Tag: 1990s

Owsley | Oh No the Radio

Owsley had a brief but distinguished career as a band member, solo artist, and session/touring musician. Sadly, he apparently took his own life at age 44 in 2010, but his short discography is memorable. AllMusic reports: “Alabama-born multi-instrumentalist Will Owsley followed a career path not unlike Sheryl Crow‘s, by backing up big mainstream pop artists, collecting the rewards and channeling them into his own solo work. Owsley plied his wares in the bands of Shania Twain and Amy Grant in the mid-’90s, then recorded his own material at home, and offered the finished product to record companies on a take-it-or-leave-it basis.” Owsley’s early-90s band, The Semantics, briefly featured a young Ben Folds on keyboards; AllMusic describes the two musicians’ “likemindedness” as “hard to miss.”

“Oh No the Radio” (1999) is an account of the hold that radio had on music fans’ lives during a time when that medium was the primary way that music reached our ears. The tune seems to describe a music fan’s love/hate relationship with a medium so omnipresent that going to a drive-in movie provides a welcome but brief respite.

The intro and verse, both in C# major, feature the guitar’s crunchy, relentless battery of eighth-note seventh chords in a I7 – bVII7 vamp. This rock-solid foundation frees up the bass to intermittently depart from covering the roots, going airborne and adding harmonic context from the rafters. The chorus shifts to C# minor (for the first time at 1:47), bringing with it a far smoother and lyrical feel, before returning to the original C# major.

In a Place of Miracles (from “Hunchback of Notre Dame”)

“In A Place of Miracles” is from, in your humble moderator’s opinion, Alan Menken‘s best score, The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The show, which premiered in Berlin in 1999 and became one of the city’s longest-running productions, has still not made its way to Broadway. But someday, in a place of miracles, it will. Key change at 1:37.

Andrea Bocelli | Con Te Partirò

James Corden kicked off #HomeFest on The Late Late Show last night, with Andrea Bocelli as one of the featured performers singing “Con Te Partirò.” Originally released in 1995 on Bocelli’s second studio album, the track has gone on to become one of the best-selling singles of all time and is considered his signature song. Key change at 4:40.

XTC | Wrapped In Grey

AllMusic.com calls XTC “one of the smartest — and catchiest — British pop bands to emerge from the Punk and New Wave explosion of the late ’70s. From the tense, jerky riffs of their early singles to the lushly arranged, meticulous pop of their later albums, XTC’s music has always been driven by hook-laden songwriting of guitarist Andy Partridge and bassist Colin Moulding.” In an interview with Popdose, Partridge described 1992’s “Wrapped in Grey” as “ersatz Bacharach” and one of the “perfect songs” of his career, feeling that he had “exorcised a lot of those kind of Lennon-and-McCartney, Bacharach-and-David, Brian Wilson-type ghosts out of my system by doing all that.”

Drenched with harmonic tensions from its opening, the tune starts in B minor, transitioning to F# major for the chorus from 1:19 – 1:57; the cycle then repeats. The “everything but the kitchen sink” arrangement of saloon-style piano, sweet strings, varied percussion, wide-ranging backing vocals, and a chaotic, meter-shifted tag at 3:31 make this waltz a true “Exhibit A” from the later output of this singular band.

Richard Marx | The Way She Loves Me

The lead track and second single from singer/songwriter Richard Marx‘s fourth album Paid Vacation (1994), “The Way She Loves Me,” reached the Top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100) and #3 on the Adult Contemporary charts. The track featured a jaw-dropping roster: Bill Champlin on organ, Leland Sklar on bass, and Lionel Richie and Luther Vandross (a longtime friend of Marx’s) on backing vocals.

Starting with a street corner-style a cappella arrangement in E major, the tune transitions to C# major before the groove even kicks in (0:18). From there, the expansive shuffle feel is in the driver’s seat, leading us to a shift to E major for the chorus (1:08), then back to C# major for the next verse; the pattern continues from there. At 4:01, the tune closes with the chorus, pared back to a sublimely blended a cappella sound.

Roxette | Crash! Boom! Bang!

Many thanks to MotD fan Chris Larkosh for this submission: Swedish duo Roxette released the single “Crash! Boom! Bang!” in 1994, part of an album of the same name. AllMusic liked the release’s vocals and songwriting, but felt that the album was “too pop for rock listeners and too rock for mid-’90s pop fans.” The LA Times, however, enjoyed the album’s “deliciously overwrought ballads” and the New York Times praised Marie Fredriksson, the lead vocalist, as the band’s “main asset … a singer with a sob in her voice.” Fredriksson passed away in late 2019 at the age of only 61.

Starting in C# minor with on-and-off shifts to B major, the tune transitions strongly to E minor for the bridge at 2:24, then back to C# minor again at 2:49.

Wheels of a Dream (from “Ragtime”)

“Wheels of a Dream” is from the 1996 musical “Ragtime,” based on the classic E.L. Doctorow novel, and with an epic score by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty. Performed here by original cast members Brian Stokes Mitchell and Audra McDonald, the number features key changes at 1:33, 1:50, 1:59, 2:07, 2:20, and the big one at 2:30.

Annie Lennox | Why

A long-overdue MotD debut for Scottish native Annie Lennox: The lead single from her debut non-Eurythmics solo album Diva (1992), “Why,” was a global hit. The striking video featuring the uncommonly versatile Lennox was comprised of footage which served double duty as a photo shoot for the album cover. From AllMusic‘s review of the album: “The enigmatic vocalist who made a career toying with different notions of gender plays on the concept of fame here — Lennox dresses up in the persona of a solitary Diva trapped by counterfeit glory.”

Starting in C major, the tune shifts to D major at the pre-chorus (1:25), then falls back to C major for the chorus at 1:46; the cycle then repeats.

The Maccabeats + Naturally 7 | Shed a Little Light

This tune features more of a key-of-the-moment shift than a true modulation, but we hope we’ll be forgiven. ❤ Here are two top-drawer a capella ensembles, The Maccabeats and Naturally 7, collaborating on a gorgeous 2016 cover of James Taylor‘s “Shed a Little Light” (1991), honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. amid Washington, DC’s monuments.

Set overall in Bb major, the tune shifts to a v minor / bVII major / I major vamp as the bridge starts at 1:53, returning to a straightforward Bb major at 2:17.

Mathieu Boogaerts | Où?

Quentin, a reader of the MotD blog, sends this contribution:

“I just discovered your blog and I love it. I immediately thought about the song ‘Où?’ by Mathieu Boogaerts (1998). This song uses modulation paired with a fade-out in the outro to signify the loss of references, the feeling of not knowing where we are…the lyrics are ‘Où allons nous? J’y comprends rien.’ (‘Where are we going? I don’t understand anything.’)

The modulation ladder starts at 2:27; we can hear four modulations before the sound completely fades. Boogaerts is a French musician, composer and writer; the lyrics of his own songs have a really unique style.”