JB – Page 23

Genesis | Can-Utility + the Coastliners

In its first iteration with Peter Gabriel on vocals, UK prog rock pioneers Genesis released the 1972 album Foxtrot. The album showed the group hitting its stride, including the 20+ minute long prog classic “Supper’s Ready.”

From AllMusic.com’s review: “Foxtrot is where Genesis began to pull all of its varied inspirations into a cohesive sound — which doesn’t necessarily mean that the album is streamlined, for this is a group that always was grandiose even when they were cohesive, or even when they rocked, which they truly do for the first time here…This is the rare art-rock album that excels at both the art and the rock, and it’s a pinnacle of the genre (and decade) because of it.”

“Can-Utility and the Coastliners” might as well be titled “Don’t Get Too Comfortable” … harmonically, at least. The track was primarily written by the band’s guitarist, Steve Hackett, whose site explains that the tune is “based on the legend of King Canute, who supposedly ordered the seas to retreat to mock the sycophancy of his followers.” It centers around D until 3:59; around F# at 3:59; and C from 4:56 to the end. Within each key center, the “tonic” chord can be heard as major, minor, compound … they’re all in the mix. In addition, short excursions away from those respective key centers abound, often accompanied by quick shifts and fillips in the meter. There are no epic modulations, but as this track respects no cliches whatsoever, it will keep listeners on their toes from start to finish. Thanks to MotD regular JB for this contribution!

Steel Pulse | Ravers

AllMusic notes that “Steel Pulse are one of Britain’s greatest reggae bands. Generally a politically minded Rastafarian outfit, it started out playing authentic roots reggae with touches of jazz and Latin music and earned a substantial audience among U.K. punks as well as reggae loyalists.”

From AllMusic’s review of “Ravers” (1978): “…for all its debt to the Jamaican dancehalls, the Birmingham bandmembers don’t so much emulate the current island craze as bend it to their own will…set(ting) the stage with (a) flurried tattoo of militant beats and percussion…only partially soften(ed) with a pulsing bassline. One of the many highlights of Steel Pulse‘s True Democracy album.”

A brief bridge from 2:20 – 2:32 shifts the key from G major to Bb major. As the verses continue to the end, the percussion becomes increasingly free, adding unexpected kicks and tumbling triplets over the otherwise classic reggae feel.

Many thanks to regular contributor JB for submitting this track!

Tommy James + The Shondells | Crimson + Clover

Tommy James + The Shondell’s “Crimson and Clover” had an unexpectedly quick release in 1968 after it was leaked by a radio station. The track went to #1 in the US, Canada, New Zealand, Switzerland, and South Africa. Pitchfork named it the 57th best song of the 1960s.

According to Wikipedia, the tune has been covered by many artists, including Joan Jett and Prince. However, the tune’s cultural impact goes far beyond cover versions: it’s mentioned in the movie Less than Zero and dozens of other films and TV shows. Its distinctive title has been dropped into lyrics by artists and bands including The Dandy Warhols, Bob Dylan, Jimmy Eat World, Kings of Leon, Elliott Smith, Liz Phair, Green Day, and Lana Del Rey.

As the tune builds in intensity near its end, the modulation hits (4:19) and the extreme tremolo used by the guitars throughout the tune spreads to the vocals. Many thanks to expert mod stringer JB for this contribution.

Talking Heads | Psycho Killer

A contribution from our frequent mod flyer JB: “Psycho Killer,” a single from the debut album of the American art punk band Talking Heads, Talking Heads 77 (1977), reached #92 on the Billboard hot 100. The tune also earned a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.

AllMusic calls the track a “deceptively funky ‘New Wave/No Wave song’ with an insistent rhythm, and one of the most memorable, driving bass lines in rock and roll.” From Robert Christgau’s review in The Village Voice: “…these are spoiled kids, but without the callowness or adolescent misogyny…in the end the record proves not only that the detachment of craft can coexist with a frightening intensity of feeling—something most artists know—but that the most inarticulate rage can be rationalized. Which means they’re punks after all.”

The tune overall is in A minor, with an intermittent overlay of A major in this live version; not surprising, given the absolute primacy of Tina Weymouth’s iconic bassline. The bridge (3:28 – 4:05) is an odd mix, but is built around A major. The modulation hits with zero warning and a complete lack of fuss at the bridge, which continues with a choppy energy, befitting the perpetual motion machine that the band has set in place. Unlike the studio version, this live performance features Adrian Belew, known for his work with King Crimson, on guitar; Belew’s solo could probably win the award for “Best Guitar in the role of a Theremin.”

Milli Vanilli | Blame It On the Rain

The misrepresentation which surrounded late-80s Munich-based pop artists Milli Vanilli has become legend. In a nutshell, the studio personnel didn’t match the stage personnel … In 1990, the band won a Grammy for Best New Artist. Later, it became the only musical group to ever have the award rescinded; the frontmen were dancers and lipsyncers who’d played no role whatsoever in the creation of the hit album, Girl You Know It’s True (1989).

The album’s title track was the best-known single from the outfit. But another standout single, “Blame It On the Rain,” written by American songwriter Diane Warren, is packed with unprepared, off-kilter modulations:

0:00 | B major intro
0:38 | Bb major verse
1:05 | B major pre-chorus, chorus
1:44 | Bb major verse
2:11 | B major pre-chorus, chorus
2:49 | Ab major bridge
2:57 | C major chorus

With just as much oddness as the key changes, the tune ends suddenly, mid-phrase, on a IV chord. From AllMusic: “It’s hard to imagine why there was such a fuss about an album so transparent, lightweight, and intentionally disposable…But when it comes down to it, this music is so manufactured, it doesn’t sound like anyone is really singing. And that’s what’s sort of cool about it.”

Many thanks to prolific mod scout JB for the submission!

Bruce Springsteen | Born to Run

Bruce Springsteen’s smash hit “Born to Run” (1975) is another submission from our frequent contributor JB. Addressing the grandiosity of the album’s wall-of-sound approach, AllMusic.com’s review states: “To call (it) overblown is to miss the point; Springsteen‘s precise intention is to blow things up, both in the sense of expanding them to gargantuan size and of exploding them…an intentional masterpiece, it declared its own greatness with songs and a sound that lived up to Springsteen‘s promise, and though some thought it took itself too seriously, many found that exalting.” While the track only hit #23 on the Billboard Hot 100, it’s ranked #21 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and is enshrined in the Rock Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll.

After establishing verses and choruses in E major, a chaotic multi-section bridge starts at 2:12, veering into several keys before touching back down into E major at 3:06 for a final verse, chorus, and an extended outro.

https://youtu.be/f3t9SfrfDZM

Warren Zevon | Accidentally Like a Martyr

From AllMusic’s review of Warren Zevon‘s tune “Accidentally Like a Martyr” comes this effusive praise for the often paradoxical singer-songwriter: “…a hard-bitten tough guy and writer of the noir wave classics ‘Werewolves of London’ and ‘Excitable Boy’ turned out to have a soft underbelly: ‘Accidentally Like a Martyr,’ taken from his 1978 breakthrough album, Excitable Boy, is a starkly realistic song about a screwed up love relationship…”

IMDB reports that Zevon, “the son of a gangster who was a Russian Jewish immigrant and a Mormon Midwestern mother of English descent,” had a difficult childhood and a false start in the music business as a folk/rock singer during the 1960s. IMDB continues: Zevon “establish(ed) himself as one of the most offbeat and intelligent singer-songwriters in the mid-1970s” before his death of lung cancer at the age of 56 in 2003.

Starting in F major, there are modulations to Ab major instrumental sections at 1:30 and 3:04; the latter has been used as bumper music between segments of NPR’s news programming for years. Both of the Ab sections have an off-kilter meter (alternating bars of 4/4 and 3/4) which only adds to the tune’s anthemic sound. Many thanks to veteran mod scout JB for this contribution!

The Raspberries | Go All the Way

AllMusic’s bio of The Raspberries describes the Cleveland, OH-based band as running counter to the “epic pretensions and pomposity of ’70s-era rock to proudly reclaim the spirit and simplicity of classic pop, recalling the heyday of the British Invasion with their exquisitely crafted melodies and achingly gorgeous harmonies.” The vocalist and songwriter, Eric Carmen, also pursued a prominent solo career.

The 1972 single “Go All the Way” has a rich harmonic vocabulary from top to bottom. The first modulation hits after the guitar-driven intro as the verse starts (0:29), shifting from A major to C major. Many thanks to inveterate contributor JB for this submission.

Jamiroquai | Time Won’t Wait

An overdue MotD debut today for British “acid” funk band Jamiroquai, submitted by frequent contributor JB. According to AllMusic.com, the band has “amassed a steady stream of hits in the U.K. and experienced chart success in just about every other area of the world, with an irresistible blend of house rhythms and ’70s-era soul/funk…” The band explores themes of “rising technology and the deterioration of human interaction,” perhaps best demonstrated in its initial 1996 worldwide hit, “Virtual Insanity.”

Released on the album Dynamite in 2005, “Time Won’t Wait” is a dynamic dance blowout — reminiscent of some of the best 70s disco/funk jams, but with better chords! After an intro in D minor and a jump to F minor at 0:36, the tune alternates between these two keys. After the chorus starts with a familiar Fmin/Cmin/Bbmin/Gbmaj progression from 1:21 – 1:28, we’re treated to a cascade of new syncopated chords hitting every two beats, starting with a very prominent F major. At 1:51, the cycle starts again.

Smokey Robinson + The Miracles | Baby Baby Don’t Cry

Via our frequent contributor JB:

“This 1969 tune is a classic. There’s only one big mod (at 3:15), but the bridge that builds to it begins at 2:40, generating a huge amount of tension. When the mod finally comes, it’s as cathartic as a dam bursting. A great example of how an artful mod can infuse an otherwise-sleepy melody with a lot of dramatic tension.”