Tag: 1970s

Talking Heads | With Our Love

On the Talking Heads’ album More Songs About Buildings and Food, “You can hear (producer Brian) Eno’s ‘studio as instrument’ approach in all sorts of sonic details.” But in comparison to the band’s early days as regular performers at spartan punk-centric clubs like CBGB’s, ” … these increasingly intricate aesthetics never threaten to overthrow the music’s pleasure center: an involuntary compulsion to move your body … Talking Heads were sorting out how to engage simultaneously with the mind and the soul (or at least the hips)—how to be both art-rock and dance music,” (Pitchfork).

Salon called the album “a backwards exorcism of frozen-brittle guitars, smeared textures, and super-ecstatic vocals. The record brought forth an essential darkness and didn’t try to extinguish it. These were songs about emotions that lurk, about the secret part of ourselves that knows people can see right through us on buses, planes, and subways, all sung by a disjointed, ferocious, manic, shivering guy named David Byrne. It was a kind of State of the Union address, examining the nation’s health from a dozen different angles, including the sky.”

Sharing real estate on the 1978 release with “Take Me to the River,” a languorous track which became the band’s first hit, is the up-tempo “With Our Love.” The verse is built around G minor, with prominent Bb minor chords. 0:30 – 0:37 brings an off-kilter section featuring Db minor and Cb minor chords before a return to the original G minor section. At 0:45, the chorus alternates between E minor, G major, and A minor chords. 1:36 starts the cycle again. The tune’s driving forces of groove, lyric, and texture seem to transcend any expectation of traditional rock chord progressions; it doesn’t so much modulate as it fails to ever settle into a specific tonality in the first place. Disjointed, ferocious, and manic, indeed.

Stephen Sondheim | Being Alive (from “Company”), feat. Rosalie Craig

“Being Alive” is the final number in the 1970 musical Company, featuring a score by the late Stephen Sondheim. Comprised of a series of vignettes about marriage, Company ushered in the era of the “concept musical,” where the focus is on a theme rather than a narrative-driven plot. Bobby, the central character of the show, is celebrating his 35th birthday, and has invited his married friends over for a party. Over the course of the show, they describe the costs and benefits of being married, and this song represents his response.

The original production was nominated for 14 Tony Awards and won 6. In 2018, a major revival was mounted in London, featuring a female Bobbie as well as a same-sex couple for the first time. Sondheim gave his blessing to the changes. “My feeling about the theater is the thing that makes it different from movies and television is that you can do it in different ways from generation to generation,” he said in an interview. “Company has a different flavor than it had before feminism really got a foothold…What keeps theater alive is the chance always to do it differently, with not only fresh casts, but fresh viewpoints.”

The production transferred to Broadway and was originally scheduled to open on Sondheim’s 90th birthday in March 2020, but was delayed due to the pandemic. Sondheim was able to see the show in New York a few days before his death last November, and the cast, musicians and crew subsequently dedicated the entire run to his memory. Company is nominated for Best Revival at the upcoming Tony Awards.

The song begins in A and subtly shifts up a half step to Bb halfway through at 2:29.

Seals and Crofts | We May Never Pass This Way Again

After getting their start in rock and pop bands in the 1950s, Jim Seals and Dash Crofts, “adherents of the Baha’i faith, sought to make a calmer brand of music, mixing folk, bluegrass, country and jazz influences and delivering their lyrics in close harmony,” (New York Times). “‘Jim Seals plays acoustic guitar and fiddle,’ Don Heckman wrote in the NYT in 1970 in a brief review of their second album, Down Home, “and Dash Crofts plays electric mandolin and piano; together they sing coolly intertwined, and quite colorful, vocal harmony.” The duo had an impressive run of top 10 soft rock hits in the 1970s (including “Summer Breeze” and “Hummingbird”), although they never topped the US pop charts outright.

“We May Never Pass This Way Again” (1973) “calls on people to show courage and continue to stand with one another, partly because they may never see each other again. Written by the duo, it’s an example of their strong convictions to the Baha’i faith. They made a pilgrimage to Haifa, Israel, where they studied the teachings of the faith, and often based their lyrics on themes of compassion and devotion.” (Songfacts).

The ambitious track shows the duo’s writing abilities soaring toward their highest point. The track reached top 30 on multiple US, Canadian, and Australian pop charts and #2 on both the Canadian Adult Contemporary and US Easy Listening charts. Alternating between vocal solos, unisons, and harmony, the duo (with lead vocals by Jim Seals) urge the listener to seize the day. It’s hard to imagine now that a densely textured harmonic feast of a tune — centered around the life philosophy of living in the moment, marinating in earnestness, and clocking in north of four minutes — was fodder for top 40 radio. But somehow, this track’s many sections took flight when combined together, somehow creating a feeling of advance nostalgia for … now.

Seals passed away this week at age 79. It would be difficult to find a better tribute to the songwriter and performer than this track.

  • 0:00 intro and verse 1 / A Major
  • 0:33 Pre-chorus 1a / C major
  • 0:50 Pre-chorus 1b / multiple compound chords
  • 0:58 Chorus / B minor
  • (Second verse and chorus)
  • 2:27 Bridge / F major
  • 3:14 Instrumental chorus / B minor
  • 3:56 Outro / E major (modulation via common tone in melody)

The Supremes | Up the Ladder to the Roof

“‘Up the Ladder to the Roof’ was the first Supremes single without Diana Ross, who left the group to start a solo career,” (Songfacts). “Her replacement was Jean Terrell, who sang lead on this track. In this new-look Supremes, Mary Wilson, the only original member, split lead vocal duties with Terrell, the sister of heavyweight boxer Ernie Terrell. Though Jean Terrell’s vocals sounded similar to Tammi Terrell’s, they weren’t related.

After Ross’ January 1970 departure from the group, “The Supremes were no longer a priority at the label, but ‘Up the Ladder to the Roof’ proved they could land a hit without Ross … The Supremes had just one more Top 10 hit (‘Stoned Love‘ at #7) before disbanding in 1977. The Supremes performed (“Ladder”) on Ed Sullivan Show on February 15, 1970, the last of their 16 appearances on the show and only one without Ross; the group appeared on the show more than any other Motown artist.” Al Green covered the tune in 1984 after Bette Midler recorded it in 1977.

1:58 brings a whole-step modulation after the initial key fades somewhat during a percussion-centric break.

Todd Rundgren | Izzat Love?

“In interviews, he has attributed the radical shift in his mid-20s less to his own changing perspective than to other people’s perspective on him—he got tired of being seen as merely another piano-playing, lovesick troubadour,” (Pitchfork). “While he still stands by the folk-pop simplicity of his earliest solo records, Rundgren is quick to note their lack of depth, citing their obvious reference points (thematically, a high-school break-up; musically, the work of Laura Nyro). After achieving commercial success on his 1970 debut with the slick single ‘We Gotta Get You a Woman’ and critical success a year later with his moodier sophomore album, Rundgren sought to expand his range. And he wanted to do it by himself.

Throughout (the 70s), Rundgren was one of the first prominent artist-slash-producers, as competent behind the scenes as he was in front of the microphone, earning him the admiration of a young Prince and, later, Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker. As he discovered his own identity on record, Rundgren was hellbent on learning what happens when those two roles converge. When everything about a record is fully under the artist’s control, he suspected, the product can become something singular.”

Todd (1974) featured the single “A Dream Goes on Forever” and “I Think You Know,” ballads which are at the very heart of Rundgren’s catalog for most fans. However, much of the rest of album is comprised of shorter tracks which form a dense audio collage, including “Izzat Love.” In some ways, the track is right down the fairway when considering Rundgren’s younger years marinating in Philly Soul; with a slower tempo and more relaxed arrangement, the track might have been a hit. But instead, a frenetic feel and relentlessly uptempo rock delivery ruled the day, shifting up a whole step at 1:08. Be forewarned: the loud connective tissue to the next album track, “Heavy Metal Kids” (apparently the sound of analog recording tape being suddenly rewound) is inextricably included at 1:52.

James Taylor + Carly Simon | Mockingbird

“Carly Simon and James Taylor where performing in 1979 for the MUSE No Nukes concert in New York City (Daily Rock Box). The ‘Mockingbird’ performance was lively and magnetic. Their energy was absolutely addicting.  The duo’s dancing and stares were definitely a welcomed form of PDA. Carly and James did fall in love. They were married for a decade and had two children. Their music was so good because they were so good.”

The live track, which reached #34 on the pop charts, shifts up a whole step at 1:55.



Makin’ It | David Naughton

The 1979 disco tune “Makin’ It” is the only song actor/singer David Naughton ever released. Naughton’s career has been about acting, with music serving only as a sideline: “David Naughton made his professional debut in the New York Shakespeare Festival’s production of Hamlet in Lincoln Center … he was cast as the lead singer/dancer in the ‘Be a Pepper’ advertising campaign for Dr. Pepper,” (IMDB). His film credits include An American Werewolf in London, Midnight Madness, and the American ski comedy Hot Dog. On TV, he was seen in 1986’s My Sister Sam.

Written by Freddie Perren and Dino Fekaris (who also penned the #1 hit “I Will Survive”), “Makin’ It” was theme song for the 1979 sitcom of the same name, in which Naughton starred, and has been used in other shows and commercials in the decades since. There is a modulation from C to D at 1:33.

Thanks to MotD regular Rob Penttinen for this submission!

Stevie Wonder | If You Really Love Me

You watched the Grammy Awards recently, and wondered how Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo, barely out of high school, could be sitting alongside veterans like Lady Gaga and Bonnie Raitt.

But consider Stevie Wonder. When Where I’m Coming From was released in 1971, it was his thirteenth album, dating back to 1962, and he’d already had a string of hits. If you’ve seen the documentary Summer of Soul, you’ll know he appeared at the Harlem Cultural Festival in 1969 along with other A-list acts, like Nina Simone and Gladys Knight. All that — and he’d not yet turned 21 when the album was released.

“Where I’m Coming From” marks a bridge between Stevie’s previous releases, which were imbued with the Motown Sound (you know it when you hear it), and his later “classic” albums of the 1970s, where exercised freedom in songwriting and production. The song here from that album, “If You Really Love Me”, was the last he recorded with the Funk Brothers at Motown’s Hitsville studio in Detroit. Even then, Stevie played drums, synth bass, and piano on the track. Like the other songs on the album, it was written with his then-wife Syreeta Wright, who also sings on the track. The production is by David Van De Pitte, who’d had other hits for Motown. The song reached #8 on the Billboard 100 chart.

The song features distinct A and B sections. The A section is sprightly, uptempo, featuring a contemporary-sounding brass lead-in. Stevie’s vocal is layered with overlapping overdubs. Just when we got going, the slower, almost *rubato* B section begins at 0:36. Besides the vocal, there’s just the synth bass, and a bit of piano. At 1:08, we’re *a tempo* back to the happy A section. Again, it’s a short-lived delight: we’re back to the B section at 1:36. We return to the A section at 2:05 (with hand-claps this time) for the remainder of the song.

Harmonically, the A section is in F major; the B section begins with D
major, and shifts to D minor.

A more complete analysis is here:

Hall and Oates | Laughing Boy

“For all the success that this Philadelphia-based duo would experience later on in their career, Daryl Hall and John Oates struggled to find a commercial footing early on,” (ClassicRockReview.com). “That’s not to say that they didn’t produce interesting and creative music as demonstrated brilliantly on their second album, Abandoned Luncheonette, released in late 1973. Despite only reaching #33 on the album charts during its initial run, this album slowly grew in stature and would finally reach platinum-selling status about three decades after its release.

For Abandoned Luncheonette, the group and production team moved from Philadelphia to New York where their disparate influences of folk, rock, and soul were refined with the help of expert session players to forge the album’s musical tapestry as well as the group’s signature sound for the next decade.”

In addition to one of their breakthrough hits, “She’s Gone,” Abandoned Luncheonette featured “Laughing Boy,” a ballad which showcased Daryl Hall’s vocals and keyboard skills. An unusually high percentage of the tune’s sonic real estate features chromatic basslines; for example at 0:08, we start out with a bassline alternating between C and B; at 0:31, we’re down to Bb, then D/A before the pattern breaks. The short chorus (0:57 – 1:10) is built around F# minor, which makes the tritone jump to C Lydian at the start of the next verse quite distinctive. There’s not a strong feeling of tonality to begin with, so modulation isn’t really on the menu per se, but that tritone shift (which recurs several times) is quite the statement!