Kenny Loggins

The biggest misconception about Yacht Rock (the hysterical online show which chronicles the creation of soft-rock hits by the Doobie Brothers, Toto and Steely Dan, among others) is that its creators delight in taking cheap shots at wimpy musicians and the air-brushed songs they sing. This is only half-true; in the case of Kenny Loggins, who was featured in all ten episodes, the Internet sensation actually provided a pretty decent thumbnail sketch of the bearded crooner's career. Through the history-bending lens of parody, viewers can trace his beginnings in the folk-rock duo Loggins & Messina through his slightly harder-edged solo albums and on to his ubiquity as a Hollywood-soundtrack hitmaker. This year saw the release of How About Now, an album of new songs (and a reworking of the Loggins & Messina hit "A Love Song") that keeps the singer squarely in the James Taylor school of harmless avuncular guitar-pickers.