves with that it's like subtly smooth, right? No, it's smooth, it subtly moves.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:00

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_05 1:16:01

Kind of you're at the end, you're like, how the hell did I get here?

SPEAKER_02 1:16:03

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:16:03

It's just and you're sad about it.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:05

Yeah, exactly. Great song. So those are the those are the only two, right? That's it. That's all that's left in the world.

SPEAKER_05 1:16:11

Okay. I think we're gonna put those in with the seeds in Norway.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:15

Right.

SPEAKER_05 1:16:17

Kim, what do you have?

SPEAKER_03 1:16:18

Um I would say Yacht Rock. Um I guess I'm just I'm gonna go back to Baker Street again. Nice.

SPEAKER_05 1:16:29

Two Jerry Rafferty songs.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:31

All right. And would you say we have to come up with a marina?

SPEAKER_05 1:16:35

Yeah, something close. Um like a 1B.

SPEAKER_06 1:16:41

I will say Noah. Why don't you settle down? You've had your you've had your say over there.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:53

Um I was gonna say just something by like Jimmy Buffett um from Marina Rock. Okay, you know.

SPEAKER_05 1:17:02

Sure. Um Margaritaville?

SPEAKER_03 1:17:06

I would probably I mean that's it's I mean Marguerite Come Monday.

SPEAKER_05 1:17:12

Oh, yeah, that's a good sign. Yeah. Good choice. Good choice. Yeah, come Monday. Okay. All right, with that last little pearl. This episode ties back up to the dock. I'll be back next week with a quasi-normal Drain Batteries Society. Uh, make sure you check out the website, Drain Batteriesociety.com. And if you have comments, email me at mailbag at drainbatteriesociety.com. Let me know what you would include in any of these lists. If you were sitting here on the panel, we might be able to make a show out of it. And wouldn't that be fun? I could talk music all day long. Speaking of music, which I think is all we've done today on the Yacht Rock Round Table, the Drain Battery Society theme is brought to you by Stern and Forster Marine Audio. Premium sound systems for boat owners who believe everyone within three slips should know what they're listening to. Now available with 12 banging waterproof speakers. Keep in mind Gary has 16. Stern and Forster Marine Audio. Some people listen to music, others make it the marina's problem. Gary. Gary, in case you didn't notice, is the reason civilized societies make rules in the first place. We at the Drain Battery Society only have three. First, get off my lawn. Second, keep your battery between 20 and 80 percent. Anything outside of that range suggests either poor planning or enthusiasm we are absolutely not comfortable with. And third, keep your expectations low. That's especially important today because I've gathered two other grown adults around a table to determine which songs from 1976 through 1984 are sufficiently smooth as a baby's bottom. History will judge us, and those kinds of expectations are just dumb. Thanks for listening to the Drain Battery Society. Barely inflated, partially flotational