Chris L.

Diana Ross | Theme from “Mahogany” (Do You Know Where You’re Going To)

“(Diana) Ross had always been something of an actress — a voice capable of conveying the entirely fictional emotional weight of the circumstances that the songs described,” (Stereogum). “She was beautiful and driven and precise and galactically famous, and it was only natural that she should become a movie star, too.” Ross had acted before, starring as jazz chanteuse Billie Holiday in Lady Sings the Blues. But her Motown boss and romantic partner, Berry Gordy, was a first-time director for 1975’s Mahogany.

“Mahogany bombed. It got terrible reviews and did bad business. Gordy never directed another movie. Ross only took one more big-screen role, in the 1978 musical The Wiz. These days, Mahogany has its defenders, but it’s mostly just remembered for its camp value. The movie did, however, spawn one unqualified success: The soft and elegant theme song,” co-written by Michael Masser and Gerry Goffin, “became Ross’ third solo #1 … a slight song, but it’s a pretty one … It’s a song that practically drowns in its own drama, filling up the mix with sighing strings and wailing backup singers and fluttering acoustic guitars and pianos. Musically, the song has nothing to do with the effervescent pop-soul of Motown’s ’60s past. It’s closer to down-the-middle Los Angeles pop, and at its biggest crescendo, it sounds a bit like the work of Gerry Goffin’s old collaborator Phil Spector.”

Modulations between C minor and C major are front and center in this track, nearly from start to finish. The first shift to C major (0:44) is accentuated by the addition of percussion to the instrumentation, while the first transition back to C minor (1:10) is ushered in with an odd-metered measure. At 2:32, a long, string-saturated instrumental outro cycles through multiple keys as multiple instruments take the lead on the now-familiar theme.

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Our thanks once again to the late Chris Larkosh, an energetic and consistent supporter of MotD. This submission is one of several he sent in over the years, even though we’re only now getting around to featuring it.

Herb Alpert + The Tijuana Brass | Theme from “Casino Royale”

AllMusic reports on the theme from Casino Royale: “Burt Bacharach appropriately comes up with a rambunctious soundtrack for the 1967 James Bond spoof, Casino Royale. Things get underway with Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass‘ performance of the fast-paced main title, which features the usual Bacharach mix of pop phrasing and complex arrangements.”

Jazz.FM adds more detail about the impact of Bacharach’s iconic sound. Dusty Springfield’s “The Look of Love” was also a cornerstone of the soundtrack: “The story goes something like this: Driving home from ice hockey practice, (comedian) Mike Myers flipped on the radio and heard ‘The Look of Love’ … When it was finished, the comedian said to himself, ‘Where have all the swingers gone?’ He also must have realized that the movie it was from, Casino Royale, was a jape of the James Bond series. Then and there he conceived the Austin Powers character. Enamored by the song’s composer, Myers cast Bacharach in each of his three Austin Powers films — not as a character, but as a performer playing his own music to set the scene.”

A boisterous half-step modulation announces itself at 1:14. Many thanks to the late Chris Larkosh, a faithful supporter of MotD over the years, for this submission!

Mocedades | Eres Tú

Spain’s 1973 Eurovision entry, Mocedades’ “Eres Tu” (It’s You), was voted by Spanish fans as the nation’s all-time favorite. Its win was in spite of the song’s having secured only the silver medal at the global competition that year, according to Wiwibloggs, a site devoted to Eurovision.

Billboard details that the tune peaked at #9 in the Hot 100 chart and also reached the top 10 on the Adult Contemporary chart. With “Eres Tú”, Mocedades are one of the five musical acts from Spain to have scored a top ten hit in the United States (including Los Bravos, Julio Iglesias, Enrique Iglesias, and Los del Río with “Macarena”). It was also the only song to become a top ten hit sung entirely in Spanish. The song was inducted into the Latin Grammy Hall of Fame in 2013. In 2015, it ranked #47 on Billboard’s 50 Greatest Latin Songs of All Time.

The half-step modulation hits at 2:24. Many thanks to Christopher Larkosh for submitting this tune to MotD months back, and for the many other modulations he sent us over the past several years. MotD will never forget you!

for Chris

Melissa Manchester | Don’t Cry Out Loud

Chris with MotD co-curator Elise at the piano in 2011 — probably singing “Don’t Cry Out Loud.”

This post originally appeared on MotD on April 8, 2019. We’re bringing it back in expanded form today in honor of Christopher Larkosh, who contributed the tune to us. Chris passed away from a sudden illness at the age of only 56 on December 24th, 2020. He was a MotD fan who contributed multiple tunes to our collection; others are still in the queue, waiting their turn.

May the memory of Chris’ enduring humanitarian spirit, deep understanding of music’s ability to motivate and heal, and pervasive musicality be a comfort to all who knew him.

Elise

MotD fan Christopher Larkosh contributes today’s tune: “Musical geniuses Peter Allen and Carole Bayer Sager put ‘Don’t Cry Out Loud’ in good hands with Melissa Manchester. This is probably why it’s one of my all-time karaoke and piano bar favorites to this day.” A 1978 top ten hit in the US and Canada for Manchester, the tune was later covered by Rita Coolidge and Liza Minelli, among others. The modulation kicks in at 2:35.

In an interview with Scott Holleran, Manchester, a songwriter in her own right, said of the tune: “I remember being friends with Peter Allen and Carole Bayer Sager and hearing (it) as a very quiet song, bringing it to him and saying yes, it’s gorgeous, let’s do it the way Peter did it — as beautiful and quiet. [Then] I showed up in the studio and the cannons blew on this huge version — which turned out beautifully, it turned out as a gift.”

In a 2004 Billboard interview, Manchester expressed uneasiness about the song’s take on grief: “I finally understand what it meant … I [originally] thought it was a brilliant song, but it seemed like the antithesis of everything Carole [Bayer Sager] and I were writing, which was always about self-affirmation and crying out and sharpening your communication skills. But it’s a beautifully crafted song that was all about how in the end you just have to learn to cope — and that’s no easy thing.”

Those of us who knew Chris will remember that he was never one to hide his feelings, either — and we’re all the richer for it.

Swing Out Sister | Break Out

“… Swing Out Sister‘s music is unashamedly commercial pop,” AllMusic notes. The UK group’s “jazz-tinged arrangements and knack for clever hooks move them closer to the indie dance territory of St. Etienne or late period Everything But the Girl than to the cookie-cutter dance-pop of Kylie Minogue or Paula Abdul.” “Breakout” was the stand-out single from the band’s 1987 debut album, It’s Better to Travel, which AllMusic calls “a dreamy collection of mostly electronic pop songs that manages to sound warmly organic through the judicious use of real strings and horns and Corinne Drewery’s lovely voice, which recalls the throaty purr of vintage Dusty Springfield … ‘Breakout’ (was) one of the finest U.K. pop singles of the late ’80s.”

This unapologetically bouncy pop tune somehow seemed to know upfront that it would become an international smash hit, scoring top 5 chart positions in the UK, US, Canada, and New Zealand as well as prominent chart performance throughout Europe. The track swung for the fences and succeeded in nearly single-handedly establishing the band as late-80s sophistipop royalty. A whole-step modulation at 3:02 is announced by the boisterous horn section.

Many thanks to not one but two of our regular contributors, Chris L. and JB, who suggested this tune completely independently of one another!

Roxette | Crash! Boom! Bang!

Many thanks to MotD fan Chris Larkosh for this submission: Swedish duo Roxette released the single “Crash! Boom! Bang!” in 1994, part of an album of the same name. AllMusic liked the release’s vocals and songwriting, but felt that the album was “too pop for rock listeners and too rock for mid-’90s pop fans.” The LA Times, however, enjoyed the album’s “deliciously overwrought ballads” and the New York Times praised Marie Fredriksson, the lead vocalist, as the band’s “main asset … a singer with a sob in her voice.” Fredriksson passed away in late 2019 at the age of only 61.

Starting in C# minor with on-and-off shifts to B major, the tune transitions strongly to E minor for the bridge at 2:24, then back to C# minor again at 2:49.

Sergio Mendes | Never Gonna Let You Go

A weekend bonus mod from MotD fan Christopher Larkosh:

“‘Never Gonna Let You Go'” (1983) marks a moment where Brazilian composer, keyboardist, bandleader, and performer Sergio Mendes, formerly of Brasil 66, can be considered to be fully assimilated into the US musical scene. The song was a smash hit, spending weeks on the charts — which at the time meant Casey Kasem’s American Top 40 and the TV show ‘Solid Gold.'” The Solid Gold Dancers, emblematic of the popular weekly show, apparently took their coffee break during this segment.

This tune’s keys-of-the-moment and modulations are too numerous to track: Exhibit A, the shift from the intro to the first verse (0:23).

EDIT, June 2021:

Rick Beato managed to wrestle the entire tune into submission. What a chart!

Dionne Warwick | Always Something There to Remind Me

MotD member Christopher Larkosh contributes Dionne Warwick‘s “Always Something There to Remind Me” (1963), written by songwriting dream team Burt Bacharach and Hal David. At 1:37, the bridge brings a half-step direct modulation along with it; then another key change, perhaps a bit less expected, at 1:51. The tune has enjoyed several covers, the best known probably being Naked Eyes’ 1983 version, which really changes it up by featuring a swing groove!

Chris adds: “This is my favorite modulation; I was born to love it, and I will never be free; it’ll always be a part of me.”