Tag: pop

BTS | For Youth

Popsugar, 2022: “To commemorate nine years in the music industry, BTS have dropped a three-disc anthology album titled Proof. While the album largely consists of past hits, the world’s biggest mainstream K-pop group added three new tracks to the mix, including … ‘For Youth.’ As fans put on the record and relive the hits that made them a lifelong stan, many may wonder about the inspiration behind the closing track, ‘For Youth.’

The song’s placement on the album is undoubtedly intentional, as it’s dedicated to the the K-pop phenom’s avid fanbase … there’s something poetic about including fans in a song that’s basically a love letter addressed to them, thanking them for their love and support over the years … Having gained worldwide prominence at an early age, the group members talk about how they can’t look back on their younger years without associating them with the kindness fans showed them …”

BTS tracks have garnered a staggering 51 billion streams to date — more than three times as many as the next most popular K-pop group. “For Youth,” a track with a gentle 6/8 feel, is augmented in this performance by fans singing tightly coordinated backup lines. The tune features a minimal accompaniment compared to the dense textures of most K-Pop. 3:37 brings a half-step shift upwards from D major to Eb major. Many thanks to our multi-post contributor Ziyad for yet another great submission!

The Police | Every Breath You Take

“’I woke up in the middle of the night with that line in my head,’ Sting told the Independent” about “Every Breath You Take” (1983), (Ultimate Classic Rock). “He ‘sat down at the piano and had written it in half an hour. The tune itself is generic, an aggregate of hundreds of others, but the words are interesting. It sounds like a comforting love song. I didn’t realize at the time how sinister it is.’ Sting brought a demo of the song to his bandmates. Tensions were at their height back then, and arguments were commonplace. In keeping, the Police squabbled over the best way to attack ‘Every Breath You Take,’ and reportedly spent six weeks disagreeing on how to move forward. Eventually, everyone added their unique influence. Stewart Copeland’s backbeat propelled things along, while Andy Summers made an infectious contribution.

‘Without that guitar part, there’s no song,’ Summers told Record Collector. ‘ … I actually came up with it in one take, but that’s because Sting’s demo left a lot of space for me to do what I did. There was no way I was just gonna strum barre chords through a song like that.’ … the lead single for Synchronicity, ‘Every Breath You Take’ became a massive hit. The song reached #1 in six different countries, including the U.S., U.K. and Canada. It was the best-selling single of 1983 and won two Grammy awards, including Song of the Year.”

Written in a slightly uptuned G# major overall, the track’s chorus (first heard from 1:22 -1:43) shifts to F# mixolydian before returning to the original key.

Peaches + Herb | Reunited

“Peaches & Herb weren’t really reunited. The duo had been a pretty successful soul act in the ’60s, and then they’d disappeared for years before returning with their two biggest hits ever,” (Stereogum). But the Peaches & Herb of the late ’70s weren’t the same as the Peaches & Herb of the late ’60s. Herb was the same. (Herb was Herbert Feemster, a Washington, DC native who wisely took the stage name Herb Fame when he got famous). Peaches was different. The Peaches on ‘Reunited’ was Linda Greene, the third in a long line of Peacheses. Maybe ‘Reconstituted’ just wasn’t as catchy a song title.

… Back in 1968, the first version of Peaches & Herb had scored a minor hit with a cover of ‘United,’ an early Philly soul song that Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff had written for the Intruders. So ‘Reunited’ (1979) was a kind of sequel … The lyrics hint at past mistakes: ‘I can’t go cheating/ Honey, I can’t play.’ But they mostly refer to relationship bliss in the most generic terms possible: ‘I was a fool to ever leave your side/ Me minus you is such a lonely ride/ The breakup we had has made me lonesome and sad.'”

The sleepy track did quite well for itself: it topped both the R&B singles chart and the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for four weeks in 1979. Selling over two million copies, it was ranked as the No. 5 song for 1979 by Billboard. After a start in Db major, “Reunited” features an early half-step shift to D major at 1:42, then another to Eb major at 3:10. The verses are just about identical to the choruses in harmonic structure, so the extra bumps in energy brought by the harmonic step-ups is welcome indeed!

Ben Folds | Learn to Live With What You Are

“If Elton John had retained his original sense of fun, he might now be doing something along the lines of Ben Folds’ celebrated live act,” (The Guardian). “Having long ago embraced his inner nerd, Folds employs spectacles, piano and wit as weapons against a world that is taller, cooler and sexier, and emerges victorious. Accordingly, there’s an audience who want nothing more than to show their love for the man who describes himself, much to their delight, as a ‘piano-playing asshole.’ They sing every lyric back to him, pretend to be trumpets when requested, and generally assure the pocket-sized North Carolinian that brains beat brawn.”

Before turning his focus fully to the piano, Folds’ longtime instrument of choice was the drums; he still gleefully trots out a small set at some of his live shows to accompany his guest/opening act musicians. “Folds’ very physical playing reminds us that the piano is a percussion instrument, and he bends it to his will – as delicate accompaniment during a solo interlude, and aggressive mainstay elsewhere … a big, clever noise.”

(The video has an actual plot of sorts, but if you prefer to skip to the music, it starts at 0:30). “Learn to Live With What You Are” (2003) begins in E major. After a brief bridge, 3:44 brings a shift up a whole step to F# major for a final chorus. However, the closing seconds of the tune appear to settle back down into E major. Many thanks to our reader/listener Mandy D. for this submission to MotD — her second!

Rick Astley | Take Me to Your Heart

“Best known for his global 1987 hit ‘Never Gonna Give You Up,’ Rick Astley is an icon of British pop, his style marked by a rich, deep voice and love of classic soul and R&B,” (Qobuz). “An overnight sensation, Astley topped the U.K. charts with 1987’s Whenever You Need Somebody and again hit the Top Ten with 1988’s, albums that also reached the Top 20 of the Billboard 200 and spawned more hits like ‘Together Forever’ and ‘Whenever You Need Somebody.’

However, looking for more creative autonomy, Astley broke with his production team for 1991’s Free before largely stepping away from the spotlight. He reemerged with 2005’s Portrait and gained widespread viral fame via the “rickrolling” meme, a phenomenon he purportedly found amusing, and which brought a wave of renewed interest in his work, leading to him winning Best Act Ever award at the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards. In 2016, Astley released 50, an organic, soul-infused production returned to the top of the U.K. Albums Chart. He has continued to enjoy a career renaissance with releases like 2018’s Beautiful Life and 2023’s Are We There Yet?“

1988’s “Take Me to Your Heart” features an instrumental intro in D major, but at 0:17, verse 1 shifts down to C major. The chorus (first heard at 0:49 – 1:05) returns to D major. The keys continue to alternate from there.

Foreigner | Feels Like the First Time

The Foreigner debut has some of the biggest FM rock hits of 1977, like “Cold as Ice,” “Feels Like the First Time,” (and) “Long, Long Way From Home” — songs which still get plenty of radio air time today,” (Classic Rock Forums). “This album had a solid production by Gary Lyons and one of the best songwriters of the 70s, Mick Jones. Jones was involved with each song on this album. Vocalist Lou Gramm is one of the best in the business, with a strong, soaring voice.

… every song is highly polished with flawless musicianship. This album is truly a classic! ‘Feels Like the First Time’ is a grand opening song. A quintessential glam-jam with stellar keyboards, catchy riffs, and an outstanding vocal performance from Gramm. The background vocal harmony layering is a great addition to the already fantastic musical mix.”

Built in G mixolydian overall, the verse for “Feels Like the First Time” features a striking ascending whole step key-of-the-moment series (0:37 and 0:46) before 0:55 brings us the first chorus (returning to the original key). Between 1:49 – 2:21, the relative E minor takes over for the bridge, leading to a series of choruses in the original key for the fading outro.

Wilson Pickett | Sugar Sugar

The producers of The Archies animated TV series (1968-1969) “recruited a crew of anonymous songwriters and performers to provide some musical product to be performed by the cartoon band,” (Reverb Raccoon). “To the consternation of everyone who was not taking massive doses of drugs, The Archies scored a #1 hit with ‘Sugar, Sugar.’ The song was written by Jeff Barry and Andy Kim, who later had his own #1 hit with ‘Rock Me Gently.'” In fact, the track was a worldwide smash hit, and scored #1 positions on the 1969 year-end charts in both the US and Canada.

” … Long story short, The Archies’ ‘Sugar, Sugar’ is the epitome of everything that was wrong with pop music of the late 60’s and early 70’s. No one, except maybe anyone unlucky enough to have lost their virginity at a drive-in movie while it played on the car radio, recalls ‘Sugar, Sugar’ with anything approaching nostalgic affection. But… Let’s give this much-maligned song to another artist. Let’s give it to soul singer Wilson Pickett. This is the guy who had hits with ‘In the Midnight Hour,’ ‘Land of 1000 Dances,’ and ‘Mustang Sally.’

Pickett’s 1970 version of ‘Sugar, Sugar’ is everything that The Archies’ version was not. Meaning that Wilson Pickett’s version can be listened to, fifty years after the fact, without embarrassment. The horns and pulsing organ drive the song, and Wilson Pickett’s vocal shows a passion and sincerity that his animated counterpart failed to achieve. I can listen to this song every day. If I stumble across the original once a year it’s too many times … The moral of this story: Don’t send a cartoon to do a man’s job. Or something like that.” To say nothing of the fact that Pickett’s version features a half-step key change (2:08), a factor missing from the original version! We’ve featured both versions below.

Swing Out Sister | Where the Hell Did I Go Wrong

“Swing Out Sister are a sophisticated pop duo from the U.K. Singer Corinne Drewery and multi-instrumentalist/arranger Andy Connell’s sound ranges from jazz, classic, and modern pop to hooky EDM and synth pop,” (AllMusic). “1987’s It’s Better to Travel hit the top spot on the British album charts. 1989’s cinematic Kaleidoscope World resonated in the U.S., Europe, and Japan.” Many other releases followed, received with varying success around the world.

” … Nottingham-born Corinne Drewery was a fashion designer and model. After moving to London in 1977, she attended Central St. Martin’s with a certain Sade Adu. Drewery had no professional musical experience. She met Connell by chance at the Hacienda Club just after the band had completed their demos and signed with Phonogram. They discovered a shared love for vintage Blue Note and Riverside jazz, the scores of John Barry and Ennio Morricone, the funky Brazilian fusion of Airto Moreira and Flora Purim, the high-class pop of Burt Bacharach and Hal David, the sweeping cinematic soul of Isaac Hayes and David Porter, Motown, Stax/Volt, and singers Dionne Warwick, Nina Simone, and Dusty Springfield. After a brief audition,” Drewery was invited “to be a full member — just in time to release their official first single, ‘Blue Mood,’ late that year … The single didn’t do much, but its follow-up, 1986’s “Breakout,” was a Top Ten hit in Great Britain and Japan.

… The group’s appetite for experimentation was far from sated, however. 2001’s Somewhere Deep in the Night offered a wide range of haunting vocal harmonies set in soaring string arrangements that owed an unapologetic debt to film composers such as Michel LeGrande, Francis Lai, and Pierre Barouh. It offered several instrumental tracks showcasing Connell’s arrangements. Issued in England, Japan, and Europe, its singles, including “Where the Hell Did I Go Wrong” … and the sweeping, hallucinatory title track were far too adventurous to chart.”

Starting in a D major that spends very little time on or even near its tonic chord, “Where the Hell Did I Go Wrong” shifts to Bb major for its chorus at 1:03. At 1:26, the pattern continues, with more shifts in tonality following. Many thanks to Ari S. for this wonderful find — her ninth contribution to MotD!

Dolly Parton | Baby, I’m Burnin’

“’Baby, I’m Burnin” is a killer disco track that still sounds great today,” (Country Universe). “Very much of the era, but not overwhelmed by it. A big reason that it works is that Parton’s jubilant persona is a good fit for dance music in its late 1970s form. When the genre moved toward synthesized sounds in the 1980s, her natural warmth would often sound out of place. But she sounds great here. She knows she’s singing a silly song for people to dance to, and she commits to it wholeheartedly.

And don’t let the cotton candy substance of the song fool you. A great disco song isn’t any easier to write than a great country song, and having a talent for the latter doesn’t necessarily translate to having one for the former. It’s a keeper, and one that’s proven timeless enough for her to still open her shows with it today.”

There’s a disco-infused country version of “Baby, I’m Burnin'” (1978) and a country-infused disco version; this video is from the latter category. At 3:41, after what sounds like both an electronic and acoustic percussion break, the tune moves up a half step.

Beach Boys | That’s Why God Made the Radio

“When the surviving members of The Beach Boys spoke of reuniting for a 50th anniversary tour and a new album in 2012, a lot of fans were unsure about how the conflicting personalities of members such as Brian Wilson and Mike Love would interact both on the stage and in a studio environment,” (Beats Per Minute). “However, one spin of That’s Why God Made the Radio (2012) is enough to suggest that while the band may have had their differences, they can still make engaging and unique music together that sounds remarkably fresh, despite the aging of its band members.

In fact, it’s quite a humbling observation that The Beach Boys are still capable of making music that sounds as eclectic as ever, and their commercial gravitas makes listening to the radio interesting once again. The Beach Boys are a breath of fresh air, because nobody is really making music like them nowadays … Brian and the band still sound brilliant singing together. Wilson has proven that his vocals are still on top-form with certain recent live performances, and on That’s Why God Made the Radio he’s hitting all of the right notes … There’s little doubt that this is one of The Beach Boy’s strongest albums since their 70s output, which really plays to their strengths and comes across as some minor miracle that they can still make music this good after five decades in the business.”

Brian Wilson, the sonic and creative core of the Beach Boys, passed away in 2025. While he released his final solo album, At My Piano, in 2021, That’s Why God Made the Radio was indeed the group’s swan song. The verses and choruses of the title track both contain quite a few brief keys of the moment, perhaps most noticeably at 1:01, when the end of the chorus gently grinds its gears as it shifts to the next verse. But at the end of the bridge (2:19), a lasting and unmistakeable half-step key change locks in for the final chorus/fading outro.