Wang Chung | Everybody Have Fun Tonight

Score another mod for MotD member Rob P., who suggested this tune:

The UK’s Wang Chung had a few huge new wave/pop hits in the 80s, including “Everybody Have Fun Tonight” (1986). “’When we came up with the original line, I then went away and wrote with a Hey Jude-style ballad around it, trying to be ironic,” (American Songwriter). “And then when we got in the studio with Peter Wolf, he was like, This is an amazing dance hit, you rock the tempo, you’ve got to really deliver what the title suggests.’

By leaning into the good-timey vibes of the title with a big old synths-and-horns production, Wang Chung danced all the way to #2 on the U.S. pop charts in 1986. The song almost immediately cemented itself in the world of pop culture … Everybody Have Fun Tonight’ rebuilt Wang Chung’s image in one fell swoop. It might have taken them a while to settle on that band moniker, but they wielded it like a weapon on their biggest hit.”

The verse and choruses seem pretty straightforward, but then the bridge (2:32) catches us off guard with a few distinct sections — and two modulations — before returning to the original key at 3:29.

Lenny Kravitz | It Ain’t Over ’til It’s Over

Lenny Kravitz‘s soulful pop release “It Ain’t Over ’til It’s Over” (1991) featured the Phenix Horns from Earth, Wind & Fire. According to a 2000 interview with VivaMusic.com, Kravitz said “That song just came out one day, and I knew it had a classic vibe, and still love that song very much today.” There’s a modulation during the bridge (2:02 – 2:30).

Seals + Crofts | Summer Breeze

Seals and Crofts‘ 1972 release “Summer Breeze” features an aural illusion — an apparent modulation where one doesn’t actually exist. The bridge (2:06 to 2:20) is built exclusively on compound/hybrid chords and a soaring vocal line that is unquestionably the high point of the tune. As we arrive back at the final verse at 2:20, it feels as if the tune modulated — all the cues are there. But we are still in the original key of E minor!

Opening Sequence (from “Songs From a New World”)

Here’s the opening number from Songs For a New World by Jason Robert Brown. From The Guide to Musical Theatre‘s synopsis: “The theme is the moment of decision, the point at which you transition from the old to the new. The change may be geographical, emotional, professional or marital but things are different than they were before. The result is neither musical play nor revue; it is closer to a theatrical song cycle, a very theatrical song cycle.”

There are modulations at 2:20, 3:45, 4:12, and 4:39.

James Taylor | On the 4th of July

Happy Fourth! Apologies for the second James Taylor post in as many weeks!

JT somehow seamlessly combines Americana instrumentation with a light Brazilian groove and unmistakably jazz-infused chord voicings for “On the 4th of July” (2002). In the short instrumental section (2:11), the guitar restates the hook and the scene is set for the modulation (2:19).