Kenny Loggins Recalls Stevie Nicks' Offer That Led to 'My Breakthrough' in 1978: 'Probably We Were Drunk'

Kenny Loggins had a string of hit singles in the 80s, when he was known as the “King of Movie Music”. His hit no. 1 in 1984, “Footloose,” from the same film, was one of the defining songs of the decade.

Still, Loggins, 76, who first found chart success as a member of the duo Loggins and Messina in the early to mid-’70s, says his solo career might never have happened if it weren’t for a friendly call from Stevie Nicks.

Why Steely Dan’s Donald Fagen swore and hung up Yacht Rock Documentary director: ‘Go F— Yourself’

Loggins talks about his early collaboration with the Fleetwood Mac superstar in a new HBO film Yacht Rock: Documentarywhich explores the late-titled soft-rock genre of the late ’70s and early ’80s that blended soft rock, jazz and R&B and of which Loggins was a major part.

His contributions to the sound include two Grammy-winning hits written with Michael McDonald, his own “This is It” and the Doobie Brothers’ “What a Fool Believes,” as well as “Whenever I Call You Friend,” a 1978 vocal collaboration with Nicks. .

Kenny Loggins 1983 Michael Ochs Archive/Getty Images

“It was a bit of a recovery from the solo career,” he says in the documentary, which airs on Max. “At the time, I didn’t realize how difficult it was to go from a successful duo to a successful solo artist, and I give Stevie Nicks a lot of credit for my progress, because the duet with Stevie ultimately made a huge difference in launching my solo career, because she was so loved at the time. ”

In 1977, during the rise of Fleetwood Mac’s Rumors album, the band chose Loggins as the opening act. “I like to say that I continued Rumors riding with them because I was out with them for six or seven months and became friends with the band, especially Mick [Fleetwood] and Stevie,” he continues.

Kenny Loggins in ‘Yacht Rock: Documentary’.

HBO

“She told me one day, we were probably drunk, she said, ‘If you need a girl singer, call me.’ So I said, ‘OK, that works for me’. ”

The resulting single from his Top 10 debut solo album, night watch, went all the way to number 5 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 in 1978, setting the stage for a remarkable solo career that would continue to produce hits throughout the next decade, including “Footloose” and “Danger Zone” (a No. 2 hit from Top Gun).

Christopher Cross Funded Grammy Award-Winning Debut Album by Selling Drugs: ‘I Had a Very Successful Weed Business’

Loggins is joined in the documentary by fellow so-called yacht rockers McDonald, Christopher Cross and members of the band Toto. “Yacht rock” didn’t really exist as a genre when the musicians most associated with it were creating their greatest hits. The term was retroactively coined by the creators of the 2005–2010 web series called Yacht Rockwho lovingly sang the sound and the artists responsible for its creation.

‘Yacht Rock: Documentary’.

Courtesy of HBO

“Kenny Loggins can’t be contained in one genre,” he says Yacht Rock (web series) host Steve Huey in a documentary. “He’s got to explore; he’s got to push his boundaries. Even when Kenny Loggins plays yacht rock, he’s only doing it for a few songs on an album most of the time. But when he does, it’s so good and so genre-defining that he’s still up there on Mount Rushmore .”

Yacht Rock: Documentary now streaming on Max.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education