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’ 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.
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, 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.
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.
**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.
**This is the first installment in a three-part series featuring covers of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”**
American singer Ariana Grande’s cover of the Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane’s “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” begins in Ab and modulates up a half step to A at 1:46
Written for the end credits/soundtrack of the 2000 film How The Grinch Stole Christmas, “Where Are You Christmas” is a pop adaptation of the song “Christmas, Why Can’t I Find You” that is featured in the movie.
Mariah Carey, who wrote both songs, originally recorded the former, but due to a legal dispute with her husband it could not be released, leading to Faith Hill recording it instead.
The power ballad starts in Bb, modulates briefly to C at 2:59, and ultimately lands in D at 3:16.
“Christmas Time,” written originally by Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance, is the ninth track on Canadian singer Tyler Shaw’s 2021 holiday album A Tyler Shaw Christmas.
The tune begins in Bb and modulates up to B at 2:37.
“Christmas Spirit” is featured on Richard Marx’s eponymous 2012 holiday album. Marx co-wrote the song with Fee Waybill, the former lead singer of The Tubes and frequent collaborator with Marx.
The track begins in G and modulates down to E for the first chorus at 0:49. It returns to G for the verse at 1:25 and again moves to E for the chorus at 1:54. A final modulation up a step to F# occurs at 2:56.
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