"Yacht Rock" Parody (including Jethro Tull, LOL)

[mnprogger]

http://www.channel101.com/show/171

Anyone ever seen this? It's NOT new, as the videos were made mostly in 2005 and 2006. But my girlfriend, who loves Hall & Oates and actually a lot of this so-called "Yacht Rock" stumbled upon this relatively short/short-lived Parody of "smooth" rock/pop/dance/r&b etc, music from what I guess is regarded as 1975-1984 approximately.

Hall & Oates are considered the so-called villains in it, which she and I found adds to the humor.

And maybe most directly for folks around here, the 6th episode is about of all groups, Jethro Tull!, lol



the whole series of 12 episodes only takes about an hour or so to watch if one finds the time. Drew Carey even makes a cameo in 1 episode.

[A. Scherze]

Oh yeah, this series is gut-bustingly hilarious. I wish it were available in a higher quality.

I posted the Tull episode, but most of the few responses were negative.

[PeterG]

I posted the Tull episode, but most of the few responses were negative.

I'm not suprised, it's atrocious. Poor comedy, badly written and performed terribly.

[mnprogger]

I'm not suprised, it's atrocious. Poor comedy, badly written and performed terribly.

I think you're taking it too seriously (or expecting something different).

[Trane]

Originally Posted by PeterG
I'm not suprised, it's atrocious. Poor comedy, badly written and performed terribly.

I think you're taking it too seriously (or expecting something different).

Even taken lightly, this is about as funny as most of National Monty Lampoon Python stuff... (yyyyaaaawwwwnnnnn)

This one didn't draw more than two smiles during the 60's

Hated the closing minute, actually

[trurl]

Having a Skunk Baxter character was pretty random.

[A. Scherze]

Having a Skunk Baxter character was pretty random.

He's in other episodes.

[ThomasKDye]

It's an amusing idea, but extended too long. Also, the acting is really amateurish. The placement of the Tull snippets was kind of clever, though.

[A. Scherze]

From Wikipedia:

Creation and inspiration

The series was written, directed, and produced by J. D. Ryznar, co-produced by David Lyons and Hunter D. Stair, and edited by Lane Farnham. The production has a "bad-on-purpose aesthetic".[2]

Ryznar and Stair devised the series after noticing the incestuous recording careers of such bands as Steely Dan, Toto, and The Doobie Brothers and the singer-songwriters Kenny Loggins and Michael McDonald. For example, McDonald co-wrote Loggins' "This Is It" and Loggins co-wrote McDonald's band The Doobie Brothers' "What a Fool Believes" and McDonald also performed backing vocals for several other 'yacht rock' artists, including Steely Dan and Christopher Cross.

Ryznar admits to having a fascination with the music of the period. As he explained, "Getting into Steely Dan really started this for me. As did the ability to buy dollar records at Amoeba and put them on tapes for my car. Kenny Loggins has made his way into all the pilots I've been involved with except [one]."[3] As Ryznar told Reuters contributor Andy Sullivan, "I'm making fun of the songwriting process, but the music is generally treated pretty lovingly."[4]

The show

Yacht Rock's episodes were "hosted" by "Hollywood" Steve Huey, a legitimate music critic for AllMusic. It should be noted that the term "Yacht Rock" is never used throughout the series by any characters except for by Huey during his introductions; instead, it is always referred to as "smooth music."

The series depicts some realistic aspects of the music, but builds exaggerated storylines around them. For example, main protagonists Loggins and McDonald receive inspiration from a fictional impresario named Koko Goldstein, whose death in Episode 2 ultimately leads them to go their separate ways musically. Another example is the series' depiction of several real-life characters. McDonald is an idealistic and earnest singer/songwriter, but takes both smooth music and himself far too seriously. Loggins is his easygoing friend and frequent collaborator who eventually abandons smooth music in favor of commercial rock and roll in the 80s, which strains their friendship. The portrayal of John Oates as the abusive, foulmouthed leader of Hall & Oates, exerting sometimes violent control over the milquetoast Daryl Hall, is clearly different from reality, in which Hall is the main lead vocalist and songwriter with no hint of a rivalry. Christopher Cross is depicted as a wide-eyed, timid hayseed whose song "Sailing" is lauded as the "smoothest song ever." Loggins' former partner Jim Messina is a bitter wino who hates Loggins for his success and perceived betrayal. Michael Jackson is depicted as a hard-rock enthusiast who believes his partnership with guitarist Eddie Van Halen will lead to an endless parade of female sexual conquests. Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, the Doobie Brothers' lead guitarist, is seen threatening to kick McDonald "out of the Doobies" if he doesn't write them another hit. (The real Baxter did bring fellow Steely Dan alumnus McDonald into the band but, as they achieved their greatest commercial success, Baxter left the Doobie Brothers because of his displeasure with their new commercial sound and attitude.) The Eagles (portrayed here as jock-like meatheads) and Steely Dan (portrayed as snarky nerds, with Donald Fagen speaking in an incoherent babble of Scat that only the truly smooth can understand) really did insert lyrical references to each other in their music, as depicted in the show, but these were actually friendly in nature, not part of a longtime grudge involving baseball bats and lunch-money shakedowns.[5]

[A. Scherze]

It's supposed to be amateurish. It also helps to be familiar with the series to get the callbacks.

[A. Scherze]

Episode list

"What a Fool Believes"

In the pilot episode, Kenny Loggins, under the guidance of Koko Goldstein, reaches out to a struggling Michael McDonald, who's having trouble writing a smooth hit for his band the Doobie Brothers.

"Keep the Fire"

Loggins and McDonald pair up against the duo Hall & Oates for a songwriting competition. Koko is accidentally impaled by his lucky harpoon during the ensuing melee, but is at peace before his death by hearing the smoothest song ever sung, "Sailing", by a young Christopher Cross.

"I'm Alright"

As everyone grieves Koko's death, Loggins lashes out at McDonald and "smooth music" as a whole, causing a rift between the two. Sleazy entertainment executive Gene Balboa, who is producing the movie Caddyshack demands that the movie's director, Harold Ramis, obtain Loggins' talents to write the movie's theme song. Ramis takes advantage of an angry and confused Loggins and gets him to write and record the hard rock song "I'm Alright", much to McDonald's dismay.

"Rosanna"

Steve Porcaro (Steve Agee), the keyboard player of the band Toto, is asked by his girlfriend, Rosanna Arquette, to write a song about her, and she wants him to have Michael McDonald sing on the track. Discouraged by McDonald's disdain for his band, Porcaro devises a three-step plan to make it happen.

"Believe in It"

Toto has been commissioned to write a smooth song for Michael Jackson's Thriller, but Jackson rejects the band, believing after working with Eddie Van Halen on "Beat It" that such material is in his past. Fearing that Jackson will destroy "smooth music" for a decade, Porcaro turns to McDonald, Loggins, Skunk Baxter, Cross, and Vincent Price (James Adomian), to summon up Koko's ghost for help writing "Human Nature."

"The Seed Drill"

"Hollywood" Steve's father demands that Steve stop wasting his time on Yacht Rock, and regales a historic tale of the agriculturist Jethro Tull, whose plot is similar to episode one.

"I Keep Forgettin'"

McDonald and Loggins make a bet about the popularity of McDonald's new song, "I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near)". Ten years later, Long Beach-based rappers Warren G and Nate Dogg struggle with finding a sound within the gangsta rap world. After the two accidentally hit McDonald with their car and then take him back to their house, a solution is found to everyone's problems.

"Gino (the Manager)"

"Hollywood" Steve returns to the very beginning, where Doobie Brothers producer Ted Templeman explains his dream about the origin of "the smoothest rock [he's] ever heard" to Skunk Baxter over lunch. Baxter suggests seeing Koko about it, and Templeman starts seeing his dream come into fruition as he meets a young McDonald, then a background singer for Steely Dan, being talked into joining the Doobie Brothers by Steely Dan and Koko, Loggins showing signs of his imminent break from Messina and solo stardom, and an effeminate Hall and Oates with a very familiar looking manager named Gino, who tries to bully McDonald and Loggins into employing him as a manager. When they refuse, he plots revenge.

"Runnin' with the Devil"

Van Halen puts a curse on Ted Templeman to force him to produce their hard rock song. In a subplot, Loggins loses his car keys and has everyone in the studio helping him look. Comedian Drew Carey makes a cameo appearance.

"FM"

Steely Dan and the Eagles settle a long-time, childish feud with a hit song.

"Footloose"

Jimmy Buffett is convinced by Kevin Bacon (Jason Lee) and Gene Balboa to trick Loggins into making yet another movie song. He is subsequently kidnapped by Buffett and psychotic "Parrot Heads", and it's up to McDonald and James Ingram (Wyatt Cenac) to rescue him.

"Danger Zone"

As the mid '80s approach, McDonald feels that with the death of Yacht Rock, he has become the irrelevant joke he always feared he would become. Loggins, on the other hand, has grown to love doing movie soundtracks and his career is still in high gear. Extraterrestrial/composer Giorgio Moroder is sent to Earth to seek Loggins' assistance in fighting a black hole that will destroy Moroder's planet. Fearing for his friend's life, McDonald tries to rescue him, and in the process, finds his relevancy. By the end of the episode the loose ends of the past 11 episodes are tied together (including the revelation that all of Yacht Rock had been a plan by Koko - to lead to the song Sweet Freedom), but left with a cliff hanger ending as to who murdered Koko.