pop – Page 10

Whitney Houston | How Will I Know

“’Falling in love is so bittersweet,’ Whitney Houston wails. ‘This love is strong. Why do I feel weak?’ But falling in love doesn’t sound bittersweet, and Whitney Houston doesn’t sound the slightest bit weak,” (Stereogum). “Instead, she sounds like an volcano of joy, an unstoppable natural force of pure exhilaration. At least on paper, ‘How Will I Know’ (1985), Houston’s second chart-topper, is a song about uncertainty — about feeling your way around in the dark, trying to understand if someone else feels the same way you do. But that’s not how Houston sings it. Instead, Houston sings ‘How Will I Know’ as if she can barely contain the excitement that comes along with that uncertainty. She sings it like she already knows.

… Houston just goes off on this thing. It’s amazing to behold. Houston sells the emotion of the song, sounding like she’s utterly caught up in this dazzling, exciting, world-ending crush. She also nails every little melodic turn … But even in the context of a song as fast and bubbly as this one, you can still hear the power and control in her voice. There’s a lot of gospel in her delivery, in the unearthly joyous yelps and whoops and out-of-nowhere high notes. (There’s a whole lot of gospel in those backing vocals, too.) And while Houston never fully cuts loose on ‘How Will I Know,’ she also keeps her abilities in full view. You can hear that voice bursting its way out of the song, ready to dive and curl and soar. The biggest note — the ‘how will I knoooooow‘ just as the sax solo kicks in — is enough to give a motherfucker goosebumps.”

After a start in Gb major, the bridge consistently builds via a repetitive short melody fragment (“If he loves me / If he loves me not”) layered over harmonies that shift with each iteration of the lyric (3:07 – 3:31). As the sax solo kicks in, there’s a massive downward jump to Eb major — but there’s no accompanying deflation in energy, as Whitney’s vocal moves decisively up at that point, not down. In the closing bars, however, the return of the chorus clearly demonstrates the lower key.

Tommy TuTone | 867-5309

“Who here remembers Tommy Tutone’s ‘867-5309’? The 1982 radio staple once gripped the nation, and gave away the digits of the fetching Jenny, last name unknown … Spencer Potter, the New Jersey owner of (201) 867-5309, auctioned off the telephone number, along with his DJ company, netting $186,853.09 on eBay. ‘This is really, in my opinion, one of the last cultural remnants of 80s pop,’ Potter told CNN, ‘other than the mullet.’ Potter said he received over 100,000 phone calls a year from overzealous fans.

… Why is the song so valuable? ‘The sound of the number has a certain hypnotic quality, and I’m not sure what it is. It must be something in the number itself,” Tutone told the Wall Street Journal.” (American Songwriter).

Built in a noticeably de-tuned G minor overall, the tune’s short bridge (1:59 – 2:13) shifts to the closely related key of D minor.

Heart | What About Love

“This was Heart’s first single under their new contract with Capitol Records,” (Songfacts). “It marked a turnaround for the band, which after a triumphant run of hits in the ’70s got off to a rough start in the ’80s with a decline in sales and little airplay for their new material on radio or MTV … It was written by Brian Allen and Sheron Alton of the Canadian band Toronto, along with Jim Vallance, who co-wrote many of Bryan Adams’ hits. The song was written for Toronto but they didn’t record it. The demo found its way to Heart, which turned it into their first Top 10 US hit since their cover of ‘Tell It Like It Is’ in 1980. Their next two singles did even better: ‘Never’ hit #4 and ‘These Dreams’ went to #1.

The video was directed by David Mallet, who was known for avante-garde videos like David Bowie’s ‘Ashes To Ashes’ and Queen’s ‘Radio Ga Ga’ … It was the first Heart video to get significant airplay on MTV (and) was the first Heart song to chart in the UK, where it reached #14.”

Built in D minor overall, the 1985 track features a very late shift to the parallel D major at 3:12.

The Summarily Dismissed | Limerent Buzz

“Ari Shagal’s … bold, brash, electrifying album, To Each! channels Laura Nyro, Donald Fagen, jazz in general, Broadway, and a lot more,” (Soundstage Experience). Songwriter Ari Shagal “proves to be a triple-threat performer, singer, and composer/arranger.

Though there are up- and down-tempo songs on this set, it’s full of swagger and confidence — the same feelings I get from a Steely Dan album. Shagal’s music is chic, cool, and invigorating, even when it’s the blues. It goes down easy while leaving a lasting impression.”

“Limerent Buzz,” a track from 2014’s To Each! by the Shagal-led band The Summarily Dismissed, starts in Bb major, but shifts to Db major for all but the tail end of its chorus, first heard between 0:50-1:14). At 1:21, we return to the original key for the next verse; the pattern continues from there.

Maureen McGovern | Different Worlds (opening theme from “Angie”)

“Philadelphia coffee shop waitress Angie Falco (Donna Pescow) starts a romance with customer Bradley Benson (Robert Hays), a pediatrician,” (ABC.fandom.com). “While she assumes he is a struggling young doctor, he reveals that he is actually rebelling against his wealthy family, presumably residents in the Main Line region of the city’s suburbs. The other Falco family members are Angie’s mother Theresa (Doris Roberts) and her younger sister Marie (Debralee Scott).

… Angie and Brad later marry, merging their two very different families: the blue-blooded Bensons and the urban Italian-American Falcos … Angie premiered on February 2, 1979 (and ran for) two seasons and 36 episodes.”

The show’s theme song, “Different Worlds,” was performed by Maureen McGovern. Written by Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox, the tune was released by McGovern as a single from her eponymous fourth studio album in June 1979. The track peaked at #18 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was #1 for two weeks on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. Starting in C major, the tune shifts to Eb major at 0:25, wearing its late-disco era on its sleeve. Many more key changes follow — more than anyone could reasonably expect from a 90-second opening theme!

Ocean | Put Your Hand In the Hand

“Toronto, Canada quintet Ocean’s … first single, ‘Put Your Hand in the Hand,’ a #2 pop hit in America in 1971, was written by Gene MacLellan, who’d played with Robbie Robertson in both the Consuls and the Suedes,” (Songfacts). “Several singles followed during the early ’70s, but none were as popular as the debut. Ocean disbanded in 1975.

The song also references when Jesus calmed the sea in (the books of) Matthew, Mark, and Luke. In the midst of a storm that threatened to overturn their boat, the panicked apostles woke Jesus and begged him to help. Jesus didn’t see what all the fuss was about and simply commanded the waves to be still. He asked his disciples, ‘Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?’ Ocean wasn’t a gospel group, didn’t feel a strong connection to the religious aspect of the song … and were hesitant to release the single … They were right. The group was typecast as a gospel rock band thanks to the Jesus-themed debut.”

Starting in E major, the tune features a big downward leap to A major (1:13) to accommodate the shift from the female lead vocal to verses featuring several of the band’s male singers on lead.

Thank you, Brian Wilson (1942 – 2025)

“Brian Wilson, who co-founded the iconic California band The Beach Boys and turned teen pop into a poetic, modernist musical form, has died at age 82,” (NPR). “‘We realize that we are sharing our grief with the world,’ Wilson’s family wrote in a statement on his website Wednesday.

The most frequently invoked description of Wilson’s music came from the artist himself when, playing on a phrase coined by Phil Spector, he declared that his goal was to write a ‘teenage symphony to God.’ Grounded in dreams of an idealized youth, his songs reflected vast ambition enmeshed in the belief that pop could be a conduit to the sublime.

… His greatest musical works made room for the deep melancholy he experienced while evoking an almost otherworldly beauty, the sunset smear of a soul longing for peace.” After the upbeat sun-and-surf early hits, 1966’s Pet Sounds was “the apex of Top 40 pop as existential reverie … a modest success upon release (but) now generally acknowledged as one of the greatest albums of all time. (The rock-era canonizing institution Rolling Stone magazine ranks it at No. 2 — right behind Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On.)”

There are so many tunes we could feature today, but “When I Grow Up to Be a Man” is our choice — a track we initially featured in 2020. It’s a release from the band’s earlier days, but with a few odd chord qualities that only begin to hint at the complexity that Wilson’s writing increasingly brought to the Beach Boys. Written and composed by Wilson and Mike Love (1965), it reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song has a lyric written from an adolescent’s POV. According to the book Smile: The Story of Brian Wilson’s Lost Masterpiece, Wilson had a “fervent desire to reinvent himself as an individual, not as a boy.” The single, with a run time of only two minutes, modulates at 1:32.

Thank you, Sly Stone (1943-2025)

“Sly Stone, the remarkable, eccentric frontman, singer, songwriter and producer of his family group, Sly & the Family Stone, died in Los Angeles on Monday, June 9,” (NPR). “The musical icon had been battling lung disease, according to a statement provided by his family. He was 82. ‘While we mourn his absence, we take solace in knowing that his extraordinary musical legacy will continue to resonate and inspire for generations to come,’ the statement reads.

… Sly & the Family Stone’s sound was a dazzling fusion of psychedelic rock, soul, jazz, gospel and Latin … The Grammys gave him a lifetime achievement award in 2017 … Sly Stone was a musical visionary whose charismatic stage presence and distinctive vocals are now woven into the fabric of American joy.”

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We reprise a post from 2020 in honor of the life of Sly Stone, covering a track which is among the Family Stone’s most affirming and joyful:

Sly & the Family Stone “harnessed all of the disparate musical and social trends of the late ’60s,” AllMusic explains, “creating a wild, brilliant fusion of soul, rock, R&B, psychedelia, and funk that broke boundaries down without a second thought. Led by Sly Stone, the Family Stone was comprised of men and women, and blacks and whites, making the band the first fully integrated group in rock’s history. That integration shone through the music, as well as the group’s message. Before Stone, very few soul and R&B groups delved into political and social commentary; after him, it became a tradition in soul, funk, and hip-hop.”

Released in 1968, “Stand” is just one of a full line of unusual singles from S&TFS, not easily described by the vocabulary that preceded them. AllMusic continues: “Like Brian Wilson, Sly Stone incorporated beautiful, magical moments on his records that were some of the most musically progressive. In this song, a simple but brilliant four-on-the-floor drum pattern and gospel vocals create what would be the virtual blueprint for what was to become known as disco. Moreover, the song is yet another message song that helped bridge the gap between the black and white rock audiences…one of the most timely records of its age.”

The verse is built around a de-tuned Ab major (I / IV / I / bVII); the bVII major serves as a sub-V for the new key of F major (0:14), repeating the same pattern for Verse 2 (0:28) before reverting to Ab for the one-word chorus (0:51). Each switch from Ab to F is accentuated by a 2/4 bar among the overall 4/4 meter (heard for the first time at 0:13 – 0:14). An entirely new groove, built around a 4-bar pattern, kicks in for an extended outro in C minor at 2:18. The outro is a joyful, uproarious shout chorus featuring multiple vocalists on a repeated wordless vocal hook, instrumentalists playing at full tilt, and gospel-style eighth-note claps building on the already high energy — just as the slow final fade kicks in.

Kenny Loggins | The Rest of Your Life

“A list of Kenny Loggins’ biggest hits begs the question, ‘would the movie industry have been afloat in the ’80s if Loggins hadn’t been around?’ Between 1980 and 1988, Loggins scored four No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, all via soundtrack cuts—notably in Caddyshack, Footloose, and Top Gun,” (American Songwriter). “But those songs didn’t soar to the top of the charts simply because the films were popular; his music was what a large part of what gave them their edge in the first place. Songs like ‘Danger Zone’ or ‘Footloose’ have become paradigms of their era—instant reminders of all the earnest, schmaltzy ’80s movies that are fodder for nostalgia today.

“The Rest of Your Life,” featured on Loggins’ 1997 album The Unimaginable Life and co-written by Loggins, his then-wife Julia Loggins, and Jonathan Butler, “soared to the top of the charts without a blockbuster to bolster it. From the very opening trill of this song, the listener is hit with a wall of oh-so-’90s gated reverb. ‘The Rest of Your Life’ brought Loggins into a new decade—still at the top of the heap.”

Starting in A minor, the track only hints at its power ballad status through the its opening bars, two long verses, and first chorus. Backed by a band of A-listers including Greg Phillinganes (keys), Nathan East (bass), and Omar Hakim (drums), the intensity continues to build as verse 3 begins at 2:14 and chorus 2 follows at 2:48. At 3:10, a short bridge provides a mood shift, flipping the tonality over to the relative C major (albeit mixolydian mode). In the bridge’s closing moments, it seems as if we’ll be headed back to the traditional choice of a final chorus in the original key. But instead we plow headlong into a new key at 3:32 — shifting up a half step to Bb minor, led by a short but dizzyingly intense alto sax feature.

Sean Maguire | Today’s the Day

“Best known for his starring roles in several U.S. sitcoms, British actor Sean Maguire was also responsible for a … mid-’90s pop career,” (AllMusic). “Born in Ilford, London in 1976, Maguire first shot to fame in the U.K. thanks to his role as Tegs Ratcliffe in the children’s school drama Grange Hill, and then later as Aidan Brosnan in the soap opera EastEnders.

(In 1994 he) pursued a music career … he scored a respectable eight Top 40 hits from two studio albums, 1994’s self-titled debut and 1996’s Spirit, over a three-year period. However, following the disappointing chart position of his Brit-pop-influenced 1997 single ‘Today’s the Day,’ he called time on his pop ambitions to concentrate on acting. (He later) landed parts in several American comedies, including Off Center and Eve and the Class, and in 2008 he played the lead role in Meet the Spartans, the critically panned (but box-office number one) parody of the film 300.”

“Today’s the Day,” (1997) written and produced by fellow Brit Phil Thornalley, starts in E major. At 0:31, a second section of the verse shifts of to G major. The chorus, arriving at 0:47, falls back to E major. The pattern continues from there.