Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins are two musicians with rich histories. From the early ’70s Loggins & Messina days to Mike’s work with Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan, these men injected Funk, Soul, and some dusts of Disco into once straightforward Rock & Roll bands. To simply call their music “Yacht Rock” or “Blue-Eyed Soul” would be a disservice to the music, and its lasting impact.

For Hip-Hop audiences, the back-beats of a song like McDonald’s 1983 “I Keep Forgettin'” made Warren G & Nate Dogg sound so smooth 11 years later on “Regulate.” For Loggins, the man who made the Top Gun a 1980s soundtrack institution, 1979’s “This Is It” (written with McDonald at the time) would signal the call for Nas’ own “We Will Survive.”

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Together, Loggins and McDonald show up in support of Thundercat. The Los Angeles, California-based musician/vocalist known for his work with Childish Gambino, Ty Dolla $ign, and Mac Miller often travels back in time to a smooth simplicity. On “Show You The Way,” he goes back to easy, breezy moods, and shows us all the wall. The vocalists appear at Thundercat’s cue for some Easy Listening that has truth and real bite in its lyrics.

According to NPR Music, Loggins (cited as a Thundercat favorite) suggested McDonald join the track. “I think one of the most beautiful moments of it was realizing how amazing Michael McDonald was. He would go through so many ideas and have so much to offer.”

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This is from the February 24 album, Drunk.

#BonusBeat: The Doobie Brothers’ 1978 hit “What A Fool Believes”:

This was written by Loggins and McDonald.