Tag: 1970s

Doobie Brothers | What a Fool Believes

From MotD fan Jonathan Jharms Harms comes a beautifully detailed breakdown of an all-time best pop modulation we featured in 2017.

“If you’re like me, you’ve found yourself on a night on the town with friends, singing along to the The Doobie Brothers‘ 1979 classic ‘What a Fool Believes’ – but when the chorus comes, no one can find the right note. Is it the alcohol? Is it your memory? Nope – it’s modulation! Modulation written so smoothly you never noticed.

Songwriter Michael McDonald, after emphasizing the IV chord in every phrase of the song, makes the most soulful (and innocuous) of changes in the chorus – beginning the chorus a minor iv instead of a major IV. But wait – no – that was a pivot to a new key! Before you know it, we transition from C# major to E major – a strange jump to a very unrelated key, but without you ever noticing. Only the most observant will notice the A naturals turning into A sharps as the chorus fades into Verse 3, back to C# major.

Unlike other modulations that are all about calling attention to themselves or ‘raising the stakes,’ this one simply takes you on a ride. Maybe that’s why we’re still singing (or failing to sing) this amazing song, 40 years later.”

Ian Dury + the Blockheads | Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick

After multiple requests from *two* regular contributors, JB and Rob Penttinen, here is “Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick” (1978) by Ian Dury. Stricken by polio in his native UK at age 7, Dury didn’t allow anything to slow him down. His band, Ian Dury (and the Blockheads), mixed funk textures, gonzo punk sensibilities, and cutting lyrics.

The track features F minor verses and F major choruses, with a few quick nods to F minor even during the choruses. It reached #1 in the UK, #2 in Australia, and Top 10 across much of Europe.

Robert John | Sad Eyes

1979 saw the release of the soft rock tune “Sad Eyes,” written and performed by Robert John. It topped the US pop charts and went top 10 on the US Adult Contemporary, Australian pop, and Canadian pop charts. The track was one of only a handful of non-disco tunes to hit #1 on the pop charts that year as the disco mega-trend started to wind down.

Starting off gently in breakup anthem mode, the song jumps into overdrive as John revs up his striking falsetto at 3:32, preparing for a whole-step modulation at 3:36.

Steely Dan | Haitian Divorce

Frequent contributor JB has submitted yet another mod: The Royal Scam, Steely Dan‘s 1976 release, which achieved gold status and reached #15 on the album charts. Hearkening back to the mid-century era when Americans traveled to tropical locations for relatively quick divorces (which required a brief residency by one half of the couple), “Haitian Divorce” showcases the band’s colorful, cynical lyrics at their best. 

Ultimate Classic Rock reports that the reggae-infused tune was “reportedly inspired by a recording engineer who asked for time off to fly to the Caribbean nation and obtain a quickie marriage annulment. Intrigued, Donald Fagen and Walter Becker asked for details on his return…” The E major verse transitions to E minor for the chorus at 0:46, then reverting to major at 1:15, etc.

Joni Mitchell | Car on a Hill

Today we mark the MotD debut of acclaimed songwriter/performer Joni Mitchell with her album Court and Spark (1974), which featured the classic tracks “Free Man in Paris,” “Help Me,” “Twisted,” and “Raised on Robbery.” It reached #1 in both the US and Mitchell’s native Canada and was awarded #111 on Rolling Stone magazine’s “500 Greatest Albums of All Time.” AllMusic reviewed the album as “…a remarkably deft fusion of folk, pop, and jazz …(it) moves away from confessional songwriting into evocative character studies.”

“Car on a Hill,” a non-single track, features an intro and verses only loosely centered around F# minor, but grounded with a straightforward rock groove. At 0:53, the groove drops out for an interlude featuring layers of wordless vocals cycling through layers of keys. At 1:32, we’re back on solid 4/4 ground with another F# minor verse; at 2:24, the groove falls away again, leaving a dizzy A minor outro droning and ringing as the song fades.

Hall + Oates | Ooh Child

“Ooh Child” was originally released as a single in 1970 by Five Stairsteps. The song’s uplifting, hopeful message led to its ranking of #402 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Performed here by Hall & Oates for their 2004 release, Our Kind of Soul, the verses and chorus modulate back and forth throughout.

Average White Band | Schoolboy Crush

Chalk up another mod contribution for JB: “Schoolboy Crush” was a 1975 hit single for Scottish funk stalwarts Average White Band, reaching top 30 on the US pop and R&B charts. The album which featured the track, Cut the Cake, gained ongoing fame when it scored positions of #4 (Pop) and #1 (R&B) on the year-end album charts. The tune has enjoyed a renewed lease on life through extensive sampling by hiphop artists from TLC to Floetry to Eric b and Rakim to NAS.

Starting in E minor, the tune has a tritone shift to Bb minor at 1:17, then G minor at 1:40 and back to E minor.

The Babys | Every Time I Think of You

1979’s “Every Time I Think of You” by the UK band The Babys (yes, that’s the spelling) has too many modulations to track. Each verse/chorus pairing, after its series of modulations, reverts to the original key for the start of the next cycle. The frontman was John Waite, who later enjoyed a successful solo performance career. The tune hit top 10 in the US, Canada, and Australia.

Jaco Pastorius | Come On, Come Over

Regular mod scout JB’s latest contribution:

The legendary electric bassist Jaco Pastorius, best known for his work with the ground-breaking jazz fusion band Weather Report (and for pulling the frets off of his bass with a set of pliers to make one of the first known fretless basses!), also released several solo albums. “Come On, Come Over” (1976) is one of the most successful tracks that Jaco produced, featuring a band that boasted David Sanborn (Official), Wayne Shorter, and Michael Brecker on saxophones — for starters. The tune starts in C minor, transitioning to D major at 0:56 and then reverting to the original key at 1:14.

Van McCoy | The Hustle

“The Hustle” (1975) by Van McCoy was one of the biggest early disco hits. The tune was a global smash, going top 10 in the US, the UK, South Africa, New Zealand, Canada, and most of Europe, then later appearing on the soundtracks of well over a dozen movies and TV shows.

The tune alternates between F major and Ab major (at 1:11 and 1:32, then again at 2:52 and 3:13.) After an intro featuring backup-style vocals but no lead vocal, most of the remainder of the tune is instrumental, featuring some of the most well-known flute and piccolo work in pop music. Happy weekend to all!