Author: Mod of the Day

Lou Christie | Rhapsody in the Rain

“While Lou Christie’s shrieking falsetto was among the most distinctive voices in all of pop music, he was also one of the first solo performers of the rock era to compose his own material, generating some of the biggest and most memorable hits of the mid-’60s,” (AllMusic). Born Lugee Alfredo Giovanni Sacco in the Pittsburgh suburb of Glenwillard, PA in 1943, he relocated after high school to New York and “landed session work as a backing vocalist. Christie wrote and recorded ‘Two Faces Have I;’ it landed in the Top Ten…” In 1966, he released “the lush, chart-topping ‘Lightnin’ Strikes.'”

“Christie’s next smash, 1966’s ‘Rhapsody in the Rain,’ was notorious for being among the more sexually explicit efforts of the period.” Songfacts reports: “The Catholic Church helped get this banned on many radio stations, which only made people want to hear it more. Christie (in Goldmine magazine): ‘I had priests and nuns calling to complain. Even Time magazine did an article on it, saying I was corrupting the youth.'”

After starting in Eb major, an otherwise nearly featureless bridge (2:04-2:19) brings a brief whole-step modulation to F before returning to the original key. But at 2:34, a late shift to E major kicks in just as the tune begins to fade.

Many thanks to our regular contributor Rob P. for this submission!

As Long As You’re Mine (from “Wicked”)

Bookwriter Winnie Holtzman and composer Stephen Schwartz’s blockbuster 2003 musical Wicked celebrated its 20 year anniversary on Broadway last night. The show, based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, has played in sixteen countries and is one of only three Broadway shows to pass $1 billion in revenue.

“As Long As You’re Mine” is performed here by Jennifer Nettles and Annaleigh Ashford in a slower, reharmonized arrangement that is part of the “Out of Oz” series the show produced for YouTube. The song begins in Db and deceptively modulates down a half step to C at 1:38.

Clifford Brown | Joy Spring

Clifford Brown was a “shortlived but massively influential hard-bop trumpeter – whose gleaming sound … remains clear in the work of Wynton Marsalis, Guy Barker and many others,” (The Guardian). “Brown was polished without sounding glib, his phrasing was immaculately shaped and packed with fresh ideas, and he sounded relaxed at any tempo.” Brown died in a car accident in 1956 at the age of only 25; he was “a genius whose impact on jazz could have been immense.”

It’s not surprising, then, that one of the most enduring standard ballads is “I Remember Clifford,” written as a memorial to Brown by tenor saxophonist Benny Golson (video below). The tune has been notably covered by dozens of artists, including Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers (Brown was a founding member), Donald Byrd, Ray Charles, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Quincy Jones, the Modern Jazz Quartet, Oscar Peterson, Sonny Rollins, and Arturo Sandoval.

The uptempo “Joy Spring,” written in 1954, borrows its title from Brown’s pet name for his wife, Emma Larue Anderson. After the intro, the buoyant melody begins at 0:11 in F major, moving up to Gb major for a re-statement. The B section of the AABA form starts in G major at 0:34 before pivoting all over the place; the final A section is in F major at 0:46.

Vanilla Fudge | You Keep Me Hangin’ On

“Released during the famous ‘summer of love’ in 1967, Vanilla Fudge’s (self-titled) debut offering was undoubtedly one of the more seminal psychedelic albums coming from America during the late sixties,” (ProgArchive). “The heavy, jam-oriented atmosphere … and the group’s original twist on well-known compositions grabbed the attention of fans and critics alike. Consisting solely of cover tunes and a few short interludes thrown in for good measure, Vanilla Fudge did not captivate listeners with original works of their own, but instead showed what they could do within the limits of famous pop songs from years past.

Musically, we’re dealing with psychedelic rock that isn’t too far away from what most bands in the genre were doing in 1966 and 1967. Although sidelong jams and increased experimentation hadn’t yet become the norm, heavy use of the Hammond organ and Beatles-influenced vocal melodies are plentiful here; Vanilla Fudge were also at the forefront of early hard rock, and some of the organ sections here clearly paved the way for heavy acts like Deep Purple and Uriah Heep.”

This live performance of “You Keep Me Hangin’ On” (1968) may have broken all known records for grandstanding by an entire group: every member of the band is thrashing about as if he’s the lead player. But once you get past the overwrought visuals, this cover of The Supremes’ 1966 single is a quite a new re-interpretation of the original. The tune is largely in E minor, but shifts to the closely related key of C major during the short bridge (1:28 – 1:50) before reverting to the original key.

The original:

Thomas Dolby | Radio Silence

“In popular culture, the term ‘renaissance man’ can often be overused or even misused, but in the case of Thomas Dolby, the term has a lot more validity than the casual fan could ever imagine,” (PopMatters).”His (2016) memoir, Speed of Sound: Breaking the Barriers Between Music and Technology, goes a long way in making a case for Dolby to adopt this title.

In the early ‘80s, Dolby was an inescapable fixture of MTV’s playlists, with his novelty techno-pop hit ‘She Blinded Me With Science’ ruling the video airwaves and pop charts.” Setting the scene for his later career, the UK native saw early gigs by “everyone from the Clash to Elvis Costello to XTC” as a teen. He later played keyboards with the Camera Club, Lene Lovich, Herbie Hancock, and George Clinton; co-wrote and produced the first platinum 12” hip hop single, “Magic’s Wand” by Whodini; was chosen by David Bowie as the keyboardist at the UK half of Live Aid; created original music for feature films produced by George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and Ken Russell; and his keyboard work was a central feature of Foreigner’s smash hit album IV (most notably the single ‘Waiting for a Girl Like You’).

Illustrating Dolby’s bleeding-edge vantage point in terms of 1980s tech, “while riding his tour bus through the Nevada desert, (he was) forced to pull over and use a gas station phone booth as a primitive modem for uploading demo files to Michael Jackson.” Dolby was “an ‘80s pop culture Zelig, dropped into the zeitgeist with a bit of a deer-in-the-headlights attitude.” After retiring from the pop music business, he founded a company which was pivotal in the early days of the development of cell phone ringtones; served as the Music Director for TED Talks for over a decade; and is now a professor of Music for New Media at Johns Hopkins University.

“Radio Silence,” a track from The Golden Age of Wireless (1982), pivots around in terms of its tonality throughout. Meanwhile, the video treats us to a neighborhood tour of decades-old radios as we hear synthesis that was state-of-the-art for its time: retrofuturism sets Dolby’s stage here as usual. The harmonic shifts are perhaps the clearest during the outro, when the panoply of shiny synth textures has settled down a bit. 2:59 is in F# mixolydian, shifting at 3:12 to D mixolydian; the two keys alternate as the track fades.

Top of the World (from “Tuck Everlasting”)

Natalie Babbit’s children’s novel Tuck Everlasting was adapted into a Broadway musical by Chris Miller (music), Nathan Tysen (lyrics), Claudia Shear and Tim Federle (book). The show, directed and choreographed by Tony-winner Casey Nicholas, was a flop, running for only 39 performances in 2016.

“Top of the World” comes near the middle of Act 1 as Jesse and Winnie survey the landscape from a tree. It begins in D and modulates to E at 1:53.

Peter Mayer | John’s Garden

“Mountains and motorcycles; pigs, pubs, and planets; insight, hope and humor — such are the ingredients one finds in the songs of Peter Mayer,” (VolumeMusic). “Earthy and intimate, Mayer’s songs invite the listener to consider the deeper aspects of life. The standard lyrical dish of love lost and found is not on his menu; rather, it consists of an eclectic blend of thoughtful songs about the collective human journey. His welcoming voice and inventive guitar work along with his honest delivery provide the perfect vehicle for his down-home wisdom. Million Year Mind (2001) … offers an eclectic blend of thoughtful songs about the collective human journey.”

“John’s Garden” begins in F# minor, shifts to F# major for the chorus at 0:46, then reverts back into F# minor for the intro to the next verse. From 2:31 – 2:54, the bridge’s harmonic polarity flips over to A major before returning back to original key. As the tune unfolds, we learn that a different species entirely — not Farmer John — drives the narrative.

Kool + the Gang | Ladies Night

“Over nearly six decades, Kool & the Gang have released 25 albums and toured worldwide, playing Live Aid in 1985 and Glastonbury in 2011,” (New York Times). “Their 12 Top 10 singles are funk, disco, and pop classics, underpinning movies including Pulp Fiction and Legally Blonde: ‘Jungle Boogie,’ ‘Ladies Night,’ ‘Hollywood Swinging,’ the undeniable 1980 party anthem ‘Celebration.’ They are foundational for hip-hop and have been sampled over 1,800 times, according to the website WhoSampled, including memorable turns on Eric B. & Rakim’s ‘Don’t Sweat the Technique’ and Nas’s ‘N.Y. State of Mind.’ (Questlove played a three-hour-plus set of songs featuring the group’s samples during a 2020 livestream.)”

Released on a 1979 album of the same name, “Ladies Night” includes “a small detail at the end (of the track which) turned out to be crucial — Meekaaeel Muhammad, a member of the group’s songwriting team, fleshed out the chorus with a countermelodic ‘Come on, let’s go celebrate.’ It pointed to the band’s next hit: ‘Celebration.'” The earlier hit reached the top 10 in Finland, Switzerland, and the UK, top 20 in a dozen more countries, and rose as high as #8 in the US.

Built in C# minor overall, the track shifts to a more explicitly disco-centric A minor section at 1:28, then a C minor section featuring the previously referenced counter melody at 1:44, then returning to the original key for the next verse at 2:05. Later, there are restatements of the A minor (3:48) and C minor sections (4:05), with the final C minor section morphing into an extended outro lasting more than two minutes. Both the A minor and C minor sections are constructed entirely of a repeating i-ii-v progression.

To Be With You | Mr. Big

“To Be With You” was the second single released from the American rock band Mr. Big’s 1991 album Lean Into It. AllMusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine dubbed the song a “campfire singalong ballad,” with Billboard’s Larry Flick adding “headbangers get folky on this harmonious strummer.”

The track remained in the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks, and is the final track on the album. It begins in E and detours into G at 2:27 for one chorus before returning to E at 2:51.