Tag: pop

The Archies | Time for Love

” … A real rocker wouldn’t be caught dead with his picture in magazines like Teen Beat, and it goes without saying that a band can’t be anything like The Archies,” (Spectropop) “A cartoon studio group with its own Saturday-morning TV show is just about as uncool an image as you could ever want. So it comes as no surprise that rock critics have been trashing Archies records for 30 years now.

Wouldn’t they be surprised, though, if they ever took the time to really listen to Archies records? They’d discover that this ‘bubblegum’ band cut more than a few great songs. Between September of 1968 and September of 1971, The Archies gave Saturday-morning TV its best rock ‘n’ roll since the animated Beatles crashed the kiddie airwaves three years earlier. Adults never realized how good it was . . . or so it seemed, until a song called ‘Sugar, Sugar’ was released, and rocketed into the stratosphere.”

Another track by this fictitious yet also real band was “Time for Love” (1968). Anyone who’s heard the smash hit “Sugar, Sugar” will recognize the lead vocal (Ron Dante) and the band’s distinctive overall sound. The first key change, up a minor third, hits at 0:14 — the first of many packed into the track’s compact 2.25-minute runtime! Many thanks to our regular contributor, Julianna A. from Brazil, for this delightful submission — her ninth in total for MotD.

Harper’s Bizarre | The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy)

Sometimes the greatest creators regret their creations: Think of Dr. Frankenstein and his wretched monster. A similar fate has befallen Paul Simon with his song “The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy)”. The song originally appeared on the 1966 Simon and Garfunkel album, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme, featuring Dave Brubeck Quartet members Joe Morello on drums and Eugene Wright on bass.

But the song has worn out its welcome in Simon’s mind; he regards it as “cringey”. These days, he plays the song as a penance if he makes a mistake during a performance. He mentioned his newfound loathing of the song during a 2017 performance with Stephen Colbert, and again in 2024 during a New York event with Colbert. You can hear Simon and Colbert sing a fractured version of the song together below.

Harper’s Bizarre was a sunshine pop band from California whose most famous alumnus is Ted Templeman, who went on to produce hit records by The Doobie Brothers and Van Halen. Leon Russell arranged and played piano on the cover version here, which features studio stalwarts Glen Campbell, Carol Kaye, and Jim Gordon.

The 1967 Harper’s Bizarre version offers an upward modulation at 1:51. Is the mod groovy or cringey — or is it more about the band’s stiff version of swing? You decide!

Go West | Goodbye Girl

“Peter Cox first met Richard Drummie in 1974,” (artist website). “Peter played a demo tape for Richard. He liked what he heard and so began the friendship and collaboration. In 1982 Peter and Richard signed a publishing deal under the names of ‘Cox and Drummie’. Together they approached several record companies without success. With help from their manager, John Glover, they secured studio time and recorded their first two singles – ‘We Close Our Eyes’ and ‘Call Me.’ Cox and Drummie were renamed as Go West. Within days, John was negotiating a contract with Chrysalis Records. Go West finally had a record deal.

‘We Close Our Eyes’ was released in the Spring of 1985. It reached #5 in the UK charts and became a top 10 hit in the USA. This success was followed by a further three UK top 10 hits – ‘Call Me,’ ‘Goodbye Girl’ and ‘Don’t Look Down’. The album Go West sold 1.5 million copies worldwide and remained on the UK chart for 83 weeks, establishing them as one of the greatest songwriting duos to emerge in the 80s. In 1986 they won the BRIT Award for ‘Best British Newcomer’ – the one BRIT which is decided by the listening public.”

The ballad “Goodbye Girl” was something of an anomaly within the band’s early output, particularly compared to the first two singles from the album. Co-songwriter, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist Richard Drummie says of “Call Me,” the album’s second single, ” … you can tell it’s commercial, but you should have heard the demo – it sounded like seven ice cream vans coming round the corner,” (ClassicPopMag). “It was just so poppy. But it got us signed,” after many years of effort. 

During this 1985 performance at Top of the Pops — a venue more or less required of fast chart climbers in the UK — the entire band mimed the studio version of the song throughout (adhering to TotP‘s house rules). After verses, choruses, and a bridge built in F minor, 3:23 brings a shift up a whole step to G minor after a grand pause.

Beach Boys | Keep An Eye On Summer

“Any album (Shut Down, Vol. 2, 1964) that can begin with five minutes of material on par with ‘Fun, Fun, Fun’ and ‘Don’t Worry Baby’ is going to be worth something (JohnMcFerrinMusicReviews) … The second half starts on a pretty high note with the band’s cover of ‘Why Do Fools Fall in Love?’ (which would be a pretty trite choice if the song didn’t fit the band’s vocal talents so well), and ‘Keep an Eye on Summer’ at least sounds like a classic Beach Boys ballad (even if it’s not striking enough to rank as one of the band’s best).

… The best thing that ever happened to the band was for this album to not do especially well on the charts; while it wasn’t exactly a commercial dud, it struggled enough to creep up the charts for the band to realize that they were already on the verge of becoming an anachronism, and it helped make clear that the band needed to change some things.”

“Keep an Eye on Summer” begins in F# major, shifts to Bb major at 1:06, lands back in F# at 1:33, and then powers through an intense a cappella half-step key change up to G for the outro.

Christopher Cross | I Really Don’t Know Anymore

“Quick! What do Christopher Cross and Billie Eilish have in common?

Answer: They are the only artists who have won the four major Grammy Awards (Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Best New Artist) in the same year,” (BestClassicBands). “They achieved this feat in 1981 and 2020, respectively: Eilish is 50 years younger than the man born Christopher Charles Geppert in San Antonio, Texas. Only time will tell if she endures the kind of backlash that, after a spectacular start with hits ‘Ride Like the Wind’ and ‘Sailing,’ cast Cross into music business purgatory and back to fame again. Good luck to her.”

“I Really Don’t Know Anymore” wasn’t one of the three initial singles which propelled Cross’ eponymous debut album (released in the closing days of 1979) into the multi-platinum sales stratosphere in 1980 (“Sailing,” “Ride Like the Wind,” and “Never Be the Same”), but the album was such a smash hit that it received plenty of airplay nonetheless. The tune benefits from an assist by Michael McDonald, who intermittently joins Cross for vocal counter lines. The energetic, syncopated groove lends some much-needed life to the inert lyrics: “What do you think about love? … I really don’t know anymore / I really can’t say / I really don’t know anymore / I’m just that way.”

Starting with a verse in C# minor, the tonality flips over into the relative E major for the choruses (first heard from 0:46 – 1:05). Although they share similar vocal ranges, it’s always a treat to hear these two voices side by side: Cross’s clipped, nearly vibrato-free delivery couldn’t be more different from McDonald’s instantly recognizable vowel-centric and foggy timbre.

Toto | You Are the Flower

“Six high-caliber musicians came together to form their own band, as each of them was a session or live musician for some artists,” (The Rock Review). “It was in 1976 that Jeff Porcaro (drummer) and David Paich (keyboards, pianos, and vocals) decided to form Toto, recruiting Steve Lukather (guitar), Bobby Kimball (vocals), Steve Porcaro (synthesizers), and David Hungate (bass), each of them a prodigy in music.

Toto debuted with personality, combining various music genres, mainly rock and pop, resulting in an album that is very easy to digest, yet full of very remarkable musical technicalities when listened to attentively. A complex fusion of genres that is enjoyable for both knowledgeable ears and those who simply enjoy music without getting into details.” The band’s 1978 eponymous debut featured three hit singles (‘Hold the Line,’ ‘I’ll Supply the Love’ and ‘Georgy Porgy’), all of which cracked the US top 50 (Billboard).

Written by Toto’s first lead vocalist, Bobby Kimball, in honor of his newborn daughter (Herald de Paris) and featuring Jim Horn’s shape-shifting flute lines, the album track “You are the Flower” starts in a slightly de-tuned G minor. From 0:56 – 1:18, the chorus is heard for the first time, cycling through several two-measure phrases — none of which have much to do with G minor! After another verse and chorus, two instrumental choruses featuring the prodigious guitar work of Steve Lukather unwind over those same two-measure segments (2:08 – 2:51). It’s tough to nail down what tonalities this section represents, but G minor is clearly not on the list:

C ~ D/C

D ~ E/D

C#o ~ F#

Bmin ~ E

The sequence then repeats a whole step higher:

D ~ E/D

E ~ F#/E

D#o ~ G#

C#min ~ F#

Where the ear expects the cycle to repeat yet again, starting with an initial E major chord, we instead arrive back at a G minor verse via an unexpected half-step climb — but the harmonic territory of the extended guitar solo journey makes the original key feel new.

In other words, just another Toto track …

Stevie Wonder | For Once In My Life

“Stevie Wonder turned 18 years old during 1968. Since the age of 12 he had been producing hits and had become one of the most commercially successful artists for the Motown label,” (Seattle Post Intelligencer). “Motown was known for the control of its artists and their output. Wonder, however, was beginning to establish his own identity and take control of his career. His contract with the label was coming to an end and Motown desperately wanted to sign him to a new one and so began giving him leeway in the producing and recording of his albums.

Wonder co-wrote or wrote eight of the 12 tracks on For Once In My Life, plus took production credit for the first time … It was one of the four compositions credited to other songwriters that became the album’s title track and biggest hit. Ron Miller and Orlando Murden wrote ‘For Once In My Life’ for the label and not specifically for Wonder. His version, however, would become the definitive one. Artists such as The Temptations and Tony Bennett would record the song in a ballad style. Wonder would change it into an exuberant, up-tempo, and soulful classic. It reached #2 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart and #1 on the Rhythm and Blues chart.”

“Wonder and his producer, Hank Cosby … sped it up, gave it a string arrangement, complete with an animated piccolo motif, and turned it into his biggest hit to date, kept from the US #1 spot only by his fellow Motowner, Marvin Gaye,” (Yahoo). “Wonder’s probable lack of enthusiasm at singing someone else’s song is concealed by his exuberant performance.” The grand scale of the tune’s arrangement, coupled with Stevie’s overflowing energy, would never hint at its short run time of only 2:49. But with apparently astounding precision, the tune’s half-step key change is situated at almost exactly the half-way mark (1:25).

Saint Motel | Save Me

“Saint Motel are a Brit-indie band trapped in the bodies of four svelte, stylish Californians,” (The Guardian). “Although when we say Brit-indie – and add that they specialise in Brit-indie-ish anthems – we’re not talking Kaiser Chiefs or Oasis as influences but rather groups like Pulp, Divine Comedy and the long-forgotten My Life Story, with a soupçon of the Smiths: indie with some glam pizzazz featuring a singer not averse to flamboyance, a suave croon and lyrics that verge on the literary.

We’re wondering how we missed them. Each of their songs announces itself with a flourish and no little élan, and there’s a light sprinkling of Caribbean rhythms, tropical flavours and lounge-jazziness throughout … their music has featured in HBO series Boardwalk Empire as well as an advert for Dewars Scotch Whiskey. Where were we? Truly, we are ashamed. To make amends, some facts: the band met in film school in Southern California, they recently played something called a Zombie Prom, and they write about everything from plastic surgery to ‘the taboo bonds of friendship within the Heaven’s Gate cult’. As frontman A/J Jackson says: ‘Many of the songs have various levels of subtext that I hope the listener will decipher with repeated listens.'”

“From 2007 to 2021, dream-pop band Saint Motel has been making listeners move and groove to the soothing beats of their soft funk, both in person and on TikTok, where 2014 hit “My Type” went viral last year,” (Riff Magazine). “While their first album in 2012 didn’t grant them much popularity, “My Type” worked its way up various Top 40 charts around the world … An album, saintmotelvision, followed in 2016, and Saint Motel is now onto its third, The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.” The video for each of the album’s tracks has the look and feel of being part of a film soundtrack, but in this case the film doesn’t exist. After an ethereal intro and a substantial pause, “Save Me” (2021) begins in earnest at 0:28 in C major, then shifts into C minor for a brief bridge from 3:10 – 3:28.

Helen Reddy | The Way I Feel

“The feminist anthem that put Helen Reddy (1941 – 2020) over the edge is the rousing ‘I Am Woman,'” (SheilaOMalley.com). The Australian-born performer “could sing very softly, gently even … so that when she opens up into that belt, it’s a surprise … The pushback Reddy experienced was severe. She wasn’t glamorous. She wore pantsuits. She wore her hair short. Such silly things, but people found it hugely threatening … Her voice – the instrument itself – is so unique. She’s got a jazzy sense of rhythm and phrasing. She’s HIP. So contemporary. She was representative of the sea change in the culture, the 1970s breaking-down of expected gender roles.”

“It is interesting how the pop divas of the ’70s and ’80s took some risks, Olivia Newton-John with Soul Kiss; Linda Ronstadt singing in Spanish or performing with Nelson Riddle; and Helen Reddy’s 1983 project, Imagination … ‘Looks Like Love’ and ‘The Way I Feel’ are among the best work Helen Reddy has ever created,” (JoeViglione.com). “Both songs should have been huge hits, and the entire album is more sophisticated in idea and execution than any that came before except, perhaps, Live in London … With superb songwriting, crisp production, and her best rock performance on record, Imagination is one of Helen Reddy’s finest albums. Not as popular as those which contained her chart hits … it’s a sleeper that deserves another shot at success.

The tune makes its start in C# minor, with its emphasis flipping over into the relative E major for the chorus (0:54 – 1:20). After a second verse, second chorus, and an instrumental verse, 2:41 brings an unprepared upward shift to F major. Each chorus features a section in its second half built around a key-of-the-moment upward leap of a whole step, as well (first heard between 1:02 – 1:11). The updated, polished pop sheen of the track certainly left little trace of her 1970s sound, but The Way I Feel” wasn’t a hit for Reddy.

Theme from “A View to a Kill”

“The gold standard of poppier James Bond songs … is Duran Duran’s title track for A View To A Kill. Band and film were a perfect match for the Roger Moore era— playboy lifestyle, playboy attitudes,” (Aidan Curran). “Duran Duran’s stock-in-trade of cinematic videos, supermodel consorts and gibberishly portentous lyrics meant the thing virtually wrote itself, shouting ‘DANCE! INTO THE FI-YER!’ right out of the womb. Each stab of brass is the delivery mechanism for a cheesy grin. Plus, ‘the name’s Bon … Simon Le Bon!’ was a pun too good not to happen … “

Released in May 1985, the track peaked in Duran Duran’s native UK at #2. In the US, it reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and remains the only Bond theme to achieve that distinction. “The song was the last track recorded by the most famous five-member lineup of Duran Duran until their reunion in 2001. It was performed by the band at Live Aid in Philadelphia in 1985, their final performance together before their first split,” (Wikipedia).

The tune begins in C minor and transitions from 0:54 -1:09, when the chorus starts in Ab minor. At 1:47, the next verse begins in C minor after some electronic flourishes that scream “1985” — there are plenty of cheesy grins on offer, for sure. The pattern continues from there.