Why Steely Dan's Donald Fagen Cursed Out and Hung Up onYacht RockDocumentary Director: 'Go F--- Yourself'

Mar. 15, 2025

Donald Fagen in New York City in June 2017.Photo:Ben Gabbe/Getty

Ben Gabbe/Getty

Director Garret Price learned this the hilarious way when he was working on his new HBO Films documentaryYacht Rock: A Dockumentary,premiering Wednesday, Nov. 13 at theDOC NYCfestival.

At one point in the documentary, Price rings up Donald Fagen, 76, the surviving full-time member of Steely Dan, the landmark ’70s group behind yacht rock classics like “Ricki Don’t Lose My Number” and “Peg,” to see if he would like to be interviewed for the documentary. The conversation, which is heard in audio, does not go down well.

After Price introduces himself and politely asks Fagen for an interview about “this genre,” Fagen’s reaction is priceless.

Fagen: “And what genre is that?”

Price: “Um, yacht rock.”

Fagen: “Oh, yacht rock. Well, I tell you what. Why don’t you go f— yourself?”

Beep, beep, beep.

Price confirms to PEOPLE that the conversation and the hang-up are “100% real,” and says that despite the dramatic end to the phone call, Fagen’s manager immediately called him back and granted permission to use six Steely Dan songs in the documentary.

“I think it’s a wink,” Price says of Fagen’s colorful reaction. “It’s like, ‘I get it. I understand how important this name [“yacht rock”] is to our music. But I’m gonna let you know how I feel about that.’ It’s him being him.”

Steely Dan in 1977. From left: Walter Becker and Donald Fagen.Chris Walter/WireImage

Chris Walter/WireImage

The term “yacht rock” originated in a 12-episode online video series calledYacht Rockthat aired between 2005 and 2010 and lovingly lampooned the late ’70s/ early ’80s fusion of soft rock, jazz and R&B and the (almost exclusively) West Coast-based male musicians who shaped it.

‘Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary’.Courtesy of HBO

Courtesy of HBO

It was a style of music perfect to be listened to while sipping expensive champagne on an expensive boat, hence the moniker. Steely Dan were the godfathers of yacht rock. The members of Toto were its architects. Doobie Brothers singerMichael McDonaldwas its voice. AndKenny Logginswas its poster boy.

“Yacht rock to me is a very relaxing feeling. It’s like the singers are all saying, ‘Hey, it’s going to be OK,” comedianFred Armisensays in the documentary.

Kenny Loggins in 1977.Ed Perlstein/Redferns/Getty

Ed Perlstein/Redferns/Getty

Daryl Hall and John Oates, as the doc explains, were more blue-eyed soul, but they made the yacht rock list with their 1981 No. 1 single “Kiss on My List.”

The coining of the term “yacht rock” led to the resurgence of the type of music it described and the musicians who played it. “It’s kind of the ultimate comeback,” Price says. “There’s a rise, a fall and a resurrection.”

Although Fagen, whose Steely Dan partner, Walter Becker, died in 2017, declined Price’s invitation, a number of yacht rock practitioners pop up in the documentary to reminisce about the music that made them millions, including McDonald, Loggins, Cross, David Pack from Ambrosia and the surviving members of Toto.Ahmir “Questlove” Thompsonalso shows up from time to time to weigh in.

TheYacht Rockweb series creator JD Ryznar and host Steve Huey also appear in the documentary to talk about the genre that they, in a sense, helped create and popularize without ever playing a note. “It’s high class music,” Ryznar says.

Yacht Rock: A Dockumentarywill debut Nov. 29 on HBO and be available to stream on Max, following its Nov. 13 premiere at the DOC NYC festival.

source: people.com