Wussy Sea Songs

I purchased a couple of discs by veteran Canadian songwriter Marc Jordan recently and I've really enjoyed them. I love his voice, and most some of his songwriting is excellent decent (although there are some bummers). His sound has changed quite a bit over the years, but he's been pretty consistent quality-wise. I don't know for certain, but I don't think he's ever had a solo hit in Europe. Rod Stewart had a big hit with one of his songs, though, Rhythm of My Heart, in 1991. Pre-listen to some of Jordan's songs on Amazon.

A few months ago I came across jasonhare.com. He has a regular post entitled Adventures Through the Mines of Mellow Gold, in which he covers a couple of soft rock tunes every week. He carefully considers every aspect of the track he's covering, down to hairstyle, make-up and clothing. He mocks our heroes in hilarious fashion (and rightfully so), no doubt about that - but deep down he has a mellow heart, I'm sure. A key aspect of Adventures Through the Mines of Mellow Gold is the wussiness of the music.

To fully understand this term, start off with AOL's list of the 111 wussiest songs of all time. Then you should take a look at Stereogum and Down with Snark for an in-depth discussion.

"Yacht Rock" offers a brilliant take on the L.A. studio musician's scene in the '70s and early '80s. We get to meet Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins, Christopher Cross, the guys from Toto and Jeff "Skunk" Baxter behind the scenes, there's lots of beautiful, smooth music and some really interesting footage. Excellent show!

As far as I'm concerned, this show single-handedly redefines the entire genre. The creators define yacht rock as the more polished, up-scale productions with studio aces like McDonald, Loggins, Lukather. But there's also the term marina rock, dedicated to the not-quite-so-polished acts, such as Rupert Holmes and possibly Jimmy Buffett. The nautical references are thoroughly appropriate - it's a recurring theme both in the lyrics and in the cover art of these musical acts (Christopher Cross - Sailing, Loggins & Messina - Full Sail, Pages - The Sailor's Song, Peter Allen - I Could Have Been a Sailor, Lionel Richie and Commodores - Sail On.)

To prove the point further, I just realised that one of the songs on my new Marc Jordan disc is entitled Let Me Be Your Boat (from Cool Jam Black Earth, 1996).

Smooth Is the New Cool

I turned 35 years old this fall. I grew up somewhere in Europe in the 1980s. My first vinyl LP was Make It Big by Wham! Don Johnson in Miami Vice was my idol, and I worked hard to emulate his style - all slick hair, white suits and pastel colored t-shirts - in high school - at age 14...

I grew up, thankfully, and reconsidered both my hairstyle and my clothes, but I never stopped looking back, musically. Since turning music into an obsession at about age 14, I've never really been hooked on any contemporary trends. Guns'n'Roses, Kurt Cobain, Oasis, Red Hot Chili Peppers - or Madonna for that matter - all of them more or less eluded me. I wasnt' indie-cool, and definitely not mainstream-cool. I wasn't any kind of cool. Instead I went back in time to smooth and jazzy acts, like Michael Franks, Steely Dan, Al Jarreau and Pat Metheny Group. I don't mind hard rock or avant-garde classical, and I love hard bop jazz. I do, however, have a definite soft spot for the mellower side of rock music, often with a touch of jazz, and that's going to be the main focus of this blog.

It's a guilty pleasure, for sure, nevertheless I have a genuine affection for this kind of music. Whenever Sometimes when I hear some Stephen Bishop or vintage Michael McDonald, I'm in musical ecstacy (unlikely as that might seem to most of you).

But if you feel the same way, stay tuned. I'll be back in a couple of days with a few useful links to help explain this particular brand of rock music.