Tag: 1960s

The Turtles | Elenore

The Turtles, an American band led by Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman (later known as Flo and Eddie), released “Elenore” in 1968. Unhappy with its record label, the band intentionally delivered a single with off-kilter lyrics. According to the liner notes for the band’s compilation album Solid Zinc: “‘Elenore’ was a parody of ‘Happy Together’…I gave them a very skewed version…with all these bizarre words. It was my feeling that they would listen to how strange and stupid the song was and leave us alone. But they didn’t get the joke.”

Nobody else got the joke, either: the two-and-a-half minute “sunshine pop” single packed a huge punch, shooting into the top 10 in the US, Canada, the UK, and Australia.

Following the same pattern as “Happy Together,” one of the band’s other big singles, the E minor verses transition to E major and back again throughout the tune, starting at 0:43.

Aretha Franklin | Respect

“Respect,” originally released by Otis Redding in 1965, was later a huge 1967 hit for Lady Soul, Aretha Franklin. Franklin’s cover became a feminist battle cry as well as one of the best-known American R&B tunes, winning Recording Academy / GRAMMYs, entry into the Grammy Hall, honor by The Library of Congress, a #5 perch on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time”, and a place on the “Songs of the Century” list by the The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The tune modulates on the brief instrumental bridge at 1:17 and is back to its original key at 1:34.

Ray Charles | Stompin’ Room Only

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!

Keith | 98.6

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.

The Who | My Generation

#11 on Rolling Stone magazine’s “500 Greatest Songs of All Time” list is “My Generation” by The Who. A short section of AllMusic‘s review of the 1965 release: “An explosive debut, and the hardest mod pop recorded by anyone. Pete Townshend‘s exhilarating chord crunches and guitar distortions threaten to leap off the grooves…” This classic features modulations at 1:19, 1:49 and 2:26.

The Fifth Dimension | Up, Up and Away

MotD fan Ryan Sigurdson has contributed the monster worldwide hit “Up, Up and Away,” written by Jimmy Webb and released by The Fifth Dimension in 1967. The track won six major Grammy Awards and was listed #43 on Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI)‘s “100 Songs of the Century.” The modulations are too numerous to list.