Tag: pop

George Baker Selection | Little Green Bag

“Peaking at No. 21 on the national charts in the spring of 1970, ‘Little Green Bag’ scores a bounty of brownie points for being one of the most enigmatic songs ever placed on plastic,” (Something Else Reviews). “Driven by cheesy surf guitars, the zippy little tune sounds a bit like ‘She’s A Woman’ by the Beatles, accompanied by a sprinkling of bossa nova styled rhythms. The vocals are rather theatric, and the hooks are jarring and jaunty. The lyrics of ‘Little Green Bag,’ which are somewhat muddled, are just as quirky as the tone and structure of the song itself. Subtle references to pot are easy to imagine, but the truth is the theme is money.

A Dutch band, George Baker Selection went several years before courting the airwaves in a serious way. Early in 1976, the catchy and danceable ‘Paloma Blanca’ seized the Top 30. But that was that, making George Baker Selection a two-hit wonder. Released in an era when pop music was all for taking chances and nothing seemed too odd or alien for public consumption, ‘Little Green Bag’ still proved to be quite daring, different and downright curious at the time.”

The tune starts in G minor, but a shift to G major for the chorus is hinted at during a short pre-chorus instrumental section (0:46; the first several repeating choruses run from 0:55 – 2:00). At 2:01, another verse returns us to G minor; at 2:29, we revert back to the major chorus. 3:08 brings a wholesale shift up a half step to Ab major for another chorus, but 3:30 brings us back down to the original key.

Manfred Mann | Fox On the Run

The bluegrass standard ‘Fox On the Run’ “… (was) written by Tony Hazzard in 1968,” (Bluegrass Today) ” … Having been raised in the country on the outskirts of Liverpool as a young boy, Tony had a lot of inspiration to draw from for the imagery in the song. ‘The main source was an imagined scene, described in the chorus, of a hot summer’s day, a field of wheat sloping down to a river in the sunshine, and a blonde woman walking through the wheat field towards the river … The second source was really just the feel of the music. I was a fan of The Band in the late 60s, and their style was running through me at the time.’

… Tony played the song for British rockers Manfred Mann’s Earth Band and in 1968, ‘Fox on the Run’ became a hit song for them in the UK … In 1976, Tom T. Hall took ‘Fox On the Run’ to #9 on the US Billboard Charts and to #12 in Canada. The song went on to be recorded many more times by bluegrass and country bands all over the US. You can hardly walk past a festival jam without hearing a version of this beloved chestnut … (Tony adds) ‘I eventually realized it had become a standard, and I’m very proud of that fact; the song will remain long after I’m gone, and if people think it’s an old folk song, that’s fine by me!’”

After a start in C major, a surprising shift to Bb major hits at 0:33, ushered in by an odd time signature. At 0:57, the tune reverts to the original key. These sections alternate until 2:08, when a half-step key change to Db major unfolds and remains in effect for the balance of the tune.

For good measure, here’s an example of the tune’s frequent setting in the Bluegrass genre, as represented by Bolt Hill Band:

Swing Out Sister | You On My Mind

As Swing Out Sister’s vocalist, Corinne Drewery, suggested in an appearance on ITV’s Loose Women in 2008 … “a lot of people don’t realize that musicians are still active unless they’re constantly in the singles charts,” (PopMatters). “The insinuation that Swing Out Sister were on some sort of delusional comeback trail after years of inactivity was an indication of the way daytime TV understands the music world – in clichés and brash, broad strokes that don’t necessarily tally with reality.

As anyone whose cultural reference points aren’t confined to Radio 1 could have pointed out, Swing Out Sister have been a remarkably durable, successful and prolific unit … Over the course of three decades, they’ve made increasingly fine-spun music that brushes up against soul, jazz, lounge, exotica, film-soundtrack music, and sunshine pop. Corinne’s smooth, elegant vocals are still the perfect complement to Andy Connell’s elaborate, electronic-orchestral soundscapes.

… Swing Out Sister … pulled out all the stops for a fully orchestrated album (Kaleidoscope World, 1989) that went even deeper into retro cinema and Bond-theme motifs than the debut. It was more challenging, but also more rewarding, as it was characterized by sweeping grandeur, unabashed glamour, high romance, and luscious intrigue. Perhaps as a consequence, its songs didn’t succeed as singles quite as consistently as those on the first album, with only ‘You on My Mind’ rupturing the UK Top 40. Regardless of that, it remains an artistic peak.”

The sole hit from the album certainly boasts an incandescent wide-screen feel. Starting in D major, the first verse shifts to Eb major at 0:25. 0:45 brings a short pre-chorus in Gb mixolydian, leading into a chorus (0:51) which transitions back to D major. The pattern continues from there.

Many thanks to composer, performer, and devoted music theoretician Ari S. for this wonderful contribution to MotD — her third!

Cheap Trick | Tonight It’s You

“Combining a love for British guitar pop songcraft with crunching power chords and a flair for the absurd, Cheap Trick provided the necessary links between ’60s pop, heavy metal, and punk,” (Qobuz). “Their sound provided a blueprint for both power pop and arena rock; it also had a long-lived effect on both alternative and heavy metal bands of the ’80s and ’90s (and beyond), who often relied on the same combination of loud riffs and catchy melodies.

The band’s early albums were filled with highly melodic, well-written songs that drew equally from the crafted pop of the Beatles, the sonic assault of the Who, and the tongue-in-cheek musical eclecticism and humor of the Move.” From most accounts, the mid-80s was a bit of a lull for the band creatively, but one strong single resulted from its 1985 album Standing on the Edge: “the silvery-sounding ‘Tonight It’s You,’ which peaked just outside the Top 40 at number 44 in the fall of 1985.”

Starting in F# major, the tune’s long pre-chorus in B major appears at 0:59 leading us to a chorus in D major (1:19 -1:41). The pattern continues from there.

Boston | Amanda

” … For the first half of the ’80s, Boston were the ghosts in the corporate-rock machine … When Boston’s third album did come out … the lead single from that third album gave Boston their first and only #1 hit … By 1986, Boston were men out of time,” (Stereogum). “Scholz was still conjuring symphonies of antiseptic harmony out of his guitars, and (vocalist) Brad Delp was still wailing out Scholz’s melodies with a high-pitched fervor. “Amanda,” Boston’s only chart-topping single, came out late in 1986, but it was so perfectly ’70s that the song didn’t even have a music video.

… Scholz made guitars sound like keyboards and violins. Boston took crunching riffage from the Grand Funks of the world, the huge-selling and arena-ready boogie bands. They took crystalline harmonies from British prog and art-rock bands. They took at least a bit of melodic charge from the Beatles and the Beach Boys. These were disparate influences, but Scholz made them sound as sealed-off and airtight as the spaceships that he always put on his album covers.

… Before any of his peers, Scholz had figured out how to remove all the grit and grime from rock records, and that ultra-clean sound persisted, largely unchanged, into the mid-’80s. Scholz was playing with synths, and with guitars that sounded like synths, long before most other rockers, so he sounded relatively comfortable in the ’80s synth-rock zeitgeist. And “Amanda” came out at just the right time to capitalize on the growing backlash against the arty British synthpop of the early MTV era. Boston’s sound was a distant ancestor to the big pop sound of the mid-’80s, and that sound, combined with whatever nostalgic affection people had for those first two Boston albums, presumably helped drive “Amanda” up the charts.”

Built in G major overall, this power ballad shifts upward to a I/v progression in E major for its short bridge at 2:59. The key change is compelling enough that the chord progression majestically unwinds not once but twice, unaccompanied by a vocal or an instrumental solo — just a gentle, minimal guitar hook! The lead vocal eventually rejoins, followed somehow by a sneaky broad-daylight reversion to the original key while the bridge is still in effect (3:30).

The Guess Who | No Time

“Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings of The Guess Who were aiming for a rock hit to follow their first gold record, the ballad ‘These Eyes,'” (Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame). “They found it in the contrasting hard-driving rocker ‘No Time.’

They had been impressed by the new country-rock sound of Buffalo Springfield, of which their Winnipeg friend Neil Young was a member. The inspiration for (the) opening guitar riff came from one in Springfield’s ‘Hung Upside Down’; Bachman said he ‘turned it upside down and made my own riff out of it,’ … by early 1970 it was another million-seller.” In February and March 1970, the track was a top 10 hit in the US and Canada alike. “The Guess Who were chosen as the Junos’ top group in 1970 and again in 1971.

… The BMI award-winning No Time is, in essence, a break-up song:

No time for a summer friend / No time for the love you send
Seasons change and so did I / There’s no time left for you.

The intriguing lyric ‘No time for the killing floor’ is anti-war slang that Cummings and Bachman had heard in San Francisco, equating the Viet Nam war – accurately – with a slaughterhouse.”

The tune’s intro and verse are in D minor; the chorus shifts to G major (heard for the first time from 0:37 – 1:04). Throughout, the track’s energetic feel runs counter to the heartbreaking lyrics.

Julian Cope | World Shut Your Mouth

“Retreating from the collapse of the (band) Teardrop Explodes to his hometown of Tamworth UK, Julian Cope produced his first solo effort,” (World Shut Your Mouth, 1984) … “The result is a surprisingly vibrant, rich album that shows Cope easily moving on from his group days while retaining his unique powerful and natural gifts for singing and songwriting,” (AllMusic). “If there’s something about the sound of World that suggests its early-’80s recording dates … Cope’s own particular, heavily psych-into-pop-inspired goals aren’t lost in it.

Some of his songs are so inspired that one just has to wonder how in the world they didn’t end up as hits somewhere … Throughout World, Cope demonstrates why he’s one of the best, most unaffected singers in rock around, his vocals carrying sweep and passion without sounding like he’s trying to impress himself or others.”

Built in an uptuned B major overall, there’s a brief key-of-the-moment shift (2:28 -2:36) up a whole step to C# after verses and choruses 1 and 2, an instrumental break, and another chorus before a return to the original key. But at 3:06, C# major is back to accompany us through the instrumental outro.

Sugarloaf | I’ve Got a Song

“The end of the 1960s set the stage for Sugarloaf, with its beginning as the Denver band Chocolate Hair. Keyboardist/vocalist Jerry Corbetta and guitarist Bob Webber … plus Bob Raymond on bass and Myron Pollock on drums … (later) took the name of a mountain summit in the foothills above Boulder … transforming the rock quartet into Sugarloaf,” (Colorado Music Hall of Fame).

“… A mix of rock, R&B, and jazz licks became the basis for the debut LP … the band (produced) a major national hit: “Green-Eyed Lady,” which peaked at No. 3 in October 1970. The song resonated with psychedelic rock fans coming down from the high of the Summer of Love and quickly became the group’s biggest hit.” The band later released another hit, “‘Don’t Call Us, We’ll Call You.’ An amusing song about the fickle music industry, the dance-friendly track spelled out, touch-tone style, the phone numbers for CBS Records … (it) became a hit, reaching #9 in March 1975.”

The band’s 1975 uptempo release, “I’ve Got a Song,” didn’t fare as well, only reaching #110 on the US pop charts. Starting in A major, the piano-driven tune shifts into D major after the intro (0:39) and ends in Eb major (3:10).

Mama’s Gun | Cheap Hotel

“Cheap Hotel (2014) is UK band Mama’s Gun third album,” (Soul&Jazz&Funk). “The Andy Platts-fronted outfit debuted with Routes To Riches and its pleasing, soul-slanted pop won underground acclaim, though the set went to 3 in the Japanese album charts! The band’s second LP, The Life And Soul, was (as the name might imply) a much more soulful affair and one of the tracks, ‘Pots Of Gold’ won the affection of real soul fans worldwide. For Cheap Hotel, the band … have reunited with their first producer – Julian Simmons (who’s recently worked with Ed Sheeran and the Guillemots) and not surprisingly the overall sound of the set reverts back to a poppier flavor, albeit a very classy kind of pop with, yes, a touch of soul still about it.

Group leader Platts, we’re told, has eclectic tastes. He cites Motown and funk as amongst his formative influences, but he admits to a huge passion for ELO (Electric Light Orchestra) — and it’s that Brummie based outfit’s sound that dominates Cheap Hotel … Dip in almost anywhere here and you’ll be reminded of ELO – maybe garnished with a hint of the Beatles or the sounds of a little gentleman called Prince, but it’s almost all that slick, polished ELO pop sound … Cheap Hotel is a great pop album with just a touch of soul about it.”

The title track begins like a particularly funky day on Sesame Street, complete with a hook doubled between whistles and a tinny toy xylophone. But after the verse starts at 0:18, occasional extra beats and a Prince-like high lead vocal on the chorus confirm that this isn’t a theme from a children’s TV show. At 0:53, the second verse brings an upward half-step key change, but at 1:09, the tonality deflates back to the original key. It’s tempting to wait for another key change at some point during the tune, but other than some quick shifts during an instrumental break (1:29 – 1:53), it never arrives!

Zager + Evans | In the Year 2525

It’s 2025, and our AI overlords have just begun their domination of the human species. What will life be like five hundred years hence?

Zager and Evans, a duo who met as students at Nebraska Wesleyan University, explained the consequences of technological change run amok with their only hit, “In the Year 2525 (Exordium + Terminus),” a Billboard #1 hit in 1969. Each verse increments the year described by 1010 years, so we have the sequence 2525, 3535, 4545, and so on, up to 9595. 1010 is not necessarily the most logical interval, but makes for a handy piece of songwriting.

There are upward half-step modulations at 1:34 and 2:12. The fan-made video is cut together from excerpts derived from Fritz Lang’s 1927 sci-fi classic film Metropolis, in all of its retro-futuristic splendor.