Among the top hits for legendary songwriting team Burt Bacharach and lyricist Hal David, 1970’s “One Less Bell to Answer” helped to cement the career of The Fifth Dimension.
Starting with Bacharach’s trademark torch song melancholy in the first verse, a more hopeful tone is reflected in the long bridge, which starts with a modulation at 1:07. An instrumental verse, beginning at 1:43, returns to the original key.
A classic Steely Dan track from 1974, “Any Major Dude Will Tell You” is among the shortest and most harmonically straightforward tunes in the band’s catalog. But 1:51 brings us to a modulation, then a quick return to the original key at the instrumental verse (2:03.)
Another harmonically lush track by the Philly Soul gurus The Stylistics. “Stop, Look, Listen” (1971) packs so much into a hit song of less than three minutes’ length — including a few time signature shifts, plenty of orchestral instrumentation, and an uncharacteristically simple direct modulation at 2:21.
This 1979 release by Kenny Loggins, with co-writing, keyboards, and back-up vocals by Michael McDonald, features the harmonic complexity for which both artists are known. The bridge starts at 2:43, shows signs of a big change on the way at 2:57, and wraps up at 3:06 as the modulation hits.
According to Loggins, the melodic and harmonic ideas for the tune were finished long before the lyrics. The songwriting team had initially focused on a crossroads moment in a troubled romantic relationship. But the topic shifted to an adult son encouraging his ailing elderly father to fight hard for his health in the face of a worsening medical condition — a slice from Loggins’ own life. An unlikely hit, for sure, but it reached #11 and won a Grammy.
Barry Manilow makes his MotD debut with his 1974 hit “Mandy,” with a vintage music video to boot! The track was a #1 hit and cemented his career as a performer. Modulation at 2:40.
1977 saw a bouncy, harmonically restless pop hit by British band 10cc, “The Things We Do for Love.” The instrumental intro starts in key A; verse 1 modulates at 0:19 into Key B; another key change at the intro to verse 2 reverts back to Key A (1:15); another at the bridge (which could also be heard as an instrumental verse) into key B at 1:38; back to Key A at 2:16; and finally back to key B at 2:34.
“Hosanna” from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar (1970) won a 2017 Olivier Award for Best Musical Revival. The modulation is at 2:20.
A 1979 UK #1 (US #7) hit for British pop star Sir Cliff Richard, “We Don’t Talk Anymore” was released just before Richard won the Order of the British Empire for his service to music. The tune starts very simply, throws in some more complex progressions to get us a bit off-balance at 1:30, modulates at 1:40, then reverts to the original key at 1:49. The cycle repeats in the second verse/chorus (3:02 / 3:11 / 3:19).
Here is Marian McPartland’s beautiful arrangement of Sondheim’s “Send In The Clowns” (1978), originally written for the 1973 musical A Little Night Music. There’s a dramatic key change at 3:13.
Elton John‘s smash 1973 album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, considered by many to be the peak of his career, featured plenty of well-known tunes. “Harmony,” the humble B-side of the hit “Bennie and the Jets,” utilized Elton’s unique wall-of-sound multi-layered background vocals. It modulates back and forth between Eb minor and Eb major. Starting in minor, it modulates to major just before the first chorus (0:33), then back into minor for the next verse at 1:09, and then back to major at 1:31 through the short balance of this distinctive tune.
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