Last week on his show, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, host Jimmy Fallon mentioned that he came down with a sore throat over his weekend and spent most of it listening to his iPod, which was filled with, as he described it, "AM Gold." One particular song Fallon listened to that weekend happened to be Christopher Cross' debut single, "Ride Like The Wind," a song that hit #2 on the Billboard charts back in 1980. Fallon mentioned his love for the song to some of the shows producers and, as luck would have it, they booked Cross for a special Monday themed episode. The theme? You guessed it, "Yacht Rock." Watch the fantastic performance after the jump.
All last week, Fallon could hardly contain his excitement for his upcoming "Yacht Rock" episode and for Cross to play his show. For those unfamiliar with Yacht Rock, there was a hilarious online video series produced in 2005 that followed the fictional lives of such seminal soft rock superstars as Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald, Steely Dan, Hall & Oates and even Warren G (not a soft rock superstar, but if you know his music/one hit single, then you understand how he fits in). Those familiar with the series understand the hold that Yacht Rock has on today's society, not to mention popular culture.
This all brings us back to Monday night, when Late Night with Jimmy Fallon had a themed episode catering to all things Yacht Rock. The crowd was handed out captains hats and Fallon even put on a double-breasted suit jacket and silk ascot, so as to bring home the effect. It was all fun and games until it was time for Cross' performance at the show's conclusion. The idea of him playing with The Roots seemed fantastic, and the performance didn't disappoint. Say what you will about Jimmy Fallon as a talk show host -- what with his constant laughing at his own jokes and his over-enthusiastic demeanor -- but Late Night has really been hitting its stride these past few weeks. Fallon has talented writers who do produce some pretty funny stuff, but it's stuff like booking Christopher Cross to play a 29 year old song that puts his show into a category all by itself.
Behold, Christopher Cross' performance of "Ride Like The Wind" with The Roots. There is something that makes this performance all the more amazing, but I will leave that to you to watch and figure out what exactly I mean (If you have any basic knowledge of the song itself, then you can pretty much figure it out already).
