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48 free Yacht Rock trivia questions with answers — music quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
50 free Yacht rock trivia questions with answers. Yacht rock did not exist as a name until 2005, but the music has been on the water since 1975, and this quiz covers the whole marina: Michael McDonald and the Doobies, Steely Dan, Toto, Christopher Cross, Kenny Loggins, Hall & Oates, Boz Scaggs, Rupert Holmes and the session players who linked them all. There are questions on the songs, the Grammys, the sampling, the tribute bands, the HBO documentary and the Channel 101 web series that gave the genre its name. It starts easy (which Toto song went to number one?) and drifts out to open water (who explained the band's name with a Latin phrase?), so it works for a party round, a themed cruise, or settling a 'yacht or nyacht' argument between friends. Every answer has been checked against a reference encyclopaedia entry on the artist, song or album, and each question shows its source once you have answered.
30 of 48 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01The term 'yacht rock' was coined in 2005 by the makers of what?
An online comedy video series
The term came from Yacht Rock, an online comedy video series J. D. Ryznar and friends made for Channel 101 in 2005; its characters call the music 'smooth music'.
Q 02Roughly which years does the music retroactively labelled yacht rock come from?
1975 to 1984
Yacht rock covers music from roughly 1975 to 1984, a period when it was marketed as adult-oriented rock or the West Coast sound.
Q 03Which 1979 Christopher Cross track is held up as the genre's anthem?
Sailing
'Sailing', from Cross's self-titled debut album, topped the Billboard Hot 100 in August 1980 and is the song most often cited as the quintessential yacht rock track.
Q 04Christopher Cross was the first artist to do what at a single Grammy ceremony?
Win all four general-field awards
He took Record, Album and Song of the Year plus Best New Artist at the 23rd Grammys in 1981.
Q 05Kenny Loggins first released 'What a Fool Believes', co-written with Michael McDonald, on which 1978 album?
Nightwatch
Loggins's own version appeared on his 1978 album Nightwatch; the Doobie Brothers' recording, released months later, went to number one and won two Grammys.
Q 06Which two Grammy Awards did 'What a Fool Believes' win in 1980?
Song of the Year and Record of the Year
The Doobie Brothers' 'What a Fool Believes' won Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 22nd Grammy Awards in February 1980, with writers Loggins and McDonald sharing the songwriting prize.
Q 07What did the Yacht Rock creators call the genre's hallmark upbeat rhythm?
The Doobie Bounce
The creators dubbed the genre's bouncy groove 'the Doobie Bounce', after the Doobie Brothers' 'What a Fool Believes'; other tells include electric piano and elite L.A. session players.
Q 08What term did the Yacht Rock creators invent in 2016 for songs wrongly labelled as part of the genre?
Nyacht
'Nyacht' is the creators' label for songs wrongly called yacht rock; they coined it on their 2016 podcast Beyond Yacht Rock, which rates songs on the 'Yachtski Scale'.
Q 09Which Christopher Cross song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for a 1981 film?
Arthur's Theme
'Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)', co-written by Cross, Burt Bacharach, Carole Bayer Sager and Peter Allen for the 1981 film Arthur, won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
Q 10Steely Dan is named after an object in which William S. Burroughs novel?
Naked Lunch
The name comes from 'Steely Dan III from Yokohama', a steam-powered sex toy in Burroughs's 1959 novel Naked Lunch; Beat fans Fagen and Becker met at Bard College.
Q 11Which 2000 Steely Dan comeback album won the Album of the Year Grammy?
Two Against Nature
Two Against Nature, Steely Dan's first studio album since 1980's Gaucho, won Album of the Year at the 43rd Grammy Awards in 2001.
Q 12Which jazz saxophonist solos on the title track of Steely Dan's Aja?
Wayne Shorter
Wayne Shorter, of Weather Report and Miles Davis's quintet, plays the tenor sax solo on 'Aja'; Steve Gadd's drumming on the same track is equally celebrated.
Q 13Michael McDonald's multi-tracked backing vocals are heard on which Steely Dan single from Aja?
Peg
McDonald stacked the harmony vocals on 'Peg', the 1977 single from Aja; Jay Graydon's guitar solo was kept after several other players had tried the part.
Q 21Michael McDonald's 'Yah Mo B There' won a Grammy as a duet with which singer?
James Ingram
'Yah Mo B There', the 1983 duet by James Ingram and Michael McDonald co-written with Quincy Jones and Rod Temperton, won Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal at the 1985 Grammys.
Q 22Which 1994 rap hit is built on a sample of Michael McDonald's 'I Keep Forgettin''?
Regulate
'Regulate', Warren G and Nate Dogg's 1994 hit, is built on McDonald's 1982 single 'I Keep Forgettin''; Leiber and Stoller share McDonald's writing credit because it resembled their 1962 Chuck Jackson song.
Q 23Before going solo, Kenny Loggins was half of a duo with which musician?
Jim Messina
Q 14Which Toto song was the band's first and only Billboard Hot 100 number one?
Africa
'Africa' reached number one on the Hot 100 in February 1983, Toto's only chart-topper; 'Rosanna' had stalled at number two for five weeks but won Record of the Year.
Q 15How many Grammy Awards did Toto IV win in 1983?
Six
Toto IV took six Grammys at the 1983 ceremony, including Album of the Year, Record of the Year for 'Rosanna' and Producer of the Year for the band.
Q 16Toto let people believe their 1982 hit was about which actress, then dating Steve Porcaro?
Rosanna Arquette
Rosanna Arquette was dating keyboardist Steve Porcaro, and the band let fans assume 'Rosanna' was about her; the song is also famed for Jeff Porcaro's half-time shuffle.
Q 17Which Michael Jackson hit did Toto's Steve Porcaro co-write?
Human Nature
'Human Nature', written by Steve Porcaro with lyricist John Bettis, reached Quincy Jones on a demo tape and became a Top 10 single from Thriller in 1983.
Q 18Bassist David Hungate explained his band's name via which Latin phrase?
In toto
Bassist David Hungate said the name came from the Latin 'in toto', meaning 'in all' or 'all-encompassing', though Jeff Porcaro had first written 'Toto' on demo tapes after the Wizard of Oz dog.
Q 19The Doobie Brothers' Minute by Minute spent five weeks at number one and won which Grammy?
Best Pop Vocal by a Duo or Group
Minute by Minute won Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group at the 22nd Grammys in 1980, the peak of the McDonald-era Doobies before the band split in 1982.
Q 20Which of these Doobie Brothers hits predates Michael McDonald and is not yacht rock?
Black Water
'Black Water' topped the Hot 100 in March 1975, weeks before McDonald joined the band that April; the other three come from his smoother, yacht-friendly era.
Jim Messina, formerly of Buffalo Springfield and Poco, teamed with Loggins in 1971; Loggins and Messina had hits such as 'Your Mama Don't Dance' before splitting in 1976.
Q 24What is Kenny Loggins's only solo number one on the Billboard Hot 100?
Footloose
'Footloose', the title song from the 1984 film, spent three weeks at number one on the Hot 100 and earned Loggins an Oscar nomination; 'Danger Zone' peaked at number two in 1986.
Q 25Kenny Loggins's run of soundtrack hits began with 'I'm Alright' from which film?
Caddyshack
'I'm Alright' was the theme for the 1980 golf comedy Caddyshack and reached number seven on the Hot 100, the first of Loggins's soundtrack hits that continued with Footloose and Top Gun.
Q 26Daryl Hall and John Oates met as students at which Philadelphia university?
Temple University
Daryl Hall and John Oates met in 1967 as Temple University students, sharing a service elevator while fleeing a fight at a Philadelphia record hop; they formed their duo in 1970.
Q 27Which of these was NOT one of Hall & Oates's six Billboard number ones?
She's Gone
'She's Gone' peaked at number seven on its 1976 reissue; the six number ones were 'Rich Girl', 'Kiss on My List', 'Private Eyes', 'I Can't Go for That', 'Maneater' and 'Out of Touch'.
Q 28Rupert Holmes's 'Escape (The Piña Colada Song)' comes from which 1979 album?
Partners in Crime
'Escape' is the closing track of Partners in Crime, Holmes's 1979 album, and reached number one in December 1979; Holmes later won two Tony Awards for The Mystery of Edwin Drood.
Q 29In 'Escape (The Piña Colada Song)', where does the narrator find the woman's ad?
In the newspaper personals
The narrator finds the ad in the newspaper personals column and replies with one of his own; the twist is that the woman who turns up at O'Malley's bar is his own partner.
Q 30Who played the famous saxophone riff on Gerry Rafferty's 'Baker Street'?
Raphael Ravenscroft
Session player Raphael Ravenscroft played the sax hook on 'Baker Street' (1978); Rafferty said the line was written for guitar on his demo, though Ravenscroft claimed he devised it; a persistent myth credits quiz host Bob Holness.