The Top 16 Yacht Rock Artists

It was more complicated than I expected to determine the Top Yacht Rock artists. My first thought was to simply average the Yachtski score all of a particular artist's songs and choose the top 10, 15, 20, whatever. But then I realized this method didn't factor in the number of songs by an artist had that had been classified as Nyacht Rock. It also didn't account for an artist's contributions to other artists' songs.

So I devised a system to account for that, as well as total number of YR songs and essentials. Like the Yachtski Scale, it provides a score out of 100. If an artist is above 50 they are classified as Yacht Rock. The higher they are above 50, the more YR they are. That's how I ended up with 16 artists, instead of the more traditional multiple of 5. (If I had rounded up to 20, the remaining four would have been Nielsen/Pearson, Ray Parker, Jr., Robbie Dupree, and Bobby Caldwell, but all fell just below the 50% threshold).

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Something that strikes me as I look at this list is the way it undermines the perception that Yacht Rock is a California phenomenon. Yes, most of the records were made in L.A., but the artists that birthed and nurtured this particular sound were from all over the U.S., and even Canada! Michael McDonald honed his skills in St. Louis and southern Illinois. Christopher Cross hailed from San Antonio, Texas. Al Jarreau grew up in Milwaukee. Steely Dan were New York through-and-through. I could go on. The point is that the roots of this music were not in California sunshine and ocean breezes.

16. Brenda Russell

Composite Score: 52.16     Number of YR Songs: 8     Number of YR Essentials: 1   

Singer/songwriter Brenda Russell has had a fascinating career. Her parents were both musicians (her father was a member of the Ink Spots) and she started in the business herself as young teenager. In the 1970s she formed a duo with her then-husband Brian, and they released two albums on Elton John's label. Following a divorce, she went solo. Most of her Yachtski cred comes from her 1983 album Two Eyes, but 1981's Love Life features most of Toto and Larsen-Feiten. Plus, her 1979 song "A Little Bit of Love" (which was sampled on Big Pun's "Still Not a Player") definitely has the Doobie Bounce.

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15. Roby Duke

Composite Score: 53.72     Number of YR Songs: 6     Number of YR Essentials: 2

A Mississippi native, Roby Duke was something of a musical prodigy. He joined his father's band at age 12. Eventually he decided he wanted to make music that expressed his Christian faith. In the early 1980s he landed a recording contract with MCA Songbird, the label's Christian division, and put out his debut album Not the Same. Whether he was genuinely taken with the YR sound, he saw the commercial potential of it, or both, he ended up making one of the definitive YR albums. He also ended up serving as a model for his fellow Christian artists in terms of enveloping their message in modern-sounding music, something that would become more and more common as the '80s went on. Duke stuck with the YR sound for the 1984 follow-up, Come Let Us Reason, but his next two albums went full Linn drum machine R & B.

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14. Marc Jordan

Composite Score: 53.96     Number of YR Songs: 14     Number of YR Essentials: 1   

Born in Brooklyn and raised in Toronto, Marc Jordan came to the attention of Steely Dan producer Gary Katz and landed a recording contract with Warner Bros. He reeled off three YR albums in a row, including the 1979 standout Blue Desert. As YR's salad days faded he continued to record and perform, as well as produce and write for other artists.

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13. Maxus

Composite Score: 54.04     Number of YR Songs: 7     Number of YR Essentials: 1   

Maxus was comprised of keyboardist/singer Jay Gruska (who had briefly been a member of Three Dog Night in the mid-1970s), bassist Mark Leonard (who'd go on to write "Missing You" for John Waite in 1984), and guitarist Michael Landeau (at that time an up-and-coming session man; soon to be everywhere on YR songs). The released exactly one album. 

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12. Doobie Brothers

Composite Score: 57.68     Number of YR Songs: 20     Number of YR Essentials: 2   

Formed in San Jose, California in 1970, the Doobie Brothers began as straightforward rock 'n' roll band. Landing at Warner Bros. records, they released five albums between 1971 and 1975, and scored hits such as "Listen to the Music," "China Grove," and the #1 "Black Water." When lead singer Tom Johnston began to have debilitating health problems, the band thought they might be finished. But newish member Jeff "Skunk" Baxter suggested a singer he'd worked with in Steely Dan, Michael McDonald. McDonald's R & B influences combined with the band's rock chops to create the Doobie Bounce, as evidenced in the 1976 hit (written by McDonald) "Takin' It to The Streets." With McDonald in charge, the band would create the apex of  YR, "What a Fool Believes" in 1979.

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11. James Ingram 

Composite Score: 58.60     Number of YR Songs: 5     Number of YR Essentials: 2   

Singer/songwriter James Ingram grew up in Ohio, and then headed to LA after college, where he joined the band Revelation Funk and earned himself a spot as Ray Charles's keyboardist. A songwriting publishing deal brought him to the attention of Quincy Jones, who recruited Ingram to write and sing on his 1981 album The Dude. This resulted in two hits (and YR classics) - "One Hundred Ways" and "Just Once" - and a Grammy. The next year he teamed up with Patti Austin for the #1 hit (and YR Essential) "Baby, Come To Me" and co-wrote "P.Y.T." on Michael Jackson's Thriller. His debut solo album, It's Your Night," was produced by Jones and featured a duet with Michael McDonald. Ingram would go on to have a productive career, including another #1 hit ("I Don't Have the Heart") and the unforgettable theme from An American Tail ("Somewhere Out There").

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10. Bill Champlin

Composite Score: 59.48     Number of YR Songs: 9     Number of YR Essentials: 1   

Oakland, California native Bill Champlin spent his teens and twenties in semi-successful bands Sons of Champlin and The Rhythm Dukes. In 1977, at age 30, he moved to LA and began working as a session musician and songwriter, bringing him into the YR circle that included Jay Graydon and David Foster. He recorded his own solo albums in 1978 and 1981, but also contributed to lots of YR songs and albums, including co-writing "After the Love Has Gone" (Earth, Wind, and Fire) and "Turn Your Love Around" (George Benson). He joined Chicago in 1981 singing lead vocals on hits such as "Hard Habit to Break" and "Look Away." He stayed with Chicago until 2009, and continued to release solo albums.

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9. Bill LaBounty 

Composite Score: 60.48     Number of YR Songs: 12     Number of YR Essentials: 2  

Idaho-raised singer/songwriter Bill LaBounty released his first album in 1972 with his band Fat Chance (it has a truly awful album cover), but his solo debut, 1975's Promised Love (it has a truly awesome album cover) brings a raw soulfulness to soft rock tunes, like a combo of James Taylor, Billy Joel, and Bob Seger. Though he sang with fellow YR artists such as Robbie Dupree, Brenda Russell, and Bobby Caldwell, and his 1982 self-tilted album is a classic of the YR genre, his real impact has been as a songwriter. Michael Johnson took his song "This Night Won't Last Forever" to #19, and later he wrote hits for Ronnie Milsap, Tanya Tucker, Steve Wariner, among others.

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8. Patti Austin

Composite Score: 63.3     Number of YR Songs: 8     Number of YR Essentials: 2 

Like James Ingram, Patti Austin hit the big time with Quincy Jones's The Dude. Unlike James Ingram, she was already an established recording artist in her own right, with three albums (made with a host of jazz fusion luminaries) under her belt.  Austin's Michael Jackson-esque register made her the perfect backup muse for Quincy Jones, and though Austin's contributions didn't hit the U.S. charts the way Ingram's did, they were still solid YR tunes ("Something Special," "Razzmatazz," "Betcha Wouldn't Hurt Me"). It was her fourth solo album (released the same year as The Dude - 1981) that took her to #1 with "Baby, Come To Me."

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7. Kenny Loggins

Composite Score: 67.68     Number of YR Songs: 15     Number of YR Essentials: 3   

Kenny Loggins is an interesting case. On one hand he was somewhat of a YR dilletante; his early-to-mid-1970s work in Loggins & Messina was not YR, nor was his work from "Footloose" on (if we're getting technical, he has several songs from the 1976-1983 YR window that also weren't YR, e.g. "I'm Alright"). BUT, the times he did make YR, he really did it well. He had a hand in four of the four top highest-scoring YR Essentials (his own "This Is It," "Who's Right, Who's Wrong," and "Heart to Heart" plus a co-write on "What a Fool Believes"). 

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6. Pages

Composite Score: 67.72     Number of YR Songs: 14     Number of YR Essentials: 2   

Centered around two childhood friends from Phoenix, Arizona, Steve George and Richard Page, Pages began by backing up Andy Gibb circa 1977. They landed a recording contract, eventually producing three albums, each with more than its fair share of YR tunes. Page and George also worked as sessions musicians for a ton of other YR artists, before forming a new band: Mr. Mister ("Broken Wings," "Kyrie").

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5. Toto

Composite Score: 71.16     Number of YR Songs: 15     Number of YR Essentials: 3   

Toto itself was only intermittently a YR band (their Nyacht Rock list is nearly as long as their YR list). Even among the albums they recorded during the YR years of 1976-1983, there's one - 1981's Turn Back - that's not YR at all. But like Kenny Loggins, when they did YR, they really did it, delivering us "Make Believe," "Rosanna," and "Africa." And of course there's the not-insignificant fact that their members played on dozens upon dozens of other YR tracks.

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4. Steely Dan

Composite Score: 71.56     Number of YR Songs: 28     Number of YR Essentials: 5   

The YR progenitors are only at number four? Well, as with many movements, the ones who start them are often not their purest purveyors. Honestly, Steely Dan's overall score may have suffered somewhat because the Yacht or Nyacht guys have rated nearly all of their songs, even including some demos, which lowered their score compared to some artists who have only had their work during the YR years rated. Personally, I don't think Steely Dan's songs have quite enough soulfulness or danceability to compete with the best of YR.

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3. Al Jarreau

Composite Score: 76.44     Number of YR Songs: 20     Number of YR Essentials: 4

This one may surprise some people, but from 1980 to 1983, there were very few artists whose musical identity was so closely aligned with YR. Jarreau began his career in jazz before moving over toward the pop / R & B side of things. Produced by Jay Graydon, his albums Breakin' Away (1981) and Jarreau (1983) were YR personified. They were also big hits in terms of charts, sales, and awards. They even landed Jarreau a spot on the "We Are the World" roster (and if you watched the documentary The Greatest Night In Pop on Netflix, you'll know Jarreau got amusingly shit-faced during the marathon recording process).

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2. Christopher Cross

Composite Score: 76.76     Number of YR Songs: 20     Number of YR Essentials: 4   

All of the top five artists on this list helped push Yacht Rock to the forefront of the music industry (even Steely Dan got to #10 with "Hey Nineteen" in 1980), but none more so than Christopher Cross. His 1979 debut album was one of those rare runaway albums. It produced four top 20 hits (including the #1 "Sailing" and the #2 "Ride Like the Wind") and won five Grammys. Cross followed that up with two more #1s in 1981 and 1983 respectively, "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" and "Think of Laura." Unlike some of his contemporaries, Cross continued to make YRish music once the window closed, partly because it wasn't a put-on but who he really was as an artist.

1. Michael McDonald 

Composite Score: 84.84     Number of YR Songs: 12     Number of YR Essentials: 4   

And so we arrive at the king. Even if he didn't have the numbers to back it up, the fact that Michael McDonald worked closely with many of the other artists on this list (including Steely Dan, Christopher Cross, Kenny Loggins) AND was a key member of the Doobie Brothers is enough to declare him the key figure in YR.