The Yacht Rock web series was perfectly timed to coincide with a contemporary renaissance of smooth music from the late '70s, the kind that was previously considered a guilty pleasure because it fell out of fashion in the mid-'80s and was soon thereafter regarded as dated and square compared to other burgeoning genres, like punk rock and hip-hop. The yacht rock aesthetic was innovated by a core group of musicians and producers including, but not limited to, Christopher Cross, Steely Dan, Robbie Dupree, Kenny Loggins, Toto, David Foster, and hirsute soft rock titan Michael McDonald, along with scores of veteran session musicians from the Southern California studio scene.

Hosted by former AllMusic editor “Hollywood” Steve Huey, the series was a loving sendup of the late '70s/early '80s smooth jams to which many Millennials and late period Gen-Xers were likely conceived. Stair launched the Channel 101 web series Yacht Rock in 2005. The 200 best soft rock songs of all time:Įach song is linked by its title to the corresponding music video.It’s not often that an entire genre of music gets retconned into existence after being parodied by a web series, but that’s exactly what happened after writer, director, and producer J.D. Our tracklist offers over 16 hours of pure soft rock. Our playlist includes the best rock love songs, the greatest sentimental Rock Ballads, the most popular power ballads and the most successful acoustic ballads of soft rock. The first big hits of soft rock were the hit single “(They Long to Be) Close to You” by the duo “The Carpenters” and the track “Make It with You” by the band “Bread.”Ī little later followed many bands and solo artists such as Toto, Bryan Adams, Air Supply, America, Fleetwood Mac, Billy Joel, Elton John, Chicago, The Eagles, and even Lionel Richie, who produced mainly soft rock songs.

The vocal harmony combined with the melody makes this music genre unique.Īmong the best 200 soft rock songs of all time, many pieces were created in the 70s and 80s. Especially in the mainstream soft rock was and still is very popular. Soft Rock is in contrast to Rock music softer and offers the listener easier access through calm tones and simple rhythms. Soft rock began its conquest of the charts in the early 1970s and just a little later dominated many radio stations around the world.

70s soft rock music