Tag: 1970s

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!

The Friends of Distinction | Love Or Let Me Be Lonely

Saturday bonus mod: Our frequent contributor JB sends this mod from Friends Of Distinction, a soul, R&B, and Sunshine Pop hybrid group from Los Angeles which made its mark during the late 60s and early 70s. The group’s 1970 hit “Love Or Let Me Be Lonely” reached chart positions of #2 US Pop, #13 US R&B, and #6 Canadian Pop. Between 1969 and 1971 alone, the Friends released five albums!

Starting in Db major for the verse, the tune transitions to A major during the choruses (for the first time at 0:24), then reverts to Db at 0:44, etc. Starting at 2:19, an extended outro is built around a simple but compelling 2-chord vamp featuring everything but the kitchen sink: layers of brass, strings, and backing vocals.

Roxy Music | Dance Away

One of our most prolific contributors, mod scout JB, has submitted 1979’s “Dance Away” by Roxy Music. Originally written for a solo album by UK band Roxy Music‘s lead singer, Bryan Ferry, the tune reached #2 in the UK and was Roxy Music’s best-performing single. From AllMusic‘s review: “…the group strips away its art rock influences, edits out the instrumental interludes in favor of concise pop songs, and adds layers of stylish disco rhythms.” The cover design for the album, Manifesto, featuring only mannequins, was also created by Ferry, known as a distinctive frontman second perhaps only to Bowie as the era’s music/visual art/style synthesist.

Starting with a verse built around Eb major, the chorus transitions to F major at 0:50, then back to Eb at 1:10. The bridge begins at 2:00 and transitions to F# major at 2:10, but then an extended percussion break provides cover for an unexpected modulation back to the original Eb major as the verse returns at 2:24.

Led Zeppelin | All of My Love

1979’s “All of My Love” by Led Zeppelin is a rock ballad co-written by the band’s lead vocalist, Robert Plant, and Zeppelin’s bassist John Paul Jones. The tune was written in honor of Plant’s son, who tragically died of a sudden illness as a pre-schooler. From PopMatters‘ review: “the saddest and most heartfelt Zeppelin song … which hauntingly enough sounds like a foreshadowing of a band on the path to an impending and unforeseeable dissolution.” Indeed, the hugely popular band broke up the very next year in the wake of drummer John Bonham‘s death.

A direct whole-step modulation hits at the 4:25 mark.