The irreverent comedy series was created almost 20 years ago Yacht Rock debuted on the Internet, lovingly parodying popular artists of the ’70s and ’80s—like Steely Dan, Michael McDonald of the Doobie Brothers, Kenny Loggins, Christopher Cross, Toto, and Hall and Oates—whose smooth music blended rock, pop, jazz, and soul. In 12 hilarious episodes Yacht Rock represented an aspect of the Southern California music scene from over 40 years ago, when soft rock dominated the charts and became commercially successful.

Yacht Rock The web series has been on hold for a long time since it first aired in 2005. However, her legacy lives on not only by lending her name to the genre, but also by inspiring tribute bands, music-themed cruises and other related ventures. More importantly, the series reignited interest in these artists and revitalized their careers. Now a new HBO film, Yacht Rock: A Documentarywhich airs this Friday on Max, offers a more historical yet light-hearted look at the genre as it features interviews with some of the artists mentioned above – along with commentary from younger generations of musicians like Questlove of the Roots and Bethany Cosentino of Best Coast and Critics/journalists like Amanda Petrusich and Steven Hyden.

“I wanted to make a funny film,” he says Yacht Rock Director Garret Price, whose other credits include Woodstock 99 And Daisy Jones and the Six. “It was really important to me. I said, ‘I want to make a funny movie, but I don’t want to make fun of these guys.’ And I hope I found that balance in the film.”

Price acknowledges that “yacht rock” is a polarizing term for the artists who made this soulful and sophisticated music between the 1970s and 1980s. But when McDonald and Cross came on board to be interviewed for the film, other musicians like Loggins and the members of Toto followed their lead.

“I reached out to the artists and said, ‘Look, I’m obviously going to talk about how this came about, but I really want to give you a chance to define the music that you’ve made,'” Price recalls itself. “That was kind of my first approach, but I also set the parameters of what was and wasn’t yacht rock (and) gave respect to the guys who created the web series.”

“Some people think it’s hilarious,” Price also says of artists’ initial reaction to the yacht rock term. “Some people have a hard time accepting it, others completely despise it. Again I say, “I want you to define this time of making music.” They were so excited to talk about this time, and unprepared too.”

But aside from the laughs that the original web series generated, soft rock was a very creative time in the 1970s and 1980s, with numerous musicians like McDonald and the members of Toto ending up on other artists’ records as session musicians making their music. This cross-pollination can be traced back to Steely Dan – the duo of Donald Fagen and Walter Becker – who enlisted these top musicians for their albums, particularly the 1977 masterpiece Ah yes.

“I call Steely Dan the ‘big bang of yacht rock,'” says Price. “It’s like it all started. These guys were all influenced by their time working with Donald and Walter, and you can see how they incorporated that influence into their own music. I really wanted to put that at the beginning of the film to show that this changed the musical landscape of Los Angeles at that time.”

Another important part of yacht rock history covered in the documentary is the influence of black music on these predominantly West Coast-based white musicians. “I think that’s one of the reasons they all didn’t like the word,” Price says, “because I think when people hear ‘yacht rock,’ they associate it with rich white people.” They added their influences the tongue. They adored and loved black music. So I really wanted to express in the film that this type of sound pays respect to the R&B, jazz, soul music and gospel music that these artists loved.”

The inclusion of Questlove and Consentino along with Thundercat, Mac DeMarco and Paramore’s Brian Robert Jones in the documentary shows how today’s younger musicians have embraced yacht rock. “Their knowledge of this music is so deep, too,” Price says. “You can tell it really influenced her own work. I knew Thundercat had worked with Kenny and Michael before. Quest loves this music, he spoke to Michael and Chris on his podcast. I knew they were all fans of this music.”

While the new documentary featured key figures such as McDonald, Cross and Loggins fully involved, one person who was not seen on camera was Steely Dans Fagen. Price recorded a phone conversation (later used in the film) in which he asked Fagen if he was interested in being interviewed for the project. Instead, Fagen was heard uttering a profanity and then hanging up. Nevertheless, Fagen allowed six Steely Dan songs to be used in the film.

“I think he got across what he wanted to say,” Price says of his memorable exchange with Fagen, “but it’s also tongue-in-cheek that he understands the meaning of that term, which defines a lot of their music and how it’s delivered .” to new fans… I think he gets it. He has a sense of humor. He has a character that he has to keep up with.”

Meanwhile, Price’s film has received the seal of approval from JD Ryznar and Steve Huey, the original’s co-creator and host, respectively Yacht Rock Web series whose title defined the genre (both also appear in the documentary). “Since the term caught on and our baby left the nest, we’ve been trying to explain to people what Yacht Rock is really about,” Ryznar says. “And I think the documentary does a great job of that.”

“The two main things I always hope people take away when they listen to what we think yacht rock means,” Huey adds, “is number one: It’s not just music for white people.” It is a hybrid genre with the influence of black music, jazz and R&B. And the other thing I hope people take away is that despite all the jokes, we really love this music and we love the guys who made it. I think that comes across really well in the documentary.”

Recently, Ryznar and Huey attended a Grammy Museum event in Los Angeles for the film, which was attended by McDonald, Cross, Steve Porcaro and David Paich of Toto, as well as David Pack of Ambrosia. It was the first time that Huey and Ryznar met the musicians they had previously spoofed in person. “I was afraid to meet any of them until I saw them happily participating in this documentary,” Ryznar said. “I thought, ‘Okay. You would probably like to meet me. They’d probably like to say hello.”

“These guys were the butt of jokes in the prime of their careers,” Huey says of the musical performances parodied in the series. “And I imagine it would be difficult if there was this web series that was a comedy show about your music. I imagine it would be difficult to distinguish the loving jokes from the mean ones when there have probably been too many over time. I think they’ve all more or less come to terms with, “This is one thing, and it ultimately helped our careers and helped preserve our legacy.”

The series’ popularity continued to change the lives of its participants even after it ended in 2010. “I still occasionally get recognized for it in public,” Huey says. “I still get dates every now and then, which drives me crazy… In a way, it’s like having a secret identity.”

Meanwhile, Ryznar and Huey are working on a book about yacht rock, but the jury is still out on whether the web series could ever be rebooted. “The opportunity is there,” says Ryznar. “Whether everything fits together correctly or not remains an open question.”

“I would say it’s easier to make a web series if you don’t know the stories behind the creation of the songs,” adds Huey.

Price hopes viewers take something away from it Yacht Rock The film is the genre’s important place in music history. “It should be there, along with everything else that happens,” he says. “And I’m so excited that it’s premiering the day after Thanksgiving because a lot of families will be together. This year will be a little more controversial than other years. There’s nothing better than bringing a family together than watching this film and just enjoying the smooth, sweet sounds of yacht rock.”

“I also hope people take away from the documentary that this was a labor of love for us,” Huey says. “Early on, some people interpreted the web series as, ‘Oh, this is some snarky, tongue-in-cheek hipster shit.’ I can imagine some people taking that away, but you know that wasn’t our intention. What I hope people take away from this – as far as us and this term being loving – is that we love this music. We love the people who made it. We hope people are inspired to explore the full breadth and depth of the yacht rock genre because there is so much out there.”

Yacht Rock: A Documentary, Directed by Garret Price, premieres on Max, Friday, November 29th.