The TV movie High School Musical premiered on the Disney Channel in 2006 and was the most-watched premiere in the network’s history; there have since been two spin-offs. “Start of Something New,” written by Matthew Gerrard and Robbie Neil, is the first track on the film’s soundtrack, which was the best-selling album of 2006.
The song begins in C, modulates to D after 8 bars at 0:28, and shifts up to E for the last chorus at 2:26.
O-Town is an American boy band that formed in 2000 as a result of the reality television series Making A Band. After releasing two albums, the group disbanded in 2003. “Baby I Would” is the last track on their eponymous debut record, written by MotD stalwart Diane Warren.
The song alternates between Bb for the verses and C for the choruses; coming out of the bridge, it subverts expectations by appearing as if it will modulate as usual up to C, but after a false start shifts up another whole step to D at 2:48.
*This is the third installment of a weeklong series featuring covers of the 1956 song “You Don’t Know Me”*
Michael Bible covered “You Don’t Know Me” for his 2005 album It’s Time, featuring arrangements by David Foster. The track begins in C and modulates up to Db at 3:08.
*This is the first installment of a weeklong series featuring covers of the 1956 song “You Don’t Know Me”*
Written by Eddy Arnold and Cindy Walker in 1956, “You Don’t Know Me” has been covered by dozens of artists. The song tells the story of a man and his encounter with a woman he secretly loves; fearing rejection, he lets her walk away without ever expressing his feelings.
The most successful recording of the song was released by Ray Charles on his 1962 album Modern Sounds In Country and Western Music. The cover we are featuring here is a duet from Charles’s last studio album, Genius Loves Company, which consists of R&B, blues, country, jazz and pop standards with a variety of high-profile guest artists. The record won eight Grammy Awards, including Album and Record of the Year.
The track begins in Eb and modulates up a half step to E at 2:49.
The Ben E. King-era Drifters scored a Billboard #1 in 1960 with their version of “Save The Last Dance For Me,” written by Doc Pomus and Mort Schuman. In that recording, the most prominent instruments are the steady guitar, bass, and light percussion, with a brief string interlude. There’s no modulation on offer.
In 2005, singer Michael Bublé released his version of the song in his album It’s Time. Later that year, he offered several remixes by different producers, for a single release, including the music video below. The tempo is slower than in the Drifters’ version, but with a spicier, syncopated arrangement of prominent Latin-style percussion (claves and timbales!), piano, and horns.
For dramatic purposes in the video, the music comes to a halt at 1:41. The music resumes at 1:44 a half-step up.
“Grammy nominated Nate Wood is a drummer/multi-instrumentalist and mastering engineer based in New York City,” (NateWoodMusic.net). “Nate is a founding member of the Grammy nominated quintet Kneebody, Kneebody released their self-titled debut album in 2005 on trumpeter Dave Douglas’s label Greenleaf Music. In 2007, Kneebody released Low Electrical Worker on Colortone Media. They completed an album of arrangements of Charles Ives compositions with singer Theo Bleckmann and released the recording 12 Songs of Charles Ives, which was nominated “Best Classical Crossover Album” Grammy Award (2009).
Nate has also performed or recorded with many notable artists including … Dave Grohl, Brian May and Roger Taylor (Queen), Chris Squire (Yes), Elliot Easton (The Cars), Chaka Khan, Wayne Krantz, Billy Childs, Tigran Hamasyan, Donny McCaslin, Sting, and many others. Nate was featured in Modern Drummer in March of 2014 and placed in the 2015 Modern Drummer reader’s poll among the top 5 drummers in the fusion category.” He’s since released four of his own albums “and masters records for artists from around the world.”
“Become,” from Wood’s debut solo album Reliving (2003), moves like clockwork through its first two groove-driven verses and choruses. Then 2:10 brings a soft-spoken bridge which pivots down a whole step to Ab major (2:32) as the groove returns and a guitar solo begins. At 2:45, there’s another shift to B major, but at 2:57, we drop back into the slot of the original key as the solo continues to build in advance of the vocal’s return. Wordless vocals and a huge syncopated kick on the fifth degree of the scale bring the tune to its conclusion.
“Junior Senior were a Danish pop duo. The duo consisted of Jesper ‘Junior’ Mortensen and Jeppe ‘Senior’ Laursen,” (Discogs). “They were well known for their 2002 single ‘Move Your Feet,’ which gained worldwide success in 2003, most notably in the United Kingdom.” The track barely made a scratch in the US, peaking at #45 on the US Dance chart — the band’s most prominent release in the States. But the tune reached #4 in Denmark, #20 in Australia, #11 in France, and #3 in the UK.
The duo’s 2005 release “Take My Time,” from the album Hey Hey My My Yo Yo, sounds like an update on the sound of the US-based band B-52s because … it is: B-52s vocalists Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson are both featured on the track.
Sounding for all the world like a late ’80s/early ’90s B-52s hit with a bit less frenetic energy, a lot less intra-band banter, and a broader harmonic vocabulary, “Take My Time” is a pop/funk fête delivered by a band that brings “joyful energy … mix(ing) all kinds of genres in a melting funky pot with a big smile on their faces,” (MTV). The track features half-step modulations at 2:48 (with an uninterrupted groove) and 3:14 (after what seems like a false ending — until the decrescendo shifts into reverse and the groove returns).
“Boy Like You” is the sixth track on the English pop group S Club 7’s 2001 album Sunshine. The track has a 90s pop vibe, and alternates between F minor for the verses and F major for the choruses. A true modulation to G occurs prior to the last chorus at 2:10.
Vocalist Trijntje Oosterhuis has been part of the Dutch pop scene since the 1990s. After touring with saxophonist Candy Dulfer, she formed the band “Total Touch” with her brother Tjeerd, releasing two successful albums in the late 90s. She went on to embark on a solo career.
She has released two albums of Burt Bacharach songs, The Look of Love (2006) and Who’ll Speak for Love (2007), with Bacharach performing on some of the tracks.
The selection here, “What the World Needs Now,” another Bacharach/David song, was a hit for Jackie DeShannon in 1965 (Billboard #7). The video is taken from a 2008 DVD release, Ken Je Mij (Do You Know Me), a series of duets with Uruguayan guitarist Leonardo Amuedo.
There’s a dramatic whole-step modulation at 2:40.
“Upside Down” was the first single released from the 2001 album Teen Spirit by the Swedish pop group A*Teens. The song, which quickly became the group’s signature hit, went double platinum in Sweden and peaked at #10 in the UK as well.
The track begins in A and seamlessly modulates up a step to B at 2:45.
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