Category: JB

Guster | Overexcited

According to Boston.com, the NYC-based/Boston-made band Guster is “a buoyant pop act formed by Tufts University students (which) has used its word-of-mouth popularity to hit the big time.” Apparently the “intelligently playful pop band” gives a bit of extra thought to its Boston appearances: “When the band last played the Pavilion, it arrived in a rubber dinghy. And once, at the Orpheum Theatre, band members came in from the ceiling.” Guster has cranked out college radio anthems for years, but none more quirky than 2019’s “Overexcited.” The video, an earnest homage(?) to modern dating, adds a few more smiles and cringeworthy moments to the simplicity of the lyrics and the earworming melody.

Modulation at 2:04. Many thanks to chronic contributor JB for this submission!!!

The Beach Boys | Fun, Fun, Fun

Wrapping up Beach Boys week is “Fun, Fun, Fun,” a 1964 single by The Beach Boys which features a guitar riff during the opening inspired by Chuck Berry’s iconic “Johnny B. Goode”. The track hit #5 in the US, #5 in Australia, and #8 in New Zealand.

The tune modulates at 1:51. Many thanks to frequent contributor JB for this submission and so many others!

The Beach Boys | Don’t Worry Baby

#3 of 5 of our Beach Boys Week posts: 1964’s “Don’t Worry Baby” was the B-side of one of The Beach Boys’ all-time biggest hits, “I Get Around.” It’s part of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll list, ranked #178 on The 500 Rolling Stone Magazine greatest songs, and #14 on Pitchfork‘s “200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s”.

Starting in E major, there’s a transition to F# major at the start of the chorus (0:41), then a return to E major at the start of the next verse (0:58); the other verses follow suit. Continued thanks to our guest contributor JB for this week’s tunes!

The Beach Boys | That’s Not Me

Continuing with Beach Boys week: AllMusic refers to The Beach Boys‘ “That’s Not Me” as “the closest thing to a conventional rocker” on the experimental Pet Sounds album (1966). According to Jim DeRogatis, author of “Turn on Your Mind,” it’s a work “influenced by psychedelic drugs that inspired Brian Wilson to turn his attention inward and probe his deep-seated self-doubts.”

Starting in A major, the tune has multiple modulations, starting at 0:34. Plenty of compound chords and inversions add to the overall harmonic richness. Thanks again to frequent contributor JB for submitting this tune!

The Beach Boys | When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)

Because frequent contributor JB has sent in over a dozen tunes by this classic American band over the past few weeks — and because it’s now the depths of January AND the material is a harmonic feast — we bring you a week devoted entirely to The Beach Boys!

“When I Grow Up (To Be a Man),” written and composed by Brian Wilson and Mike Love (1965), reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song has a lyric written from an adolescent’s POV. According to the book “Smile: The Story of Brian Wilson’s Lost Masterpiece,” Wilson had a “fervent desire to reinvent himself as an individual, not as a boy.” The single, which is only two minutes long, modulates at 1:32.

The Tubes | What Do You Want From Life

Here’s one of the singles from The Tubes self-titled 1975 debut album, “What Do You Want From Life?” The track received sustained airplay, likely due to what AllMusic calls the band’s “offbeat pop splendor.” Frequent contributor JB describes the track’s iconic spoken-word outro as a “tour-de-force gameshow voice-over … one of the most scathing bits of social satire in all of pop music.”

Starting in C minor, an early bridge (1:03 – 1:39) takes us through several pivots and pushes up briefly into D minor before falling back into Db minor for the balance of the tune.

Have You Seen a Child (from “Amahl + the Night Visitors”)

Weekend bonus mod: thanks to frequent contributor JB! Written by Gian Carlo Menotti, an Italian-American composer and librettist, Amahl and the Night Visitors first aired on NBC on Christmas Eve, 1951; it was the first opera written specifically for television and was intended to be children’s programming.

According to Opera Magazine, Menotti was challenged by deadlines; he was assisted by his composition colleague Samuel Barber in completing the orchestrations, which were first performed under the baton of NBC Symphony Orchestra conductor Arturo Toscanini. The production, later staged by many opera companies, was aired on national TV for eleven years straight; sporadic performances have continued over the years.

The main theme is repeated in several keys; the first modulation is at 0:33.

Fitz + the Tantrums | L.O.V.

According to AllMusic, LA-based Fitz & The Tantrums plays a “hooky, danceable brand of pop infused with retro soul and ’80s new wave influences.” The band is probably best known for its 2013 single “Out of My League.”

“L.O.V.,” a track submitted by MotD frequent flyer JB, was released on the band’s 2010 debut album. After verses in D minor and choruses in C major, the groove drops out (at first) for a largely instrumental break which alternates between Ab major and Bb major (a bVII major -> I major vamp) from 2:00 to 2:31.

Stevie Wonder | Sunny

Here’s a wonderful cover submitted by regular guest poster JB:

“Stevie Wonder‘s a pretty sophisticated songwriter, but as a performer — especially in his early days — he was not above laying down a yeomanlike rendering of a pop standard. Part of Barry Gordy’s genius was in treating even his star vocalists as, in some ways, just glorified studio musicians, working their shifts in the Motown Hitsville Hit Factory.

Still, it’s kinda novel to hear Wonder cover Bobby Hebb‘s ‘Sunny,’ which features not one, not two, but three mods (1:40, 2:25, 3:06). While this kind of modulation ladder would sound cheesy nowadays, the tune comes from the era (early 60s) when cheesy lounge music was charting right alongside the early Beatles and Stones. I miss the biodiversity that pop music had back in those protean days…”

Bill Withers | Lovely Day

Another modulation from frequent guest poster JB: R&B singer, songwriter, bandleader, multi-Grammy winner, and 2015 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame honoree Bill Withers is probably best known for his hits “Lean on Me” and “Ain’t No Sunshine.” 1977’s “Lovely Day” peaked at #6 on the US Billboard R&B chart, #30 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in early 1978. and #7 on the UK Singles chart.

Starting in E major for the intro and the verse, there’s a switch to E minor for the pre-chorus (0:39), then reverting to E major for the chorus (0:59). The passing minor nature of the pre-chorus is blunted, however, by the use of bouyant hybrid chords:

||: Cmaj/D Dmaj/E Amin Bmin :||