Yacht Rock (Mega Playlist)

Why am I calling this a mega-playlist? Because it's almost 3.5 hours of smooth, cheesy goodness. So smooth and cheesy, in fact, I considered naming it the Velveeta Playlist.

If you are 40+ prepare to be catapulted back to the mid 70s to early 80s at the end of the disco age and the height of the yuppie age. Many of these songs will conjure visions of pastel casual suits and popped Polo collars a la Miami Vice.

I am taken back to the ages between 3 and 8, in the car with my mom and dad, probably sans seatbelt and standing in the backseat of a gas guzzler V8 with a 9 foot hood and bench seat in front and back....and I think we all know the feeling of being clotheslined by a front seat to the throat when the brakes were suddenly slammed. Yep...back of the front seat right to the throat...that's a feeling no one forgets.

Christopher Cross, Dan Fogelberg, and the Doobie Brothers all helped raise me. I remember their music playing at home on the stereo (on real vinyl no less) and in the car driving around in the tiny Texas towns of Springtown and Chico. My family also took frequent road trips to my grandparents' houses in East Texas where these songs played on the car radio. I was between the ages of 3 and 8 but I still have very vivid memories of growing up there and of listening to these songs.

Music is an enormous memory trigger for me, as it is with a lot of people. This playlist is a mixed bag of happy and melancholy feelings and I love it. I hope you do too.