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!
Tag: 1960s
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.
Eydie Gorme | As Long As He Needs Me
We’ve posted this song before, but it is high time Eydie Gorme made her debut on MotD. They don’t make them like this anymore. From the musical Oliver (1960), written by Lionel Bart. This 1969 performance features a key change at 2:16.
Sam Cooke | This Little Light of Mine
Here’s Sam Cooke’s rendition of the spiritual “This Little Light of Mine” (1964), which played a prominent role throughout the Civil Rights movement. Key changes at 1:09 and 1:43.
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.
My Bathroom (from “Bathtubs Over Broadway”)
The documentary Bathtubs Over Broadway included this tune, “My Bathroom,” from a 1969 industrial musical entitled The Bathrooms are Coming. There’s a key change at 1:26. For more on what an industrial musical is, check out https://www.industrialmusicals.com.
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.
Bob Crewe Generation | Music to Watch Girls By
This 1966 tune, “Music to Watch Girls By” by Bob Crewe Generation, went to #15 (Pop) #2 (Easy Listening) positions on the charts. The key change is at 1:10.
The Monkees | Theme from “The Monkees” TV Show
A boy band before the term was even coined, The Monkees were assembled by TV professionals to cast a music-centric sitcom (1966-1968) “about an imaginary band… that wanted to be the Beatles,” according Monkee Mickey Dolenz. Eventually, the actors learned to play their instruments for real, continuing as a band until 1971 and producing several huge hits. The brief theme song from the TV show manages to pack in two direct modulations at 0:26 and 0:36.
Dionne Warwick | Always Something There to Remind Me
MotD member Christopher Larkosh contributes Dionne Warwick‘s “Always Something There to Remind Me” (1963), written by songwriting dream team Burt Bacharach and Hal David. At 1:37, the bridge brings a half-step direct modulation along with it; then another key change, perhaps a bit less expected, at 1:51. The tune has enjoyed several covers, the best known probably being Naked Eyes’ 1983 version, which really changes it up by featuring a swing groove!
Chris adds: “This is my favorite modulation; I was born to love it, and I will never be free; it’ll always be a part of me.”
modulationoftheday.home.blog 