Postmodern Jukebox | Criminal

“Imagine wandering into a nightclub somewhere on the outskirts of time. A classic jukebox in the corner plays timeless music with oddly familiar modern lyrics, incongruously marrying the 21st-century party vibe of Miley Cyrus or the minimalist angst of Radiohead with the crackly warmth of a vintage 78 or the plunger-muted barrelhouse howl of a forgotten Kansas City jazzman,” (Concord.com). “The dance floor is full of revelers twerking in poodle skirts, while at the bar, well-heeled hipsters balance a martini in one hand with a smartphone in the other.

If such a place actually exists, no doubt the soundtrack is Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox. Founded by pianist and arranger Scott Bradlee in 2009, the ensemble reimagines contemporary pop, rock, and R&B hits in the style of various yesteryears, from swing to doo-wop, ragtime to Motown – or, as Bradlee himself puts it, ‘pop music in a time machine.’ The band parlayed a series of YouTube videos shot in Bradlee’s Queens living room into massive success, accruing more than 450 million YouTube views and over 2 million subscribers, an appearance on Good Morning America, and performances at packed houses across the globe.”

On PMJ’s 2016 cover of “Criminal,” according to the tune’s Youtube description, “the sultry Ariana Savalas returns to take Fiona Apple’s 1997 hit … back a half century, to the heyday of the torch song.” The tune is built primarily in A minor with forays into C minor, but there are moments when the bass line moves chromatically, not diatonically — only adding to the slinky feel of the lyrics. The bridge (2:49 – 3:16) shifts to Eb minor, driven by Dixieland filigree. At 3:16, an upward shift leads to a closing chorus, this time in D minor.

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark | If You Leave

“When you hear the swirling synths and clattering beat that open ‘If You Leave’ by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD, for short), you just might be transported to some long-ago theater, or maybe back to nights at home with the VCR running,” (American Songwriter). “Or maybe, just maybe, you’ll recall the nervous excitement of a high school dance. This ‘80s anthem has a way of evoking nostalgia for that era like few other songs. In fact, the song is such a perfect example of desperate romanticism that you might imagine it to be one that was toiled over for weeks in an effort to make it the perfect fit for what would turn out to be an iconic movie scene. But what if we told you it actually was written and recorded in the span of an evening or so?

… Luckily, one of (OMD’s) U.S. fans was John Hughes, the noted writer and director … He contacted OMD to submit a track for his 1986 film Pretty in Pink … In around 14 hours, Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys wrote ‘If You Leave’ and created a rough mix. Once Hughes heard it the next morning, he was blown away, which meant that OMD had to get back to the studio on just a few hours sleep to polish up the track for an official recording … Even though it was rushed and put together without any kind of forethought, ‘If You Leave’ delivered just what OMD wanted. The song went to the Top 5 in the U.S., and it hasn’t ever quite departed from the public consciousness since … they ended up with a stone-cold classic …”

The tune is built around such a simple melodic idea (re-mi-do) carried from the verses into the chorus, paired largely with a cliché chord progression (I-vi-IV-V or I-IV-V-IV), that it’s difficult to imagine how this tune could work without a key change. No need to worry — there are ten! Starting with a shift from F major to D major before the vocal even makes an appearance (0:17), various sections of the tune shift among the keys of F, D, G, and E major.

Moving Too Fast (from “The Last Five Years”)

Jason Robert Brown’s 2001 two-character musical The Last Five Years traces the disintegration of a five year relationship between Jamie, a novelist and Cathy, an aspiring actress. The story, inspired by Brown’s own failed marriage, is told from the perspectives of both characters even though they only interact once in the middle of the show, at their wedding. “Moving Too Fast” is sung by Jamie when everything in his professional life is going better than he ever dreamed it could, and Cathy feels left behind.

The song, performed here by Jeremy Jordan in the film adaptation, begins in A and modulates to F at 1:28 for the bridge, which quotes “Still Hurting,” the first song in the show. It then returns to A at 2:26 and dances around Bb, B and C before a final modulation to Bb at 3:38

Billy Grammer | Gotta Travel On

“Billy Grammer, whose 1958 hit ‘Gotta Travel On’ hit the top of the charts and led to a long career on the Grand Ole Opry. A singer and guitarist who also was a Nashville recording session musician, Grammer performed regularly on the Grand Ole Opry beginning in 1959.

‘Gotta Travel On,’ adapted from a British folk tune, was a million-seller and the first hit for Nashville’s Monument Records and its famed founder, Fred Foster.” (Billboard).

“Billy Grammer formed his own guitar company after years of playing country music in and around Nashville,” (NAMM.org). ” … Along the way, Billy was seeking to create a guitar that would combine the sounds of his two favorite instruments, Martin and Gibson. By 1964 he teamed with his fishing buddy, Clyde Reid, who operated a music store, and with J. W. Gower to create the Grammer Guitar Company. This country music favorite was produced for several years with the original founders of the company before it was sold to Ampeg in the late 1960s. Ampeg stopped production of the Grammer Guitar in 1971.”

The uptempo track, which was a hit on the pop, country and rhythm & blues charts, moves up a half step at 0:58 and again at 1:38.

Sara Bareilles | If I Can’t Have You

“If I Can’t Have You,” written by Sara Bareilles, Aaron Sterling and Emily King, is the fourth track on Bareilles’s 2019 album Amidst The Chaos. The record, which Bareilles was inspired to record after the 2016 US presidential election, debuted at #6 on the Billboard 200. The tune begins in Bb and modulates to C at 2:53.

Stan Getz | Aguas de Marco

“It wouldn’t take much to persuade me to argue the case for ‘Águas de Março’ — in English, ‘The Waters of March’ — being not just the greatest song of the bossa nova era, or even the greatest Brazilian song ever written, but one of the greatest songs of the 20th century,” (TheBlueMoment.com).

“Jobim’s song is a list of things: just things. It starts with things you might find flushed out by Brazil’s autumn rains. Naturally, it sounds better in the frictionless Portuguese spoken and sung by Brazilians … The images and thoughts skip by on a snatch of melody, repetition building a hypnotic momentum, the harmonies descending beneath it like a stream running between rocks.”

Stan Getz’s 1976 version begins in B major for the Portuguese section (João Gilberto), shifting to A major for the English portion at 1:05 (Heloisa Buarque de Hollanda, also known as “Miucha”). The track later modulates to C major as Getz’s tenor saxophone solo is featured (2:47). As the tune draws to a close, Gilberto rejoins the mix and enters a dialogue with Getz. On the final fade-out, the beginnings of a new verse softly gather, only to be gently washed away.

The Box Tops | The Letter

(The Box Tops had) “never been in a studio before ‘The Letter,’ but they knocked it out,” (Stereogum). “Producer Dan Penn added in a plane-taking-off noise that he’d pulled from a sound-effects record that he’d checked out of the library. Given all that, ‘The Letter’ should be a sloppy and amateurish record, which wouldn’t necessarily prevent it from being great. But ‘The Letter’ is not that. It’s a two-minute epic.”

Despite being not even 20 years old at the time, frontman Alex Chilton “sounds weary and ravaged. He’s stuck somewhere far away from his baby, and he’s got to go see her right away. We don’t know where he is, why he’s separated from her, or what she wrote in her letter … But Chilton’s voice absolutely pops off of the record, and it’s all the band needs to tell the story. ‘The Letter’ is a tight, hard, compact piece of white-kid soul. (It’s the last #1 song ever to come in under the two-minute mark.) But it sounds big and cinematic anyway, with Chilton’s voice fighting its way through nervous organs and melodramatic strings and horn stabs … There’s nothing lo-fi about the record; even if it was recorded on a low budget, it’s got the sweep of a James Bond theme.”

The track sticks to A minor for most of its length, but jumps up to C# major at 1:33 for its tiny instrumental outro. The horns have made their exit, leaving the strings to lead the fast fade-out.

Voctave | On A Clear Day (You Can See Forever)

MoTD’s favorite a cappella group Voctave’s latest release is a cover of “On A Clear Day (You Can See Forever) from the 1965 musical of the same name. The song, written by Burton Lane and Alan Jay Lerner, was made famous by Barbra Streisand in her recording for the film adaptation five years later.

Voctave’s arrangement, by Jamey Ray, features actor/singer Tituss Burgess as the soloist. Beginning in Db, the tune modulates strikingly to F at 2:23.

Brooke Parrott | Persuade Me

“Growing up, (Portland’s Brooke Parrott) played music and wrote stories incessantly, eventually pursuing a degree from Berklee College of Music in Boston,” (BrookeParrott.com). “The years after found Brooke in London, living in a disused pub rumored to be an old haunt of Charles Dickens and Karl Marx, where she wrote songs on a disintegrating grand piano in the parlor. She began working for a small live music startup company that grew up to be a big one, and learned a lot in the process.

When the siren call of the Pacific Northwest became too loud to ignore, Brooke returned and found her place touring and recording music with Portland darlings Loch Lomond. She released a second studio effort, an EP called Buried, that was written between contrasting worlds—part hectic city and suffocating winter in London, part hinterland yurt in the Oregon woods.”

Starting in D minor, Parrott’s 2008 release “Persuade Me” shifts at 0:52 into a chorus in C minor. From 2:24-2:56, an angular bridge built around chromatic bass motion holds sway before a return to the chorus. The final chorus ends by hanging in the air, unresolved.

Vulfpeck | Business Casual (feat. Coco O.)

Vulfpeck is a Michigan-based funk band that has released 10 albums and embarked on three tours. The group, comprised of Joe Dart, Woody Goss, Theo Katzman and Jack Stratton, headlined a sold out concert at Madison Square Garden in 2019, becoming one of the first bands to do so without the backing of a major label or manager.

“Business Casual” is the seventh track on their 2017 album Mr. Finish Line, and features the Danish singer Coco O. It begins in Db and smoothly slides up to D at 2:02.