Elise

Milton Nascimento | Don Quixote

“Nascimento is one of a handful of Brazilian artists — think Carmen Miranda, Caetano Veloso, João Gilberto — to break through the Portuguese language barrier to gain some renown in the English-speaking world. Jazzers (Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock) and pop musicians (Paul Simon, Sting, David Byrne) sing his praises,” (Brazil Blog). “American record companies distribute his albums. Anglophone critics put his stuff on best-of lists.

Although born in Rio de Janeiro, Nascimento moved to Três Pontas as a child after his mother died and the couple who adopted him relocated to the Minas Gerais city. They were involved in the music world there, and Nascimento was set on his path. He recorded his first song in 1962, worked with people in the Belo Horizonte scene and then debuted his first album in 1967 just as bossa nova was transmutating into MBP (musica popular brasileira) and tropicália was being born.” Nascimento’s emergence on the music scene during this post-bossa musical transition gives his music its utterly distinctive sound.

Released on Nascimento’s 1988 album Miltons, “Don Quixote” is built primarily in a slightly up-tuned E minor. At the 3:40 mark, a shift to F major (as well as a change from Nascimento’s solo vocals to a small vocal ensemble sound) bring a welcome renewed energy, fueling a track with a run time of over six minutes.

Ray Charles, feat. Willie Nelson | Seven Spanish Angels

Ray Charles and Willie Nelson’s duet “’Seven Spanish Angels’ showcases the vocal strengths of both artists … allowing the lyric and the singers to shine,” (Country Universe). Written by Troy Seals and Eddie Setser, the tune was released in 1985. “… Charles and Nelson deliver this song with the reverence and empathy that it deserves. It feels like the best music often comes from storytelling like this, where characters with such different lives than us listeners can imagine have their stories told with humanity.”

“It was released in November 1984 as a single from Charles’ 1984 album Friendship,” (The Billboard Book of Country Hits). “Charles and Nelson split the verses, with Charles singing the first and Nelson the second, Charles sang the first and second choruses with Nelson joining for the outro. It was also included on Nelson’s 1985 compilation album Half Nelson. ‘Seven Spanish Angels’ was the most successful of Charles’ eight hits on the country chart. The single spent one week at number one and a total of twelve weeks on the country chart.”

Willie’s clipped delivery provides contrast with Ray’s lyrical phrasing. The two vocalists have a similar range, but the overarching difference in timbre between their two instantly recognizable voices is one of this version’s more noticeable features. At 2:58, the key moves up a half step for the final few verses.

Tim Curry | Easy Street (from “Annie”)

Film and stage actor Tim Curry, a UK native, left us this week at age 80 after a long illness. After 1975’s classic film interpretation of the musical theatre classic Rocky Horror became a hit, “Tim Curry found himself in demand both on Broadway and in Hollywood,” (The Independent). “On the stage, he was nominated for a Tony Award three times over the course of 24 years, for roles as varied as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1981’s Amadeus, swashbuckling movie star Alan Swann in 1992’s My Favorite Year, and King Arthur in 2005’s Spamalot … His film and television roles were just as eclectic.” Curry’s co-star Rob Schneider remembered: “’I have never known another actor who could say more with a knowing grin or a raised eyebrow than the splendid Tim Curry. I was astonished as a young actor to witness Tim do a scene seven completely different ways and ALL OF THEM FANTASTIC!’ remembered Schneider.”

” … Rocky Horror became a cult classic hit and the center of its own devoted subculture,” (W Magazine). “Curry, suddenly famous, found himself inside a celebrity world he would later chronicle in his 2025 memoir Vagabond, with encounters with David Bowie and nights at Studio 54 alongside Truman Capote, Andy Warhol, and Carly Simon … By the end of his career, Curry had acting credits in roughly 126 movies and feature films, making him the sort of omnipresent figure that feels like part of the very fabric of pop culture … Of his penchant for playing villains, Curry told The Guardian in a 2025 interview, ‘I’ve always tried to make them amusing, which gives them a bit more edge. It’s like people being drawn to the scene of a car crash … ‘”

Curry is of course best known for his role in Rocky Horror, but we are featuring his performance as the con artist Rooster Hannigan in the 1982 movie version of Annie, alongside Bernadette Peters and Carol Burnett. With a score written by Charles Strouse, the film followed the 1977 Broadway hit. “Initially intended as a major production number, the final version (of ‘Easy Street’) is more contained, but still crackles with villainous chemistry,” (Golden Age Flicks). Starting in Bb major, the tune makes a bouncy shift to B major around the 1:25 mark. Several more dizzy jumps in tonality follow; meanwhile, the actors are completely absorbed in delivering relaxed-looking but exquisitely choreographed physical comedy.

Dolly Parton | You’re the Only One

“We’ve been wishing for something to unite us, and as always we have forgotten to be careful what we wish for,” (Esquire). “Today each of us has lost a family member. Dolly Parton has died at age 80, and it’s a measure of the space she leaves behind that no words seem to want to fit in front of her name. I’ve tried a few, too: ‘Country music superstar’ is limiting, ‘entertainer’ doesn’t cut it, ‘icon’ has been rendered meaningless by overuse. She did too many things, at too high a level, with too singular a sensibility, that reached too many people in too personal a way to be reduced to a simple descriptor. ‘Dolly’ will have to do.

Even if you aren’t a superfan, you know the details of her life. You know she was (the fourth of 12 children, raised) in rural Tennessee in a one-room log cabin … you know she started playing guitar and writing songs at age eight and those songs got her on local radio at age 13. You know she went right from high school to Nashville, where she met her husband Carl Dean at a laundromat the day she arrived, and that she got her big break as the new ‘girl singer’ on The Porter Wagoner Show, which she soon outgrew. You know that leaving Porter behind was the basis of ‘I Will Always Love You,’ and maybe she did write that song on the very same day she wrote ‘Jolene,’ or maybe she didn’t, but it doesn’t matter anyway because it’s now up with George Washington chopping down the cherry tree in American lore.”

Co-written by Carole Bayer Sager and Bruce Roberts, “You’re the Only One” (1979) topped the US and Canadian Country charts. But it also crossed over for respectable top-100 chart positions in both countries, also reaching #14 (US) and #1 (Canada) on the adult contemporary charts. The intro and verse are in C# major, leading into a chorus which climbs up to D major (0:42). At 1:14, the next verse settles back into the original key. The two keys continue to alternate throughout. We’ve featured many of Dolly’s most famous tunes in the past (including the multi-key hit “Here You Come Again“). But today, we’ve chosen “You’re the Only One” to honor the sheer depth of her catalog, comprising scores of tunes. This track was merely a garden-variety big hit, not quite reaching the level of multi-generational classic. Many thanks to Julianna A. for submitting this track!

Madness | Coldest Day

“While a keen feature of London’s musical tapestry, Madness seem to have bottled whatever the British spirit is, unmistakably moulded by the nation’s working class households, terraced streets, and enthusiastic embrace of Caribbean cultural import in keeping with the rest of the Two-tone generation,” (Far Out Magazine). “There’s an infectious invite to Madness at their best, which has assured pop ubiquity ever since, any spin of their hits letting you in on the Nutty gang’s weird world.

Fundamentally, Madness are fantastic popsmiths … the lads wielded a strange ability to report on the lay of the land, even with the grey bits left in … Madness can often pull the rug up while still larking about in fezzes, a bouncy ska number can easily jump into a peek at urban malaise, poverty-induced crime, or racial tensions via their tattered, Beano lyrical lens.

As the 1980s rolled by, so did the studio toys. While never completely losing themselves in the decade’s production trends and digital gadgets, a little of that sophistipop gloss trickled into Madness’ sounds … there’s plenty to enjoy from (1985’s) Mad Not Mad’s vivacious offering … Madness dwell in a deeper introspective realm than fans were used to.”

After beginning in G minor, “Coldest Day” a pre-chorus in F major(ish) kicks in at 0:26. The 0:45 arrives as the chorus shifts to E minor via some thoroughly Madness-style flourishes, despite the tune’s prominent synthetic drums and decidedly non-Ska groove. 1:10 brings a return to G minor; more shifts continue from there.

Many thanks to Julianna A., a longtime contributor from Brazil, for submitting this distinctive tune!

Alannah Myles | Love Is

“When Alannah Myles burst onto the scene in 1989 with ‘Black Velvet,’ the bluesy single, her fantastic, slightly gravelly vocals caught the attention of the entire world,” (Adam’s World). “The song didn’t just hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S., it reached the Top 10 in over a dozen countries (although, oddly, just #10 in her native Canada); it continues to receive radio airplay to this day. In fact, in 2005 ‘Black Velvet’ was the recipient of a “Millionaire Award” from ASCAP for having racked up more than four million radio plays. The single went gold in the U.S., took home the Grammy in 1991 for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance (yes, nearly two years after its release), and launched her self-titled debut album to platinum status.

The follow up single, however, titled ‘Love Is,’ peaked at #36 (although it was her debut single in Canada) … After that, those of us in America didn’t hear much from Alannah, even though she released three albums in the ‘90s, and two more in the current century, including one as recently as 2014. ‘Black Velvet’ was a lightning in a bottle moment, and its staying power over the past 30+ years is a testament to the greatness of the song … ” But “Love Is” has a key change — one of the very few features that “Black Velvet” lacks.

Built primarily in G major, “Love Is” spends most of its verses and choruses in a groove-driven trance limited to various voicings of the tonic chord. From 1:44 – 2:05, a bridge in E major is in effect before a return to the original key. At 2:24, the same E major section returns through 2:44. Then it’s back to G major again for the balance of the tune. In 1990, “Love Is” was nominated for Canada’s Juno Award for Single of the Year; the track lost to “Black Velvet,” clearly illustrating the song’s also-ran status when compared to Myles’ international smash hit.

Huey Lewis + The News | Simple As That

Huey Lewis and the News’ 1983 collection Sports “had been an absolute smash, one of just five records to top the Billboard album chart in 1984 (for just one week in its case, but in that Thriller– and Purple Rain-dominated year, still quite something),” (Best Classic Bands). “It yielded four top 10 singles and catapulted the band into the rarefied space of touring attractions capable of filling arenas around the world. The album stayed on the chart for 160 weeks, and the accompanying Sports tour was about as long.

… Fore! was one of the most front-loaded records ever created. On side one of the vinyl release, four of the five songs charted in the top 10, as did the first song on the flip side.” A tune from the side two of the album, “Simple as That,” is “nestled among band vocals and horn trimming, its throwback soul underpinnings were a reminder that for all the band’s straightforward appeals, its versatility—and willingness to take it in different directions—was easy to underestimate … Recruitment of the Tower of Power horns paid dividends on multiple tracks … Never possessed of dazzling range, Lewis’ singing nonetheless sported enormous craft, and the sheer emotive power he generated was irresistibly insistent.”

After a regal fanfare of an intro, this musical tribute to everyday middle class struggles settles into Ab major. At 2:30, a resounding unprepared key change hits so hard, squarely on beat one, that it takes a few moments for the smoke to clear. Soon, we realize that there’s been a downward key change to G major — vanishingly rare in pop music, and doubly so for straight-down-the fairway Top 40 fare. Quite a lovely touch for the closing moments of the album’s final track.

Mickey Woods | (They Call Me) Cupid

“Mickey Woods, here making his final appearance on a Motown record, was a minor figure at best in the Motown story,” (Motown Junkies). “He may have been the first white male solo act on the label” (Woods is such an obscure figure in Motown’s history that this factor is not 100% confirmed) … “This B-side marks the first ever Motown writing credit for Norman Whitfield, later one of the all-time great songwriters and producers.

Odd that ‘(They Call Me) Cupid’ (1961) should have been relegated to a B-side – it’s clearly intended as a take on Sam Cooke’s ‘Cupid,’ released earlier the same year … perhaps Berry Gordy felt that to invite comparison between Sam Cooke (who was one of the all-time great voices) and Mickey Woods (who wasn’t) would be unfairly prejudicial … There’s also an ambitious string break in the middle eight which is pleasing to hear; the sound of musical horizons being continually broadened … That unexpected string interlude is a little rough, coming over at times as awkward and scraping; hardly the lush orchestral aural carpeting that would come to be associated with Motown in later years.”

Starting in C major, there’s a shift to Eb major at 1:16 after a brief suspension of the groove. Yes, the string section sounds like it’s sight-reading — but otherwise, an intriguing very early Motown track!

Ronnie Milsap | It Was Almost Like a Song

“Listen closely to Ronnie Milsap’s golden voice and you’ll hear a singer as close to the heart of American music as anyone who’s ever made the charts,” (Soul Country). ” He wound through the R&B nightclubs of Memphis and Atlanta, where he sang straight-up Southern soul and rock ‘n’ roll, before moving to Nashville at the urging of Charley Pride.

‘Today, the coolest building in the world is cooler for the presence of Ronnie Milsap,’ (interviewer) Peter Cooper said, introducing the singer for the joyful, wide-ranging conversation in 2015. ‘He is the piano-playing, country-soul singing, Braille-reading, radio listening, native North Carolinian and 42-year Nashvillian who is — along with Hank Cochran and Mac Wiseman — among the three newest members of the Country Music Hall of Fame.’ The singer’s accomplishments in popular music are staggering. He had 12 No. 1 singles in his first five years in country music, Cooper said. Then came the 1980s. ‘He sang 35 No. 1 Billboard country singles between June 1973 to March of ’92,’ Cooper continued. ‘Every song he released was a Top 20 country hit. All but two were Top 10. All but six were Top Five.'”

Co-written by Burt Bacharach’s favorite lyricist collaborator Hal David and Archie Jordan and released in 1977 on an album of the same name, Milsap’s “It Was Almost Like a Song” begins in C major. At 2:31, a key change up to Db major takes effect through to the end of the tune, accompanying Milsap’s soaring vocal and leading up to a quieter piano feature for the short outro. Many thanks to our regular contributor Rob P. for submitting this tune!

I’m Not a Loser (from “Spongebob Squarepants”)

“SpongeBob SquarePants, the Broadway musical, has captured all the silly, goofy, broadly camp, good-natured fun of the Nickelodeon TV series,” (New York Theatre Guide). “And it is a rare feat to effectively translate style and comedy from one genre to another … More of a revue than a book musical, SpongeBob SquarePants aims to amuse, dazzle, and delight along the journey — topping each visual topper and playing with props in every imaginable way: glow in the dark neon rectangles that reconfigure to form shapes, dancing letters, and characters flattened to 2-dimensions when hit by a boulder that emerges from a Rube Goldberg-like device. The plot — and this really doesn’t merit a spoiler alert — is that the characters’ world may come to an end due to a volcanic eruption. Now strap yourselves in for the joy ride to armageddon.

Songs come courtesy of a lengthy list of prestigious pop and rock artists …SpongeBob SquarePants is not for those who might want a deeper (emotionally, not in fathoms) experience. It is for those who love non-stop creativity in costume, design, color, lighting, choreography, zany comedy, and madcap mayhem. If that is your cup of saltwater, prepare to be swept up in a tidal wave of bubbling entertainment.”

The “eleven o’clock number” of the 2016 musical, “I’m Not a Loser,” was written by John Flansburgh and John Linnell, collectively known as They Might Be Giants. After a start in C major, the tonality bubbles up to Db major at 2:32 — and largely stays there, other than plenty of quick shifts during the instrumental sections.