Elise – Page 78

Squeeze | Last Time Forever

A long-overdue MotD debut today for the utterly unique UK band Squeeze. “As one of the most traditional pop bands of the new wave,” AllMusic details, “Squeeze provided one of the links between classic British guitar pop and post-punk. Inspired heavily by the Beatles and the Kinks, Squeeze were the vehicle for the songwriting of Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook, who were hailed as the heirs to Lennon and McCartney‘s throne during their heyday in the early ’80s … Squeeze never came close to matching the popularity of the Beatles, but the reason for that is part of their charm. Difford and Tilbrook were wry, subtle songwriters who subscribed to traditional pop songwriting values, but subverted them with literate lyrics and clever musical references.”

“Last Time Forever” (1985) has an unsettled harmonic setting which fits the film noir mood of the lyrics: although it sounds like an account of a garden variety breakup at first, the eerie midsection takes us somewhere else entirely:

I’ve said goodnight tonight
The last time forever
It all went wrong when I grew jealous
I didn’t realize my strength
Could take the life of one so precious
Together we were known as good friends

Although each verse starts in C major, the harmonic dominoes soon start falling (for the first time at 0:33).

Gnarls Barkley | Going On

Gnarls Barkley’s smash debut hit “Crazy” was considered by many to be 2006’s global song of the summer. Last.FM reports that it was “the first #1 UK single to be obtained solely through Internet downloads.” The band, a duo comprised of producer/multi-instrumentalist Brian “Danger Mouse” Burton and funk/soul vocalist Cee Lo Green, continued to crank out unpredictable tunes until 2010, straddling multiple genres of psychedelia-tinged hiphop, soul, neo-soul, and funk.

Playing up the psychedelic aspect, the video for “Going On,” filmed in Jamaica, centers around “a group of people celebrating the discovery of a door that leads to another dimension,” according to MTV.com. The song garnered a 2009 Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop Performance; in 2011, Time Magazine listed the lo-fi, dance-centric video among its 30 All-Time Best Music Videos, calling it a “sucker punch of joy …(a) three-minute piece of percussive pop perfection.”

Featured on the duo’s second album, The Odd Couple (2008), “Going On” alternates between an uptuned Eb minor and F minor throughout. The tune features an intro in Eb minor, verse one in F minor (0:18), chorus in Eb minor (0:47), etc.

Flash Mob, Turin, Italy | Mozart’s “Ave Verum Corpus”

Of all the things we’re missing now, the feeling of participating in a flash mob (as a planful participant or an unwitting audience member) might be among the most difficult to recall. This 2013 a cappella performance of Mozart’s “Ave Verum Corpus” (1791), nothing less than a pillar of the choral repertoire, resounds beautifully in the setting of a soaring Italian atrium.

Dr. Jimbob’s Mozart page (written by Dr. James Chi-Shin Liu, an internist with a specialty in performing arts medicine as well as an extensive scholarship of music!) has this to say about the piece: “Mozart’s setting is far from pedestrian or undistinguished…Artur Schnabel famously described as too simple for children and too difficult for adults (after all, simple music like this exposes any lapses of rhythm, intonation, or ensemble). And the music seems to encompass a universe of feeling in forty-six short bars.”

This rendition begins with an extended D major drone as the shoppers gradually figure out that a performance is afoot; the performance itself begins at 2:18. At 3:23, the piece’s dominant key of D major gives way to F major, returning to D major at 3:57. The choir returns to the D major drone, gradually tapering down to nothing and transitioning to applause, before the shoppers go on about their day.

Chaka Khan | This Is My Night

Chaka Khan built her career as frontwoman for the band Rufus (starting as “Rufus featuring Chaka Khan” and later billed as simply “Rufus + Chaka”). AllMusic calls Chaka “one of the most dynamic and accomplished artists to debut during the early ’70s … Khan launched her solo career with “I’m Every Woman” (1978), an anthemic crossover disco smash that led to eight additional Top Ten R&B hits.”

Her 1984 album, I Feel for You, was likely the peak of her crossover pop success. The release was fueled by a single of the same name, written by Prince and featuring Stevie Wonder’s unmistakable harmonica riffs, ultimately becoming one of the most iconic tunes of the 80s. The heavy-hitting Turkish-American producer Arif Mardin left a strong imprint on the entire album; his dense wall-of-sound approach to up-tempo tunes can be heard his on earlier productions as well, including the Bee Gees’ 1975 track “Nights on Broadway.” Other than Quincy Jones, Mardin was one of the first producers in pop music to routinely garner prominent mentions alongside the music artists they supported. “This Is My Night” enjoyed a more modest success as a follow-up single, but still reached #1 for one week on the Billboard dance chart, #60 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #11 on the R&B chart.

Featuring a full showbiz mini-plot, Busby Berkeley-style dance sequences, and appearances by noted actors Wallace Shawn and Carol Kane, this story video doesn’t introduce the tune until 1:35. There’s a mammoth whole-step key change at 4:16 as the scrappy understudy becomes the toast of the town.

Danny + The Juniors | Rock + Roll Is Here to Stay

Although a little less well known than “At the Hop,” their biggest hit, “Rock’n’Roll is Here to Stay” was a hit for doo-wop group Danny and the Juniors; the single reached #19 on the pop charts and somehow also attained a #16 peak on the R&B chart. The quartet, originally called The Juvenaires, was comprised of four Philadelphia-area high school classmates. The group was a natural to be featured performers on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand, but had to wait until a last-minute call when Little Anthony + the Imperials cancelled!

There are half-step modulations at 1:40 and 1:56. In addition to singing, the boys do a great job of helping the entire crowd clap on two and four!

The Dregs | Bloodsucking Leeches

“One of the top jazz-rock fusion ensembles ever, the Dixie Dregs combined virtuoso technique with eclecticism and a sense of humor and spirit too frequently lacking in similar project,” reports AllMusic. From Music Aficionado’s profile on the band: “During the Georgia-based Dregs’ heyday in the late 70s and early 80s, their output consisted of longish instrumental workouts that mixed elements of southern rock, bluegrass, prog, metal, classical, jazz and fusion, among other styles, all of it shot through with ridiculously complex technical acrobatics,” The band’s name was initially The Dixie Dregs, but the group dropped “Dixie” from the name towards the end of its run. The group was led by guitarist Steve Morse (also known for his work with Deep Purple).

Founding bassist Andy West says of “Bloodsucking Leeches” (1982), via Music Aficionado: “This song is our statement on the music industry at the time, which is where the title comes from. The feel of this one, to me, it’s not quite metal, but it’s definitely rock. If you trace it back, it’s like a Led Zeppelin kind of thing, if Led Zeppelin had kept on going.” Maybe — if Zeppelin had “kept on going” right off the edge of the planet and into its own unique universe of southern-fried funk/rock!

Starting in E major, 0:38 shifts to a focus on the closely-related key of A major, a much bigger jump to G major at 1:25, back to A at 1:53, and a return to E at 2:13. The shifts continue until the tune settles back into E major in its final seconds (3:54).

The B-52s | Summer of Love

“Among the first American new wave acts to break through to mainstream visibility, the B-52s became one of the biggest success stories to emerge from the American underground in the late ’70s,” reports AllMusic. “Making music that was full of quirks but also sounded friendly and fun to dance to, the B-52s filtered surf music, ’60s pop, vintage soul, and low-budget sci-fi soundtracks through a pop culture kaleidoscope … with their eager embrace of kitschy fashion and oddball humor, the B-52s made party music for the skinny tie crowd, and also brought a queer sensibility to their music when punk rock was turning increasingly macho and misogynistic. Four of the five founding members were on the LGBTQ+ spectrum, and they were outspoken in their support of AIDS research and marriage equality.”

“Summer of Love,” a single from the band’s 1986 album Bouncing Off the Satellites, was co-written by several members of the band, including founding member Ricky Wilson, who lost a battle with HIV before the album was recorded. Wilson’s death nearly derailed the band, but they went on to more hits in the early 90s, including the quirky yet iconic dance hit “Love Shack.”

“Summer of Love” marks a sunny MotD debut for the B-52s. The tune starts in Eb minor with a minute-long(!) multi-layered synth-driven intro. The verse starts at 1:00, featuring the band’s usual straightforward melodies, dual lead vocalists, and percussion-driven accompaniment. At 1:36, the verse blooms into Eb major, heralded by a very prominent G natural as the title pops into the lyric right out of the gate. The chorus is fueled by an even more relentless groove built around a Rube Goldberg-esque number of synth/percussion parts. The chorus tools along with an irrepressible I major/ v minor progression; at 1:58, we transition back to Eb minor in advance of verse 2’s arrival at 2:13.

Paul Anka | Put Your Head On My Shoulder

According to Billboard, “Put Your Head on My Shoulder,” written and initially performed by Canadian singer/songwriter Paul Anka, was released as a single in 1959. The tune reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, but was deprived of the #1 slot by Bobby Darin’s “Mack the Knife.”

From the artist’s website:

“They are all very autobiographical,” says Anka of his early hits. “I was alone, traveling, girls screaming, and I never got near them. I’m a teenager and feeling isolated and all that. That becomes ‘Lonely Boy.’ At record hops, I’m up on stage and all these kids are holding each other with heads on each other’s shoulders. Then I have to go have dinner in my room because there are thousands of kids outside the hotel — ‘Put Your Head on My Shoulder’ was totally that experience. Soon Paul found himself traveling by bus with the “Cavalcade of Stars’ with the top names of the day in the era of segregation, performing at the Copa Cabana, the youngest entertainer ever to do so, and honing his craft surrounded by the likes of Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly, Frankie Lyman, and Chuck Berry.”

Anka went on to write for artists such as Buddy Holly and Connie Francis in addition to pursuing his own performance career.

The tune features lush backup vocals, gentle guitar with a saturated tremolo, and a 12/8 feel, all common features of the pop tunes of the era. There’s some total suspensions of the groove at 0:36, 1:31, and 2:01 — the last of which ushers in a modulation.

Sly + the Family Stone | Stand

A much-overdue MotD debut for the famously eclectic Sly & the Family Stone today. The band “harnessed all of the disparate musical and social trends of the late ’60s,” AllMusic explains, “creating a wild, brilliant fusion of soul, rock, R&B, psychedelia, and funk that broke boundaries down without a second thought. Led by Sly Stone, the Family Stone was comprised of men and women, and blacks and whites, making the band the first fully integrated group in rock’s history. That integration shone through the music, as well as the group’s message. Before Stone, very few soul and R&B groups delved into political and social commentary; after him, it became a tradition in soul, funk, and hip-hop.”

Released in 1968, “Stand” is just one of a full line of unusual singles from S&TFS, not easily described by the vocabulary that preceded them. AllMusic continues: “Like Brian Wilson, Sly Stone incorporated beautiful, magical moments on his records that were some of the most musically progressive. In this song, a simple but brilliant four-on-the-floor drum pattern and gospel vocals create what would be the virtual blueprint for what was to become known as disco. Moreover, the song is yet another message song that helped bridge the gap between the black and white rock audiences…one of the most timely records of its age.”

The verse is built around a de-tuned Ab major (I / IV / I / bVII); the bVII major serves as a sub-V for the new key of F major (0:14), repeating the same pattern for Verse 2 (0:28) before reverting to Ab for the one-word chorus (0:51). Each switch from Ab to F is accentuated by a 2/4 bar among the overall 4/4 meter (heard for the first time at 0:13 – 0:14). An entirely new groove, built around a 4-bar pattern, kicks in for an extended outro in C minor at 2:18. The outro is a joyful, uproarious shout chorus featuring multiple vocalists on a repeated wordless vocal hook, instrumentalists playing at full tilt, and gospel-style eighth-note claps building on the already high energy — just as the slow final fade kicks in.

Genesis | Please Don’t Ask

Released on Genesis’ 1980 album Duke, “Please Don’t Ask” couldn’t have been a bigger part of the Western world’s cultural zeitgeist: with the longtime stigma against divorce lifting quickly, marriages were ending at rates which would have been unimaginable even a decade before. The lyric covers feelings of hurt, remorse, and ambivalence, as well as a splitting couple’s love and care for their children: a tall order indeed.

Duke likely marks the completion of Phil Collins’ ascendance as the second vocalist and frontman of the prog rock band, which moved towards a more broadly accessible focus after the departure of founding vocalist Peter Gabriel. As Collins’ first marriage ended in 1980, it’s hardly surprising that one of his songwriting contributions to this wide-ranging album would be so unflinching in its treatment of such a difficult subject. Classic Rock Review reports that Duke “was the first album by Genesis to reach the top of the UK Album charts and it has been certified Platinum on both sides of the Atlantic.” The book Genesis: Chapter and Verse quotes Collins as saying it’s “the most personal song I’ve probably ever written.”

The tune starts in F major, but its opening progression is a repeated ii -> iii, making the tonality tricky to pin down and somehow putting even more emphasis on the heart-rending lyric. Further, the first note of the vocal is an emphatic tension (an 11, when taken in the context of the ii chord), throwing the listener off the scent even more in terms of tonality. From 0:34 – 0:45, a jarring second section of the verse shifts to Eb major and back — and then again from 1:09 – 1:19. The plaintive chorus (1:20) is built around F minor/Ab major. At 2:14, the transition from the end of the chorus into the second verse involves a bruising tri-tone drop in the bass line. The tune ends with a relatively uncomplicated Ab major, although the protagonist seems to find no such easy resolution.

Many thanks to the wide-ranging mod plugger JB for suggesting this tune!