Mod of the Day

Owsley | Zavelow House

“Power pop. It’s the redheaded stepchild of rock,” (PopMatters). “It started as a quick fix description of those mid-’90s bands who turned their noses up at grunge and preferred the sunny melodies and crunchy guitars of such luminaries as the Beatles, Big Star, the Raspberries, Cheap Trick, and, last but certainly not least, Jellyfish, who may be the first band to be christened with the dreaded power pop moniker … In 1999, power pop very nearly broke into the mainstream, thanks to a number of strong outings from artists such as John Faye Power Trip (whose debut also turned out to be their swan song), Ben Folds Five’s dark but dazzling The Unauthorized Biography of Reinhold Messner … Even Nik Kershaw turned in the best record of his career with 15 Minutes, a near flawless guitar pop album, and XTC resurfaced after a self-imposed seven-year exile with the orchestral pop masterpiece Apple Venus Vol. I.

However, those albums all paled in comparison to the 1999 debut of one Will Owsley. After Owsley’s first attempt at rock stardom crashed and burned in the form of the infamously unreleased Semantics album Powerbill (now available as Japanese import), he went on tour supporting Amy Grant and Shania Twain, making enough money in the process to build his own recording studio. He then made an album with his own money and offered it to the labels as is. Eventually, Giant Records bit (and later, bit the dust) and released Owsley, a fantastic collection of new wave- and classic pop-fueled gems that heralded the arrival of a Major New Talent.”

“Zavelow House,” a track from that eponymous debut album, tells a story that’s likely familiar to North Americans who grew up in the suburbs: That One House(TM) — abandoned, growing weeds through cracks in the driveway, windows boarded up. Not surprisingly, the local kids are scared but intrigued, with imaginations working overtime. Built in E major overall, the groove-driven track shifts to A major for an instrumental bridge (2:02 – 2:24) before returning to E. At 3:16, A major returns and holds sway until the final chord drops back into E.

Maybe This Time (from “Cabaret”)

Though now almost exclusively associated with the musical Cabaret, Kander and Ebb’s iconic ballad “Maybe This Time” was not originally written for the show. The songwriting duo composed the song for cabaret singer Kaye Ballard in 1964, and later included it in the 1972 film adaptation of Cabaret. The tune was added to the stage musical for the 1998 revival and has been included in subsequent major productions.

A new revival of Cabaret began previews on Broadway last week after transferring from London’s West End. The track is performed here by Jessie Buckley, and modulates from Ab to A at 2:21.

The Chimes | Once in Awhile

Lenny Cocco, the founder and lead vocalist of the New York City-based doo-wop vocal group The Chimes, “was deeply influenced by his parents and motivated by his father, Leonard,” (TheChimesMusic). “A professionally accomplished accordionist, (Leonard) advised Lenny to focus on Tommy Dorsey’s 1937 number one hit, ‘Once In Awhile.’ Lenny arranged the standard to work itself well with his vocal quintet. Standards were their passion!

In 1960, they visited the Brill Building in Manhattan, New York, to record a demo. The engineer during the session introduced them to Andy Leonetti, of TAG Records. Within minutes their lives were changed.” In 1961, the tune reached #11 on the US pop charts and #15 in Canada. “As a result, their major bookings, in the beginning, were in intimate theaters, such as The Howard in Washington, D.C., the Regal in Chicago and the Apollo in Harlem, New York. The intimate theater setting bonded people together like never before … The group made two appearances on ‘American Bandstand’ with Dick Clark” and had several other minor hits during the early 1960s.

The 12/8 tune could easily serve as an example of the doo wop genre as a whole. After beginning in Eb major, there’s a shift to G major for the bridge (1:08 – 1:35) before the track returns to the original key.

Glenn Lewis | Fall Again

“Fall Again” was written and originally recorded by Michael Jackson in 1999, and subsequently covered by Canadian R&B singer Glenn Lewis for the 2002 film Maid in Manhattan. Lewis makes a brief appearance performing the song in the film, which starred Jennifer Lopez and Ralph Fiennes.

The track begins in E minor and modulates up a half step to F minor at 3:06.

Franz Schubert | Der Musensohn, Op. 92/1, D. 764

“Although Franz Schubert died at the age of 31, he left behind a remarkably extensive oeuvre, including around 600 Lieder, sometimes composing as many as seven songs a day.” (Bachtrack) “Five of his Goethe settings … were written on 19th August 1815 alone! His mastery of giving each of his poets an unmistakable musical voice is unsurpassed, and so is the overwhelming number of his settings dealing with death and his longing for finding eternal peace, most famously reflected in his two song cycles Winterreise and Die schöne Müllerin. ‘My compositions spring from my sorrows. Those that give the world the greatest delight were born of my deepest griefs.’”

Der Musenson (The Muses’ Son), Schubert’s setting for a poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, was written in 1822. The piece, written in a breakneck 6/8, has been published in various keys suitable for a full range of voices. This edition begins in Ab major and transitions to C major at 0:33, then alternates between the two keys throughout.

Led Zeppelin | The Wanton Song

“With Led Zeppelin, there was no break-in period, no ‘early phase’ where they figured out what kind of band they wanted to be,” (Pitchfork). “They were fully formed from the first repetition of the ‘Good Times Bad Times’ riff, and they powered along through their first half-dozen albums crushing everything in their path. Zep never had their Sgt. Pepper’s, their Exile, their Who’s Next, because every album was more or less that good — for a while, anyway.

This was a band that knew the music it wanted to make and executed it with ruthless precision … Physical Graffiti … found the band inhabiting what Neil Tennant once described (and Tom Ewing fleshed out) as their ‘imperial phase’ … everything they tried during these years somehow worked. Physical Graffiti … (is) Led Zeppelin’s White Album, the one they made when they were at their creative peak and had a million ideas, but were also under a tremendous amount of strain and saw the end starting to come into focus.”

After barreling along in G minor through the first verse, the Physical Graffiti track “The Wanton Song” (1975) next features a multi-key interlude (0:58 – 1:23) before returning to G minor. The surprisingly contrasting interlude is back at 2:03, but this time we land in an F major instrumental section at 2:28. At 3:03, we’re back on the express train of the G minor verse — with a quintessential Zeppelin guitar riff at its heart.

Rihanna | Only Girl (In The World)

“Only Girl (In The World” is the lead single from Barbadian singer Rihanna’s 2010 album Loud. A number one hit in the United States, Australia, Austria, New Zealand, Canada and Ireland, the track won a Grammy award for Best Dance/Electronic Recording. “Only Girl (In the World) aims squarely for dance-floor domination,” said Billboard critic Monica Herrera.

Rihanna performed the song on Saturday Night Live in 2010, and at the Super Bowl Halftime Show in 2022. The track begins in F# minor and subtly shifts up to B minor at 1:03. It returns to F# minor for the second verse at 1:49 before a final modulation to B minor at 2:18.

The Sweet Inspirations | Unchained Melody

The Sweet Inspirations are a vocal group, formed in the late 1950s, best-known as backup singers for other artists, appearing on recordings for Van Morrison, Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield, Jimi Hendrix, the James Gang, and Yusef Lateef. They toured with Elvis Presley towards the end of his career.

The original members included Doris Troy, who had a hit with “Just One Look” and recorded an album for the Beatles’ Apple label; future superstar Dionne Warwick; and Warwick’s sister Dee Dee. The later lineup on the cut here features lead vocalist Cissy Houston, mother of 1980s superstar Whitney Houston and the aunt of the Warwick sisters. The other members of this classic lineup were Sylvia Shemwell, Estelle Brown, and Myrna Smith. A version of the group continues to tour to this day (Encyclopedia of Popular Music).

Besides their backup work, the group recorded their own singles and albums. [Ed. note: I first became aware of the group from their 1968 single named for the group, “Sweet Inspiration”.] The track here appeared on their third Atlantic album, What The World Needs Now Is Love, and was released as a single. The album, produced by Tom Dowd and arranged by Arif Mardin, bears the unmistakable sonic signature of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section (you could ID Roger Hawkins’ snare in a police lineup.)

“Unchained Melody,” with music by Alex North and lyrics by Hy Zaret, was written for the 1955 movie Unchained. The Righteous Brothers’ 1965 single on Phil Spector’s Phillie Records is probably the most famous recording of the song. That version features a languorous 12/8 rhythm, extracting maximum emotion from Bobby Hatfield’s tenor. The Sweets’ version (1968) is in straight 4/4 and is a bit more up-tempo, but Cissy Houston’s soaring lead is no less emotive.

There’s a half-step modulation at 1:48 as the verse repeats.

Loverboy | Working for the Weekend

“Working for the Weekend” is the lead track on the 1981 album Get Lucky by Canadian rockband Loverboy. Written by guitarist Paul Dean, vocalist Mike Reno, and drummer Matt Frenette, the track reached 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart; MTV had just gone on the air that year also.

In an interview with Songfacts, Dean described the genesis of the song: “I was walking down close to where I was living. It was a Wednesday afternoon, beautiful afternoon, and I’m walking in this heavily populated area, and it was deserted. Everybody was at work. And me being the musician, I’m out working and my work is, okay, what am I going to do for inspiration and where can I find it? So I’m out on the beach and wondering, ‘Where is everybody? Well, I guess they’re all waiting for the weekend.'” The video below starts with the band discussing the tune.

The key alternates between C minor for the verses and the relative Eb major for the choruses.

World Party | Ship of Fools

“World Party was essentially a one-man band, with Karl Wallinger writing and performing all the songs, while also producing and playing most of the instruments,” (American Songwriter). “‘Ship Of Fools’ … from the 1986 album Private Revolution … battled its way into the US Top 40, which, considering the downbeat subject matter, says something about the innate catchiness of the pop-funk that is embellished by Anthony Thistlewaite’s honking sax … ‘Ship of Fools’ takes the tone of a Biblical parable, with a smattering of mythical archetypes and historical atrocities thrown in as well. Wallinger doesn’t kid anybody about where this journey is headed: ‘We’re setting sail to a place on the map from which no one has ever returned’ is the song’s very first line.”

The UK-based Wallinger re-made the song’s video, making use of unsettling news footage from the past several years, to accompany a re-issue of the entire World Party catalog a few years back. Wallinger died less than a month ago from a stroke at the age of only 66. The videos share an overarching theme of environmental degradation as a tragic state of business as usual for the planet, supercharged by political dysfunction. “World Party records were notable for their persistent commitment to green and environmentalist issues, initially at a time when this was unfashionable,” (Mojo4Music) … “Wallinger’s perspective on these matters has been labelled ‘prescient and heartfelt, a fervent post-script to ’80s consumerism,’ and ‘well ahead of the times.'” The final caption of the new video speaks starkly: “Now more than ever.”

The intro and verse are essentially a long D minor passage, which builds in intensity and melodic complexity. The chorus (heard first from 1:13 – 1:46) opens up into more varied territory via a flip into a strongly emphasized relative F major, an even rangier melody, and a much broader harmonic vocabulary.

Many thanks to first-time contributor Linda P. for reminding us about this iconic and all-too-prescient track.