Which yacht rock song held the number one spot for the longest?
As the Sex Pistols picked up their instruments for their first gig at St Martin’s College, they delivered a messy performance filled with blood, sweat, distortion and fist fights, marking out what punk would proliferate as a genre.
There were a number of factors, which were political, societally driven, and inspired by a lot of the music that was big in the world at the time punk broke into the scene. Many believe that a huge contributing factor was yacht rock, as a lot of rock purists felt this style of music was too far removed from what rock ‘n’ roll was ever supposed to be. But regardless of how some people might view the genre, there’s no denying its clear impact.
Yacht rock is still an incredibly popular style of music, as a lot of the bands that have been credited with contributing to its rise to dominance are still considered fan favourites. You have the likes of The Doobie Brothers, Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Steely Dan, Toto and Hall & Oates, who helped bring this genre to life. The production was soft, the choruses were catchy, and the songs were the kind of thing that you could only ever imagine listening to on a warm summer day.
While those who have a fascination with distorted guitars and mosh pits might turn their nose up at this kind of music, throughout the 1970s and ‘80s, it was all the rage, as people used it to unwind and fully immerse themselves in escapism. You had bands like Toto, who were making great music, but then were also working with a plethora of other artists in order to inject their clean, crystal style of music into every single note hitting the airwaves at the time.
“People are going, ‘You know those guys, we were wrong, they ain’t so bad’,” said Toto’s Steve Lukather when talking of his and the band’s influence, “Toto is a stupid name, I’ll give you that. But we contributed to a lot of music from the 1970s and ‘80s to the early ‘90s. Every record out of Los Angeles had at least one of us on it.”
Throughout the entire movement, there have been plenty of great songs, and because of yacht rock’s popularity, a lot of their big-hitting tunes made their way to the top of the charts. So, given there were so many big hits flooding the airwaves throughout this very specific musical movement, we must answer the question: what song was number one for the longest?
What yacht rock song was number one for the longest?
The likes of Toto, George Harrison and the Eagles all had big tunes that went to the top of the charts, dominating the airwaves, but all of them were beaten by Hall & Oates, who had an astronomical hit with their tune, ‘Maneater’.
The track sailed to the top of the charts for four solid weeks, and who knows what about this song appealed to so many people, but it was incredibly catchy, with a chorus that you’re likely humming to yourself upon reading the title. However, it also had an interesting narrative attached, as Hall & Oates wrote the song surrounding a woman who had expensive taste and used men to satisfy said affinity.
Daryl Hall came out with the song, but he said he owed some of the credit to his longtime girlfriend Sara Allen, not because she inspired the song, but because she helped him bring it to life. “She was really good at jumping my thoughts and helping me sort of coalesce them,” he admitted.
