Author: Mod of the Day

Timi Yuro | And That Reminds Me

Husky-voiced Timi Yuro scored a big hit in 1959 with “Hurt” (Billboard #4), a tear-jerker ballad replete with a true-to-form spoken recitative. She had another hit in 1962 with “What’s a Matter Baby” (Billboard #12), with a mid-tempo rock arrangement. She continued to record and perform throughout the 1960s, with only modest success. In 1969, she decided to leave the music business. In the early 1980s, she managed a comeback in the Netherlands, with new recordings reaching the top of the Dutch charts.

“And That Reminds Me” qualifies as a standard; it’s been covered many times. Based on an Italian instrumental “Concerto d’autunno,” by Camillo Bargoni, English lyrics were added by Al Stillman and Paul Siegel. The recording here appeared on Timi’s 1961 album Hurt!.

The first verse begins in B♭, continuing in that key through the beginning of an instrumental verse. At 1:27, there’s a modulation up to B. By the second verse, we’ve made it up to C♯, staying put in that key through the end. Regardless of key, Timi’s voice drips with emotion throughout!

English Beat | She’s Going

“The English Beat is a band with an energetic mix of musical styles and a sound like no other,” (NPR Music). “The band’s unique sound has allowed it to endure for decades and appeal to fans, young and old, all over the world. When The English Beat (known simply as The Beat in their native England) rushed on to the music scene in 1979, it was a time of massive social and political unrest and economic and musical upheaval. This set the stage for a period of unbridled musical creativity, and thanks in large part to the Punk movement and its DIY approach to making music, artists like The Beat were able to speak out and speak their mind on the news of the day, as in ‘Stand Down Margaret’, things that mattered to them and the youth culture, as in ‘Get A Job’, and universal matters of the heart and soul, as in their classic hits ‘I Confess’ and ‘Save It For Later’.”

Massachusetts-based ArtsFuse reviewed a 2019 performance in Lowell, MA: “(The band has) always embraced both love and social justice in its music, from joy to anger. Now in its 40th year, the Birmingham, England-bred band was born in the punk movement but based its messages and beats in ska … to form what was called the two-tone movement in England. The result was highly danceable and lyrically edgy.”

1982’s “She’s Going” packs all of that edginess into a track which clocks in at just barely over two minutes, yet seems anything but incomplete. After a start in B major, 1:00 brings an instrumental break which goes airborne at 1:17, quickly shifting through several keys and landing us in E major for a frenetic closing verse and chorus.

Danny and Alex | Friends Kiss Too

“Friends Kiss Too” is a 2019 single released by Danny and Alex, a pop duo based in St. Petersburg, Florida. Counting Steely Dan, Prince, and The Beatles among their influences, [Danny] Scordato and [Alex] Merrill write and produce all of their music; they released an EP in 2018.

The track begins in A and modulates up to C at 2:28.

Daryl Hall | Wildfire

Daryl Hall released BeforeAfter, a retrospective double album, this year. From Goldmine‘s coverage: “As Jeremy Holiday writes in the accompanying liner notes, ‘How paradoxical that Daryl Hall is most associated in the public imagination with a long-term musical partner. Because few artists are as individualistic, and individually complete … Yet Daryl Hall is also a brilliant collaborator, and, perhaps ironically, that quality is equally if not more apparent within his solo work. More than a chance to work alone, Hall’s individual pursuits have granted him license to be more eclectic in his choice of collaborators and to push further outside the expected bounds.’”

Hall’s 1993 solo outing Soul Alone paid homage to the singer’s early roots in Philly soul, including the Top 100 hit “I’m In a Philly Mood” and an adaptation of Marvin Gaye’s classic track “When Did you Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You.”

“Wildfire” is one of many polished, harmonically rich tracks from the album, which leaves Hall and Oates’ 1980s pop sensibilities in the rearview mirror. This live version finds the quality of Hall’s vocals typically indistinguishable from the studio version. The track shifts up a whole step at 3:54.

Shania Twain | Any Man of Mine

“Any Man of Mine” was country singer Shania Twain’s first number one hit, selling over 500,000 copies and topping the country charts. Co-written with Twain’s then-husband Robert John “Mutt” Lange, the track was originally featured on the 1995 album The Woman In Me, and was nominated for Best Country Song and Best Female Country Performance at the 1996 Grammy Awards. “Another Canadian singer breaking national borders and stylistic barriers,” said the British magazine Music Week of the song. “This debut single from the new album features hubby Mutt Lange’s crunching but considered rock production (and vocals) plus enough country to catch the ear.”

Starting in Ab, the tune modulates up to Bb at 2:48.

Miles Davis | So What

“For many, (Miles Davis’) crowning achievement was the album Kind of Blue, the best selling album in jazz history,” (JazzWise). In 1999 it topped The Independent’s ’50 Best Recordings of the 20th Century’ list, in 2006 it topped the Jazzwise ‘100 Albums that Shook the World’ listing, while more recently The Guardian’s ‘1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die’ gave Kind of Blue a half-page box-out, an honour accorded to just 20 or so albums on the whole list. It even featured at No. 66 on the pop station VH1’s ‘100 Greatest Albums of Rock ’n’ Roll.’

“No other recording in jazz has come remotely near acquiring the kind of cachet Kind of Blue has accumulated over the decades. It’s an album that has probably been responsible for more Damascene conversions of non-believers into the jazz faith than any other, it has been the base-station from where countless fans have begun their journey into jazz and it’s an album that crops-up in the record collections of classical, rock, pop and country & western devotees who would not otherwise give jazz house room.”

After an intro, Kind of Blue‘s “So What” (1959) starts in earnest at 0:34. Even though the melody repeats throughout, the half-step upward modulation on the third pass (1:02 – 1:17) lends the track a classic AABA form. At 1:17, the tune reverts to its original key.

James Taylor + Carly Simon | Mockingbird

“Carly Simon and James Taylor where performing in 1979 for the MUSE No Nukes concert in New York City (Daily Rock Box). The ‘Mockingbird’ performance was lively and magnetic. Their energy was absolutely addicting.  The duo’s dancing and stares were definitely a welcomed form of PDA. Carly and James did fall in love. They were married for a decade and had two children. Their music was so good because they were so good.”

The live track, which reached #34 on the pop charts, shifts up a whole step at 1:55.



Makin’ It | David Naughton

The 1979 disco tune “Makin’ It” is the only song actor/singer David Naughton ever released. Naughton’s career has been about acting, with music serving only as a sideline: “David Naughton made his professional debut in the New York Shakespeare Festival’s production of Hamlet in Lincoln Center … he was cast as the lead singer/dancer in the ‘Be a Pepper’ advertising campaign for Dr. Pepper,” (IMDB). His film credits include An American Werewolf in London, Midnight Madness, and the American ski comedy Hot Dog. On TV, he was seen in 1986’s My Sister Sam.

Written by Freddie Perren and Dino Fekaris (who also penned the #1 hit “I Will Survive”), “Makin’ It” was theme song for the 1979 sitcom of the same name, in which Naughton starred, and has been used in other shows and commercials in the decades since. There is a modulation from C to D at 1:33.

Thanks to MotD regular Rob Penttinen for this submission!

Del Shannon | Runaway

“Runaway” by Del Shannon is an “eerie, aching, chart-topping 1961 single” according to the AV Club. “Few songs in popular music are so enduring yet ethereal. ‘Runaway’ is a moody song for a brooding scenario, one that seems to instantly sublimate into a glum, haunting fog. Written by Shannon and his keyboardist, Max Crook, it outlines in tear-streaked detail a guy who’s lost his girl. Guys losing girls is a primary preoccupation of pop songwriters, then and now, but ‘Runaway’ nudges that theme to a preternatural level. ‘As I walk along I wonder / what went wrong,’ he begins the song, not bothering to mention where he’s walking or why.

The not-so-secret weapon of ‘Runaway,’ though, is its keyboard. Crook joined Shannon’s band in 1959, and soon after he began toying with a riff on his Musitron, a self-built version of the clavioline that served as a precursor to the analog synthesizer. Modifying the instrument with spare parts from television sets and household appliances, Crook used his invention to turn his riff into the spooky, unsettling hook of ‘Runaway.'” The single went to #1 in the US and was a true international smash hit as well, hitting Top 5 in Australia, Canada, Chile, Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the UK, among others.

The intro, verses, and iconic keyboard feature sections are in Bb minor; the choruses (first heard at 0:31) shift to Bb major.