Author: Mod of the Day

Adam Hawley (feat. Julian Vaughn) | God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

Guitarist Adam Hawley released his first holiday album, What Christmas Means To Me, this past October. On this track, the second on the record, he features Kansas City-based bassist Julian Vaughn.

The track begins in E minor and shifts abruptly up to F minor at 2:25.

Cher | DJ Play a Christmas Song

“DJ Play a Christmas Song” is the lead single on Christmas, American singer Cher’s first holiday album. “This is a cut-glass powerhouse pop-dance banger” said critic Jamie Tabberer, writing for Attitude. The record, released in October, is Cher’s first to include original material since 2013, and her first ever to feature duets.

The track begins in G and modulates up a half step at 2:41.

Andy Williams | Sleigh Ride

American singer Andy Williams made Leroy Anderson’s 1948 standard “Sleigh Ride” the lead track of his 1965 album Merry Christmas. According to Anderson biographer Steven Metcalf, ‘Sleigh Ride’… has been performed and recorded by a wider array of musical artists than any other piece in the history of Western music.” This is our first time featuring the tune on MotD.

Williams’ cover begins in Eb and quickly modulates up to E at 0:18. This is followed by series of successive half-step modulations at 0:45, 0:53, 1:39, and 1:48.

Phil Vassar & Kellie Pickler | The Naughty List

Reminiscent of the classic “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” but leaning more towards a PG-13 rating, “The Naughty List” was written by country singer/songwriter Phil Vassar and released as a single with Vassar and former American Idol contestant Kellie Pickler.

It begins in A and modulates up half step to Bb at 1:57.

Stephanie J. Block | Manhattan in December

“Manhattan in December” is featured on Merry Christmas, Darling, Tony-winning actress Stephanie J. Block’s debut holiday album released earlier this year. The record also features tracks with Block’s husband and daughter.

The jazzy number starts out in F and shifts up a half step to Gb at 3:08.

Richard Marx | Christmas Spirit

“Christmas Spirit” is featured on Richard Marx’s eponymous 2012 holiday album. Marx co-wrote the song with Fee Waybill, the former lead singer of The Tubes and frequent collaborator with Marx.

The track begins in G and modulates down to E for the first chorus at 0:49. It returns to G for the verse at 1:25 and again moves to E for the chorus at 1:54. A final modulation up a step to F# occurs at 2:56.

Flim + the BBs | New Snow

“In the 1970s in Minneapolis, bass player Jimmy ‘Flim’ Johnson hooked up with a couple of other studio musicians named Billy Barber (piano) and Bill Berg (drums), and created a jazz group they whimsically called Flim & The BBs. (Billy Barber, Bill Berg – BBs – OK, you got it),” (VinylDiscovery). “Woodwind/reed player Dick Oatts was an integral part of the group as well, but his name wasn’t part of the group’s name because (I’m guessing) Flim & the BB’s and Oatts just didn’t have the right ring to it.

Their music is best described as fusion or contemporary jazz, which would normally make me run for the hills.  But these guys are different: They are inventive, technically superb, and seem to always inject a touch of whimsy into their playing.  As one reviewer put it, ‘They’re playing is the perfect combination of tight and loose.’  The whimsy shows up in the band’s name of course, but also in their album titles and artwork.”

Featuring a supple fretless bass melody at its start, “New Snow” (from 1992’s This is a Recording), with guest vocalist Michael Ruff, starts in Ab major. At 2:27, a downward modulation to F major is in effect for an instrumental bridge until 2:57, where the tune reverts up to Ab.

Stevie Wonder | Please, Please, Please

“Stevie Wonder is a soul music giant, a beloved American icon, and an indisputable genius of popular music,” (AllMusic). “The musician’s heightened awareness of sound — a consequence of his blindness — has helped him create vibrant music teeming with joyous positivity, even when he’s written about heartbreak and addressed issues of race, spirituality, and society in general. Wonder’s recordings are a richly eclectic and singular brew of soul, funk, rock & roll, Broadway/Tin Pan Alley-style pop, jazz, reggae, and African elements. Combined with his elastic voice, peerless melodic facility, gift for complex arrangements, and taste for lovely ballads, his broad appeal over the decades has been unmatched.”

The 1967 album I Was Made to Love Her “was rushed out to capitalize on the success of the title song, which was Wonder’s biggest pop hit since ‘Fingertips, Pt. 2,’ and would not be bettered until ‘Superstition’ in 1972 … There are several contributions from the Wonder team at Motown, covers of other Motown hits, and stabs at sounding like Ray Charles, James Brown, and Otis Redding. At 17, Wonder was becoming both a remarkable mimic, and an original talent on his own.”

Between the prominent piano fills, the layers of female backup singers, and Stevie’s interpretation on lead vocal, it certainly seems that this was the Ray Charles section of the album! At 1:24, at just about the tune’s half-point, a half-step key change hits, followed by another at 1:53.

Ethan Carlson (feat. Kerstin Anderson) | Jericho

Dubbed by Ryan Scott Oliver as “one of the most gifted up-and-coming composer-lyricists I know,” Ethan Carlson’s music has been performed at iconic NYC venues such as Joe’s Pub, 54 Below, and Don’t Tell Mama. “Jericho” is part of Carlson’s show Her Sound, which was performed at the Public Theater last year, and is sung here by cast member Kerstin Anderson. The song begins in Db and modulates up to Eb at 4:12.