Straight No Chaser has become one of the most prominent professional a cappella groups in the United States after starting as a student group at Indiana University in 1996. They have released numerous holiday albums, and “I Pray on Christmas” is featured on their 2023 record Stocking Stuffers. The song was written and first released by Harry Connick Jr. on his 1993 album When My Heart Finds Christmas.
The tune begins in A and modulates up to Bb at 2:00.
Chris Butler, the songwriter and guitarist on The Waitresses’ cult classic “Christmas Wrapping,” (1981): “‘I was such a Scrooge. I hated Christmas! Also, I worked as a freelance journalist,” (The Guardian). “In December in New York, everyone with a job takes a long holiday, so I’d get offered work I was too poor to turn down. I’d have all this stuff to do when everyone else was having their eggnog. And I poured my sourness into this song. The first words I wrote down were: Bah humbug. The chorus went: Merry Christmas. But I think I’ll miss this one this year. It’s about two people alone at Christmas who meet while buying cranberry sauce, and get together. Of course, it had to have a happy ending – it’s Christmas! – but it was tongue in cheek. … I still get grumpy at Christmas. Every year, when I get stuck in traffic because of idiots buying crap for their unloved in-laws, that song always seems to come on the radio. And then I think: Lighten up, man, it’s Christmas.’”
Tracy Wormworth (bass and backing vocals): “‘At the time, Good Times by Chic was out; for bass players, Bernard Edwards’ badass bassline was iconic. I wasn’t trying to rip it off, but I was heavily inspired by it. I sat in the studio and worked out note for note what I would play. Like the band, the song is a real mix. I had no idea how catchy the song would prove to be. It would trip me out if I walked into a chain store and it was playing.”
After the second verse and second instrumental chorus (complete with its slightly off-kilter hook from the horns), a brief instrumental bridge shifts up a perfect fourth from 2:10 – 2:30. After reverting to the original key, the track’s bridge returns at 4:07 – 4:27 before a final extended chorus (this time with vocals proclaiming the hook!) wraps up the tune.
Delving into the track’s top-drawer bass line in wonderful detail is this video from bassist and music educator Paul Thompson:
The Guardian seems to be no fan of producer and vocalist Calvin Harris, who hails from Dumfries, Scotland: “Some musical genres have an everlasting impact: all subsequent rock and pop bears something of their influence. Others just vanish: once their time has passed, it’s as if they never happened. So it was with handbag house, which bestrode the charts in the mid-90s, the glittery, shallow sound of Britain’s mainstream dancefloors … Handbag house seemed almost wilfully depthless, which, you could argue, made it the perfect music to soundtrack the brainless antics of DJs and club promoters … Handbag was music that sounded like it thought that was quite a good idea.”
Harris released the track “Stars Come Out” on his 2009 album Ready for the Weekend. The track features ” … the sound of a producer frantically chucking ideas at a melody so slight it’s impossible to hit. When Ready for the Weekend is over, it vanishes, leaving no discernible trace: like the music that inspired it, it’s as if it never happened.”
Nonetheless, the uptempo tune has garnered nearly 400K Youtube views, while Harris’ channel has nearly 20 million subscribers! The track starts in D minor and cycles through multiple repeating sections before shifting up to A minor at 2:57.
In honor of Quincy Jones, the singular musician, performer, producer, educator, and mentor, we’re bringing back a post from 2022 which sheds a bright light on his extraordinary gifts. Jones passed away yesterday at the age of 91. Given that his career spanned the worlds of jazz, R+B, funk, and pop over many decades, it’s likely impossible to describe its full impact. But many of our posts here on MotD featured his work as a producer, even though the names of the artists and bands in question accompanied the songs’ titles.
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“‘Quincy Jones was looking for artists for his new label, Qwest Records,” jazz/pop vocalist and guitarist George Benson remembered in a Guardian interview). ‘I’d started to cross over from jazz and Quincy asked: Do you want to make the world’s greatest jazz record – or go for the throat? I laughed and said: Go for the throat! … He said: George, put yourself in my hands. I know more about you than you do yourself. I was insulted at first, but calmed down, and things started happening.’
George was under pressure to have a crossover hit. Nobody yelled at each other but there was tension, because he wouldn’t always do what Quincy told him to. (The sessions for 1980’s ‘Give Me the Night’ were) a clash of the titans at first. ‘I asked for the same musicians he’d used on (Michael Jackson’s) Off the Wall. The sound they made inspired me. Quincy also brought in Rod Temperton, formerly of the band Heatwave … Rod was always in the background except for when something went wrong. He didn’t mind saying: George, you’re singing in the wrong key.” Patti Austin, now known for her own R+B, jazz, and pop material, was the accomplished background singer Jones hired. Austin remembers: “‘When I went into the studio, the tracks were already recorded. I used to be a jingle singer; you have to be able to walk in, sight-read, and make whatever product the jingle is plugging sound orgasmic. So I worked very quickly.'”
Built in F minor overall, the tune shifts to Ab minor for the chorus at 1:19 – 1:42, later repeating the pattern. The track crossed over with a vengeance; it wasn’t a smash hit, but managed to become a solid global presence (see below) while hitting top five on the US Pop, Soul, and Disco charts.
“While the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has inexplicably remained immune to her charms, few artists have had the career of Linda Ronstadt,” (The Second Disc). ” She’s racked up 38 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, including ten that went Top Ten. On the album chart, she’s placed 36 entries, including ten that reached the Top Ten there too (her magic number!) and three that hit pole position. And consider this: after playing a vital role in the country-rock scene with the Stone Poneys and their hit recording of Mike Nesmith’s ‘Different Drum’ on which she sang lead, Ronstadt embarked on a solo career definitively interpreting some of the greatest songs of the California rock genre.
Ronstadt never could stay in one place for long, though, which may account for her great longevity as a vital artist and performer. While she kept racking up hits from both her contemporaries and the voices of an early generation – think of “When Will I Be Loved,” “It’s So Easy,” “You’re No Good” or “That’ll Be The Day,” and chances are you might think of Ronstadt over those songs’ originators – she was looking for new directions and new challenges … In 1983, Linda Ronstadt teamed with Nelson Riddle, the man responsible for many of Frank Sinatra’s most famous orchestrations, for What’s New … It spent 81 weeks on the Billboard chart … In any format, What’s New is a classy excursion into timeless pop teaming one of the most familiar voices of all time with arguably the greatest arranger of them all.”
Ronstadt and Riddle’s version of Irving Berlin’s classic 1923 waltz ballad “What’ll I Do?” begins with a brief string intro leading to a short additional vocal section. The tune begins in earnest at 0:57, launching into a textbook AABA form built in Ab major overall. The B section (1:37 – 1:58) shifts up to Db major. The piece modulates wholesale up into A major at 2:18 with two instrumental A sections; Ronstadt rejoins the band on the B section at 2:59. The rubato outro spirals out of the otherwise measured arrangement, its closing bars off-kilter and unresolved.
“Known as Zoom in the UK, the Commodores’ eponymous fifth LP (1977) was … very much a transitional work, highlighting the greasy southern funk that the group so ably practiced before pianist and saxophonist Lionel Richie firmly took centre stage,” (BBC). “The album was a huge hit in the US, setting the Commodores up for their chart-topping scene stealing as the 70s became the 80s. In the UK, the reaction was a little more muted. However, ‘Easy’ paved the way for ‘Three Times a Lady’ and ‘Still,’ and Lionel Richie’s unshakeable place as a favourite artist of millions.”
Another track from the album, the midtempo “Funny Feelings,” features an intro in F# minor. At 0:15, however, the first verse settles in with B minor. At 1:01, the chorus shifts to E major. From 1:22 – 1:36, an instrumental interlude mirrors the intro; the cycle continues from there, keeping a laser focus on the funk groove throughout.
“Born in Bellshill, near Glasgow, John began playing whistle and fiddle as a child and joined the legendary folk outfit Battlefield Band aged 17,” (https://www.johnmccusker.co.uk/about/). During his 11 years with the band, he also released his first two solo recordings, 1995’s self-titled debut and 2000’s Yella Hoose. His most recent albums include Under One Sky and the reissues of Yella Hoose and Goodnight Ginger re-mastered deluxe.
John has long been renowned for his skill at transcending musical boundaries: striving to keep his music fresh and exciting, never leaving the past behind but always embracing new sonic adventures. As a live and studio guest he has shared stages with Paul Weller, Paolo Nutini, Teenage Fanclub, Graham Coxon and Eddi Reader. Since 2008, he has been a member of Mark Knopfler’s band, playing arenas around the world including a double bill with Bob Dylan at The Hollywood Bowl and 20 nights at the Royal Albert Hall.
…John was awarded the coveted BBC Radio 2 Musician of the Year in 2003 and also The Spirit of Scotland Award for music in 1999 and again in 2009. 2016 saw John receive the Good Tradition Award and perform with his band at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards at The Royal Albert Hall.”
After “Emma and Jamie’s Wedding” (2016) begins in G major, a second section (0:57) seems to alternate in emphasis between Bb major and its relative G minor. Then follows a return to G major. The pattern continues from there.
“Continuing the foray into rock begun on 1971’s Givin’ It Back, The Isley Brothers’ 10th studio album Brother, Brother, Brother serves as yet another advancement in the Cincinnati-founded R&B/soul outfit’s signature sound, which carried it to superstardom on the following year’s 3+3,” (UnderTheRadar). “Though understated and restrained in comparison to their more bombastic masterworks, Brother, Brother, Brother is an important Isley Brothers release, its crisp Midwestern soul backbone providing ample support for the group’s more ambitious rock and funk aspirations.
While less realized than much of The Isley Brothers’ future output, Brother, Brother, Brother serves as a gateway to their ’70s golden age. The following year, the band would release its monumental hit ‘That Lady’ … In retrospect, Brother, Brother, Brother feels like a blueprint of explosive greatness to come, the Isleys joining together to function as an unstoppable whole. After five decades, the album sounds unusually fresh, The Isley Brothers having remained pioneers of their genre.”
“Love Put Me On the Corner,” a ballad track from Brother, Brother, Brother, starts with a piano intro in F# minor, accompanied only by gentle mallet cymbal, that sounds like it could have been part of a Joni Mitchell interlude. At 0:22, there’s a shift to F lydian, then another (0:42) to G major with the addition of a gentle groove and a widely dynamic Hammond organ for the verse. The chorus, arriving at 2:46, pivots through 2:46-3:15 with several pairs of compound chords. The pattern continues from there.
“Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, released in 1975, was the culmination of six years’ feverish exertion (PopMatters) … (it) was the first album to ever premiere at number one on the Billboard album charts … (Elton’s) early ’70s run is almost unmatched in the history of pop music. In terms of quality and quantity, his only real peers are the likes of the Beatles, the Stones, and Bowie … The duo of John and (lyricist) Bernie Taupin produced some of the greatest songs and most memorable albums of the rock era, and yet today their prolific career is routinely dismissed, if not forgotten.
The duo’s creative marriage was defined by their marked dissimilarities. While both came from lower middle-class origins, John (born Reginald Dwight), was raised in urban London while Taupin hailed from the rural districts of Lincolnshire, in the far north of the country. Their musical interests were similarly contrasted: John had been raised on a catholic diet of mainstream pop and early rock ‘n’ roll, with a special affection for American soul music, while Taupin was a fan of American folk and country … one of the most influential synergies in the history of pop music … Elton John, the globetrotting Captain Fantastic, and Bernie Taupin, the down-home countrified Brown-Dirt Cowboy, rose out of absolute obscurity to become the most successful songwriting duo since Lennon and McCartney (if you young’uns don’t believe me, just take a gander at the historical record).”
The album is listed at #158 on Rolling Stone‘s “500 Greatest Albums of All Time.” John mentioned in an interview: “I’ve always thought (it) was probably my finest album because it wasn’t commercial in any way,” (EltonJohnItaly.com). “We did have songs such as ‘Someone Saved My Life Tonight,’ which is one of the best songs that Bernie and I have ever written together, but whether a song like that could be a single these days, since it’s [more than] six minutes long, is questionable. Captain Fantastic was written from start to finish in running order, as a kind of story about coming to terms with failure—or trying desperately not to be one. We lived that story.”
After starting in C major, “Tower of Babel” falls into a flight of Elton’s trademark inversion-driven fancy at 0:28 before landing once again on the terra firma of Eb major at 0:50. Don’t get too comfortable, though, because 1:40 brings a multi-key instrumental bridge; eventually we’re led back to C major. The shifting pattern continues from there.
“’Jungleland’ is the album-closing track of Bruce Springsteen’s career-making third LP Born to Run,” (American Songwriter). “The album features three of Springsteen’s most iconic songs: the title track, ‘Thunder Road,’ and ‘Jungleland,’ an operatic nine-and-a-half-minute ode to hope and innocence’s attempt to survive the city’s mean streets.
This was an important transition for Springsteen, who had initially built his appeal around the live show. The dramatic, rafter-raising approach was part of the design, to create something memorable but also to attract an audience united by the feelings the music evoked. ‘I had to have songs that could capture audiences who had no idea who I was,’ he wrote in his 2016 autobiography, also called Born to Run. ‘As an opening act then, I didn’t have much time to make an impact. I wrote several long, wild pieces that were basically the soul children of the lengthy prog-rock music I’d written with [early band] Steel Mill. They were arranged to leave the band and the audience exhausted and gasping for breath. Just when you thought the song was over, you’d be surprised by another section, taking the music higher. It was what I’d taken from the finales of the great soul revues. I tried to match their ferocious fervor.'”
(The American Songwriter article is expansive and informative: please read it all if you have a few minutes!)
Starting in C major with a soft-spoken piano accompaniment, the palette grows stronger gradually until Springsteen sings the title word (1:54) and the groove suddenly kicks in. At 3:54, the feel shifts completely as the key moves to Eb major under a Clarence Clemons tenor sax feature. At 7:45, the tune returns to its initial key via an unexpected mid-phrase leap. Casual fans who first tuned in during the 80s “Born in the USA” era might be surprised by the rawness and vulnerability of early-career Springsteen — particularly as seen during his live performances.
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