Another unintentionally pitchy performance — redeemed to hilarious effect by the top-drawer musicianship and humor of Kevon Carter. Somehow, he keeps up with many, many modulations per minute, supporting each one with an awesome re-harmonization in the accompaniment.
This time, it’s “The Greatest Love of All,” originally made popular by Whitney Houston and George Benson.
MotD member Mark Mahoney contributes today’s mod: the 1961 album Genius + Soul = Jazz by the legendary Ray Charles featured this simple blues-based tune, dressed up by a no-hold-barred big band arrangement by Quincy Jones and Ralph Burns. The band was comprised of members of The Legendary Count Basie Orchestra and a group of NYC session players. In 2011, the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
The tune features several modulations; the first is at 2:27. Happy weekend to all!
An American performer named Keith (yes, just Keith) released the single “98.6” in 1967. The song reached #7 on the Billboard chart and #24 on the UK Singles Chart in 1967. The Tokens, the Brooklyn-based doo-wop group better known for “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” provided back-up vocals.
The tune features a few instrumental breaks featuring key-of-the-moment glimpses. But the actual modulation is at 2:47 as the instrumental outro begins.
They don’t make them like this anymore. Betty Hutton makes her MotD debut with “Murder, He Says” from the film Happy Go Lucky (1943). The tune was written by Frank Loesser and Jimmy McHugh. Key change at 2:14, but you have to experience this whole performance.
Weekend Bonus Mod: This 1970s ad for Peek Freans cookies features a lyric which most companies would likely avoid today (“much too good to waste on children”), but also provides a modulation at 0:14 to go along with its reverse psychology.
MotD regular Rob Penttinen submits this feel-good 1985 tune by the family group DeBarge, “Rhythm of the Night.” Written by Diane Warren and featuring lead vocals by El DeBarge, the song went into the top 5 in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia. The modulation is at 2:38.
The first single from John Mayer‘s second album, Heavier Things (2003), was the mid-tempo tune “Bigger Than My Body.” Billboard reported that the tune “delivers a contagious melody, an exhilarating arrangement and lyrics that are thoughtful and touching without stooping to sentimentality or bombast.”
Primarily built around E major, the tune’s bridge centers around F major from 2:39 – 3:06, then reverts to E major.
Regular MotD scout JB contributes “Sweet Sky” by singer / songwriter Laura Nyro (1978):
“Usually there’s some kind of foreshadowing or build-up before a modulation, with the key change acting as a kind of catharsis or accelerant. But the key change at 2:15 in this song is like falling through an unexpected trap door.”
“Run, Freedom, Run” from the hit 2001 musical Urinetown by Greg Kotis and Mark Hollmann, features a key change at 1:56. Inspired to post this song this week, as I am about to open Kotis and Hollman’s new musical, Yeast Nation, at College Conservatory of Music on Thursday.
Elton John‘s iconic 1973 album, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, sold over 30 million copies worldwide and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. The album featured “The Ballad of Danny Bailey,” a tune which seemed so authoritative that many fans thought it was about a real person. But AllMusic‘s review debunks that myth: the subject of the song was fictional.
The track starts with pivots between B minor and C major, builds to pivots between E minor and F major at 0:25, continues to grow in intensity with pivots between A minor and Bb major at 0:31, all supporting a melody ascending in pitch and intensity. At 0:49, the chorus is based on D major, but only tenuously — the lack of harmonic stability seems to reflect the song’s unsettling story. This complex song qualifies as “filler” between the far better-known hits on this legendary album.
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