Def Leppard released the 1987 album Hysteria after the 1983 album Pyromania boosted the band’s popularity throughout North America and Europe in the wake of several more modest album releases. Given the sustained heavy rotation of its other singles (“Photograph,” “Bringin’ On the Heartbreak,” “Pour Some Sugar on Me,” etc.), it’s surprising that “Love Bites” was the UK band’s only US #1 pop hit.
Songfacts details that “Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen … said of this song, ‘It was just a standard rock ballad but it had something else going for it. Lyrically, it kind of painted a picture, and in a song you always want to do that, paint a picture. On a dark desert highway, the first line of Hotel California, great song, it just paints an image for you straight off the bat and that’s the sign of a really good song. It takes you right there.” The emphasis on multi-layered vocals and glossy textures is the work of producer Mutt Lange, who stole the show with his trademark arena-friendly sound — just as he did with his 1990s chart-topping production of his then-wife, country star Shania Twain.
Starting in F major, the pre-chorus shifts to Eb major at 1:07; verse 2 brings a return to F major at 1:59 — with both keys placing ample emphasis on their respective relative minors.
According to its website, Fourth Moon “were born in 2014 from the meeting between two French musicians (Jean-Christophe Morel, violin; Jean Damei on guitar), an Austrian (Geza Frank, bagpipes and flutes) and a Scot (Mohsen Amini, concertina) … In 2016 the line up changed, introducing David Lombardi from Italy on violin and more recently Andrew Waite from Scotland on accordion.”
The Edinburgh TradFest noted: “The result feels fresh and often exhilarating … showing how traditional musicianship and instruments can be used to produce a truly original sound, Fourth Moon take a mixture of tunes, many of them self penned, and put together sets that play around with styles and tempos and deliver the unexpected.”
The Herald of Scotlandreviewed the Glasgow-based band as giving “thought to texture, tone and tempo that can call to mind a chamber music group in terms of sound quality and tonal range.” The ensemble’s seamless handling of tempo changes is clear on 2018’s “The Vale,” where the band is joined by vocalist Ainsley Hamill, a Scottish singer and songwriter who performs in English, Scots, and Gaelic. There are key changes at 0:54, 1:12, 1:30, 1:49, and 3:17.
Many thanks to our regular contributor JB for this tune!
“Dream Lover” was written and recorded by singer/songwriter/actor Bobby Darin in 1959. Along with “Mack The Knife,” “Splish Splash,” and “Beyond The Sea,” it is one of Darin’s most successful hits. Darin, who died at age 37 after a heart operation, was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1999. Key change at 1:45.
Hands On a Hardbody is a little-known but cleverly crafted musical set in 1990s small-town Texas, where the local Nissan dealership decides to sponsor a contest: the contestant who keeps their hand on a showroom-new truck the longest gets to keep it! Described by The Hollywood Reporteras “a low-concept Hunger Games,” the 2013 theatrical adaptation of the 1997 film is a heartwarming comedy featuring complex musical compositions. “I’m Gone” is a duet between characters Kelli and Greg, who share a romance throughout their time in the competition as they dream about making it out of their weary Texas hometown.
Although relatively unpopular in its time, Hands on a Hardbody debuted and had a short run on Broadway, featuring an array of performers who would go on to do great things. The original Broadway cast included Keala Settle, who later performed in Rent and The Greatest Showman, as well as Dale Soules, who went on to act in Orange is the New Black. The New York Times reports that co-composer Trey Anastasio, best known as songwriter and leader of the funk/jazz/bluegrass jam band Phish, compared the experience to “parallel parking a cruise ship.”
The song features a variety of modulations, including a classic whole-step key change at the song’s climax. However, clever composers Anastasio and Amanda Green use their knowledge of vocal range wisely, modulating the tune down a few steps during a short interlude before Greg takes over the lead from Kelli. The song’s chordal structure is dreamy, featuring a classy use of modal interchange as a V7 chord sets up the progression, only to be replaced by its major chord as the song moves to its more hopeful sections.
Perhaps most importantly, the song modulates as it transitions into the hook (1:00, 2:02). The composers take listeners up a major fourth with a classy V/IV progression that brings sparkle into the tune, creating an uplifting transition into the song’s hook. Bringing a sleek pivot chord into play makes listeners feel a hopeful shift while still saving the “big key change” for the number’s finale (4:30).
All of these factors make “I’m Gone” a fabulous showcase for acting and vocal technique — and a song worth listening to.
Maya Wagner is a singer/songwriter and music producer currently studying at Berklee College of Music. Maya is passionate about sharing her experiences with mental illness and her LGBTQ identity through her music. She blogs about all things music production on her website and has established a broad web presence as an artist, performer, and producer.
Maya, MotD’s first intern, is shifting over to our our regular contributor team in April 2021, so look for more of her posts! Welcome, Maya!
KNOWER, an enigmatic American duo with a sound somewhere between funk, pop, and electronica, is long on action and a bit short in the written bio department. Instead, its online presence features short posts of a few sentences, plenty of videos, and download links. Multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and songwriter Louis Cole and vocalist and songwriter Genevieve Artadi met while studying jazz in Los Angeles. When they’re not collaborating, they often feature each other on solo projects. The duo has collaborated with Youtube titans Pomplamoose, performed with jazz/rock drummer Nate Wood and jazz/funk standard bearers Snarky Puppy, and opened for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Knower was presented by legendary producer Quincy Jones as part of a LA-based concert series, whose program attempted to pin down the band’s sound as “an indescribable mix of virtuosic musicianship and pop sensibilities.”
“Gotta Be Another Way,” originally released by Knower in 2011, was arranged for big band for this 2019 performance with the WDR Big Band, whose story AllMusic summarizes: “A top European jazz group, Germany’s WDR Big Band is a sophisticated ensemble, featuring an evolving line-up of some of the country’s best musicians. A function of the German public broadcasting institution Westdeutscher Rundfunk Köln based in Cologne, the WDR Big Band are musical ambassadors charged with promoting jazz and culture at home and around the world … featuring such guest artists as Ron Carter, Paquito D’Rivera, Arturo Sandoval, and others.”
The tune’s original version blossoms out into a lushly orchestrated big band collaboration. But despite the added textures from the expanded orchestration, the frenetic groove remains at the center of both renditions. Starting in B minor underneath Artadi’s opening rap, there’s a change of key mid-phrase between 0:55 and 0:57 as Artadi begins the sung melody. After that, it’s more or less a question of returning to the B minor section or just holding onto your hat for the rest.
Named one of the 500 greatest songs of all time by Rolling Stone, “I Want to Know What Love Is” is British-American rock band Foreigner‘s most successful hit to date.
“I always worked late at night, when everybody left and the phone stopped ringing,” Mick Jones, who wrote the song, recalls. “’I Want to Know What Love Is’ came up at three in the morning sometime in 1984. I don’t know where it came from. I consider it a gift that was sent through me. I think there was something bigger than me behind it. I’d say it was probably written entirely by a higher force.”
The tune has been covered by many notable artists, including Tina Arena, Wynonna Judd, and Mariah Carey, who is featured here. “I think she’s actually retained the integrity of the song,” Jones said of Carey’s rendition. “You know, the arrangement is very similar to the original. They haven’t tampered with the song too much. She’s captured a certain emotional thing, a feeling.”
The track was featured on Carey’s 2009 album Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel, and the music video was filmed in Yankee Stadium with a gospel choir. A rare (but common for Carey) downward modulation from Gb to F occurs at 2:58.
Thanks to contributor Clara Jung for this submission!
Born in 1947 into a military family stationed in Birmingham, Alabama and raised in North Carolina and Virginia, Emmylou Harris was valedictorian of her high school class. Though she won a drama scholarship to the University of North Carolina, she gravitated more and more towards music.
“Blessed with a crystalline voice, a remarkable gift for phrasing, and a restless creative spirit, few artists had as profound an impact on contemporary music as Emmylou Harris,” notes AllMusic. “She traveled a singular artistic path, proudly carrying the torch of ‘cosmic American music’ passed down by her mentor, Gram Parsons, which made a profound mark on both country and rock. Beginning as a folk singer in New York City, Harris released her first album in 1970.” Later in her career, she is “consistently iconoclastic, eclectic, or daring … Harris’ latter-day music remained as heartfelt, visionary, and vital as her earliest recordings.”
“Making Believe,” written by Jimmy Work, was first recorded by Kitty Wells in 1955. The song is on many lists of all-time top country music songs and has been covered by a varied list of artists, including Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, and Merle Haggard — but also soul great Ray Charles, punk band Social Distortion, and Danish metal band Volbeat. Harris’ 1977 version hit #8 on the US Country charts and #1 in Canada. In 1978, the tune was honored by BMI as one of the 101 most award-winning Country songs. According to The Tennessean, songwriter Jimmy Work later lived a quiet blue collar life: he went to work for Goodyear Tire, then retired as a millwright. He passed away in 2018 at age 94.
A classic whole-step key change hits at the 1:53 mark.
“Groovin'” was written and first released in 1967 by the American rock band The Rascals (formerly known as The Young Rascals.) Its Afro-Cuban groove and relaxed vibe quickly led to the tune becoming one of the band’s signature songs, and it has since been covered by numerous other artists. This performance, by the British/Irish boy band The Overtones, was featured on the 2012 album Higher. Key change at 2:16.
“Perennially underrated” are the first words of the headline on AllMusic’s Utopia page. The band was a sustained 1970s/1980s side project for songwriter/producer/performer Todd Rundgren, rock’s consummate hyphenate. Starting as a prog rock outfit in the early 70s, Utopia “evolved into a shiny mainstream rock quartet … Rundgren retreated into the background as each of his bandmates contributed songs and lead vocals to the albums. By the early ’80s, Utopia had developed into a hit-making entity in their own right.” 1980’s “Set Me Free,” a tune written by Utopia bassist Kasim Sulton, led the band’s singles by reaching #27 on the US pop charts.
According to the Rundgren-centric TRConnection, Rundgren remembers that “… at a certain point in time, Utopia was performing live as well as any quartet in the world.” But the band’s fanbase was miles deep, without nearly enough breadth to match. Drummer Willie Wilcox added, “The fan/band relationship was still fine. But when you’re still playing the same halls after ten years, getting the same guarantees, and expenses are going up, there start to be repercussions.” In addition to the band’s fervent but oddly finite following, Utopia went through a series of record label woes resulting from corporate consolidations, internecine squabbling, and pure bad luck. By the mid-80s, Utopia finally decided to call it a day, though they never officially disbanded.
Given Utopia’s often cerebral focus, 1986’s “Monument” certainly might have been written in the abstract. But for plenty of the band’s fans, the tune measures the distance between the quartet’s democratic ideals and the cold realities of making ends meet. At their collective best, each member wrote songs, sang lead vocals, and covered notoriously complex backup vocal harmonies in addition to top-drawer instrumental playing. But as one of the band’s final releases, “Monument” strongly evokes the tone of elegiac anthem not for a person, but for a time and place: “you can’t go home again.”
I got the message in my mailbox / Nobody goes to church no more They’re closing down your little altar / They’ve locked the sanctuary door Don’t fight it / Who can say that you didn’t try Don’t fight it / Old soldiers never die …
Starting in G minor, the intro then jumps to a verse in Ab minor (0:36) as Sulton’s expressive tenor outlines a stark endgame, despite all efforts. At 0:58, the pre-chorus shifts to F minor; 1:10 brings a return to another verse and pre-chorus. The F major chorus (1:44 – 2:06) seemingly provides a reflection on the band’s unique vision, meticulous craft, and overarching legacy:
And if we don’t meet again I know somewhere a monument Stands in the name of our love …
Postscript:
Once the aftermath of its effective dissolution subsided, the band eventually reunited in Japan in the early 90s and a presented a full North American tour in 2018. Rundgren and Sulton continue to collaborate regularly. Demonstrating that the band was anything but a studio creation despite Rundgren’s famed production abilities, here’s a live 2018 version: the only change in the lineup is keyboardist/vocalist GLASYS in original keys player Roger Powell’s stead.
We briefly covered this tune in January 2018. We hope you’ll enjoy this expanded post by our intern, Maya.
The release of Dangerous Woman, Ariana Grande’s head-bopping 2016 album, marked the start of the singer’s transition from innocent Nickelodeon singer/actress to full on pop idol. The album is full of dangerously sexy hits, but one song in particular ties up all of Grande’s sass and style into one stellar track.
The A.V. Club captures the essence of the tune with its review: “The horn-peppered “Greedy” is an exuberant R&B-pop earworm on which (Grande) has a blast indulging her inner gospel diva.”
The song features a brilliantly arranged horn section which enhances and reinforces the songwriting and production genius of Max Martin. It isn’t surprising that Martin also happens to have co-written and produced Brittany Spears’ hit, “… Baby One More Time,” as well as P!nk’s dance party must-have, “Raise Your Glass.”
On “Greedy,” Martin takes an epic sing-along chorus and transforms it into a wall of sound which hits listeners from the moment the song begins. The tune has that “early 2000s dance floor” sound, but also includes some 2016 trademarks such as the lush vocal stacks that are featured in the song’s hook. With funk undertones in the bass, gospel-style vocal stacks, and a disco groove, the song is appealing to a wide audience and really takes synth-pop to the next level.
The song is just repetitive enough for the modulation at 2:37 to pull the listener back in as the song explodes into a final chorus, sprinkled with Grande’s whistle tone adlibs and breathy riffs.
Maya Wagner is a singer/songwriter and music producer currently studying at Berklee College of Music. Maya is passionate about sharing her experiences with mental illness and her LGBTQ identity through her music. She blogs about all things music production on her website and has established a broad web presence as an artist, performer, and producer.
Maya is MotD’s first intern. Watch this space for her continuing contributions!
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