For an explanation of CoronaVinyl, click here.
Today's CoronaVinyl category is "D," and let's go with some yacht rock. Among the many albums I got from my neighbor a couple months ago were not one, but two, Robbie Dupree albums. This one is his self-titled debut album from 1980.
Dupree's debut album was his highest-charting, reaching #51 on the Billboard album chart. It featured his two biggest hits, both of which reached the Top 15 of the Billboard Hot 100. His biggest hit, "Steal Away," went to #6, while "Hot Rod Hearts" went to #15.
The album is pure yacht rock, complete with saxes, plenty of keyboards, and smooth, soulful vocals. When listening to the album, I'm frankly shocked that Michael McDonald wasn't involved in some way on this album, though "Steal Away" was criticized as a rip-off of The Doobie Brothers' hit "What a Fool Believes" (released two years before), and you can hear the similarities. It actually sounds like McDonald is singing backing vocals on the song.
Dupree's follow-up album, 1981's Street Corner Heroes, didn't match the success of his debut album, as the music world started to shift away from soft rock. He continued to make music off and on through the early 2010s, and he has been part of various yacht rock-centered tours over the past decade. Also, an instrumental version of one of his songs, "Girls in Cars," was the walk-up music for a few years in the late '80s for the WWF tag team Strike Force, comprised of Ricky Martel and Tito Santana.
The Spotify version of the album features four bonus tracks, all of which are Spanish-language versions of songs on the album.
Favorite song from Side 1: "Steal Away"
Regardless of whether this sounds like a "What a Fool Believes," it is a yacht rock classic.
Favorite song from Side 2: "Nobody Else"
This is an uptempo yacht rocker, with plenty of sax and Latin-inspired beats.
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