Nothing sets the mood better than music – and Yacht Rock is still a star
The anthem is Come Sail Away by Styx is the perfect anthem for a dark, cold winter night. Dreams of a beach, a boat, and escaping helps some survive the winter. Well, Yacht Rock pairs perfect with cocktails in the summer and evening. Yacht rock is unique music style and aesthetic commonly associated with soft rock, one of the most commercially successful genres from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s. Millennials to boomers have savored the sounds while enjoying drink.
Typified by artists like Christopher Cross, Rupert Holmes, and Pablo Cruise, Yacht Rock is highlight the casual approach to love, life and a laid back life. Despite being a un-pc, the stuff is irresistible on days you are craving escape. It reeks of sunshine and laziness.
Yacht Rock is nuanced and usually one of the key themes. They are finding the love of your life, having a memorable one-night stand or doing something nautical. Jimmy Buffet and the beach focus is not usually in the genre.
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“Yacht rock is the new hipster music. We have a yacht rock playlist at one of our restaurants, Huckleberry Square and we constantly get comments from all generations about how great the music is. At another one of our places, the notorious dove diner The 5 Point Cafe, when the music switches from the usual punk and metal, to yacht rock, people think it’s amazing, like something they’ve never heard. It’s chill nostalgic and fun goes great with cocktails, what more can you ask for?” shares David Meinert, owner of several successful Seattle bars and restaurants.
“The Pina Colada Song” is arguably the most perfect embodiment of yacht rock, fulfilling, as it does, all three of the qualifications cited above. Holmes sings about making love in the dunes, attempts to cheat on his wife, then ultimately, rediscovers that his “old lady” is actually the love he’s been searching for all along. That’s the holy trinity of Yacht Rock themes, all wrapped up in a breezy story of casual adultery.
To set the mood, here is a recipe for the ideal yacht rock drinks
Easy Pina Coloda
Ingredients
- 1 pound (about 3 cups) frozen pineapple chunks
- 3 ounces (1/3 cup) white rum
- 2/3 cup coconut milk
- Optional garnishes: fresh pineapple slices, maraschino cherries, cute paper umbrellas
Create
- Combine all ingredients together in a blender, and puree until smooth. If the mixture is too thick, feel free to add in extra rum or coconut milk to help it blend.
- Serve immediately, topped with your desired garnishes.
