Mod of the Day

Sean Maguire | Today’s the Day

“Best known for his starring roles in several U.S. sitcoms, British actor Sean Maguire was also responsible for a … mid-’90s pop career,” (AllMusic). “Born in Ilford, London in 1976, Maguire first shot to fame in the U.K. thanks to his role as Tegs Ratcliffe in the children’s school drama Grange Hill, and then later as Aidan Brosnan in the soap opera EastEnders.

(In 1994 he) pursued a music career … he scored a respectable eight Top 40 hits from two studio albums, 1994’s self-titled debut and 1996’s Spirit, over a three-year period. However, following the disappointing chart position of his Brit-pop-influenced 1997 single ‘Today’s the Day,’ he called time on his pop ambitions to concentrate on acting. (He later) landed parts in several American comedies, including Off Center and Eve and the Class, and in 2008 he played the lead role in Meet the Spartans, the critically panned (but box-office number one) parody of the film 300.”

“Today’s the Day,” (1997) written and produced by fellow Brit Phil Thornalley, starts in E major. At 0:31, a second section of the verse shifts of to G major. The chorus, arriving at 0:47, falls back to E major. The pattern continues from there.

Four Tops | Baby I Need Your Loving

“Forming in Detroit, Michigan, the Four Tops would become one of Motown Records’ most successful groups,” (Cryptic Rock). “Having twenty-four of their singles reach the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100, it all began in July of 1964 when radio stations debuted the single ‘Baby I Need Your Loving.’ A song that immediately caught many listeners’ ears, it would reach #11 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and was a prelude to a career that produced over fifty million records sold … some would consider ‘Baby I Need Your Loving’ one of the greatest songs ever.

… With a superior instrumental foundation in place thanks to the legendary Funk Brothers, Four Tops was largely the writing/production work of the Motown hitmaking trio of Lamont Dozier and brothers Brian and Eddie Holland … Truly a classic Motown-sounding album, Four Tops would hit #1 on the R&B charts and #63 on the Billboard 200, but it was merely a prelude to grander success toward the end of 1965, when the group released the Four Tops’ Second Album which featured the mega hits ‘I Can’t Help Myself,’ ‘Something About You,’ and ‘It’s the Same Old Song.’

After a start in Bb major, the chorus shifts at 0:40 to the closely related key of Eb major. The second verse shifts back to the original key at 0:55. The pattern continues from there.

헤이즈 (Heize) | And July

“Heize is a talented rapper and singer-songwriter from South Korea,” (IMDB). “She’s become one of South Korea’s most successful female solo musicians because of her distinctive sound. She has worked with numerous other musicians; her songs have been well-received both domestically and abroad. Jang Da-hye (her off-stage name) … rose to fame after making her debut in 2014 with the EP Heize and showing up on the second season of the South Korean reality show.

Heize won the 2017 Korean Music Awards for Best Female R&B/Soul Artist. She also won Best OST at the 2017 Melon Music Awards for her song “Round and Round” from the Goblin soundtrack, which she co-wrote with Punch. Her music has also been featured on US television shows such as Grey’s Anatomy and Empire. She received a 2018 BET Award nomination for Best International Act.”

Heize’s 2017 track “And July,” featuring a combination of rap and sung melody, is a mix of R+B, funk, and hiphop elements. The track is written in D minor overall, but shifts to Eb major for its noticeably smoother and more lyrical bridge (2:27 – 2:46), featuring lead vocals by collaborator Kwon Hyuk (stage name: Dean) before returning to the original key.

Many thanks to Sri, a longtime MotD reader and first time contributor, for this distinctive submission!

The Kane Gang | Motor Town

Vocalist and songwriter Martin Brammer and multi-instrumentalist Dave Brewis met at school in the northeast town of Seaham, County Durham, England,” (AllMusic). “Teaming up with Paul Woods (vocals), the trio developed a liking for 60s/70s soul, funk and R&B which led them through several bands before forming the Kane Gang in late 1982 … ‘Motortown’, which brought (the band) a Top 40 hit … In 1991, vocalist Paul Woods departed to concentrate on a solo career. Brammer and Brewis attempted to record a new album before pulling the plug on the Kane Gang. Brammer went on to enjoy success as a songwriter, composing songs for the likes of Tina Turner, Beverley Knight, the Lighthouse Family, and James Morrison.”

“Motortown” (1985) peaked at #36 (US pop), #12 (US Adult Contemporary), #87 (Australia pop) and #45 (UK pop). The tune rides on a buoyant, sunny 12/8 groove throughout. After a start in G major, the chorus shifts to Bb major at 0:49. At 1:10, an unprepared shift brings us back to the original key for the next verse. The pattern continues until 2:19, when the extended bridge shifts to G minor, followed by an instrumental break in Eb (2:36 – 2:51) and a return to the pre-chorus and then the chorus, both in the original keys.

The Spinners (feat. Dionne Warwick) | Then Came You

” … The Spinners … like so many of the other great soul groups of the early ’70s, had started off singing doo-wop in the ’50s,” (Stereogum). “The original group, first called the Domingoes, came together in the Detroit suburb of Ferndale in 1954. They released their first single in 1961 and joined the Motown roster in 1963, when Motown bought out all of the competing local label Tri-Phi. Even with the Motown machine behind them, the Spinners couldn’t score a top-10 single all through the ’60s. They came close once — 1970’s ‘It’s A Shame,’ which Stevie Wonder co-wrote with Lee Garrett and Syreeta Wright, peaked at #14. But the Spinners were consistently overshadowed by the other titans on the Motown roster, and they left the label for Atlantic in 1972. Atlantic paired the Spinners up with Thom Bell, and things started to click. All of a sudden, the Spinners had a bunch of hits. (Before ‘Then Came You,’ the Spinners’ highest-charting single was the 1972 Bell production ‘I’ll Be Around,’ which peaked at #3 … )

Warwick and the Spinners weren’t really a natural combination. They came from two different worlds. But early-’70s soul had absorbed some of the Bacharach/David aesthetic, that combination of orchestral flash and emotional depth. And on ‘Then Came You,’ they make sense together … written by Sherman Marshall and Philip Pugh, (it’s) a simple little trifle of a love song with a big hook … Warwick and the Spinners sing the beginning of the song together, making a sort of chocolate/peanut butter combination. But as the song goes on, they break apart, with Warwick doing the leads and the Spinners ad-libbing, pushing her on. Eventually, Warwick and Spinner Phillippe Wynne are jumping back and forth on each other, vamping hard.

But it’s the groove, more than the voices, that sells the song. There’s a central pulse to ‘Then Came You,’ one that nods toward disco without giving in to it. And there are all these great little Thom Bell production touches to it: a flanged-out wah-wah guitar, an itchy bongo ripple, a shivery string figure. All those things are there to serve the groove, which pushes relentlessly forward. Warwick and the Spinners just surf that groove, their voices dancing on top of it. That groove is what keeps ‘Then Came You’ memorable … ” In the middle of an interlude section that mimics the intro, the track features a whole-step key change at 2:12.

Peter Allen | Continental American

“In the 1970s, Peter Allen gained recognition both as a composer of romantic ballads such as ‘I Honestly Love You’ and ‘Don’t Cry Out Loud,’ and, contrastingly, as a flamboyant stage performer,” (AllMusic). Allen, an Australian, later served as an opener for Judy Garland. In 1970, Allen played his first show as a solo act at the Bitter End nightclub in Greenwich Village.

“Allen became interested in the trend toward introspective singer/songwriters in the early ’70s, and in writing more commercial music. Employed as a staff writer at Metromedia Records, he co-wrote ‘Jennifer’ with Carole Bayer Sager,” co-wrote “I Honestly Love You,” with Jeff Barry, (a #1 hit for Olivia Newton-John), and provided Melissa Manchester with the Top Ten song “Don’t Cry Out Loud” (co-written with Carole Bayer Sager). Rita Coolidge released a Top 40 hit with another Allen-Sager ballad, “I’d Rather Leave While I’m in Love.” Allen, Bayer Sager, Burt Bacharach, and Christopher Cross co-wrote the theme for the film comedy Arthur, which was a #1 hit for Cross in the fall of 1981 and won Allen and his fellow songwriters the Academy Award for best song. His songwriting career continued until he passed away from complications of HIV in 1992.

“Continental American (1974) was a dour singer/songwriter collection that used show business clichés in music and words to express a world view of regret and resignation.” Starting in G minor, the tonality of album’s title track flips over to the relative major (Bb) at 0:45. After another verse and chorus, an extended interlude starts at 2:25 in Bb mixolydian before a downward shift of tonality to A minor at 2:54, leading to the familiar flip to the relative C major. 3:34 brings a shift to Db major for another chorus, then upward again to D major at 4:o3 and yet again for another jump to C major for the tune’s multi-layered ending. Many thanks to regular contributor Rob P. for this intriguing tune!

Artie Shaw | Alone Together

“Jean Sargent introduced “Alone Together” in the Broadway musical Flying Colors … (which) opened at the Imperial Theater on September 15, 1932, produced by Max Gordon and directed by Howard Dietz,” (JazzStandards.com).

“The late Artie Shaw had impeccable musical taste. He was an obsessive perfectionist, and his clarinet playing and the bands he led performed exceptional, quality music. Many of the tunes he selected for his big bands of the 1930s and 40s became standards years after he recorded them. Shaw was the premier jazz musician to record “Alone Together.” The first reading was with his standard “reeds, brass, rhythm” band in 1939. He recorded it again in 1940 with a group including strings and with a different arrangement. Although both versions lean towards the smooth, instrumental, dance band style of that era, it’s Shaw’s brief clarinet expositions that reveal the improvisational potential of the song.”

The AABA tune, built primarily in D minor, shifts to the closely-related key of G minor for the B section before returning to the original key for the final A section.

Heatwave | Whack That Axe

“Rod Temperton,” (Heatwave’s keyboardist) “could write … Temperton might have been the brains, but the rest of the guys did a great job executing his vision,” (SomethingElseReviews). “Party bands have gotten so pre-fab these days, relying so much on sampling and studio help. Heatwave, however, was a real band. The musicians who played on stage were the same ones who played it in the studio, with a minimal amount of session players brought in for Central Heating (1977). The musicianship … makes this period music hold up so well to the present day.

The vocals, led by brothers Keith and the late Johnnie Wilder, were well above the pack, too. Keith’s harder-edged vocal was perfectly complimented by Johnnie’s velvet-smooth croon. In the studio, they often added layers upon layers of choral vocals that rivaled in richness to contemporaries Earth Wind and Fire.” The band formed in the UK but had a mixed roster of two Brits, two Americans, a Swiss citizen, a Czechoslovak national, and a Jamaican!

Built in C major overall, “Whack That Axe” (written by Temperton and sharing an album with one of the band’s three biggest hits, “Grooveline”) gently flips over to the relative A minor for the brief bridge (2:08 – 2:26).

The Four Guys | Too Late to Turn Back Now

“Formed in the late 50s … in Steubenville-Toronto, Ohio, USA, (The Four Guys) group moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and appeared on the Grand Ole Opry in April 1967,” (AllMusic). “Their reception was such that they became regulars on the show and built lasting popularity from this engagement.” The group worked with Hank Williams, Jr., Jimmy Dean, and Charley Pride.

The quartet were “just as much at home on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry as they are on the Las Vegas circuit” (Slipcue) … The Four Guys released several albums and a number of singles from the early 1970s through the early 1980s.

“Too Late to Turn Back Now” (1974) featured the quartet’s famous vocal blend; the tune shifts up a half-step at 1:31.

Squeeze | Black Coffee in Bed

“Few bands who came of age in the late ’70s and early ’80s released music that has stood the test of time like the British outfit Squeeze was able to do,” (American Songwriter). “That’s because the band’s success had nothing to do with hopping on any musical trends. Instead, it was all about songwriting, which never goes out of style. With songs like ‘Black Coffee in Bed,’ they ensured their music would enjoy a lengthy shelf life. Squeeze’s founding duo of Tilbrook and Difford remain in the band today, about 50 years after they first met and began writing songs together. That process has also become a major part of the band’s lore. Basically, Difford writes the lyrics and hands them off to Tilbrook who then puts those words to a tune. Other than Elton John and Bernie Taupin, it’s hard to find any other rock songwriting partnerships of that type that have enjoyed as much success.

… ‘Black Coffee in Bed’ (1982) came to life when Difford noticed that a page on one of his writing notebooks had the outline of his coffee cup on it. That set him off on a twisting tale of a guy moving from one relationship to the next. Difford told American Songwriter he made sure to hold onto the notebook: ‘Yeah, I still have the notepad in my office. That’s how the opening lines always happen,’ he said. ‘In fact, I’ve been working on something today that came from a picture that I saw. That’s how a lot of songs start. You have to see something or visualize an image, and pick up a pen and off you go.'”

After two verses and choruses in D major, the tune shifts up to Eb major for a guitar-centric interlude 2:58. But at 3:07, we’ve already started a transition back to the original key, made completely clear by 3:16.