Pages – Tell Me

I think perhaps one of the most appealing qualities about Pages is that I really feel both their lyrics AND their music. Richard Page and Steve George who formed the band made use of various studio musicians to accompany their vocal keyboard ensemble, but like many Yacht-genre groups, they were commercially unsuccessful and called it quits after three studio albums. Thankfully they gave us some of the finest Yacht moored on the jetty! This song is exceptionally emotive with it’s wistful lyrics of longing and sumptuous arrangements. How can you deny that chorus hook?! For a music producer, vocal arranger and avid lover of this soulful soft rock energy, this one is drenched in head to toe perfection for me. Page and George also had ties with Andy Gibb whom they toured with as session musicians in the late 70s as well as being picked up by Bobby Colomby (of Blood Sweat & Tears fame) who signed them to Epic Records. Byrne was also later inducted into the Alabama Hall Of Fame for his songwriting skills. Lastly of note, Richard Page and Steve George went on to form the band Mr. Mister who had a chart throb 80s hit with the track Broken Wings (a nostalgic favourite of mine!).

Byrne & Barnes – Love You Out of Your Mind

Another group who stole my HOXXXY heart with this slick and warm sultry shoreline lapping at my lovelight! Admittedly the entire album is DELICIOUS (special mention to the track Keep On Running and An Eye For An Eye) and if it was a permissible act, I would have populated my playlist with 95% of the album! This one is a precious prize as it is the only album these two ever made together. I can hear elements of Herbie Hancock’s version of Tonight’s The Night ladled over the hypnotically erotic beat with further teasingly seductive synth lines. Interestingly, both men have produced music for some big league artists such as Earth Wind & Fire, Patti Austin, Pointer Sisters, Phil Collins (and more) to name a handful! Byrne also prior released his 1979 solo album Blame It On The Night (not to be confused with Finis Henderson’s song of the same name – also a treasure of a track) which features some lovely songs such as Pretend He’s Me and I Did It All For Love – the latter which has a Boz ScaggsLowdown vibe. If you haven’t heard Byrne & Barnes before, then you simply can’t call yourself a Yachter!

Carol Bayer Sager – Stronger Than Before

An incredibly elegant display of how integral the production and arrangements of this style’s musical finessing makes a track such a special rose and a solid standout amidst the thorns. Haunting e-piano chords draw us into a hopeful fantasy that quietly tempts with the lullaby lovelorn of softly stroked guitar parts. And guess who’s made the headline of the backline? None other than my boys Richard Page and Steve George! But they are also equally joined by some of the creme de la creme of the scene, including Jeff Porcaro,  David Foster, Jay Graydon, Steve Lukather, and Paulinho Da Costa of which I draw particular reference for all my offshoot musical nerds who know these STARboards! Can I make further mention of the fact that a Mister Burt Bacharach is included in the writing and production credits? Carole actually married Burt a year later and you know that the chemistry is certainly palpable in this heartfelt ballad. Bayer Sager is a subsequent Songwriter’s Hall Of Fame inductee and had a hand in the popular song Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do) amongst other connections with notable popular artists of the past 40 years.

Leon Ware – Got to be Loved

The man needs little introduction or back story. Without a doubt, this is for me a most special and precious masterpiece, bar none. The Elektra Records released album from whence it was born features the standout Rockin’ You Eternally that any true connoisseur will instantly recognise and regard with the greatest of reverence. But this song… it’s just got everything I want. That warbly warm chorused Rhodes prelude pulling at my wanton heart; string sections that sweep in with swooning antidotes; a chorus that instantly gives me goosebumps with it’s quietly wailing guitar that is distinctly panned left. The movement of the collective notes and tones ebb and flow like sparkling swell on a sea misted Californian coast. The interplay of all of these elements whilst Leon is gliding his iconic soulfulness of vocalisation like a cherry on top… it is nothing short of breathtaking. Leon is long considered a Yacht Rock icon, and perhaps such soundscapes when teamed with a sandy seaside sunset album cover shoot coalesce… it becomes the marker of a master mariner of the great vessel that is Yacht.

Jakob Frimann Magnússon – Lifesaver

A hip shaking hit of sunshine dazzles through tasty keys sections (again with the dominant left ear panning) bursting with heat as we launch into a sensational splash out instrumental slice of Danish/Icelandic Yacht. And you’ll want to read the liner notes! The in-demand Jeff Porcaro features yet again on drumming duties and he’s joined by the tubular rudder of a sax solo from Larry Williams who leaves an incredible musical legacy of legendary soul and commercial collaborations of his own, but whom I attribute a most handsome respect for his seminal work as a founding member of the jazz fusion band Seawind in which he contributed a trio of sax, flute, and keyboard virtuosity. Stanley Clarke, Freddie Hubbard and Bill Champlin are also featured in select tracks, gifting this album heavyweight hopes. Champlin later joined the band Chicago and can additionally add himself as a co-writer with Jay Graydon and David Foster on the classic After The Love Has Gone, subsequently popularised by band Earth Wind & Fire. It is clear that Jakob was respected by these musical giants and this track is a prime example of his ear for a good groove to charter a wealth of pooled artistic talent. You could almost slot this into a KPM library bank couldn’t you? I personally love the fact that the album cover photographs what I am assuming is the man himself standing butt naked turned away from us and covered head to toe in CGI forks.

Heat – Follow You Home

This song isn’t actually featured on the playlist as it is sadly not available on Spotify. But I was so desperate to illuminate it and the leading man behind it that I’ve decided to point you in it’s direction as an afterthought for you to chase up and as a respectful nod, for it really is a gorgeous tune. Taken from the album Still Waiting, the track Follow You Home is the result of Producer, Saxophonist, Keyboardist, Arranger and Vocalist Tom Saviano who created an all-star formation with the group Heat for a couple of outstanding LPs spanning a brief time frame of ’80 to ’81. The album as a whole highlights Saviano’s talent for writing and arranging and select tracks have been reworked and re-edited, such as in Dave Lee’s/The Sunburst Band’s track We Can Live Forever, also known in it’s original form on Heat’s album as the track Whatever It Is. Legal and PR issues over the image of the group could not be reconciled as the rise of MTV created too much industry pressure for the act to be acknowledged and Heat fell through the cracks. In more recent years, Saviano’s work during the Heat era rose to receive underground accolades following the resurgence in popularity of the various stylistic influences of Yacht Rock and he went on to recreate new modernised musical iterations of his prior body of work in the album Heat Revisited, released in 2013 on CD and in 2014 on Bandcamp. Oh, here’s a fun fact: the Revisited album features the smooth guitarist Thom Rotella whom I once heard and remembered from an Australian East Coast evening radio station that I listened to during my teens years called Coast FM with his instrumental track The Thought Of You!