Tag: 1970s

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.

10cc | I’m Not in Love

In the mid-70s, 10cc was a UK band with a fair amount of know-how about the recording studio and the nascent field of synthesis. But they weren’t prepared for the journey they’d embark on with their single “I’m Not in Love” (1975). Lol Creme, the band’s keyboardist and one of its vocalists, told The Guardian: “I’d become obsessed with tape loops after listening to the Beatles’ ‘Revolution 9.’ Our studio used to do recordings for the Mellotron, a keyboard that played prerecorded notes. Session musicians would come in and do these painstaking recordings for every instrument of an orchestra, one note at a time, so that when they were all played together on a Mellotron it sounded like an orchestra. I was fascinated by this, and wanted to try it with banks and banks of voices.”

Creme continued: “‘The whole process took about a week. It was incredibly tedious. Three or four of us had to sing every note about 14 times, then put echo on it, which gave it that luxurious, velvety harmonic sound. It was beautiful, but Eric (Stewart’s) vocal was what really made the song. That lead voice was actually the guide vocal, from the first take you do just to test everything out. Eric tried to do a better one, but we all agreed that one had the magic … When it was done, we thought: ‘What the hell have we done?’ It was six minutes and 12 seconds long, so we knew we’d never get it on the radio. But, after it appeared on our The Original Soundtrack album, people like Bryan Ferry and Roy Wood were ringing up and going: ‘You’ve got to release this as a single. It’s brilliant.’ When it went to #29, the BBC had to play it … Three weeks later, it was #1 around the world.'”

The intro and verses are written in E major, although the tune doesn’t spend much time on the tonic chord. 3:03 – 3:18 features a late bridge in G major (twice as long on other versions of the song) before the track reverts to E. This “live” version of the track is mimed, right down to “backing vocals” which were actually comprised of Mellotron lines.

The Spinners | Working My Way Back to You

“The holiday season of 1979 was in full swing when Detroit legends The Spinners released their version of the Four Seasons’ 1966 classic, ‘Working My Way Back to You'” (Rhino Records). “… The Spinners retooled the tune with a symphonic disco-funk groove, and the interpolation of Michael Zager’s ‘Forgive Me Girl.’ Showcasing the booming bass vocals of singer Pervis Jackson, the energetic track was a hit on the holiday airwaves across pop and R&B stations.

As the track rang up those radio spins, ‘Working My Way Back to You’ danced up the charts to peak at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the weeks of March 29, 1980, and April 5, 1980. The song that kept the Spinners from #1? Pink Floyd’s ‘Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2).’ Over on the Hot R&B Songs chart, the tune hit #6 over the week of March 22, 1980. The #1 song on the chart that week: The Whispers with ‘And the Beat Goes On.'”

After the multi-section tune begins to draw to a close, an unexpected and extremely late modulation (up two whole steps, from C major to E major) hits at 3:48. On the final fade-out, the tracks’s energy refuses to recede, but the lead tenor’s vocal line launches into the stratosphere!

Gladys Knight | The Way We Were

For the 1973 film The Way We Were, Barbra Streisand served in the role of leading lady and also a mainstay of the soundtrack. “Marvin Hamlisch came up with the melody; he was asked to write in the minor mode, but instead wrote in the major.” (SuperSeventies.com). “‘If I’d written in a minor mode, it might have told you too much in advance,’ he said, ‘that Streisand and Redford were never going to get together. So, I wrote a melody that was sad, but also had a great deal of hope in it.’ The tune was completed by a husband-and-wife songwriting team, Marilyn and Alan Bergman.

Streisand’s single broke in late November 1973, and reached number one in mid-February 1974. It was her first number one hit, and first single to stay on the charts for more than five months. It earned an Academy Award as the Best Film Song of 1973, Billboard ‘s award as the Top Pop Single of 1974, and a Grammy as Song of the Year.” The powerful ballad served as fodder for covers by a range of performers including Andy Williams, Doris Day, Bing Crosby, Beyoncé, and more.

But the tune’s most memorable cover might have been Gladys Knight’s 1974 version from her album I Feel a Song. Mixing in extensive quotes of “Try to Remember” from Broadway’s The Fantastiks before adding a half-step modulation (3:00) not found in Streisand’s original, Knight leaves her distinctive signature on the tune.

Led Zeppelin | The Wanton Song

“With Led Zeppelin, there was no break-in period, no ‘early phase’ where they figured out what kind of band they wanted to be,” (Pitchfork). “They were fully formed from the first repetition of the ‘Good Times Bad Times’ riff, and they powered along through their first half-dozen albums crushing everything in their path. Zep never had their Sgt. Pepper’s, their Exile, their Who’s Next, because every album was more or less that good — for a while, anyway.

This was a band that knew the music it wanted to make and executed it with ruthless precision … Physical Graffiti … found the band inhabiting what Neil Tennant once described (and Tom Ewing fleshed out) as their ‘imperial phase’ … everything they tried during these years somehow worked. Physical Graffiti … (is) Led Zeppelin’s White Album, the one they made when they were at their creative peak and had a million ideas, but were also under a tremendous amount of strain and saw the end starting to come into focus.”

After barreling along in G minor through the first verse, the Physical Graffiti track “The Wanton Song” (1975) next features a multi-key interlude (0:58 – 1:23) before returning to G minor. The surprisingly contrasting interlude is back at 2:03, but this time we land in an F major instrumental section at 2:28. At 3:03, we’re back on the express train of the G minor verse — with a quintessential Zeppelin guitar riff at its heart.

Utopia | Rock Love

“Released just after Christmas in December 1979, (Adventures in Utopia) featured ten songs … as a collection of songs from a group with four writers, it was Utopia’s most balanced songwriting effort to date (MusoScribe) … Time has dimmed some of the band’s recollections about the genesis of Adventures in Utopia, but there’s a general agreement that it was devised in part as a kind of audio answer to the concept of a television pilot. The group had recently built its own multimedia production studio in upstate New York, and had hoped that the album would serve as a calling card for more work in that regard.

Those ambitions aside, Adventures holds together as a suite of songs … credited to the group as a whole, so it’s difficult to know who’s responsible for what … the biggest surprise of all would be ‘Set Me Free.’ The bouncy pop song would be the biggest hit Utopia ever scored; it reached #27 on the U.S. singles charts. On the strength of that single, Adventures in Utopia did well on the album charts as well, making it all the way to the #30 spot in 1980.”

Written primarily in a driving C minor, a contrasting bridge in D minor arrives at 2:08, followed by an instrumental verse in F minor at 2:24. After a grand pause, the tune returns for another pre-chorus and chorus in C minor at 2:59. This live 1982 performance shows the band hitting on all of its power-pop cylinders. The three-part backing vocals are demanding and nearly constant. Bassist/vocalist Kasim Sulton pitches in with a vengeance on guitar and the considerable bass duties are handled by keyboardist Roger Powell, freeing up frontman Todd Rundgren to testify sans six-string from just about every free square inch of the stage.

B.J. Thomas + Keb’ Mo’ | Most of All

“B.J. Thomas is joined by Grammy winning bluesman Keb’ Mo’ on this newly recorded acoustic version of BJ’s 1971 hit ‘Most Of All’ from the release The Living Room Sessions,” (Youtube). “A true American institution whose iconic pop, country and gospel hits defined their respective generations and now transcend them, B.J. Thomas has found a unique way to celebrate an incredible half a century in music and some 47 years since his first gold selling hit … The singer, a five time Grammy and two time Dove Award winner who has sold more than 70 million records … is ranked in Billboard‘s Top 50 most played artists over the past 50 years.” The Grammy Hall of Fame inductee passed away in 2021.

Thomas’ duet partner on this expanded 2013 version of the original solo vocal track, vocalist/guitarist Keb’ Mo’, has won five Grammy awards and 14 Blues Foundation awards during his 50-year career and has collaborated with Taj Mahal, Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt, The Chicks, and Lyle Lovett (KebMo.com).

Originally released on Thomas’ 1970 album of the same name, “Most of All” became a #2 hit on the US Adult Contemporary chart. After a rubato section and a pause, the updated version of the tune shifts up a half step as the breezy groove returns at 1:47.

Lou Reed | Perfect Day

“Lou Reed’s low-key, optimistic, and earnest ballad about spending a casual, but perfect day with his partner is arguably his most enduring,” (GoldRadioUK). “Given the nature of rock ‘n’ roll artists at the time, and his previous outlandish experimentalism with The Velvet Underground, ‘Perfect Day’ was a bit of an anomaly for Reed. With the media, Reed was notoriously obnoxious, obtuse, and twisted journalists in circles as to not reveal the true meaning behind his words.

Featuring on his David Bowie-produced 1972 album Transformer … Reed wrote the lyrics to ‘Perfect Day,’ the slow, piano-based balled which details a typically amorous day out with his partner … The song’s lyrics flit between seemingly simple, conventional devotion to his partner in ‘Oh, it’s such a perfect day, I’m glad I spent it with you,’ to Reed’s true feelings about himself: ‘You made me forget myself. I thought I was someone else, someone good.'”

After a verse in Bb minor, the chorus brings a shift to Bb major between 0:51 and 1:18; the pattern continues from there. The placement of this humble, earnest ballad as a double-A-side single with “Walk on the Wild Side,” the uptempo oddball love letter to the NYC world surrounding Andy Warhol’s Factory, likely caused more than a few cases of whiplash among listeners.

My Own Best Friend (from “Chicago”)

This week on MotD we are recognizing the legendary Chita Rivera, a dancer/singer/actress who passed away last week. The first Latino American to ever receive a Kennedy Center Honor, Rivera also won three Tony Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Rivera had a long association with the songwriting duo Kander & Ebb, starring in Kiss of the Spider Woman, The Rink, The Visit, and most famously, Chicago as the vaudeville singer Velma Kelly opposite Gwen Verdon’s Roxie Hart. Both were nominated for Tony Awards for their performances. “My Own Best Friend” is sung by Velma and Roxie at the end of the first act as they realize there is no one they can count on but themselves. The track starts in Ab and features a common tone modulation up to A at 1:53.

Melissa Manchester + Kenny Loggins | Whenever I Call You Friend

“’Whenever I Call You Friend’ is a song written by Kenny Loggins and Melissa Manchester, which Loggins recorded as a duet with Stevie Nicks for his 1978 album Nightwatch,” (MelissaManchester.com). “‘Kenny and I kept meeting each other at award shows, and he asked if I wanted to write with him, and we met up and we knocked it out. It was great. As a writer, he knows what he wants. I’d rather be in a room with someone like that than not.’

When first released, (co-lead vocalist and Fleetwood Mac frontwoman) Stevie Nicks was not credited on the original 45 single, so this was officially considered Loggins’ first solo Top 40 hit.” The tune reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100.

A brief a cappella intro, completely different from that of the original 1978 version, unexpectedly jumps up two whole steps at 0:16 before the start of the first verse. The tune’s winding path through many modulations is still in place; the key eventually shifts a full perfect fourth overall from the 0:16 mark to the end. A new key change up a half step also makes a prominent appearance at the 3:20 mark. Manchester seems to have the time of her life performing with her co-writer!

Many thanks to Todd B. for bringing this gorgeous cover to our attention — his first contribution to MotD!