Harper’s Bizarre | The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy)

Sometimes the greatest creators regret their creations: Think of Dr. Frankenstein and his wretched monster. A similar fate has befallen Paul Simon with his song “The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy)”. The song originally appeared on the 1966 Simon and Garfunkel album, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme, featuring Dave Brubeck Quartet members Joe Morello on drums and Eugene Wright on bass.

But the song has worn out its welcome in Simon’s mind; he regards it as “cringey”. These days, he plays the song as a penance if he makes a mistake during a performance. He mentioned his newfound loathing of the song during a 2017 performance with Stephen Colbert, and again in 2024 during a New York event with Colbert. You can hear Simon and Colbert sing a fractured version of the song together below.

Harper’s Bizarre was a sunshine pop band from California whose most famous alumnus is Ted Templeman, who went on to produce hit records by The Doobie Brothers and Van Halen. Leon Russell arranged and played piano on the cover version here, which features studio stalwarts Glen Campbell, Carol Kaye, and Jim Gordon.

The 1967 Harper’s Bizarre version offers an upward modulation at 1:51. Is the mod groovy or cringey — or is it more about the band’s stiff version of swing? You decide!

Levi Schechtmann | Asturias

“Levi Schechtmann, born in 1999, is a German pianist renowned for blending classical music with modern genres like hip-hop, creating a unique fusion that has captured a global audience,” (artist website). “He began piano lessons at age seven and has since developed a reputation as an innovative performer. Levi is active on platforms like Instagram and TikTok, where he has gained nearly 600.000 followers in total, showcasing his reinterpretations of classical pieces by composers such as Bach, Liszt, and Chopin, but also his own arrangements and improvisations.

Schechtmann’s approach involves merging classical styles with elements of modern genres like hip-hop and house, a combination that has earned him numerous accolades. He has won awards at prestigious competitions, including the Steinway Competition and Hamburg Instrumental Competition, and has performed at renowned venues like Elbphilharmonie and Laeiszhalle in Hamburg and Flagey in Belgium. His popularity is driven by his ability to bridge musical genres, making classical music accessible and appealing to younger audiences through a modern, rhythm-heavy style.”

“Asturias,” released in August 2025, is built in E minor overall. At 2:05 (after a dreamy contrasting section unmarked by the unrelenting energy of the majority of the piece) there’s a shift to the relative G major just before the ending. Anyone who guesses that Schechtman might be a studio creation should also check the live version (posted below).

Many thanks to our contributor Mark B. for this distinctive submission to MotD — his third!

@levi.sct

Let’s see who can count the notes 😜 🎶Levi.Sct – Asturias 🎶 – #viral#piano#classical#asturias#yeah

♬ Originalton – Levi 🪐

Freddy Weller | The Roadmaster

” … a solid traditional country release from the often overlooked career of Freddy Weller: ‘The Roadmaster’ (1972),” (IfThatAintCountry.net). “As a member of popular rock/pop act Paul Revere & The Raiders in the late 60s, it was his version of Joe South’s ‘Games People Play’ which shot him to country stardom. Weller never recaptured that level of fame, but spent most of the 70s recording country to mixed commercial results.

His hits dropped off completely after 1980, but as a writer he kept an iron in the fire and scored considerable success with a BMI one-million spinner in Reba McEntire’s ‘They Asked About You’ as well as ‘Lonely Women Make Good Lovers’ for Bob Luman. Freddy Weller also co-wrote every single one of the tracks on The Roadmaster (frequently collaborating with Muscle Shoals session staple Spooner Oldham) and solid gold country cuts like ‘Bars Have Made a Prisoner of Me,’ the dark but humorous ‘Ballad of a Hillbilly Singer,’ some wonderful trembling steel in ‘An Oldie But a Goodie’ and the kicking title track warrant a revisiting of Freddy Weller’s underrated but extremely worthy place in country music history.”

After two verses, the track shifts up a half step (0:56), again at 1:26, and lastly just in time for the turnaround at 1:50. Written by Weller and Spooner Oldham, the tune hit #17 on the Country charts in 1972. The lyrics are definitely … vintage(?) but the groove is undeniable! Many thanks to our regular contributor Rob P. for sending in this tune!

Go West | Goodbye Girl

“Peter Cox first met Richard Drummie in 1974,” (artist website). “Peter played a demo tape for Richard. He liked what he heard and so began the friendship and collaboration. In 1982 Peter and Richard signed a publishing deal under the names of ‘Cox and Drummie’. ‘We Close Our Eyes’ was released in the Spring of 1985. It reached #5 in the UK charts and became a top 10 hit in the USA. This success was followed by a further three UK top 10 hits – ‘Call Me,’ ‘Goodbye Girl’ and ‘Don’t Look Down’. The album Go West sold 1.5 million copies worldwide and remained on the UK chart for 83 weeks, establishing them as one of the greatest songwriting duos to emerge in the 80s. In 1986 they won the BRIT Award for ‘Best British Newcomer’ – the one BRIT which is decided by the listening public.”

The ballad “Goodbye Girl” was something of an anomaly within the band’s early output, particularly compared to the first two singles from the album. Co-songwriter, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist Richard Drummie says of “Call Me,” the album’s second single, ” … you can tell it’s commercial, but you should have heard the demo – it sounded like seven ice cream vans coming round the corner,” (ClassicPopMag). “It was just so poppy. But it got us signed,” after many years of effort. 

After verses, choruses, and a bridge built in F minor, 3:29 brings a shift up a whole step to G minor after a grand pause.

The Miracles | Broken Hearted

“If there was a Mount Rushmore for songwriters, the poetic Smokey Robinson would be permanently etched in stone alongside the illustrious likes of Lennon–McCartney, Bob Dylan and all the key standards composers,” (ChicagoConcertReviews). “The Temptations’ ‘My Girl,’ Mary Wells’ ‘My Guy,’ and Marvin Gaye’s ‘Ain’t That Peculiar’ are a just a few of the more than 4,000 credits, in addition to fellow timeless tunes ‘You’ve Really Got a Hold On Me,’ ‘The Tracks of My Tears,’ ‘Ooo Baby Baby,’ ‘I Second That Emotion’ and ‘The Tears of a Clown” while fronting The Miracles throughout the 1960s and early ‘70s.”

Robinson on his early career: “‘We were the first group at Motown when Berry [Gordy] started Motown. We were there before he even started Motown, so it was just the beginning, man. A lot of energy going on. A lot of young people coming by to audition, to be signed up, hustle and bustle, and music.'”

Sticking to the preferred radio airplay runtime of that era — three minutes or less (2:58) — “Broken Hearted,” a non-single track from the Miracles sophomore album Cookin’ With the Miracles (1961), shifts up a half-step at 1:54.

Rob Harbron | Besinox

“Rob Harbron is a uniquely skilled player of the English concertina, described by The Guardian as a ‘concertina wizard’ and renowned for his highly individual and harmonic style of playing,” (artist website). “He is a member of Leveret (alongside Sam Sweeney and Andy Cutting), with whom he has toured extensively and released six landmark albums.

Known for his work with a wide range of artists including Jon Boden and the Remnant Kings, Emily Portman, Emma Reid, and The Full English, he has also worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company. His debut solo album Meanders was released in 2019 and was followed by a tunebook of original compositions.”

“Besinox,” from As the Days Begin to Lengthen (2024), begins in Bb major. At 1:20, a less stable middle section is announced by a prominent F minor chord. 1:53 brings a resounding shift to G major, which then falls in and out of focus a few times via compelling but fleeting harmonic sidesteps. The tune ends on a D major chord, with the key of G major clearly in effect.

Beach Boys | Keep An Eye On Summer

“Any album (Shut Down, Vol. 2, 1964) that can begin with five minutes of material on par with ‘Fun, Fun, Fun’ and ‘Don’t Worry Baby’ is going to be worth something (JohnMcFerrinMusicReviews) … The second half starts on a pretty high note with the band’s cover of ‘Why Do Fools Fall in Love?’ (which would be a pretty trite choice if the song didn’t fit the band’s vocal talents so well), and ‘Keep an Eye on Summer’ at least sounds like a classic Beach Boys ballad (even if it’s not striking enough to rank as one of the band’s best).

… The best thing that ever happened to the band was for this album to not do especially well on the charts; while it wasn’t exactly a commercial dud, it struggled enough to creep up the charts for the band to realize that they were already on the verge of becoming an anachronism, and it helped make clear that the band needed to change some things.”

“Keep an Eye on Summer” begins in F# major, shifts to Bb major at 1:06, lands back in F# at 1:33, and then powers through an intense a cappella half-step key change up to G for the outro.

Stone Temple Pilots | Trippin’ On a Hole in a Paper Heart

“For a band that started out their career hearing countless accusations of them being copycats and carpetbaggers, Stone Temple Pilots sure turned out to be willing to change their sound and blaze their own trail,” (Alternative Albums Blog). “Released in 1996, their third album Tiny Music … Songs From The Vatican Gift Shop found the band leaving behind nearly all traces of the grunge and alt rock of Core and Purple in favor of of glam, psychedelia, and fizzy pop. It is a bold move that mostly paid off.

The album spun off several successful singles, including the manic rush of ‘Trippin’ on a Hole in a Paper Heart,’ the second single from the album … (the track) is a jittery rush of music that captures the feeling of a bad acid trip, which (according to singer and lyricist Scott Weiland) is what the song is about … Sadly, Scott Weiland’s demons with drug abuse would … repeatedly cut short tours and other opportunities so that he could attend rehab or spend time in jail. In fact, it is impressive how creative and interesting Tiny Music … Songs From The Vatican Gift Shop ultimately is, considering how much Weiland was struggling at the time.”

Weiland died in 2015. But according to a 2005 Esquire interview, “Over the last decade, (he) established himself as the quintessential junkie rock star. Now thirty-seven, he has to his credit several platinum albums, five drug arrests, a six-month jail stint, and uncountable attempts at rehab … In 1987, he formed the group that became Stone Temple Pilots … One of the biggest acts of the mid-nineties, STP followed the lead of bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam to the top of the charts with its hard, lyric-driven rock. Fabulously rich, monumentally fucked-up, Weiland crossed over to mainstream consciousness in 1996, when the members of his band—his closest friends—held a press conference on the eve of a national tour to out their buddy as an incorrigible heroin addict, ‘unable to rehearse or appear.'”

The tune’s intro and verse are built on a contradiction right out of the gate, built around alternating F# major and A major chords. But the melody, lyrics, and groove take precedent, pulling us along to the chorus (0:34), which is built in B minor (with a i-VI vamp). At 0:48, we return to the verse. The second chorus (1:19) is more expansive, leading to an instrumental verse with a guitar feature (1:51). Lastly, a final chorus (2:22) with an unresolved ending suddenly leads us off a cliff, leaving the final vocal melody note completely unaccompanied. Spiky, manic, off-balance, unsettling? Yes.

Christopher Cross | I Really Don’t Know Anymore

“Quick! What do Christopher Cross and Billie Eilish have in common?

Answer: They are the only artists who have won the four major Grammy Awards (Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Best New Artist) in the same year,” (BestClassicBands). “They achieved this feat in 1981 and 2020, respectively: Eilish is 50 years younger than the man born Christopher Charles Geppert in San Antonio, Texas. Only time will tell if she endures the kind of backlash that, after a spectacular start with hits ‘Ride Like the Wind’ and ‘Sailing,’ cast Cross into music business purgatory and back to fame again. Good luck to her.”

“I Really Don’t Know Anymore” wasn’t one of the three initial singles which propelled Cross’ eponymous debut album (released in the closing days of 1979) into the multi-platinum sales stratosphere in 1980 (“Sailing,” “Ride Like the Wind,” and “Never Be the Same”), but the album was such a smash hit that it received plenty of airplay nonetheless. The tune benefits from an assist by Michael McDonald, who intermittently joins Cross for vocal counter lines. The energetic, syncopated groove lends some much-needed life to the inert lyrics: “What do you think about love? … I really don’t know anymore / I really can’t say / I really don’t know anymore / I’m just that way.”

Starting with a verse in C# minor, the tonality flips over into the relative E major for the choruses (first heard from 0:46 – 1:05). Although they share similar vocal ranges, it’s always a treat to hear these two voices side by side: Cross’s clipped, nearly vibrato-free delivery couldn’t be more different from McDonald’s instantly recognizable vowel-centric and foggy timbre.

Three Dog Night | Easy to Be Hard

“‘Easy To Be Hard’ appeared in the stage musical Hair (1968). It became a smash American Top 40 hit in its own right,” (Last.FM). “It was played frequently by Top 40 radio stations well into the summer of ’69. The track spoke to the milieu of the late ’60s: Social consciousness and social injustice. For that reason, young America embraced it.” From Sleepless Critic’s review: “Before cell phones, the internet, and alternate forms of digital communication invited people to text and talk on a computer screen as an alternative to seeing someone in person, Hair highlights the value of in person camaraderie, especially when things seem to be falling apart. Set in war-torn 1968 and focusing on a tribe of hippies that could possibly be drafted, emotionally and physically holding onto each other helps them cope in a world gone mad.”

The tune was written by Galt MacDermot, James Rado, and Gerome Ragni and was first released by Suzannah Evans, Linda Compton, Paul Jabara and the company of the musical Hair in October 1967 (SecondHandSongs). It was then released as a single by Three Dog Night in July 1969.

Starting with a vamp alternating between a conflicting C major and A major, the tune eventually settles into D major partway through the verse. At 1:33, the chorus begins in G major, shifting to A major at 1:44. The verse returns and the pattern continues from there, until the final chord shifts unexpectedly to B minor.