I run a weekly show on Mixcloud and Yacht Rock Discord called “The Theme Park” where I simply thought I was going to get a fun show or two back in late 2020 when I did songs that use The Doobie Bounce.

Before the second show on the subject was done, YRD members were already pointing to me to more songs, so I said “Everytime we get 10 more Doobie Bounce Songs, I’ll do a new chapter!”

…and so I have, since November 4th, 2020 when I did the first chapter! I also run a live yearly game with these songs, but more on that some other time…

The list is still somehow growing as time moves forward, and has been built by Yacht Rock Discord community members with me becoming an unexpected curator of it, developing a methodology for additions and even a yearly game around it on YRD!

I subscribe to the track set by one Mr. David B. Lyons, Channel 101 “Yacht Rock” series co-creator, Karel “Koko” Goldstein in the series itself, co-coiner of the term ‘Yacht Rock’, and co-host of podcasts “Beyond Yacht Rock” and “Yacht or Nyacht Pod”, who was the first to coin this term during an episode of Beyond Yacht Rock.

Most people think of it as a general reference to ‘bouncy’ music, (Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson would also refer to it as ‘music people can dance to while sitting in a chair’ during the 2024 “Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary”) but Lyons would actually confirm on an album listening party on Yacht Rock’s Patreon in 2021 that he coined it specifically for WAFB’s piano pattern when used in other songs, not just a general ‘bounciness’.

So I follow this as I curate the list, which makes the mission alot easier to maintain:

“Does it do that ‘What A Fool Believes’ thing?”

As the curator of this particular Doobie Bounce list, here’s my methodology for adding to it:

The song has to have been released after Dec 1, 1978.

There are a few songs that use this exact pattern before WAFB was released, and will be catalogued in their own sub-section.

While Michael McDonald certainly didn’t invent the WAFB pattern, Michael, Kenny Loggins, and The Doobie Brothers are the ones who made a song with it successful enough to have inspired the pattern’s use in 100+ songs after it, thus why it’s “The Doobie Bounce” and not, say, “The Starbuck Bounce” or “The Judy Bounce”.

The rhythmic pattern must match one of the phases of The Doobie Bounce from WAFB, but the notes do not.

The Doobie Bounce modulates its pattern a bit during the course of the song. I’ve identified 3 phases of it listening to the damn song way too much. Some songs invert the note movement, but still specifically do The Bounce, some songs do a sneaky and create the bounce through 2-3 instruments in the mix, but if the rhythmic pattern matches, I add it to my list!

The song cannot be a cover of “What A Fool Believes”, or a cover of a song already on The Doobie Bounce House list.

So far, there is a single, wonderfully strange situation with the Sloas/Johnson tune I’m working out. Otherwise, the first version of a song using the Bounce chronologically goes on the list, and covers of them do not.

The Doobie Bounce is born of Yacht Rock, but NOT dependent on it:

“What A Fool Believes” sits upon the throne of Yacht Rock with a 100 on the Yachtski Scale, and the Throne of The Doobie Bounce as its namesake and most powerful practitioner. That being said, The Doobie Bounce has been utilized by musicians of nearly all genres. “Yachtiness” is NOT a consideration in the curation of this list!

As more and more songs are found to analyze for this list, it’s naturally helped refine and reinforce the original mission.

Some songs that seemed like they had The Doobie Bounce when added can later on be realized not to, especially early on when more ‘it kinda does The Doobie Bounce’ songs were brought onto the list.

However, as more songs were hitting the pattern directly, or only missing a note or two in the sequence, the ones that ‘kinda have it’ stuck out more and more, and eventually were excused from the list entirely.

Far less outliers are getting excused now than in the early chapters, as most get bounced before they even get on the list, but it can still happen!

“Making Love”

…would earn Finis the inagural World Doobie Bounce Championship in the first ever Big McD’s Doobie Bounce House Championship Tournament played in Yacht Rock Discord during 2022!

“Close Eyes and Count to Ten”

…would earn John the World Doobie Bounce Championship in the second year of the Big McD’s Doobie Bounce House Championship Tournament played in Yacht Rock Discord during 2023!

“Our Time Has Come”

…would earn AWB the World Doobie Bounce Championship in the third year of the Big McD’s Doobie Bounce House Championship Tournament played in Yacht Rock Discord during 2024!

“Nobody’s Business”

…would earn Maxus the World Doobie Bounce Championship in the fourth year of the Big McD’s Doobie Bounce House Championship Tournament played in Yacht Rock Discord during 2025!

They won it in an unprecedented Triple Threat Title match against Dunn & Bruce Street and Marty Butler!

Written by Jimmy Lee Sloas and Robert White Johnson

Recorded by Ronnie Milsap and Nigel Olsson, and both released in 1980, there was a time where both were on The Doobie Bounce House list until it could be determined who released their version first.

It was finally discovered that ‘Milsap Magic’ (the album it was released on) was released in either February or March 1980, while Nigel Olsson’s version has a clear release date of August 1980.

Based on my methodology, that means Ronnie’s version is listed in The DBH list as the representative of the composition.

Tyrone Davis’ 1981 Version was the initial version of this song added to  the list back in July 2021 for Chapter II.

Brooklyn Dreams version was brought to me, and with the “If You Don’t Want Me To” thing going on, I immediately went to check which version was first.

Not only is Brooklyn Dreams version a year earlier in 1980, two of their members (Joe Esposito & Bruce Sudano) wrote the tune as well.

My methodology for The Doobie Bounce House is that I don’t have covers on the list, the first past the post is the one accounted for so the list isn’t filled with duplicates titles.

Therefore, Tyrone Davis’ version is acknowledged here as being the first added back in Chapter II, but Brooklyn Dreams will assume the song’s position on The Doobie Bounce House from Chapter 13 as the original entry of the composition!