“Mambo Italiano” was originally written by Bob Merrill in 1954 for the American singer Rosemary Clooney, and is a parody of genuine mambo music. Bette Midler included a cover of the tune on her tribute album to Clooney, released in 2003 (following Clooney’s death in 2002) and produced by Barry Manilow. “I wanted to be respectful, but I felt we had to find something new to say as well,” Midler said in the liner notes for the album. “And in these (mostly) new arrangements…I believe we have.”
The track begins in G minor and shifts up a half step at 2:16.
“Dubbed ‘The First Lady of Song,’ Ella Fitzgerald was the most popular female jazz singer in the United States for more than half a century,” according to Fitzgerald’s website. “In her lifetime, she won 13 Grammy awards and sold over 40 million albums.
Her voice was flexible, wide-ranging, accurate and ageless. She could sing sultry ballads, sweet jazz and imitate every instrument in an orchestra. She worked with all the jazz greats, from Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Nat King Cole, to Frank Sinatra, Dizzy Gillespie and Benny Goodman. (Or rather, some might say all the jazz greats had the pleasure of working with Ella.) She performed at top venues all over the world, and packed them to the hilt. Her audiences were as diverse as her vocal range. They were rich and poor, made up of all races, all religions and all nationalities. In fact, many of them had just one binding factor in common – they all loved her.”
Her relentlessly energetic rendition of the children’s song “Old MacDonald,” performed on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, begins in Eb major. Starting at 0:18, she skips effortlessly upward through a series of half-step modulations, ending in Ab major.
“Mandolinist-singer Chris Thile, guitarist-singer Sean Watkins, and fiddler-singer Sara Watkins recorded their self-titled debut for Sugar Hill in 2000,” (AcousticMusic.com). “The band had a lot going for it. Its members were young, spunky, and nice to look at on CMT; they were good musicians and singers, and brought a youthful edge to a music that seldom reached a youthful market. Indeed, the most surprising thing about Nickel Creek was that three, young with-it teenagers would choose to play anything resembling bluegrass, and that they, as Alison Krauss had some years earlier, were able to make acoustic music seem kind of cool.
The band’s third album, Why Should the Fire Die? (2005), (is) an intense, innovative album … Detractors will argue that Nickel Creek has strayed far from the traditional bluegrass path, but even the group’s first and most conservative effort wasn’t traditional. The problem with traditional-progressive conflicts is that they don’t tell you much about the quality of the music itself. Quite possibly, Nickel Creek doesn’t even qualify—at this point—as traditional, progressive, or any other kind of bluegrass. They are, however, an exciting band because they’ve brought new elements into acoustic music, giving it a potent injection of youthful vigor.”
After a starting in E major, a shift to G major is in effect from 1:02 – 1:18, where the band hiccups back into the original key.
“Right now the world is full of opinions, which is always fine, and full of agendas and people making things out to be a certain way and they aren’t listening to each other,” Day said upon recording this 1965 Burt Bacharach song. “That requires love and that requires selflessness.” Day’s cover was used for Hyatt Hotels’ World of Hyatt campaign, and premiered in an ad during the 89th Academy Awards in 2017.
The track begins in A and shifts up to Bb at 1:54.
“World-class composer, pianist, and arranger Richard Smallwood has clearly and solidly changed the face of gospel music,” (KennedyCenter.org). “He can impeccably blend classical movements with traditional gospel, and arrive at a mix that is invariably Smallwood’s alone. A diverse and innovative artist, Richard Smallwood has achieved many honors; Dove Awards and a Grammy also attest to his talents … Richard began his recording career in the late seventies with an album simply titled The Richard Smallwood Singers. The debut project spent 87 weeks on Billboard’s Gospel chart … His song “I Love The Lord” crossed onto the big screen when Whitney Houston sang it in the film The Preacher’s Wife.”
“I Will Sing Praises” (1996) was both written and arranged by Smallwood. Starting at 3:05, multiple half-step modulations arrive, with the intensity only further magnified by the choir’s brief jump to a cappella at 4:47.
“Brutal Love” is the lead track on the 2012 album ¡Tré!, the third and final installment of a series released by the American rock band Green Day (who today make their MotD debut.) According to Billboard, the track “marries glam-rock, doo-wop and soul music. Part of the melody is lifted from Sam Cooke’s 1962 hit “Bring It On Home To Me,” leading him to be credited as a co-writer.
The song begins in Ab and modulates up to A coming out of the second bridge at 3:45.
“Greek composer Vangelis was one of the most influential figures in the history of electronic music and as a composer of film scores,” (AllMusic). “His popular work utilized synthesizers in an orchestral manner, featuring romantic melodies and lush arrangements. However, his oeuvre encompassed many genres, from progressive rock and jazz improvisation to choral and symphonic music.
He achieved international mainstream success for his triumphant theme music to the 1981 film Chariots of Fire and several collaborations with former Yes vocalist Jon Anderson as Jon & Vangelis.” The composer, who died last week at the age of 79, found his largest success in his score for the massively influential dystopian science fiction film Blade Runner (1982). The Guardian describes the score as “a stunning sonic panorama of the fragmented, alienated world that (director Ridley Scott) depicted on the screen, where advances in technology were matched by the decay of human emotions. His music became almost like an extra character in the development of the story.”
Vangelis’ joint release with British singer Jon Anderson, 1983’s “Italian Song,” modulates several times and features a sonic palette which overlaps with the Blade Runner score in timbre but not in mood; the impression that the track leaves in its wake is one of a celestial lullabye. The first shift in tonality (0:37) is from F major to A major.
“‘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.
Featured in the classic 1994 Disney film The Lion King, Elton John and Tim Rice’s “Can You Feel The Love Tonight” won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and peaked at number 4 on the Billboard Top 100. According to a survey conducted in 2020, nearly 80% of couples who chose the tune as the first dance song at their wedding ended up staying together.
The track begins in F and modulates up a step to G at 1:51.
Thanks to first-time contributor Joya Migliaccio for this submission!
Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons were a hit-making machine in the 1960s. Beginning with their #1 single “Sherry” in 1962 through 1968, with their version of “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” they were never far from the charts. In the 1970s, they had something of a comeback, with the disco-flavored “Who Loves You” in 1975, and another #1, “December 1963 (Oh, What a Night),” that same year. For more history, go see the musical Jersey Boys, playing in summer stock somewhere near you.
“Opus 17 (Don’t You Worry ‘Bout Me)” was their 17th single (titled perhaps to confuse fans of Antonio Vivaldi), released in 1966. It was written by Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell, who wrote the other Four Seasons hits “Let’s Hang On!” and “Working My Way Back to You,” as well as the 1977 disco hit “Native New Yorker” by Odyssey.
The first two verses are in F♯. The third verse modulates up to G at 0:45. An instrumental verse, featuring a raunchy-for-1966 sax solo, remains in G. The fourth verse modulates another half-step to A♭ at 1:21; the fifth verse stays in that key. At 1:52, verse six moves up to A. Whew, we’re not done: verse seven modulates to B♭ at 2:08. Finally, verse eight goes up to B at 2:24 as the song fades out.
As this song demonstrates, it’s a mod, mod, mod, mod, mod world!
modulationoftheday.home.blog 