1990s – Page 13

Ben Folds Five | Alice Childress

The 1995 track “Alice Childress” by the “guitarless, and seemingly numerically-challenged, indie-pop trio Ben Folds Five,” (The Delete Bin) … “does without many indie-pop conventions of the time, yet is packed with ironic humour, punk energy, and in this tune in particular, a profound sense of pathos, too.” The band’s music, “centered around Ben Folds’ sardonic lyrics and jazz-influenced piano, is infused with a sense of irony that undercuts the way it might be perceived on the first go-round as straight-ahead pop music. As such, the trio wasn’t exactly the darling of North American radio at the time this record was released, even if they had a strong grass roots appeal on college radio.”

The song was co-written by Folds’ then-wife Anna Goodman. It “seemingly name-checks American author and playwright Alice Childress,” but is actually about a woman who was under Goodman’s care at a mental hospital where Goodman worked. “… the song was once centered around a specific experience, Folds took it to another plane, telling a tale of separation and alienation between two lovers who’ve come to grow in different directions, both geographically as well as emotionally. There is a certain irony here, given Folds’ relationship with Goodman, which ended a few years before this song appeared on the band’s debut record.”

Starting and ending in B major, the tune shifts to G major from 2:16 – 2:43, with plenty of compound chord sleight of hand throughout. Many thanks to our mod wrangler extraordinaire JB for this submission!

Jon Secada | Do You Believe In Us

Cuban-born, Florida-raised recording artist Jon Secada (born Juan Francisco Secada Ramírez) recorded “Do You Believe in Us” for his debut eponymous English language album and for his debut Spanish-language album Otro Día Más Sin Verte (1992). The English version peaked at #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #3 on the Adult Contemporary chart; the Spanish version reached #1 on the US Billboard Hot Latin Tracks chart. In 1993, the tune won a BMI Award fr Most Performed Latin Song worldwide. The tune was composed by Secada, Miguel Morejon, and Joseph Stefano; Emilio Estefan Jr. was the producer.

Secada has both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in music, strongly attributing “my career, the things that have happened have happened, (to) my music education background. I always wanted to be educated and be prepared.”

After a start in Eb major, 2:34 shifts us into E major during the instrumental bridge.

David Sanborn | Snakes

Alto saxophonist David Sanborn’s 1992 album Upfront featured a jaw-dropping who’s-who list of some of the best players at that time: Marcus Miller (production, keyboards, lead guitar, bass guitar, bass clarinet), Steve Jordan (drums), Hiram Bullock (guitar), Naná Vasconcelos (percussion), Randy Brecker (trumpet), Ricky Peterson (organ), and many more.

Sanborn’s “R&B crossover” sound, as AllMusic calls it, is clearly in evidence here on the album’s opening track “Snakes.” After a start in G minor, a straight-ahead funk feel drives an extended section built around the tonic; from 1:10-1:27, the bass continues the a pedal point tonic while a procession of compound chords tug at our ears underneath Sanborn’s climbing sax line as it leans into every curve. The pattern continues until 3:24-3:41, where a shift to Eb minor, built around a more Latin-infused feel, makes a vivid appearance. The Eb minor section returns at 3:24-3:40 and again at 4:30, this time to stay.

Eva Cassidy | Time Is a Healer

“Time Is A Healer” was featured on American singer Eva Cassidy’s first studio album, Eva By Heart, released one year after Cassidy’s death from melanoma at age 33. The track, with music by Diane Scanlon and Greg Smith and lyrics by Cassidy, is characteristic of Cassidy’s style — a full-throated soprano infused with bluesy soul and passion. Her work has been met with posthumous success, charting in the top 10 across Europe.

The tune starts in E major and modulates up to F# for the final chorus at 3:22.

Whitney Houston | Miracle

“Miracle,” featured on Whitney Houston‘s 1990 album I’m Your Baby Tonight, was her 13th top ten hit, reaching the ninth slot on the Billboard Hot 100. While many interpreted the song to be about a girl who regrets having an abortion, Houston denied this was the case. “I think about the air we breathe, the earth we live on. I think about our children, ” she said in an interview with Jet magazine. “I think about a lot of things, things God put here for us to have, things that we need and we take for granted. I think all of these things are miracles and I think we should try to take better care of them.”

The track modulates from Gb to G at 3:53.

I’d Rather Be Sailing (from “A New Brain”)

“I’d Rather Be Sailing” is from the 1998 Off-Broadway musical A New Brain, with music and lyrics by William Finn. The show, which traces the story of a composer grappling with an illness he fears may be terminal, is autobiographical. Finn himself was diagnosed with arteriovenous malformation (AVM) in 1992, and made a successful and full recovery. This song, performed here by Jonathan Groff and Aaron Lazar, is sung in the show by Gordon, the composer, and his boyfriend Roger, daydreaming about day spent on the sea. A half step modulation from F to Gb occurs at 1:32.

Selena | El Chico del Apartamento 512

Billboard magazine named Selena the greatest female Latin artist of all time; although she wasn’t able to break through to mainstream North American pop music market during her lifetime, she was beloved by millions of fans. From LoveSelena.com: “The New York Times praised Selena as a ‘young artist with unlimited possibilities.’ According to TIME magazine, Selena ‘was the embodiment of young, smart, hip Mexican-American youth, wearing midriff-baring bustiers and boasting a tight-knit family and a down-to-earth personality, a Madonna without the controversy.’ … Dubbed by her fans as the ‘Queen of Tejano‘ … the posthumous release of the album Dreaming of You gave a clear indication that Selena was, in fact, on her way to becoming a star in the English market as well.”

Selena was only in her mid-20s when, in 1995, she was murdered by an employee who was later convicted of misappropriating and embezzling the artist’s funds. The LoveSelena site continues: “Since her passing, Selena’s life has inspired a hit movie, a Broadway bound musical, and a successful clothing line … People magazine’s commemorative issue of Selena, which sold a record number of copies, ultimately spurred the creation of the now-popular magazine People En Espanol.”

“El Chico del Apartamento 512 (The Guy from Apartment 512),” reports EMI Latin, “is a Spanish-language cumbia with influences of Colombian and South American music.” According to Billboard, the tune describes a woman who knocks on the apartment door of a prospective love interest. His sister answers, but is mistaken for his girlfriend. Justino Aguilar of Billboard described the track as one of Selena’s most memorable; released just a few months before her death, it was certified 2x Platinum by the RIAA. There are unprepared half-step modulations at 2:14 and 2:44.

Many thanks to longtime MotD fan Alex M. for this submission!

Mariah Carey (feat. Joe + 98 Degrees) | Thank God I Found You

The final track on Mariah Carey‘s 1999 album Rainbow, “Thank God I Found You” features guest vocals from R&B singer Joe and the American boy band 98 Degrees. The track was Carey’s fifteenth number one hit, and the sole chart topper for 98 Degrees.

“She’s got ‘Thank God I found you’ and that’s about it,” producer Jimmy Jam said, reflecting on writing/recording the song. “She sang the melody. We usually have [producer] Big Jim Wright sit in on those kind of sessions to work out chords. He wasn’t there so I had to work out the chords myself. So I’m playing and there was a part where I said, ‘Man, what chord am I supposed to do here?’ and Mariah has such a good ear, she sang me the chord.'”

The track modulates up a minor third, from Bb to Db, at 3:18.

Crash Test Dummies | In the Days of the Cavemen

From Sputnik Music‘s review of “In the Days of the Cavemen,” from Crash Test Dummies‘ 1993 album God Shuffled His Feet: “Oh Canada! Hail to my neighbor to the north. I praise you because not only have you shared with us some major musical talents over the years, like Rush and Joni Mitchell (for which I am eternally grateful), but you’ve also given us a host of quirky smaller bands throughout the last four or five decades, so many of whom I’ve enjoyed: Bands like Klaatu in the seventies, and Martha and the Muffins in the eighties. Oh, and in the nineties — Crash Test Dummies!

Although they made a nice little career for themselves in the great white north, God Shuffled His Feet was this band’s only internationally successful album … (It) took off around the world … powered by the success of one unconventional single, a slow and poignant track about how it feels to be different, the oddly- titled ‘Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm'”.

Brad Roberts’ voice is quite unusual for a frontman, given its edge-of-the-bell-curve bass/baritone range. Adding to his immediately recognizable sound are the relatively slow pace of the lyrics and his habit of over-enunciating: it often seems as if he’s passing on time-sensitive directions on how to diffuse a bomb — over the phone, to a middle school student. Roberts also was central to the band as an instrumentalist. Frequent contributor JB adds: “The bassline is exquisite throughout the whole tune: clean and melodic, but the same can be said of almost every bass part played by Brad Roberts.”

The tune is set in B major for the verses and the chorus; there’s a big jump to G major for a bridge at 1:35 – 1:54 (or rather a bridge-like section, because it happens again at 2:37 – 3:16).

George Michael | Cowboys and Angels

After his breakthrough as 1980s pop/dance royalty with his duo Wham!, UK artist George Michael later released the smash hit 1987 solo release Faith. The album became Billboard‘s #1 Album of 1988 and won multiple top industry awards in the UK, the US, Japan, and more, selling more than 20 million copies worldwide. The album also spawned the iconic black-and-white video for the single “Father Figure,” which went on to win many more awards of its own.

In the wake of the mammoth success of Faith, Michael released the unexpectedly understated Listen Without Prejudice, Volume 1 in 1990. Michael didn’t officially come out as a gay man until 1998, but his sexual orientation was nonetheless an open secret. Pitchfork reported: “Something was happening that autumn to gay artists closeted from their fans … In its original form, Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1 was the follow-up that Faith demanded; in this new incarnation, it’s a miscellany unruffled by notions of coherence, an attempt to make art out of George Michael’s quarrels with himself. Never again would these quarrels work to such bounteous ends.” Michael went on to release several more albums through 2004, but was felled by heart failure on Christmas Day 2016 at the age of only 53.

The fast jazz waltz feel of “Cowboys and Angels” beautifully supports Michael’s broad harmonic sense, lyrical melody, and adroit arranging. Meanwhile, the lyrics traverse one of his favorite themes: the possibility of finding true romance and companionship despite great odds. The barely submerged subtext: spiking HIV fatalities, which wouldn’t see a peak for a few more years, muddied the waters yet further. The track was the first of Michael’s singles to miss the UK top 40 charts, peaking at #45.

Starting in Bb minor, the tune shifts to C minor at 2:37, reverts to Bb minor at 3:01, and drops into a clear emphasis on the relative major (Db) for a bridge at 4:57. More repetition of sections follows, ending in C minor.