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

#codesmusic #cosomusic

/nosanitize

@codeWhisperer

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.