Tag: 1980s

Billy Childs (feat. WDR Big Band) | Mount Olympus

From the WDR Big Band: “The American composer and pianist Billy Childs has several Grammy awards under his belt and is one of the few people who work both in the classical field (including multiple commissions for the LA Philharmonic) as well as the jazz scene, both for smaller groups and big bands. We had the opportunity to work with him back in 2018 and here’s a clip from that project. ‘Mount Olympus’ is a composition by Billy, here in arrangement by Florian Ross. It features Paul Heller on tenor sax and Billy Childs on piano.” From a 2020 JazzTimes profile: “Los Angeles-born and bred, Billy Childs has built a remarkable career as a pianist, composer, and arranger largely away from the New York jazz scene … he was classically trained both in high school and at USC, where he studied composition. After early gigs with J.J. Johnson and Freddie Hubbard, Childs went on to lead his own groups and release a dozen albums … netting 13 Grammy nominations. Artists such as Dianne Reeves and Chris Botti have leaned on his composing and arranging chops.”

“A top European jazz group, Germany’s WDR Big Band is a sophisticated ensemble, featuring an evolving line-up of some of the country’s best musicians,” (AllMusic). “A function of the German public broadcasting institution Westdeutscher Rundfunk Köln based in Cologne, the WDR Big Band are musical ambassadors charged with promoting jazz and culture at home and around the world. Over their seven-plus-decades career, the WDR have released numerous albums on their own, featuring such guest artists as Ron Carter, Paquito D’Rivera, Arturo Sandoval … and (won) a Grammy Award for their 2005 Brecker Brothers collaboration Some Skunk Funk. Although much of the WDR Big Band’s performances take place in Germany, they often tour the globe.”

Released in 1989 on Childs’ album Twilight is Upon Us, “Mount Olympus: starts in D minor but shifts to Eb minor from 0:27 – 0:35 — the first of the track’s many unfolding moments. A frenetic 7/8 starts and ends the tune, with off-beat kicks obscuring the meter. But 4/4 takes over the arrangement’s midsection, with nearly every 16th note fair game for an off-kilter kick or suspenseful chord change. The track is the first of many on the live compilation Do You Know My Name.

for Travis

Foreigner | Urgent

For its fourth album, 4, late 70s/early 80s pop/rock stalwarts Foreigner brought in producer Mutt Lange, later to become much more famous for his work with UK pop/rock band Def Leppard and country chanteuse Shania Twain (who became Mrs. Lange for a time). “Feeling the need for an outside influence on keyboards, Jones and Lange brought in the then-unknown Thomas Dolby, who described the experience as ‘very productive.'” (UltimateClassicRock). “He noted in his 2018 memoir The Speed of Sound that ‘I gained the utmost respect for (Foreigner guitarist) Mick Jones, a thoroughly decent bloke, as well as for Mutt Lange’s amazing production skills. I’ve never worked with a more fastidious producer. He would make me go over and over my parts, adjusting the inflections on every single note until it was exactly perfect. Some simple strings of notes took hours and hours to record.’

‘When he brought in sax legend Junior Walker for a solo on ‘Urgent’ and recorded at least a dozen versions, Mutt had the wisdom to recognize that the very first solo Junior blew, rough edges and all, was The Take,’ said Dolby.

In 2016, Dolby said ‘Urgent’ had at least some of its roots in a demo tape he’d sent to Lange earlier, in the hope of securing his own publishing deal. ‘He was a very big fan of some of the sounds I used in a song of mine called Urges … He asked me to put it one of (Foreigner’s) backing tracks. … A while later, they added the vocals, which were Urgent, urgent. … I raised my eyebrows slightly – but you know, I’m glad to have influenced them in a positive way.’ (It) was the first of five singles spawned from 4, four of which broke the Top 40.”

The studio version didn’t feature a modulation — but not so for a 2006 live version, performed in Germany. After a leisurely intro not found on the original, the song begins in earnest at 1:39. Mick Jones is still the center of the band’s sound, but the rest of the personnel has shifted over the years. However, the 2006 band did an admirable job of honoring the band’s central lead vocal and sax sounds. At 5:32, the band moves the key up a minor third, returning to the original key at 6:05.

The studio version, a staple of MTV’s debut era:


The Dolby tune, despite being thoroughly marinated in UK New Wave sensibilities, has some clear similarities in mood and texture:



Jane Siberry | Mimi on the Beach

“Canadian art-pop chanteuse Jane Siberry stands outside the traditional boundaries of folk and pop music, creating ethereal, unconventional songs that draw from a deep wellspring of creativity,” (AllMusic). “Emerging in the early ’80s, Siberry courted mainstream success with left-of-center hits like “Mimi on the Beach,” “I Muse Aloud,” “One More Colour,” and “Calling All Angels.” As the decades progressed, she began weaving elements of jazz and Celtic music into her cosmopolitan sound — which evokes names like Laura Nyro, Kate Bush, Toyah Willcox, Suzanne Vega, and Laurie Anderson — while remaining fiercely independent and releasing her material via her own label, Sheeba Records.

… “No Borders Here (is an) assured, cinematic collection highlighted by ‘Mimi on the Beach,’ an underground Canadian hit,” which the 1984 album’s liner notes describe as a ‘7.5 minute art-rock single.'”

Built in G major overall, the tune takes a turn after the second verse, when the pre-chorus arrives at 2:35. The previously relentless 8th-note accompaniment is suspended as the melody shifts to short upgoing segments. At 2:42, the melody starts (but doesn’t complete) an E whole-tone scale, further unmooring the listener. At 2:51, the chorus lands in B minor.

The Maisonettes | Heartache Avenue

“The Maisonettes’ oddness lay not so much in their hit as their combination of maverick indie record label beginnings with a semi-manufactured image that some indie purists might find crass,” (LastFM). “Their hit, ‘Heartache Avenue,’ entered the UK chart in late 1982 and rose all the way up to number seven. Like most of the music they would record over the next year or two, it was fairly mainstream pop / rock with early 1980s synthesizer-abetted production and a notable (but not overwhelming) 1960s soul-pop influence, with a particularly audible debt to Motown.” The manufactured nature of the UK band’s lineup was driven completely by the nascent music video era: the backup vocalists didn’t sing on the studio version of the tune (or anything else), but rather were strictly dancers who could also lip-sync. Many saw this limitation on the band’s flexibility as a cause of its demise.

The public’s taste for music based on a nod to the past proved limited: ” … interest in the revival of the sounds and fashions of the Mod and Beat Generation era of the 60s was starting to cool off (the break-up of The Jam proving the final nail in the coffin). The Maisonettes never did get into the chart again …”

After beginning in a slightly detuned F# major, 0:33 – 0:40 brings a short pre-chorus. After a second verse and pre-chorus, a more ambitious G# major chorus hits from 1:19 – 1:42, making the verse seem rather connect-the-dots by comparison. The key reverts to the original F# for another verse, then lifts again to G# at 2:13 for another chorus.

Utopia | Style

Popshifter‘s review of Utopia’s final album, P.O.V. (1985), muses about Todd Rundgren’s “musical twitchiness,” stating that he “jumps from style to style, from Philly white-boy blues to synth-pop, from down and dirty rock and roll to salsa. Never knowing what he’ll do next is exciting for some, laborious for others.

In the late Seventies, Rundgren formed a band called Utopia. It was designed to be his big foray into progressive rock, exploring grand concepts and incorporating deep philosophical lyrics. As it gradually shrank from seven members to four, Utopia became one of the sharpest New Wave bands of its time, delivering perfect three-minute pop songs, deliciously textured with soaring, shifting harmonies. Utopia was never as gritty as The Cars or as raunchy as Blondie. It’s feasible to consider them as a bridge between New Wave and the New Romantics, with their ‘Shape of Things to Come’ fashion sense and lyrics ranging from sweet to snappy.”

“Style,” features wall-to-wall everything: layered vocal harmonies, shiny synth work by Roger Powell, crunchy guitar from Rundgren, and a few brief shuffles through keys of the moment. Keeping Kasim Sulton very busy with both lead vocal duty and a rangy syncopated bass line, the track starts in F minor and shifts up a whole step to G minor at 2:36.

Lene Lovich | Blue Hotel

Lene Lovich, born Lili-Marlene Premilovich, “is an American singer, songwriter, and musician of Serbian and English descent based in England,” (Sputnik Music). “Back in the autumn of 1978, when Stiff Records mounted its second major assault on the British music biz, Lovich stood out … with her outlandish dress, colourful coiffure and mannered, theatrical delivery, using her voice no differently than the sax she occasionally tooted,” (StevePafford.com) … (She was a) one time sculpture student at London’s Central School of Art … Lene’s leftfield output was at the perfect foundational example of the burgeoning New Wave. An amalgam of baroque and Euro-cabaret, her slightly pixilated pop arrangements laced with splashes of synthesizer and organ …

… What at the time seemed a bit outre, even gauche was, by the early Eighties, adopted whole or in part by rafts of aspiring bands. Where once Lovich was likened to Patti Smith for lack of even vaguely comparable new wave female singers, she now had her own ‘school’ of followers – although many people have no idea she was there first.”

Following on a cover of “I Think We’re Alone Now” (1978), “Lucky Number”
(1978), and the Thomas Dolby-penned “New Toy” (1981), “Blue Hotel” was released in 1983 on Lovich’s album No Man’s Land. The video for the track was certainly not among those with the highest production values, but joins “New Toy” as a high point of the New Wave while capturing much of early-80s music video’s visual aesthetic. After a brief intro (and a hearty greeting to all) in A major, the tune shifts into A minor for the first verse; an A major interlude echoing the intro follows from 2:03 – 2:16); and a triumphant whole-step modulation up to B major hits at 2:40. At 3:30, the outro finds Lovich yodeling adroitly and proudly, as one does. No need to file a flight plan; Lene was there first, and knows the way.

for Maureen

The Brothers Johnson | Stomp

The Brothers Johnson release Light Up the Night “was the album that Quincy Jones produced in late 1979 soon after helming Michael Jackson’s Off the Wall,” (BBC Music). Light Up the Night was a real UK soul radio favourite at the turn of the 80s, as it was another window into bright, shiny Californian sunshine amid the grimness of the early part of that decade. However, (it’s) all really about its lead single, ‘Stomp,’ a truly irresistible piece of post-disco groove. It is as good as the best of anything by their peers, Chic, Earth, Wind & Fire, and Rufus. Its killer chorus, well-arranged strings and bass breakdown from Louis Johnson make it one of perennial sounds of a Saturday night.

It was a US R&B #1 and reached #6 in the UK in March 1980 … The Brothers made some more decent albums before splitting in 1982. While Louis Johnson played bass on Thriller (it’s him on ‘Billie Jean’), George played guitar for Steve Arrington; Alex Weir, meanwhile, joined Talking Heads. The Brothers Johnson now reform periodically, but nothing comes close to the glory of this album. The sound of a fun, fertile time is truly captured here.”

The verse, which sounds for all the world like a an extremely funky study of major and minor thirds, starts in G minor; then the pre-chorus, first heard at 0:37, shifts to E minor before that “killer chorus” kicks in at 0:50 with a return to the original key.

Roberta Flack | Oasis

“…traversing a broad musical landscape from pop to soul to folk to jazz, (Roberta Flack) is the only solo artist to win the Grammy Award Record of the Year for two consecutive years: The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face won the 1973 Grammy and Killing Me Softly with His Song won the 1974 Grammy,” (RobertaFlack.com).

“Classically trained on the piano from an early age, Ms. Flack received a music scholarship at age 15 to attend Howard University. Discovered while singing at the Washington, DC nightclub Mr. Henry’s by jazz musician Les McCann, she was immediately signed to Atlantic Records. With a string of hits, including The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, Where Is the Love (a duet with former Howard University classmate Donny Hathaway), Killing Me Softly With His Song, Feel Like Makin’ Love, The Closer I Get to You, Tonight I Celebrate My Love, and Set the Night to Music, Roberta Flack has inspired countless artists with her musical brilliance and honesty … In 2020, Ms. Flack received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.” Over the past few years, the singer has been affected by ALS disease and is no longer able to perform.

Flack’s 1988 album Oasis features an exhaustive list of heavy-hitting studio musicians; the title track boasts bassist Marcus Miller and alto saxophonist David Sanborn. The tune reached #13 on the Adult Contemporary chart and topped the US Hot R+B/Hiphop chart in early 1989 — rather unusual, given its long run time of more than six minutes. Starting in C major, the track shifts to Ab major for the chorus at 1:13 before reverting to C major for the next verse at 1:34. That pattern continues throughout as the expansive tune grants Sanborn plenty of running room for solos and the extended outro unwinds a African-themed backing vocals feature.

Flim + the BBs | On the Avenue

“One of the most popular fusion and light jazz groups to emerge during the 1980s, Flim & the BBs comprised bassist Jimmy “Flim” Johnson, keyboardist Billy Barber, percussionist Billy Berg, and reeds player Dick Oatts. Debuting in 1982 with the album Tricycle, Flim & the BBs’ fusion sound proved ideally suited for the onset of the compact disc boom; they were among the first artists to record utilizing digital technology, and albums like 1985’s Big Notes and 1987’s Neon quickly found a following not only among contemporary jazz fans but also among tech-heads.” (AllMusic). The group continued to release albums until 1992.

In producing 1982’s Tricycle, “because of the ‘direct-to-disc’ setup (recording directly onto a lacquer platter) the band was required to play the entire LP side without stopping and without being able to do any editing afterward. When the resulting acetate disc was deemed inferior in sound quality to the digital master tape, the LP record was pressed from that digital backup tape, making it the second-ever U.S. commercially available digital recording. Since the machine used was a one-of-a-kind prototype, built before any digital recording standards were established — and dismantled within months — there is currently no way to reissue that first album on either LP or CD.” (from Tricycle‘s liner notes).

“On the Avenue,” built around a swaggering reggae-tinged groove and what appears to be an excellent sense of humor among the band, starts in G minor. At 2:29, a section that sounds an awful lot like a second intro shifts up to Ab, despite the saxophone’s lower register making the modulation feel more like a descending one. 3:35 brings a suddenly groove-less bridge and a shift of tonality to F# mixolydian; 3:49 brings another change, this time to D minor. 4:02 returns to G minor, as well as the groove.

for JB

Donna Summer | I Don’t Wanna Get Hurt

“Donna Summer’s title as the ‘Queen of Disco’ wasn’t mere hype,” (AllMusic). “Like many of her contemporaries, she was a talented vocalist trained as a powerful gospel belter, but she set herself apart with her songwriting ability, magnetic stage presence, and shrewd choice of studio collaborators, all of which resulted in sustained success. During the ’70s alone, she topped the Billboard club chart 11 times … After (the disco) subgenre was declared dead, Summer was very much part of the evolution of dance music. Through the feminist anthem ‘She Works Hard for the Money’ (1983), she became an MTV star, and she continued to top the club chart with disco-rooted house singles through 2010, 35 years after her breakthrough. Summer died from cancer in 2012 and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame the next year.”

“I Don’t Wanna Get Hurt” was a track from the 1989 album Another Place and Time; Summer hired the UK production team of Stock, Aitken & Waterman for the project. The album produced her last major pop hit with the 1989 Top Ten single “This Time I Know It’s for Real.”

After an intro in C minor, the verse kicks in at 0:17 in A minor. The chorus 0:49 reverts to C minor. The pattern continues from there.