Tag: pop

B.J. Thomas + Keb’ Mo’ | Most of All

“B.J. Thomas is joined by Grammy winning bluesman Keb’ Mo’ on this newly recorded acoustic version of BJ’s 1971 hit ‘Most Of All’ from the release The Living Room Sessions,” (Youtube). “A true American institution whose iconic pop, country and gospel hits defined their respective generations and now transcend them, B.J. Thomas has found a unique way to celebrate an incredible half a century in music and some 47 years since his first gold selling hit … The singer, a five time Grammy and two time Dove Award winner who has sold more than 70 million records … is ranked in Billboard‘s Top 50 most played artists over the past 50 years.” The Grammy Hall of Fame inductee passed away in 2021.

Thomas’ duet partner on this expanded 2013 version of the original solo vocal track, vocalist/guitarist Keb’ Mo’, has won five Grammy awards and 14 Blues Foundation awards during his 50-year career and has collaborated with Taj Mahal, Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt, The Chicks, and Lyle Lovett (KebMo.com).

Originally released on Thomas’ 1970 album of the same name, “Most of All” became a #2 hit on the US Adult Contemporary chart. After a rubato section and a pause, the updated version of the tune shifts up a half step as the breezy groove returns at 1:47.

Emily Linge | All By Myself (Eric Carmen cover)

Emily Linge is a prolific YouTube contributor and a British-Norwegian singer songwriter born and raised in Dubai. She sings and self-accompanies on piano and guitar, sometimes with other instrumentalists, including her two brothers. Despite her young age (she was 13 when this video was posted), many of the songs she performs are from decades past, with lots of Beatles covers in particular.

“All By Myself” is a power ballad written by Eric Carmen, with elements taken from Sergei Rachmoninoff’s 2nd Piano Concerto. (A version by male vocal group Il Divo appeared previously on MotD). Emily’s rendition largely follows Carmen’s, including the expressive piano interlude featured on his album edit.

Linge’s cover begins in G major; from 2:41 – 3:12, a brief interlude takes leave of the key, moving in several directions before a return to G. At 4:24, a common-tone modulation to B major takes a page from Céline Dion’s gutsy version, including a soaring high vocal line at 4:21. A few more keys are briefly visited before Linge lands in A major at 4:47.

Nik Kershaw | L.A.B.A.T.Y.D.

After his polished New Wave/sophistipop sound gave him a fast ascent to the top of the UK pop charts and some notoriety in the US as well, Radio Musicola (1986) “was Nik Kershaw’s chance to … deliver a big-budget, endlessly-fussed-over studio ‘project’…” (MovingTheRiver). “Perhaps unsurprisingly, given his meteoric rise to fame, the main themes of the album are press intrusion and tabloid sensationalism … in a neat irony, the rise of technology-led, assembly-line music was also in Kershaw’s sights, despite Musicola making liberal use of all the latest sampling and synthesizer technology …

An interesting album which clearly fell between the stools of art and commerce, Radio Musicola reached a barely believable #46 in the UK album chart, just over a year after Kershaw had played Live Aid. It disappeared without trace in the US … But Kershaw didn’t seem bothered about his new ‘selective’ popularity; in fact, he seemed genuinely relieved, but wondered how MCA were going to sell him now that he was focused on being a musician rather than a pop star.

‘LABATYD’ (Life’s a Bitch and Then You Die) is pure class, a half-time shuffle …” Starting in E minor and marching in place for nearly an entire minute, the track’s initial focus is its infectious groove. But at 0:53, Kershaw throws a spanner in the works, tumbling the chorus into an improbable Eb major. 1:21 brings us back to E minor for another relatively static verse, this time dressed up with a few additional flourishes from the horn section. At 2:13, we jump the tracks again into Eb major for the next chorus. At 2:48, an instrumental chorus wafts up into E major; as the groove is finally extinguished, a C lydian chord closes the tune at 4:00.

Roxette | It Must Have Been Love

“This breakup ballad was written by Roxette’s instrumentalist, Per Gessle. Despite the somber lyric, the song proved very pleasing to the ear and became a huge hit,” (Songfacts). “Recorded before Roxette started working on their 1990 Joyride album, ‘It Must Have Been Love’ was reworked for the movie Pretty Woman, starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere. The movie was an enormous hit, and so was the soundtrack … Released in March 1990, Pretty Woman developed a huge following, which helped send this song to the top of the US Hot 100 in June, where it stayed for two weeks.

The Swedish group had been popular in Scandinavia for years before they hit it big in the US: “It wasn’t until an American student studying in Sweden brought a copy of their second album home to Minneapolis, and persuaded a local radio DJ to play ‘The Look,’ that they achieved international fame,” (BBC). In 2019, the duo’s vocalist, Marie Fredriksson, passed away at age 61 after a 17-year battle with cancer.

The verses’ melody is simple and contained, but the choruses bring a greater range. Building on that trend, a resounding modulation up a perfect fourth hits on a chorus at 2:59.

Barbra Streisand & Blake Shelton | I’d Want It To Be You

“I’d Want It To Be You” is featured on Streisand’s 2014 album Partners, comprised of duets with various male vocalists. Streisand originally recorded the song with Willie Nelson, but it was not finished in time for the release so a version with country singer Blake Shelton was included instead (the Nelson cut was released in 2021.)

The track begins in Eb and shifts up a half step to E following the bridge at 2:50.

Eydie Gormé & Los Panchos | La última noche

“La última noche,” written by Bobby Collazo, was featured on the 1964 album Amore by American singer Eydie Gorme and the trio Los Panchos. Gorme, who was born in New York, grew up speaking Spanish, and “Blame It On The Bossa Nova” is one of the songs that helped establish her as a mainstream star. Los Panchos, generally regarded as one of the most influential Latin American music groups of all time, sold millions of records and also appeared in more than 50 films.

The following is from an interview Gormé did with The Arizona Republic about the album:

“I knew a lot of them,” Gormé says. “I didn’t even realize I knew them until we worked on them, and they were songs I knew from my house growing up.” She has other memories of making the disc; specifically, of Los Panchos. “They were drinking a lot of wine on those sessions,” she says with a laugh. “They were lovely people. Drunk, but lovely.” Whatever the reason, the artists had a once-in-a-lifetime chemistry.

The track alternates between F minor and F major throughout.

The Sandpipers | Come Saturday Morning

“The Sandpipers were a male vocal trio that recorded a handful of easy listening pop hits in the mid-’60s,” (AllMusic). “The group was distinguished by its light, breezy harmonies, which floated over delicate, breezy string arrangements, as well as the occasional appearance of a wordless female backing vocalist who drifted in and out of the music. Though they didn’t manage to have a long, sustained career, the group did have one Top Ten hit with ‘Guantanamera’ in 1966.

In 1970, they contributed songs to the film The Sterile Cuckoo (“Come Saturday Morning”) and Russ Meyer’s Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. Though the Sandpipers continued to record into the ’70s, their audience diminished with each successive year. After spending five years without any chart success, the group disbanded in the mid-’70s.”

Released in September 1969, “Come Saturday Morning” reached #83 on the Pop chart and #9 on the Easy Listening chart. The tune was subsequently covered by Liza Minnelli, Chet Baker, Johnny Mathis, Tony Bennett, and Patti Page, among other artists. Starting in D major, the lilting 6/8 track shifts to F major at 1:51, but by 2:19 the tune has returned to its original key.

Many thanks to MotD regular contributor Rob P. for this submission!

Ann Hampton Callaway & Melissa Manchester | New Eyes

“As a new year begins, I am excited to release a song called “New Eyes”, which I joyfully wrote and recorded with my friend, the legendary Melissa Manchester,” said Ann Hampton Callaway. “We created a moment when two people get a new lease on life by letting go of the past and looking at each other with ‘ new eyes.'”

The track is featured on Callaway’s new album Finding Beauty, her first record of all original material. The verses are set in Bb, and the choruses start up a step in C before quickly modulating again to Db.

Lou Reed | Perfect Day

“Lou Reed’s low-key, optimistic, and earnest ballad about spending a casual, but perfect day with his partner is arguably his most enduring,” (GoldRadioUK). “Given the nature of rock ‘n’ roll artists at the time, and his previous outlandish experimentalism with The Velvet Underground, ‘Perfect Day’ was a bit of an anomaly for Reed. With the media, Reed was notoriously obnoxious, obtuse, and twisted journalists in circles as to not reveal the true meaning behind his words.

Featuring on his David Bowie-produced 1972 album Transformer … Reed wrote the lyrics to ‘Perfect Day,’ the slow, piano-based balled which details a typically amorous day out with his partner … The song’s lyrics flit between seemingly simple, conventional devotion to his partner in ‘Oh, it’s such a perfect day, I’m glad I spent it with you,’ to Reed’s true feelings about himself: ‘You made me forget myself. I thought I was someone else, someone good.'”

After a verse in Bb minor, the chorus brings a shift to Bb major between 0:51 and 1:18; the pattern continues from there. The placement of this humble, earnest ballad as a double-A-side single with “Walk on the Wild Side,” the uptempo oddball love letter to the NYC world surrounding Andy Warhol’s Factory, likely caused more than a few cases of whiplash among listeners.

USA for Africa | We Are The World

“We Are The World” was written by Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson as a benefit for African famine relief. Richie and Jackson, along with producer Quincy Jones, assembled a supergroup of singers, including Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Paul Simon, Billy Joel, Bob Dylan, Cyndi Lauper and many others, to record the track in January 1985. It quickly became the fastest selling pop single in US History, and raised over $80 million. Last month, Netflix released The Greatest Night In Pop, a documentary chronicling how the recording session came together and including footage from the studio.

The tune begins in E and modulates to F at 4:03.