Yacht Rock united disco kids and “disco sucks” rockers. 40 years later.

I'm old enough to remember when these songs were new. Back in the '70s and '80s, nobody called it "yacht rock." It was just adult contemporary, the smooth stuff your parents had on in the car. And here's what genuinely makes me laugh about the whole thing now: a lot of the people who love yacht rock today weren't fans of it the first time around. This was the era when young people split into two camps, disco on one side, the "disco sucks" rock crowd on the other, and neither one wanted much to do with Michael McDonald. Forty years later, yacht rock seems to have quietly united both sides.

Stone Pony Summerstage 8/14/26 | screenshot of H. DeLuca video

It didn't even have a name until 2005

The term "yacht rock" doesn't go back to the '70s at all. It was invented in 2005 by a satirical web series of the same name, created by J.D. Ryznar, Hunter Stair, and Lane Farnham for Dan Harmon's Channel 101 screening series in Los Angeles. The 12-episode mockumentary, hosted by real AllMusic critic "Hollywood" Steve Huey, told wildly fictionalized behind-the-scenes stories about the real musicians behind that late-'70s, early-'80s soft rock sound, Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins, Steely Dan, the Doobie Brothers, Christopher Cross. The series wasn't naming a new genre. It was finally naming one that had existed for decades without a label, that specific fusion of soft rock, jazz, and R&B, built on polished studio production and the same tight circle of L.A. session musicians who kept turning up on each other's records. It caught on so fast partly because YouTube launched that exact same year, which gave the joke a way to spread everywhere at once.

Now it's genuinely a thing in New Jersey

This isn't some niche nostalgia act anymore. The Yacht Rock Gold Experience has played the State Theatre New Jersey. The Jersey Shore has its own dedicated show, Ready or Yacht, at the Algonquin Arts Theatre in Manasquan. Deptford's own Earth Kenan Salazar has taken it even further, writing and recording an original yacht rock song for every single one of New Jersey's 21 counties, blending the classic sound with local trivia and a healthy dose of Gen-Z humor, work that's actually been supported by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. You genuinely cannot walk through a Jersey town in the summer without running into a free community yacht rock show, or find a Shore bar that hasn't booked one.

SEE ALSO: Asbury Park Convention Hall gets $75M for $130M restoration

video screenshot of Yacht Rock Review at Stone Pony 8/14 | video from Heather DeLuca

I found out the hard way how big this has gotten

A few weeks back, I did my show live from the Asbury Park boardwalk and noticed something odd, boardwalkers everywhere in captain's hats, a few even in full captain's shirts. I didn't put it together until later that I'd unknowingly broadcast right in the middle of Yacht Rock Weekend at the Stone Pony Summer Stage, where Yacht Rock Revue played two sold-out nights, August 14 and 15, bringing smooth rock and a full summer party atmosphere to that outdoor stage. Shame on me for not doing my homework ahead of time. A bunch of my own friends were at one of those two shows. Asbury Park was buzzing the whole weekend. I looked up the actual setlist afterward, and I'm already planning to go next year.

I'm not even the biggest yacht rock guy in our building. That title belongs to our own Eric Scott, who keeps an actual captain's shirt and hat in the newsroom and wears them every Friday, a tradition he's dubbed Yacht Rock Friday, entirely his own invention.

Eric Scott and the newsroom Yacht Rock ready | photo by EJ

And now it's our turn

Starting 7 p.m. Friday and running all the way through the 11 p.m. hour on Labor Day itself, New Jersey 101.5 is celebrating with double shots of Jersey's biggest yacht rock hits, all weekend long. Cheers to clear skies, calm seas, and good company! Summer sets sail this Labor Day Weekend, so join us in saying bon voyage to summer ’26 with Jersey’s Biggest Yacht Rock on New Jersey 101.5!