There is something jazz-like in the syncopated music of something like Steely Dan. The great doo-wop harmonies of the ‘50s and ‘60s. Not quite a year since she went away - wesley morris All I want to do in the middle of the evening is hold you tight - wesley morris Which seems perfectly banal, has a really good beat, sort of builds to its chorus. I’m hearing things like “Rosanna” by Toto. All I want to do when I wake up in the morning is see your eyes - wesley morris Tried to see your point of view - wesley morrisĮvery song has something about it that is similar to the other songs. Goodbye stranger, it’s been nice - wesley morrisīut what I know I’m hearing is something bigger and deeper than that. The joke of yacht rock is that whoever invented it, and whoever’s making a playlist out of these songs, is basically saying that they’re inconsequential and that what’s in them doesn’t matter. It is like our soft rock-est period in American popular music.

He came from somewhere back in her long-ago, the sentimental fool don’t see, trying hard to - wesley morris steal away, why don’t we - wesley morrisĪnd The Doobie Brothers, “What a Fool Believes.” archived recording I’m hearing things like - archived recording

Summer breeze makes me feel fine - wesley morris How long has this been going on? wesley morris We’re talking about music made between the years of, I don’t know, I would say, like, 1975 to about 1983. Baby come back, any kind of fool could see - wesley morris It gives me plenty of time to really think about the songs I’m hearing. So I’m alone, just me, with the vegetables and the yacht rock. I think I might have sent him on one, I don’t remember. At some point, Brett has to go run an errand. So he finds the yacht rock station in Pandora, which - I don’t know why or how he’s still a Pandora guy, with all due respect to Pandora. And I asked my friend Brett, who was cooking with me, can you put on some music? And he said, what do you want to listen to? And I said, have you ever heard of yacht rock? And he said, what? I said, yacht rock, have you ever heard of this? And he goes, no, I have not. This is “1619.” This week, Wesley Morris on the birth of American music. Friday, September 6th, 2019 nikole hannah-jonesįrom The New York Times Magazine, I’m Nikole Hannah-Jones. No wonder everybody is always stealing it. Transcript Episode 3: The Birth of American Music Hosted by Nikole Hannah-Jones, produced by Andy Mills and Annie Brown, and edited by Larissa Anderson and Lisa Chow For centuries, black music has been an expression of artistic freedom.

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