Yacht rock is supposed to be an endearing genre. It's essentially easy listening without the bad PR. R&B but for middle aged white guys with the mildest amount of soul. It's gotten its reappraisal over the years, to the point where people made a documentary about it. Guys like Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins act as the standard bearers, the faces of the genre. However, as much as fans may like it today, that doesn't necessarily mean that this is a unanimous experience. Particularly, Daryl Hall can't stand the idea of being lumped in with yacht rock. He's currently lashing out at the neat compartmentalization of his music with John Oates.
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Recently, Hall spoke on the Broken Record podcast with Justin Richmond to discuss his illustrious career. At one point during the conversation, the host brings up how the Doobie Brothers were 'pigeonholed' in yacht rock amidst their R&B work. Just the mere mention of it makes Daryl shrug in absolute exhaustion. Then, he unloads on a tirade about the existence of the genre entirely.
Daryl Hall Lashes Out at Yacht Rock Genre
"This is something I don't understand," Daryl says. "First of all, yacht rock was a f---ing joke by two jerk-offs in California, and suddenly it became a genre and I don't even understand it. I never understood it. I'm glad you say that it's just R&B. It's just another with some maybe some jazz in there. It's mellow R&B, It's smooth R&B. Yeah, I don't see what the yacht part is."
Additionally, Daryl sighs at how his work with John Oates was lazily slapped together in yacht rock as well. He feels like it was just another way to neatly label something so that record execs could sell it. "They came up with all this kind of crap, soft rock and yacht rock, and all this other nonsense. And none of it, none of it really describes anything that I do, really," Hall stresses.
