1970s – Page 37

Elton John | Harmony

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.

James Taylor | Your Smiling Face

Here’s James Taylor’s “Your Smiling Face” (1977) featuring a double modulation (0:48 and 1:25). The track reached #12 on the US pop chart and #6 on the Adult Contemporary chart. Rock critic Timothy White described the tune as a “pop sonnet.”

Paul Simon | Still Crazy After All These Years

One of Paul Simon‘s many solo hits, 1975’s “Still Crazy After All These Years” pushed the album of the same name to #1. The form is quite unpredictable: the first modulation happens at 1:25 (at the start of a bridge, including an odd-metered measure thrown into the mix). Then another pivot at 1:38 into a darkly intriguing instrumental interlude, followed by a key change into a sunnier instrumental section at 2:12, finally settling into another verse and another harmonic shift at 2:50.

Connect-the-dots songwriting, this ain’t!

Tower of Power | Just Another Day

The legendary horns of Tower of Power had hits with uptempo tunes and ballads alike — including plenty of modulations. Their 1973 release “Just Another Day” has key changes starting at 0:34, then returning to the original key at 0:57…continuing on from there.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IBS_OMANozM

Stephen Soundheim (feat. Marin Mazzie) | Losing My Mind (from “Follies”)

Here’s the inimitable, much-missed Marin Mazzie singing “Losing My Mind” from Sondheim’s Follies (1970). This performance is just exquisite, and the key change at about 3:00 is a highlight.

Marvin Gaye | What’s Goin’ On

Marvin Gaye’s soul/R&B classic “What’s Goin’ On” (1971) modulates at 1:38 and then back to the original key at 2:06 as it transitions into another verse. Gaye’s consistent use of 7th chords only added to the track’s rich harmonic tapestry. Rolling Stone ranked the album featuring the single #6 on its list of “The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.” From AllMusic‘s reverent review: “What’s Going On is not only Marvin Gaye‘s masterpiece, it’s the most important and passionate record to come out of soul music, delivered by one of its finest voices .. Gaye meditated on what had happened to the American dream of the past … arguably the best soul album of all time.”

The Stylistics | Betcha By Golly Wow

In the 1970s, Philly Sound/Philly Soul was similar to Motown, yet also distinct from it — mostly due to its more adventurous harmonies. The Stylistics, one of most popular groups working in the genre, scored 12 R&B top ten hits in a row in the 70s.

This 1971 release changes key twice during the 30-second intro alone (0:14 and 0:28) — pivot modulations aided by colorful compound chords.

Stevie Wonder | I Never Dreamed You’d Leave in Summer

A lesser-known beauty from 1971 — a slice of “Little Stevie” Wonder’s nearly bottomless catalog of musical miracles. Co-written by Syreeta Wright, the tune only made it to #78 on the Billboard Hot 100, but it remains one of the most enduring of Stevie’s many ballads. Modulation at 1:41.

Elis Regina + Tom Jobim | Aguas de Marco

The 1972 Brazilian jazz classic “Aguas de Marco” (Waters of March) performed in Portuguese by Brazilian music legends Elis Regina and Tom Jobim (aka Antonio Carlos Jobim). The bridge arrives, bringing something very new along with it, at 1:48!

Earth, Wind + Fire | After the Love Has Gone

“Earth, Wind & Fire held a lofty status as the perhaps the preeminent R&B band in America as they began making their 1979 album I Am,” (American Songwriter). “It was by no means an overnight journey to get to that exalted status. Early in the ‘70s, the Chicago-based outfit labored to find a widespread audience. That all changed in 1975 with the release of the album That’s the Way of the World. Spurred by a No. 1 hit single in ‘Shining Star,’ the album ended up hitting the top of the charts as well. EWF sustained that momentum through a series of smash LPs and singles in the second half of the decade.

Although they wrote much of their own material, the band occasionally looked to outside sources as well. That’s how they nabbed ‘After the Love Has Gone,’ which was penned by a trio of writers who didn’t have any idea they were going to be submitting the song to an R&B band.”

This classic power ballad, co-written by Bill Champlin, David Foster, and Jay Graydon, reached #2 in the USA during the summer of 1979. The first modulation is at 0:53; thereafter, the mods are too numerous to track!