OK, I freely admit that I fit the older-guy cliché and dig Steely Dan. How can I resist that vibe? It's somewhere between yacht rock and blue-eyed soul.
But yesterday I heard a report that Gen-Zs are now discovering SD and really getting into it.
Well, if you also dig that style, here's a playlist for you. Maybe it'll help with a little mood boost:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVKqwvPcGIlzAEwUHpABiCs-uLM1AoMgG
/nosanitize
I have no idea how they got put into the Yacht Rock category, they hired some of the best studi and jazz musicians to play on their albums.
@Charles_Hawtrey I agree with you. Technically I guess it could all be called AOR, but I often find Steely Dan on yacht rock lists. I should have mentioned - though - that this list contains no SD. Just bands and songs that remind me of SD (production, songwriting, harmonies, etc.)
@codeWhisperer To me they are jazz with just enough pop to sell a lot of records.
There really isn't any category for them, to include them with Yacht Rock is demeaning for them and I like Yacht Rock but they probably wouldn't get played at all without it.
@Charles_Hawtrey I certainly did not mean to offend. I've seen them live several times now, and it would be difficult to pin a single label on the music. That's one reason why I said that they are "somewhere between".
There are elements of jazz, soul, a little R&B, some pop rock, and then (usually) heaping helpings of delightful sonic choices and engineering to make every instrument slot perfectly into a cohesive soundtrack.
All I know for sure is that I know it when I hear it, and I dig it!
@codeWhisperer You didn't offend me at all. I really think they're in a class by themselves. During the 70's when they were current, playlists were a lot looser and they were played along with rock on AOR FM stations, that's all I listened to back then and heard all of their stuff. now I guess they had to make up a new genre name and they ended up in Yacht Rock.
@Charles_Hawtrey I remember the first day I heard Steely Dan. I was probably 15. We were visiting my Uncle, and he was delayed for some reason. He told me I could listen to his music. He had a pretty decent system, and I put Aja on the turntable, not knowing what was about to happen. His Hafler system and pristine Yamaha (high-end) speakers opened a new door for me. It was wonderful.
@codeWhisperer Yes, I bought their first album when it first came out, I've loved them since then, they were actually a band back then but still a cut WAY above anything else you hear on the radio. It's been about fifty years and I've never gotten tired of them. Their LP's sound better than their CD's for some reason.