Tag: pop

The Jacksons | This Place Hotel (a.k.a. Heartbreak Hotel)

The Jacksons’ 1980 release Triumph kept Michael Jackson in the forefront among his brothers. In retrospect, the track “Heartbreak Hotel” (later changed to “This Place Hotel” to avoid confusion with Elvis Presley’s hit song) was a clear precursor to the pop/r&b/funk/horror blend so clearly on display with Thriller, Michael’s subsequent smash hit solo album.

“… ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ … plods along nicely, loaded with strings and lead guitars,” (PopRescue). “There’s an odd repeated noise that made me pause the record to see if it was a problem with my house pipes… but no, it’s there in the chorus for some reason. When released as the album’s second single, this track stumbled at #44 … Overall, this album is a slick production, showing the Jacksons as well-versed musicians and vocalists.”

Bass lines aren’t always the first choice to host a hook, but the Jacksons make it happen here. Amplified by syncopated piano kicks, the rangy bass line takes center stage from the first moment, when it’s first stated as a rubato cello line, followed by an extended intro that takes us up to the 0:50 mark. E minor is the overall key, although an interlude from 3:28 – 3:42 takes us on a diversionary path through a series of cascading keys of the moment. From 4:42 – 4:56, the diversion returns, but this time we emerge out of the rapids into a peaceful string-sweetened rubato piano feature that wraps up the tune in B major.

Seal | The Beginning

“… on his debut album (1991), Seal is an ambiguous, mercurial entity—not so much a singer as a pure source of heat and light,” (Pitchfork) “For all the marvels of his voice, the music surrounding him is just as opulent; his singing is just one thread in a vast tapestry of crushed velvet, raw silk, and spun gold. (To paraphrase Project Runway host Heidi Klum, who was married to Seal from 2005 until 2012, it sounds expensive.)

… Though Seal had already written some of the album’s songs on guitar, in (producer Trevor) Horn’s hands, the material became far more ornate. (On) ‘The Beginning,’ the album’s most straightforward club-centric cut … Horn manages a more multidimensional sense of space; light-years stretch between the string pads, funk guitars, and layered percussion … From the first moment we hear Seal arcing upward across the stereo field, it’s clear that Horn knew exactly how precious this particular instrument was … Seal may have idolized literary writers like Dylan and Mitchell, but you don’t come to Seal for poetry; you come for that voice and the way it navigates Horn’s productions, like a bird surfing springtime’s swirling air currents.”

The lush percussion layers of “The Beginning,” repeated nearly to the point of trance, suddenly disappear as an unexpected downward modulation kicks in between 3:30 and 3:46, returning as the tonality returns to the original key.

38 Special | Second Chance

“38 Special guitarist Jeff Carlisi wrote “Second Chance” with the Los Angeles songwriter Cal Curtis … It was the biggest chart hit for 38 Special; while it didn’t have the Classic Rock staying power of their songs like “Caught Up In You” and “Hold On Loosely,” it was the biggest Adult Contemporary hit of 1989,” (Songfacts). “… When Billboard published their list of the top AC songs of all time in 2011, this came in at #24.”

The song was the highest-charting Hot 100 single the band ever produced, peaking at #6 and spending 21 weeks on the chart. The song hit #5 on the Singles Sales chart, #9 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart, #2 on the Mainstream Rock chart, and became the band’s first No.1 single on the Adult Contemporary chart. It later became Billboard magazine’s Adult Contemporary Song of the Year for 1989 (Billboard).

The midtempo tune starts in Bb major and shifts up a half-step with a very late modulation at 4:05, well after the bridge.

Kate Yeager | Keep My Distance

American singer/songwriter Kate Yeager has performed at Radio City and Lincoln Center, and will be out on tour next month. “Furthering the lineage of artists like Carol King, Tracey Chapman, and Janis Joplin,” Yeager’s YouTube bio reads, “25-year old Kate Yeager’s lyrics and soul-infused vocals transcend stats, trends and ages.”

Her single “Keep My Distance” was released in 2019. It begins in F, modulates up half step to Gb at 2:28, and then another half step up to G at 3:00.

Bryan Adams | Summer of ’69

“Bryan Adams’ smash hit ‘Summer of ‘69’ comes from the 1984 studio album Reckless,” (American Songwriter). “Shortly after its release, the single climbed to #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and helped push Reckless to the #1 position on the Billboard 200 album chart in August 1985.  

‘I wanted to capture a special energy on the track—and nearly lost my team doing it. I basically fought with everyone until it became the way it is today. It wasn’t easy getting it there. I had no idea it would become such a classic,” admits Adams. ‘Originally the song had been called The Best Days of My Life, but we had always played around with the idea of writing a song about summertime. At one point while we were doing the demo, I just threw in the lyric It was the summer of ’69 and it stuck. And the guitar intro is about the only thing I can play, so that was pretty easy.'”

The tune is built in D major overall, with a bridge that shifts to F major (1:41 – 1:55) before an interlude returns us to the original key.

Howard Jones | Hide and Seek

UK native songwriter/performer Howard Jones’ career blossomed with his signature single, “Things Can Only Get Better.” That uptempo tune, which acknowledges life’s complexities but maintains an infectiously positive attitude, seems to have set the tone for Jones’ career. From a 2022 interview with 48Hills: “‘From the first album, the first single, I wanted the music and the lyrics to be of use to people to help them get through difficult times in the same way that music helped me. It had been such a comfort and an inspiration to me as I was growing up … I was consciously writing the music for the times when people, including myself, needed a boost, to get over some really difficult situation that life is constantly throwing at us … we need everyone on this planet to be functioning at their highest, most positive level if we’re going to overcome the difficulties we’re facing.'”

“Howard looks at the big picture in this song, where he goes back to the big bang and asks us to remember a time when there was ‘nothing at all, just a distant hum,'” (Songfacts). “Howard Jones performed ‘Hide and Seek’ at Live Aid in 1985 on Freddie Mercury’s piano.” Stepping the tempo up noticeably compared to the studio version of this ballad, Jones somehow gathered the courage to perform this track solo at the piano amidst Live Aid’s otherwise saturated aural textures and huge bands. The transatlantic concert was witnessed by 70,000+ audience members in London and 80,000+ for the US set; “an estimated audience of 1.9 billion, in 150 nations, nearly 40% of the world population” viewed the broadcast on TV or listened via radio (CNN).

After an intro and a verse in D minor, the chorus lifts the mood with a shift to D major (first heard from 1:52 – 2:23) before reverting to the hook-driven minor interlude and verse. The connective tissue in the transition from minor to major is a prominent Dsus4.

Marion Ryan | Hot Diggity (Dog Ziggity Boom)

Marion Ryan, born in 1931 in Yorkshire, England, was a “popular singer with a vivacious style, was successful in the UK on records, radio, and television in the 50s and early 60s (AllMusic) … (she) first appeared on the UK music scene in 1953 and became a favourite on UK television … In the late 50s, Ryan covered several big hits, including Perry Como’s ‘Hot Diggity (Dog Ziggity Boom).'”

From The Independent: “In 1967 (Ryan) retired after a second marriage (to) the millionaire impresario Harold Davison, who handled Frank Sinatra. … Ryan’s personality may be gauged by her entry in the 1962 Radio Luxembourg Book of Record Stars. ‘Pet likes: lounging casually at home. Pet hates: rude, loud, ill-mannered people. Favourite food: Chinese. Hobbies: reading.'”

The carnival-like instrumentation of “Hot Diggity” (1956) somehow provides no competition for Ryan’s confident vocals. At 1:29, a half-step modulation kicks in.

Michael W. Smith (feat. Jennifer Nettles) | Christmas Day

We conclude this year’s holiday season at MotD with Michael W. Smith’s “Christmas Day,” featuring American singer Jennifer Nettles and the Nashville Children’s Choir. The track was first recorded for Smith’s 2007 album It’s A Wonderful Christmas; this new arrangement appears on the 2014 record The Spirit of Christmas.

Beginning in F, there is a downward modulation to D at 0:42, and another to B at 1:17. We return to D at 1:30, and land in Gb at 1:44.

Chris Mann (feat. Martina McBride) | Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

**This is the second installment in a three-part series featuring covers of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”**

American singer/songwriter Chris Mann featured country singer Martina McBride on his cover, the second track on his 2013 record Home for Christmas. Beginning in A, the tune modulates deceptively to D at 1:33 and then up a fourth to G at 2:31.