“There was a time when you could rarely set foot in a public place without being reminded of the omnipresence of UK funk-pop sensation Jamiroquai,” (abc.net.au). “The band, led by constantly behatted frontman Jay Kay, were a dominant force in the music of the late-90s and early-2000s, their blend of acid jazz, funk, disco and house a constant on radio, in nightclubs, at cafes and parties the world over.”
“… You can’t shake the feeling that pop is a giant feedback loop, in which Stevie Wonder and Curtis Mayfield begat Jamiroquai and Pharrell, and the influence of Jamiroquai must have fed, consciously or subconsciously, into the aural landscapes of both Daft Punk and Pharrell.” (HeyMusicOfficial).
The intro of 2010’s “Two Completely Different Things” alternates between D major and D minor. At 0:23, the verse shifts into F major, remaining there for the chorus. 1:06 – 1:17 brings an interlude which echoes the intro (D major and minor). The pattern continues throughout.
“B.J. Thomas is joined by Grammy winning bluesman Keb’ Mo’ on this newly recorded acoustic version of BJ’s 1971 hit ‘Most Of All’ from the release The Living Room Sessions,” (Youtube). “A true American institution whose iconic pop, country and gospel hits defined their respective generations and now transcend them, B.J. Thomas has found a unique way to celebrate an incredible half a century in music and some 47 years since his first gold selling hit … The singer, a five time Grammy and two time Dove Award winner who has sold more than 70 million records … is ranked in Billboard‘s Top 50 most played artists over the past 50 years.” The Grammy Hall of Fame inductee passed away in 2021.
Thomas’ duet partner on this expanded 2013 version of the original solo vocal track, vocalist/guitarist Keb’ Mo’, has won five Grammy awards and 14Blues Foundation awards during his 50-year career and has collaborated with Taj Mahal, Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt, The Chicks, and Lyle Lovett (KebMo.com).
Originally released on Thomas’ 1970 album of the same name, “Most of All” became a #2 hit on the US Adult Contemporary chart. After a rubato section and a pause, the updated version of the tune shifts up a half step as the breezy groove returns at 1:47.
After his polished New Wave/sophistipop sound gave him a fast ascent to the top of the UK pop charts and some notoriety in the US as well, RadioMusicola (1986) “was Nik Kershaw’s chance to … deliver a big-budget, endlessly-fussed-over studio ‘project’…” (MovingTheRiver). “Perhaps unsurprisingly, given his meteoric rise to fame, the main themes of the album are press intrusion and tabloid sensationalism … in a neat irony, the rise of technology-led, assembly-line music was also in Kershaw’s sights, despite Musicola making liberal use of all the latest sampling and synthesizer technology …
An interesting album which clearly fell between the stools of art and commerce, Radio Musicola reached a barely believable #46 in the UK album chart, just over a year after Kershaw had played Live Aid. It disappeared without trace in the US … But Kershaw didn’t seem bothered about his new ‘selective’ popularity; in fact, he seemed genuinely relieved, but wondered how MCA were going to sell him now that he was focused on being a musician rather than a pop star.
‘LABATYD’ (Life’s a Bitch and Then You Die) is pure class, a half-time shuffle …” Starting in E minor and marching in place for nearly an entire minute, the track’s initial focus is its infectious groove. But at 0:53, Kershaw throws a spanner in the works, tumbling the chorus into an improbable Eb major. 1:21 brings us back to E minor for another relatively static verse, this time dressed up with a few additional flourishes from the horn section. At 2:13, we jump the tracks again into Eb major for the next chorus. At 2:48, an instrumental chorus wafts up into E major; as the groove is finally extinguished, a C lydian chord closes the tune at 4:00.
“This breakup ballad was written by Roxette’s instrumentalist, Per Gessle. Despite the somber lyric, the song proved very pleasing to the ear and became a huge hit,” (Songfacts). “Recorded before Roxette started working on their 1990 Joyride album, ‘It Must Have Been Love’ was reworked for the movie Pretty Woman, starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere. The movie was an enormous hit, and so was the soundtrack … Released in March 1990, Pretty Woman developed a huge following, which helped send this song to the top of the US Hot 100 in June, where it stayed for two weeks.
The Swedish group had been popular in Scandinavia for years before they hit it big in the US: “It wasn’t until an American student studying in Sweden brought a copy of their second album home to Minneapolis, and persuaded a local radio DJ to play ‘The Look,’ that they achieved international fame,” (BBC). In 2019, the duo’s vocalist, Marie Fredriksson, passed away at age 61 after a 17-year battle with cancer.
The verses’ melody is simple and contained, but the choruses bring a greater range. Building on that trend, a resounding modulation up a perfect fourth hits on a chorus at 2:59.
“Bop’s greatest diva, Sarah Vaughan was among jazz and popular music’s supreme vocalists,” (Qobuz). “She treated her voice as an instrument, improvising melodic and rhythmic embellishments, using her contralto range to make leaps and jumps, changing a song’s mood or direction by enunication and delivery, and altering her timbre … Vaughan’s recorded legacy stands with anyone in modern jazz history,” working with the likes of Billy Eckstine, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Budd Johnson, Clifford Brown, Cannonball Adderley, Count Basie, Oscar Peterson, and many other jazz legends from the 1940s onward. “Nicknamed ‘Sassy’ and ‘The Divine One’, Vaughan won two Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, and was nominated for a total of nine Grammy Awards. She was given an NEA Jazz Masters Award in 1989. Critic Scott Yanow wrote that she had ‘one of the most wondrous voices of the 20th century,'” (New York Times).
“Militant jazz fans aren’t likely to cite Brazilian Romance as the place to start exploring the work of Sarah Vaughan. The album was made in 1987, near the end of the great jazz singer’s recording career … the songs aren’t the expected dinner-music standards, but more intricate post-bossa nova songs written by Milton Nascimento … Vaughan was, arguably, the foremost interpreter of Brazilian music in jazz history … Recorded three years before she died, it’s her equivalent of Johnny Cash’s American Recordings — full of contemporary spirit, propelled by a timeless voice.” (NPR). Featuring Hubert Laws on flute and George Duke on keyboards, “Obsession,” the eighth of the album’s ten tracks, was produced by Sergio Mendes.
The intro, in Bb minor, rapidly shifts to G minor for the first verse at 0:22. 0:54 brings a change in emphasis to G minor’s relative major of Bb. An instrumental interlude that mirrors the intro kicks in at 1:17. There’s an instrumental interlude with new material from 1:59 – 2:11, bringing us back more familiar territory — led throughout by Vaughan’s legendarily distinctive contralto.
“The members of the Dallas group Kings Return boast such perfect four-part harmonies they don’t need instruments, gadgets or electronics,” (Dallas Morning News). “They do, however, gravitate to one natural effect: Stairwell reverberation. Formed in 2016 to perform for bass vocalist Gabe Kunda’s graduation recital, Kings Return didn’t get serious until 2019, when videos of the band singing on a staircase at Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington (TX) went viral. ‘That stairwell had such excellent reverb … it’s a huge part of our success: We joke that it’s the fifth member of the group,’ says baritone singer Jamall Williams.
Since its first video, King’s Return has racked up millions of views for its a cappella renditions of songs by everyone from Schubert to Shania Twain to Boyz II Men. Last fall, its recording of the Bee Gees’ ‘How Deep is Your Love’ earned Matt Cusson a Grammy nomination for best arrangement.”
Originally released by Dionne Warwick in 1983, “So Amazing” was co-written by Luther Vandross and bassist Marcus Miller. In 1986, Vandross covered his composition for his hit album Give Me the Reason. The a cappella version by Kings Return, released only a few days ago, starts in B major, drops a quick fake-out diversion from the key, and then lands decisively back in B major — within the first 16 seconds! The track transitions to G# major at 1:01, then F# major at 2:07; the closing sequence (starting at 2:37) drops the groove in favor of multiple overlapping harmonic footings which (surprise!) deliver us back to F# at the end.
Many thanks to Steve Travis for the submission of this beautifully re-imagined a cappella cover — his first contribution to MotD.
“The Sandpipers were a male vocal trio that recorded a handful of easy listening pop hits in the mid-’60s,” (AllMusic). “The group was distinguished by its light, breezy harmonies, which floated over delicate, breezy string arrangements, as well as the occasional appearance of a wordless female backing vocalist who drifted in and out of the music. Though they didn’t manage to have a long, sustained career, the group did have one Top Ten hit with ‘Guantanamera’ in 1966.
In 1970, they contributed songs to the film The Sterile Cuckoo (“Come Saturday Morning”) and Russ Meyer’s Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. Though the Sandpipers continued to record into the ’70s, their audience diminished with each successive year. After spending five years without any chart success, the group disbanded in the mid-’70s.”
Released in September 1969, “Come Saturday Morning” reached #83 on the Pop chart and #9 on the Easy Listening chart. The tune was subsequently covered by Liza Minnelli, Chet Baker, Johnny Mathis, Tony Bennett, and Patti Page, among other artists. Starting in D major, the lilting 6/8 track shifts to F major at 1:51, but by 2:19 the tune has returned to its original key.
Many thanks to MotD regular contributor Rob P. for this submission!
“Lou Reed’s low-key, optimistic, and earnest ballad about spending a casual, but perfect day with his partner is arguably his most enduring,” (GoldRadioUK). “Given the nature of rock ‘n’ roll artists at the time, and his previous outlandish experimentalism with The Velvet Underground, ‘Perfect Day’ was a bit of an anomaly for Reed. With the media, Reed was notoriously obnoxious, obtuse, and twisted journalists in circles as to not reveal the true meaning behind his words.
Featuring on his David Bowie-produced 1972 album Transformer … Reed wrote the lyrics to ‘Perfect Day,’ the slow, piano-based balled which details a typically amorous day out with his partner … The song’s lyrics flit between seemingly simple, conventional devotion to his partner in ‘Oh, it’s such a perfect day, I’m glad I spent it with you,’ to Reed’s true feelings about himself: ‘You made me forget myself. I thought I was someone else, someone good.'”
After a verse in Bb minor, the chorus brings a shift to Bb major between 0:51 and 1:18; the pattern continues from there. The placement of this humble, earnest ballad as a double-A-side single with “Walk on the Wild Side,” the uptempo oddball love letter to the NYC world surrounding Andy Warhol’s Factory, likely caused more than a few cases of whiplash among listeners.
“For decades, British art-rock chameleons XTC occupied an awkward space in the musical landscape; underappreciated songwriting geniuses too quirky for mainstream success but not edgy enough for alternative acceptance,” (LouderSound). “Slowly, over the years, this opinion changed. Dozens of artists began to list them among their songwriting inspirations, and their music became accepted as some of the most influential and innovative in rock’s history. Now, thanks to a glut of glorious sounding remasters courtesy of prog posterboy Steven Wilson, along with recent Sky documentary XTC: This Is Pop, XTC and their catalogue of incredible music have been propelled back into the public eye.”
“Sgt. Rock (Is Going to Help Me)” was included on XTC’s best-of compilation Waxworks (1982) and otherwise available only as a single. Andy Partridge, XTC’s lead vocalist and a principal songwriter, provided this capsule review for the album: “Spooky, unreal, dripping and unstable. The thrills and horrors of modern life in three-minute scenarios,” (Chalkhills.org). “Sgt. Rock” doesn’t inspire any affection from Partridge: ” … All the instruments in the track mesh nicely enough, but the lyrical sentiment, oh dear. It was supposed to be ironic, you know, nerdy comic fan imagines two-dimensional hero can help him with his unsuccessful chat-up technique. It did not work.”
But even a throwaway track, by XTC’s standards, still made for catchy college/indie radio material. The stiff guitar-driven swing somehow fits the mockingly martial lyrics. The track begins in F major but shifts to a bridge in Ab major between 2:10 and 2:27. The performers are miming to the studio track, not playing live, in this Top of the Pops-style performance.
“The word ‘comeback’ is overused, but in Laura Mvula‘s case, it really does hold true,” (NME). “Though her impressive second album, 2016’s The Dreaming Room, earned her MOBO (the UK’s Musician of Black Origin award) and Mercury Prize nominations plus an Ivor Novello award, she was unceremoniously dropped by RCA Records six months after it came out. The supremely talented Birmingham-born musician later revealed that she received the bad news in a forwarded seven-line email.
Having dusted herself off – writing the music for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s 2017 production of Antony & Cleopatra must have helped – Mvula is back on a new label, Atlantic, with an overhauled sound. Where her 2013 debut Sing to the Moon largely blended soul with orchestral pop and The Dreaming Room introduced a touch of funk and disco to the mix, Mvula has called Pink Noise (2021) an album ‘made with warm sunset tones of the ’80s’. She isn’t overselling it.”
“I’m Still Waiting,” was first a #1 UK hit released by Diana Ross on her 1971 album Everything is Everything. Mvula’s cover starts in C major; the second half of the first verse features an unprepared modulation at 0:18, settling into Eb major at for the duration. With an accompaniment full of sighing pauses and comprised only of keyboards and feathery layers of backing vocals, the focus falls all that more squarely on the storytelling of Mvula’s poised lead vocal.
Ross’ original, in Eb major, features no key changes and a gentle but more consistent groove throughout.
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