Is The Term “Yacht Rock” Offensive? A Derogatory Term?
Is the term “Yacht Rock” offensive to the musical genre? I didn’t think so, but watching HBO’s Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary it did seem that those two short words do occasionally conjure up intense opinions for some.
Take Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen, for example. At the end of the documentary, there is a phone interview where Fagen flat out gets explicit when he hears the term. Some similar sentiment was expressed in conversations that I have had with people in HiFi. Many are protective of their favorite things, and it appears musical genres are no exception. This week pt.AUDIO’s The Occasional Podcast explores the conversation with someone who is undoubtedly on the front lines of the current scene, Nicholas Niespodziani. Founder of the band Yacht Rock Revue, Nick has successfully ridden the growing wave of enthusiasm for “Yacht Rock” over the past 18 years. Their fame as a cover band grew into multiple country-wide tours, and they have even opened for Kenny Loggins on the road. Now they can add two original albums into the mix.
Nick walks through some of the ins and outs of the idea of Yacht Rock, and shares some of his first-hand experience facing the fans and working with the original artists. A great listen for anyone interested in what it’s like to be a touring artist or a fan of LA-based soft rock from the mid 70s and 80s. Or perhaps you might just want to hear another take on the idea after watching the documentary, there is a ton packed into this episode.
The Occasional Podcast recently interviewed Stereophile’s Michael Trei, covered the Florida Audio Expo 2025, The Best Vintage Amplifiers To Buy At A Garage Sale, interviewed Jason Stoddard of Schiit Audio, and covered the future of digital and class D with Michal Jurewicz of Mytek and High End Munich 2024, but previous episodes include how tos, tips, tricks and education in all things high fidelity audio from episodes like last week’s Hot Headphones For The Holidays, an Interview With John Devore, Measurements explained with Andrew Jones, 3 things to know about streaming audio, 5 things to consider when buying a tube amplifier, interviews with Steve Guttenberg, how to’s and more from audio’s greatest talents, including Michael Fremer, another interesting conversation about the History Of The BBC’s LS3/5a Loudspeaker, A Beginner’s Guide To Tube Amplifiers and A View From The Booth: Reference Systems, Accuracy & Why Audiophiles Love Jazz So Much: including rare interview with the late audio legend engineer Al Schmitt. The finale from season 5 includes the yearly “best of awards” and you can also find episodes covering British HiFi, Subwoofers/Setup/Tips, and the how to: Budgeting From Entry Level To High End. Season 4 highlights include Joseph Audio, Pro-Ject Turntables, and Rob Watts. One can still download this season’s educational show with TOP’s Beginners Primer To High Fidelity Digital Audio alongside the latest on Two-Way Speaker Design. Fan favorite What Is Mastering? What Happens When An Album Is Remastered? is also still available as well. If you are interested in further exploring the analog realm, the Guide To Buying A Turntable (and records) might point you in the right direction.
Options to stream this week’s Is Yacht Rock Offensive, direct from the embed below or subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast platform including iTunes, Android, Google, Deezer, Spotify, iHeartRadio and more.