Mod of the Day

Ben Folds Five | Alice Childress

The 1995 track “Alice Childress” by the “guitarless, and seemingly numerically-challenged, indie-pop trio Ben Folds Five,” (The Delete Bin) … “does without many indie-pop conventions of the time, yet is packed with ironic humour, punk energy, and in this tune in particular, a profound sense of pathos, too.” The band’s music, “centered around Ben Folds’ sardonic lyrics and jazz-influenced piano, is infused with a sense of irony that undercuts the way it might be perceived on the first go-round as straight-ahead pop music. As such, the trio wasn’t exactly the darling of North American radio at the time this record was released, even if they had a strong grass roots appeal on college radio.”

The song was co-written by Folds’ then-wife Anna Goodman. It “seemingly name-checks American author and playwright Alice Childress,” but is actually about a woman who was under Goodman’s care at a mental hospital where Goodman worked. “… the song was once centered around a specific experience, Folds took it to another plane, telling a tale of separation and alienation between two lovers who’ve come to grow in different directions, both geographically as well as emotionally. There is a certain irony here, given Folds’ relationship with Goodman, which ended a few years before this song appeared on the band’s debut record.”

Starting and ending in B major, the tune shifts to G major from 2:16 – 2:43, with plenty of compound chord sleight of hand throughout. Many thanks to our mod wrangler extraordinaire JB for this submission!

Chicago | Hard to Say I’m Sorry

“Hard to Say I’m Sorry” was the American rock band Chicago’s number one single, and held the #1 spot on the Billboard Top 100 for two weeks in September 1982. Written by the band’s bassist Peter Cetera, the track was included on the album Chicago 16 and nominated for a Grammy in the Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal category.

Musically the song represents a departure from Chicago’s typical horn-dominated texture, featuring synthesizer and guitar more prominently (producer David Foster, who co-wrote the song, is the keyboard player.) Staying in E for the most part, a modulation up to G occurs near the end at 2:52.

Aubrey Johnson | No More ‘I Love Yous’

Aubrey Johnson “is a New York-based vocalist, composer, and educator who specializes in jazz, Brazilian, and creative contemporary music with and without words. She holds a Master of Music degree in jazz performance from the New England Conservatory and teaches at Berklee College of Music in the Voice Department and in the Jazz Masters Program at Queens College in New York City.” As a college student, Aubrey won two DownBeat Collegiate Student Music Awards for Best Jazz Vocalist and Jazz Vocalist, Outstanding Performance and another during her master’s studies for Outstanding Performance in Jazz Voice.

Johnson has studied with Danilo Perez, Jerry Bergonzi, Dominique Eade, Allan Chase, George Garzone, and Frank Carlber; she contributed to Bobby McFerrin’s Grammy-nominated release VOCAbuLaries. She’s also shared the stage with Lyle Mays, Janis Siegel (Manhattan Transfer), Fred Hersch’s Pocket Orchestra, John Zorn’s Mycale Vocal Quartet, and many others, and as a leader with her own band.

The tune Johnson covered in 2020, “No More I Love Yous,” is best known for its performance by Annie Lennox (1995) — itself a cover of a tune by a band called The Lover Speaks and written by David Freeman and Joseph Hughes. “When the song was released it made a mild murmur in the charts,” Lennox recalls, “but I don’t think it ever really became a hit. There are quite a few songs floating around which should have touched the consciousness of the nation – they should have made their mark, and this is one of them. I thought, well, I might be sticking my neck out to do this, but I really wanted to give it another chance because it’s a magnificent song.” Her hunch paid off: Lennox’s version became a multi-continent smash hit and a Grammy winner.

Liberated from the measured feel of Lennox’s version, Johnson focuses on the lyrical melody lines instead. After a start in D major and a menagerie of short, darting instrumental lines accompanying the vocal on the verse, 1:42 brings a modulation up to F major. At 2:36, there’s a bridge featuring wordless vocals and then a piano solo, cycling through several keys. At 4:09, just before the last chorus section, we’ve pivoted back to D major.

Jon Secada | Do You Believe In Us

Cuban-born, Florida-raised recording artist Jon Secada (born Juan Francisco Secada Ramírez) recorded “Do You Believe in Us” for his debut eponymous English language album and for his debut Spanish-language album Otro Día Más Sin Verte (1992). The English version peaked at #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #3 on the Adult Contemporary chart; the Spanish version reached #1 on the US Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart. In 1993, the tune won a BMI Award fr Most Performed Latin Song worldwide. The tune was composed by Secada, Miguel Morejon, and Joseph Stefano; Emilio Estefan Jr. was the producer.

Secada has both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in music, strongly attributing “my career, the things that have happened have happened, (to) my music education background. I always wanted to be educated and be prepared.”

After a start in Eb major, 2:34 shifts us into E major during the instrumental bridge.

Billy Ocean | Love Really Hurts Without You

British singer Billy Ocean’s first Top 40 hit in the US, “Love Really Hurts Without You” was featured on his eponymous first studio album, released in 1976.

Ocean claims he wrote the song while simultaneously learning how to play the new piano he had just bought. “The novelty of it was coming home every lunchtime and evening and tinkling my piano until eventually I did get something out of it which was the song ‘Love Really Hurts Without You’,” he said. “My left hand started playing the melody and my right hand just did some down beats and my voice just started coming out with [the opening lyric] ‘You run around town like a fool and you think that it’s groovy’ and the song just came together there and then.”

The song has since appeared in the 2013 film Filth, as well as in the Netflix series Sex Education. Beginning in F major, the tune modulates up to G at 2:07.

Level 42 | The Sleepwalkers

“When (Mark) King formed Level 42 … they were jazz-funk aficionados, deep into Miles Davis, John McLaughlin and Keith Jarrett,” (ClassicPopMag.com). “While this was sonic worlds away from the pop terrain that became their regular stomping ground in the 80s, (bassist) King had been a fan of music of all kinds at eight years old – and his first vinyl purchase was a Cream album … ‘I was only really trying to do what I’d been hearing coming across from America… I’d been listening to Stanley Clarke and Larry Graham … The idiom they were thumping the music in wasn’t as broad a spectrum as pop, so I’d somehow managed to leap the fence with that, and we were straight out into the pop mainstream. It happened to coincide with our first European tour, when we opened for The Police.'”

AllMusic sums up the band’s progression from its inception to its biggest hit-making days: “At the beginning of their career, Level 42 was squarely a jazz-funk fusion band … By the end of the ’80s, however, the band — whose music was instantly recognizable from Mark King’s thumb-slap bass technique and associate member Wally Badarou’s synthesizer flourishes — had crossed over to the point where they were often classified as sophisti-pop and dance-rock, equally likely to be placed in the context of Sade and the Style Council as was any group that made polished, upbeat, danceable pop/rock.”

1987’s “The Sleepwalkers” was a track from Running in the Family, which became a top ten album for the year in Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Australia, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, and New Zealand — with a #2 berth in the UK, as well, although the release only hit #23 in the US. Like so much of the band’s output, the tune is a multi-layered machine, built around a percolating bass line, an up-the-neck funk guitar, several strata of synth sheen, and clock-like drums. After starting in Ab major, the tune makes an unlikely tritone leap to D minor with a syncopated kick of backing vocals at 1:00 for the chorus. At 1:23, we revert to the original key; the pattern is maintained throughout.

LeAnn Rimes | Can’t Fight the Moonlight

Written by Dianne Warren and recorded by LeAnn Rimes, “Can’t Fight The Moonight” was originally featured in the 2000 film Coyote Ugly, and subsequently appeared on Rimes’s 2002 compilation album I Need You as well as various greatest hits/best-of releases. The track cracked the top 10 in 19 European countries, and hit the #11 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. Billboard’s review called the song “[Rimes’s] most compelling pop offering yet–and one of the more intriguing compositions of late from songwriter superwoman Diane Warren.”

Warren herself claimed she had never written a song with so many key changes, and it does indeed bounce around. Following an intro that deceptively appears to set up C minor, the first two verses are instead set in B minor, and alternate with the C-minor chorus at 0:52. A bridge-like interlude begins at 2:25 that passes through both keys before modulating to C# minor for the final chorus at 2:25.

The Beatles | And I Love Her

First time contributor Galen Cruess, in his submission of The Beatles’ 1964 hit “And I Love Her” from the album A Hard Day’s Night, writes: “It’s a unique acoustic song sung and written mostly by Paul McCartney that reflects his more ballad-like songs. Elements like George Harrison’s introductory riff, arpeggiated chords during the verses, and Ringo’s use of bongos and clavés give the song a different sound that is only heard in a few other Beatles songs, such as ‘Til There Was You’ and ‘Michelle.'”

“Before the soundtrack to (the movie) A Hard Day’s Night burst on the scene, Paul’s songwriting was mostly encompassed within the framework of writing ‘eyeball to eyeball’ (as Lennon would call it) with John in collaborative efforts,” (BeatlesBooks.com). “When he did faction off to write by himself, the songs would be rockers, such as ‘I Saw Her Standing There’ and ‘Can’t Buy Me Love.’ His reputation as a ‘balladeer’ began with the inclusion of ‘And I Love Her’ on the movie soundtrack album. This soft, acoustic sentimental love song stuck out like a sore thumb and made everyone take notice of what this long-haired British rock group was capable of.”

After a start in F# minor the key raises a half step to B minor at 1:30 with George Harrison’s solo on classical-style nylon string acoustic guitar. The tune ends on a striking major chord (piccardy third).

David Sanborn | Snakes

Alto saxophonist David Sanborn’s 1992 album Upfront featured a jaw-dropping who’s-who list of some of the best players at that time: Marcus Miller (production, keyboards, lead guitar, bass guitar, bass clarinet), Steve Jordan (drums), Hiram Bullock (guitar), Naná Vasconcelos (percussion), Randy Brecker (trumpet), Ricky Peterson (organ), and many more.

Sanborn’s “R&B crossover” sound, as AllMusic calls it, is clearly in evidence here on the album’s opening track “Snakes.” After a start in G minor, a straight-ahead funk feel drives an extended section built around the tonic; from 1:10-1:27, the bass continues the a pedal point tonic while a procession of compound chords tug at our ears underneath Sanborn’s climbing sax line as it leans into every curve. The pattern continues until 3:24-3:41, where a shift to Eb minor, built around a more Latin-infused feel, makes a vivid appearance. The Eb minor section returns at 3:24-3:40 and again at 4:30, this time to stay.

Culture Club | Time (Clock of the Heart)

“Time (Clock of the Heart)” wasn’t released on the debut Culture Club album Kissing to be Clever; “it was a stand-alone single that proved another smash hit and was later added to the album in America.” (Diffuser.FM) “In the process, Culture Club pulled off a pretty amazing feat, becoming the first UK band since the Beatles to have three singles from a debut album make the Top 10 in America. Despite the grand success of the music, for many the look often overtook the sound as the media began a love affair with the band, and George in particular. ‘People felt there was something really happening,’ said Culture Club drummer Jon Moss. ‘I think that was the main thing. People would look and say, Blimey, what is this?‘”

In a GQ interview, George recalls he “was obsessed with music as a little kid, that was where I escaped to. I shared a room with my four brothers and most of the time I didn’t have the room to myself, so whenever I could I would have the record player on. I’d listen to everything from Irish show tunes to early Bowie, T. Rex and disco. Discovering Bowie was the ‘Whoa, that’s what I want to be’ moment. I was 11 and somehow my dad got me a ticket to see Ziggy Stardust.”

“It was kind of almost overnight for us,” he said in a 2015 interview. “You know, one minute we were an unknown band that literally couldn’t get signed, but once we got on TV, it was the public, more than anything, that decided they liked us and I think that’s always been the case.”

Starting in G minor, the 1982 single features a short instrumental bridge at 2:26 in Bb minor before settling into the next chorus at 2:43.