Once it was mostly called soft rock, since recently. a vast part of that genre has a new name – Yacht Rock, and it’s set to be covered in a new documentary from HBO.
To cover the phenomenon, HBO’s documentary comes with a simple twist in its title: Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary. It features interviews with yacht rock stalwarts Christopher Cross, Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins, Steve Lukather, and more. The premiere is set for November 29, 2024.
The picture is directed by Garret Price, and the trailer also shows conversations with admirers like Questlove, Mac DeMarco, Thundercat, plus J. D. Ryznar who coined the term “yacht rock” with his eponymous Channel 101 comedy web series in the ’00s. According to People, a scene captures Price calling Donald Fagen to ask if he wanted to be interviewed for the doc, and the Steely Dan legend had an intense reaction:
After Price introduces himself and politely asks Fagen for an interview about “this genre,” Fagen’s reaction is priceless.
Fagen: “And what genre is that?”
Price: “Um, yacht rock.”
Fagen: “Oh, yacht rock. Well, I tell you what. Why don’t you go fuck yourself?”
Beep, beep, beep.
