Today’s classic Yacht Rock song of the day is “Biggest Part of Me” by Ambrosia. Released in March of 1980, this track went all the way to #3 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts.
The old Yacht or Nyacht? website (no longer active) gave this one a Yachtski score of just 72.5, a little low but still qualifying as Yacht Rock. It is, perhaps, more appropriately tagged as a soft rock tune. Or maybe both.
“Biggest Part of Me” was written by David Pack, the group’s vocalist. Other members of the band, which formed in 1970 in Los Angeles, were Christopher North (keyboards), Joe Puerta (bass), and Burleigh Drummond (drums). They had five Top 50 singles, including “Holdin’ On to Yesterday (#17 in 1975), a cover of the Beatles’ “Magical Mystery Tour” (#39 in 1976), “How Much I Feel” (#3 in 1978), “You’re the Only Woman (You & I)” (#13 in 1980), and 1980’s “Biggest Part of Me.” Interestingly, keyboardist Bruce Hornsby (“The Way It Is”) joined the group for a brief period in 1982, four years before he hit big on his own.
Also interestingly, lead singer David Pack was pals with Yacht Rock king Michael McDonald, which no doubt influenced Ambrosia’s Yacht-like sound. Pack described how his pal reacted to “Biggest Part of Me” when he first played it for him:
“I wasn’t happy with the lyrics. So I played it for Mike at his home. I said, ‘I wrote this song. I don’t like these lyrics, but the song is pretty cool.’ He heard it and said, ‘Are you kidding me? (The lyrics) are probably the reason the song is going to be a hit!’ For me I’m a perfectionist, so I thought they were too Hallmark Card-sounding lyrics. I said, ‘Mike, I can imagine a band singing this in a Holiday Inn.’ He goes, ‘Well, that’s a good thing!’ (laughs). Of course, Mike was right, and I was wrong.”
When I was back in high school and college I played with some friends in a group called Ambrozia, with a “z.” We played a lot of wedding receptions back then and it’s likely that a few of our clients mistakenly thought they were getting the Ambrosia with an “s” band. They would have been sorely disappointed; I don’t think we had a single Ambrosia with an “s” song in our rotation. We’re lucky we didn’t get sued.
