Summer Nights in the 70s

On several occasions I've been at social gatherings during which there was "streaming music" playing from some device, and on some particular occasions I'd notice that the lineup of songs seemed to be a consistent succession of my own personal favorites. One after the other, song after song, it was though I'd compiled my own massive playlist that I could present to people and say "This is me, this is what I'm into." And because it included many artists and spanned an indeterminable amount of time, I wasn't able to nail down any "genre" on my own and was eventually forced to ask out loud, "What station is this?" And that was the first time I'd ever heard the phrase "Yacht Rock".

This was years ago so the terminology was even more of a novelty than it is now, but I got it right away: sunny, breezy, beachy, sea air, sure. I've no real experience with boating but it paints a picture that matches the mood - if you let it. The main problem with the name is it feels passively pejorative; I know I personally don't wanna be associated with some yuppie, elitist recreational activity, nor do I wanna perpetuate any stereotypes of race or privilege simply by listening to The Doobie Brothers. But more than anything this music doesn't put me in the mind of sand and ocean because that's not the subjective vibe with which I associate it.

This type of music used to be widely known as Soft Rock, and thanks largely to TIME LIFE Music Corporation, I associated it with nighttime (as that's when the infomercials would typically air). 12am, lying in bed, watching a half hour montage of Ambrosia, Fleetwood Mac, and Bill Withers being all emotional in front of colored lights is the sorta spooky ambience I link to these sounds. As I got older, again, driving at night with the windows down and the car stereo on, cruising past streetlights and storefronts to Toto and Firefall. I'm sure that's not too dissimilar of how this music was experienced when it was new / I also picture it coming out of jukeboxes in nightclubs and bars. Frankly I imagine any scenario except white people on yachts. 

The thing I find fascinating about this supposed genre is that it was defined and denominated long after the fact; the songs that fall under this category were released between the mid 1970s and the mid 1980s and were mostly marketed on FM stations as "Adult Contemporary". But in the early 2000s it was determined by some (and now by all apparently) that this specific abstract sound and subject matter of music from this particular era would be known as "Yacht Rock", and because it was entirely invented by fans, its listeners are littered with gatekeepers and tyrants who decide what does and doesn't qualify. And because of that and all the other aforementioned attributes, I say fuck Yacht Rock. 

Tonight I'm here to share with you Summer Nights in the 70s: my own handpicked playlist to accompany your sultry evenings of broken hearts and breaking free, all from our Jive-ass Decade of the season. Come with me and escape. 

- Paul