Mod of the Day

Average White Band | You’re My Number One

Released in 1982, “You’re My Number One” was a track from the Average White Band’s album Cupid’s In Fashion. ” … the group decided to keep things a bit funkier on this release … ” (Soulfinger). ” … they brought in some cool cats like Dan Hartman to write ‘You’re My Number One’. Say what you will about Hartman, but that man can make a fun song … AWB could do LA pop without losing their soul … “

Hartman is perhaps best known for his own release “I Can Dream About You” (which reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1984 and #12 on the UK Singles chart in 1985). He wrote and/or produced many other successful tunes for other artists, including “Living in America” for James Brown (1986), as well as tracks for a wide-ranging list of artists including The Plasmatics, Steve Winwood, Tina Turner, Joe Cocker, Dusty Springfield, and Bonnie Tyler. Hartman passed away from HIV in 1994 at the age of only 43.

1980s LA pop could hardly have a better standard-bearer than this track. Its funk foundation, nimble horn section, glossy production, and an entire instrumental verse devoted to a sax solo all belie the fact that Average White Band is from … Scotland! The modulation kicks in at 1:46.

Mariana’s Trench | The Killing Kind

“Blending the energy and melodicism of pop-punk with theatrical pop ambitions and a progressive rock spirit, Canadian quartet Marianas Trench — named after the Pacific Ocean trench which is the deepest known spot in the world — rose to widespread popularity at the end of the 2000s thanks to platinum-selling concept albums like 2009’s Masterpiece Theatre and 2011’s Ever After,” (AllMusic). “With an increasing trend toward thematic grandeur and a growing worldwide audience, the Vancouver band continued to expand both their sound and commercial reach with the ’80s adventure film-themed Astoria in 2015 and the lush, haunted pop of 2019’s Phantoms.“

Reviewing Phantoms, MelodicMag adds: “Full of theatrical moments, textures, colors, and unconventional sounds … Reminiscent of Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’ (‘The Killing Kind’) sounds like multiple songs in one … Each section is like organized chaos. They build onto each other, while staying central to a certain theme or idea.”

Starting in B minor, the track ends in the relative major key of D major — but this seemingly straightforward shift is handled in an indirect fashion: a meandering path through a landscape constructed from equal parts 1970s Queen-style pomp and the gleaming grandeur of contemporary symphonic metal.

Liz Story | Things With Wings

Pianist Liz Story studied music at Hunter College and at Juilliard. “Although she was an accomplished pianist, (she) lost interest in a music career until she saw Bill Evans play one night at the Bottom Line in New York,” (MusicianGuide). “That concert opened up performance possibilities that she had never considered. ‘What hit me was the improvisation. I had the impression that improvising music had died in the 18th century, that it was a musical feat people knew about in some other time,’ she told DownBeat. ‘All these lights went on. I had, for the first time, a clear idea of what I would do in music.’

The timing of Story’s entrance onto the music scene was fortuitous. She arrived when a new form of music, popularly dubbed New Age, was gaining wide acceptance. William Ackerman helped pioneer New Age music through his Windham Hill label, which he formed in 1976 to release his first album of guitar music … Story recorded her first solo album, Solid Colors, for Windham Hill in 1983. High Fidelity reviewed the album: ‘ … a virtually flawless technical capacity, a fine gift for melody, a great sense of creative passion … a performer-composer with the melodic power to move an audience.’ Story claims that she desires simplicity in her compositions. ‘When I sit at the piano, complexity dissolves. I want music to somehow move me, simple and stripped down as it may be. I wonder at the possibility that a melody of three notes can turn the heart.'”

Story’s 1983 track “Things With Wings” begins in F major; at 1:03, there’s a modulation to F# major, then a reversion to the original key at 1:46.

Gin Blossoms | California Sun

“An homage to the surf music the Beach Boys helped make so popular, this song is certainly one directly from the depths of Gin Blossom Jesse Valenzuela’s heart,” (Songfacts). “Jesse’s original role with the Gin Blossoms was as lead singer. He switched to guitar with the introduction of vocalist Robin Wilson to the band. Yet he was – and is – one of the band’s most prolific songwriters. While some artists may have a rough time of it allowing someone else to sing their words when they themselves are perfectly capable of doing it, Jesse says it doesn’t bother him.”

InnerEarMedia‘s review of the band’s 2006 album Major Lodge Victory has this to say about “California Sun,” the album’s closing track: “The easy-to-the-ears pop of the Gin Blossoms is like a warm blanket surrounding you and keeping you safe. That blanket only gets warmed more by ‘California Sun’ as the sweet pop song brings this great album to an appropriate end. Gin Blossoms leave us with a folk/pop song that could’ve come straight from the 70s (Eagles, America, etc.) and it makes you smile.”

Starting in E major, a bridge at 2:03 begins with a vocal section but then settles into a guitar feature. We’re led into a key change at 2:49 with an emphatic, extended V chord in the new key of F major, complete with richly textured backing vocals echoing the Beach Boys’ style. At 3:00, the final chorus is firmly established in the new key.

Caterina Valente and Danny Kaye | Bossa Nova Medley

Consummate entertainer Caterina Valente debuted her recording career with “The Hi-Fi Nightingale”, which was issued in 1956, with a career that lasted until 2003. That LP contained her version of “Malagueña’, which begins her routine here, which appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1969.

Born into a musical family in France, of Italian heritage, Caterina spoke six languages, and sang in eleven. You can find videos online of her interviews in French, Italian, German, and Portuguese (and probably in other languages). Her routine here shows off her choreographed dancing skills; she was also an accomplished tap dancer.

While she sang in many styles, she was especially accomplished in singing bossa nova, accompanying herself on guitar. She recorded an entire LP with bossa innovator Luiz Bonfa in 1963, “Poco e tutto.” On Danny Kaye’s early-1960s variety show, she and Danny performed a whimsical suite of nursery rhymes reimagined as bossa tunes.

The short “Malagueña” segment starts in D; at 0:40, the transition to “The Look of Love” shifts to B♭. For the swingin’-Mozart, breakneck-tempo “Turkish Rondo” segment at 2:40, the key shifts to D♭; with a modulation to E♭ at 4:01. (This piece is also known as “Turkish March,” but one wonders if Turkish (or any other) soldiers could march at this speed!)

For the last segment, Caterina is accompanied on clarinet by her older brother Silvio Francesco, very talented in his own right. He was her musical director on her tours, and appeared on some of her albums. He achieved some fame on his own as a pop singer in Germany.

Judy Garland feat. Tommy Dorsey Orchestra and Mickey Rooney | I’ve Got Rhythm (from “Girl Crazy”)

Tap cowboy boots? Yep, we’ve got those. The ninth of ten movies co-starring the iconic pairing of Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney, 1943’s Girl Crazy ends with “I’ve Got Rhythm” staged as a gargantuan Busby Berkeley production number –the very definition of the “Golden Age movie musical.”

From Film Frenzy‘s review: ” … another Rooney-Garland confection where not much of interest happens when everyone isn’t singing or dancing. The Gershwin score is tops, though.” HighDefDigest describes the title as “the best film pairing of Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland … Girl Crazy not only showcases the dynamite talents of two enduring dynamos, it also features a first-class score by George and Ira Gershwin that includes such standards as ‘I Got Rhythm,’ ‘Embraceable You,’ and ‘But Not for Me,’ a bubbly cast, and a lavish rodeo finale staged by Busby Berkeley.” Meanwhile, Tommy Dorsey leads his orchestra while playing some top-drawer trombone.

After the intro, the tune begins in earnest at 0:58 in Eb, shifts to F at 1:34, and lands in D at 1:42 — for starters. Thereafter, key changes continue to parade by throughout.

Leslie Odom Jr. (feat. Sia) | Cold

A solo version of “Cold” was first included on Odom’s 2019 album “Mr,” the singer/actor’s third studio album and first comprised of original material. The track proved to be the standout song of the album, and a new cover was released in 2020, featuring the Australian, nine-time Grammy nominated singer Sia.

“Sia has been a friend for a few years now after I met her backstage at Hamilton,” Odom said. ” As I look at making that foray into the pop world and pop music, she’s been a really great mentor and friend. I sent her the album and asked if there was anything she would want to collaborate on. She said, ‘I’ll sing on Cold,’ which was her favorite song from the album, so we recorded a new version of it that I think you’re really going to like.” Due to the pandemic, the two artists conducted the recording and producing of the track virtually.

The tune begins in C and modulates up to Db at 2:32.

Richard Marx | Heaven Only Knows

Cleveland.com describes songwriter and performer Richard Marx as a “supremely talented, instinctual songwriter who rode the wave of MTV fame for a decade or so and then, when the heat dissipated, reinvented himself as a producer and songwriter for others. ‘It was just about 10 years straight where everything I put out had success. And then I put out a record that I joked went double plywood instead of double platinum.’ … He says it took a year for him to grasp the change. ‘I started to think, well, you know what? I had a really great turn for about 10 years. And it’s not my turn now. It’s somebody else’s turn.’”

Marx has had 14 #1 songs as a writer. Cleveland.com continues: “He and Luther Vandross’ ‘Dance With My Father’ won the 2004 Grammy for Song of the Year. He’s written or performed hits on Billboard’s country, adult contemporary, mainstream rock, holiday and pop charts.” Marx’s earlier run as a performer centered around his own material, best known for hits like “Right Here Waiting,” “Hold On to the Nights,” “Hazard” and “Angelia.” Some up-tempo tracks, such as “Should Have Known Better” and “Don’t Mean Nothing,” also hold a place in his repertoire, but Marx has a particular gift for harmony-saturated power ballads.

“Heaven Only Knows,” a fastidiously constructed track from Marx’s eponymous debut album (1987), wasn’t even a single — giving some idea of the overall quality and detail of his songwriting, right out of the gate. The verses and choruses, built with plenty of inverted and compound chords, pivot all over the place. The tune’s short phrases traverse one blind alley after another, with questioning and longing the only common factors. The bridge (3:08), built around major chords, finally transitions the forecast to partly sunny, but it leads to a key change to C# minor (4:00) for the last chorus and extended outro.

Reba McEntire | Somehow You Do

“Somehow You Do,” from the 2021 film Four Good Days, was nominated for Best Original song at the 2022 Academy Awards and performed at the ceremony (and in the film) by country star Reba McEntire. It marks the fifth consecutive best song nomination for composer Diane Warren and her 13th overall — she has yet to win.

McEntire’s performance was introduced by Mila Kunis, who stars in the film as a young woman recovering from heroin addiction. “[The song is a] story of hope, perseverance and survival that celebrates the strength of the human spirit,” Kunis, who was born in Ukraine, said. “Recent global events have left many of us feeling gutted. Yet when you witness the strength of those facing such devastation, it’s impossible not to be moved by their resilience. One cannot help but be in awe of those who find strength to keep fighting through unimaginable darkness.”

Starting in C, the song dramatically modulates up a half step to Db at 1:56.

Coleman Hawkins | Body and Soul

“Out of all the hit recordings of ‘Body and Soul,’ Coleman Hawkins’ is the best remembered,” (JazzStandards.com). Considered the first truly great jazz saxophonist, Hawkins’ October 11, 1939, version cemented his fame and must be considered the definitive recording of the song. According to Mark C. Gridley, author of Jazz Styles: History and Analysis, ‘Coleman Hawkins loved to improvise on complicated chord progressions and invent solo lines whose construction implied that chords had been added …'”

In 1973, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences inducted Hawkins’ 1939 recording into the Grammy Hall of Fame. The original recording is on Coleman Hawkins’ Body and Soul CD. An interesting reworking of the tune can be heard as the title cut on Hawkins’ 1944 Rainbow Mist recording on which he lays a new melody over the chord changes of ‘Body and Soul.'”

The 32-bar tune, composed in 1930 by Johnny Green, is built in Db major overall. After a brief intro, the first A section begins at 0:11 and the second at 0:32. The B section, which features several departures from the original key via a huge amount of harmonic sleight of hand, begins at 0:52. Finally, 1:12 brings the form’s last A section, returning to the original key.