Tag: pop

Joss Stone | What Christmas Means to Me

“What Christmas Means to Me,” written by Allen Story, Anna Gordy Gaye, and George Gordy, has been covered by artists ranging from Stevie Wonder to Jessica Simpson to Train. English singer Joss Stone released the tune as her first single for her 2022 Christmas album Merry Christmas, Love. It modulates from C up to Db at 1:50.

Roberta Flack | Oasis

“…traversing a broad musical landscape from pop to soul to folk to jazz, (Roberta Flack) is the only solo artist to win the Grammy Award Record of the Year for two consecutive years: The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face won the 1973 Grammy and Killing Me Softly with His Song won the 1974 Grammy,” (RobertaFlack.com).

“Classically trained on the piano from an early age, Ms. Flack received a music scholarship at age 15 to attend Howard University. Discovered while singing at the Washington, DC nightclub Mr. Henry’s by jazz musician Les McCann, she was immediately signed to Atlantic Records. With a string of hits, including The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, Where Is the Love (a duet with former Howard University classmate Donny Hathaway), Killing Me Softly With His Song, Feel Like Makin’ Love, The Closer I Get to You, Tonight I Celebrate My Love, and Set the Night to Music, Roberta Flack has inspired countless artists with her musical brilliance and honesty … In 2020, Ms. Flack received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.” Over the past few years, the singer has been affected by ALS disease and is no longer able to perform.

Flack’s 1988 album Oasis features an exhaustive list of heavy-hitting studio musicians; the title track boasts bassist Marcus Miller and alto saxophonist David Sanborn. The tune reached #13 on the Adult Contemporary chart and topped the US Hot R+B/Hiphop chart in early 1989 — rather unusual, given its long run time of more than six minutes. Starting in C major, the track shifts to Ab major for the chorus at 1:13 before reverting to C major for the next verse at 1:34. That pattern continues throughout as the expansive tune grants Sanborn plenty of running room for solos and the extended outro unwinds a African-themed backing vocals feature.

Tommy James | I Think We’re Alone Now

Tommy James, along with his band, The Shondells, scored a Billboard #4 in 1967 with the just-over-2-minutes bubblegum rocker “I Think We’re Alone Now”. The song, written by Ritchie Cordell (who also co-wrote another Shondells hit, “Mony Mony”), stuck to one key throughout.

Over 50 years later, in 2019, James reprised the song on his album Alive, featuring only acoustic guitar and background vocals, and a much slower tempo. Missing in this version are the percussive “heartbeats” from the original, perhaps because at this tempo, they would be suggestive of brachycardia. James’ voice, perhaps sweetened by a touch of autotune, is really the highlight here.

The song starts in A; in addition to some subtle re-harmonization here and there, it features an elegant modulation to C at 2:18.

Little River Band | Happy Anniversary

“If you were listening to Top 40 around 1977-78, you know all about ‘Happy Anniversary,’ which narrowly missed the Top 10 at that time,” (Something Else Reviews). “For those of you who weren’t around, ‘Happy Anniversary’ was one of those snappy, mildly country-ish pop tunes laden with rich harmonies that sounded like soft California rock at its finest –except that these blokes were from Down Under. The deal-sealer is that funky undercurrent; the popping bassline not only works with the Nashville elements of the song, it makes the song downright irresistible.

The upbeat tone … belies that fact that it’s about a busted relationship, but hey, it’s got that funky bassline, so everything’s good. In fact, the album from which this ditty came, … Diamantina Cocktail, is arguably the best CSN album that Crosby, Stills and Nash never made.”

After the tune starts in E minor, there’s a shift at 1:15 – 1:36 for the early bridge, which features a lighter feel, agile ornamentation from a (likely real) string section, and a D major tonality. After the bridge, the return to E minor also brings a rock feel driven by an energetic funk-inspired bassline. There are several ingredients here that might suggest yacht rock. Yacht or Nyacht lists several LRB tunes, but they score low on YON’s scale. “Happy Anniversary” doesn’t make the list at all; despite checking a few boxes, it was released a little too early, and was a bit too short on breezy escapism, to have made the cut.

Michael Bolton | When a Man Loves a Woman

Written by Calvin Lewis and Andrew Wright, “When a Man Loves a Woman” was originally recorded by singer R&B singer Percy Sledge in 1966 and became his biggest hit. Michael Bolton included a cover of the tune on his 1991 album Time, Love & Tenderness, winning a Grammy for the track and making it the seventh tune reach the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 as recorded by multiple artists.

The song begins in Db and directly modulates up a half step to D at 2:04.

Taylor Swift | Mr. Perfectly Fine

“Taylor Swift is that rarest of pop phenomena: a superstar who managed to completely cross over from country to the mainstream,” (AllMusic). “Others have performed similar moves — notably, Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson both became enduring pop culture icons based on their 1970s work — but Swift shed her country roots like they were a second skin; it was a necessary molting to reveal she was perhaps the sharpest, savviest populist singer/songwriter of her generation, one who could harness the zeitgeist, make it personal and, just as impressively, perform the reverse.”

Originally released in 2008 on the album Fearless, “Mr. Perfectly Fine” is just one of the many tunes which Swift has re-recorded recently. After her original masters were sold in a way she deeply disagreed with, she decided to re-record and re-release her earlier material: “If she couldn’t own the rights to the recordings that made her one of the most successful musical artists of all time, at least she could undercut their value and present her loyal fan base with a way to enjoy that music without benefitting her nemeses,” (Stereogum). Billboard‘s ranking of the 50 best songs of 2021 included the tune as #46: “vintage Taylor Swift that still feels fresh in 2021.”

“Mr. Perfectly Fine” features a short instrumental interlude at 2:43; a bridge follows at 2:56 which tapers off to the point where the groove drops out altogether. The full texture returns with a bang at 3:45, along with a full-step modulation. Many thanks to our regular contributor Ziyad for sending in this song!

Caro Emerald | Coming Back As a Man

“Coming Back As a Man” is featured on Dutch singer Caro Emerald’s 2013 album The Shocking Miss Emerald. “Caro is certainly the sort of performer who you could imagine giving a knowing wink in between a cheeky lyric or two and the voice has a twirl that makes you smile,” said critic Stephen Unwin in his review of the album for The Daily Express. The record debuted at #1 in the Dutch and United Kingdom album charts, selling over 600,000 copies.

The track begins in G# minor and modulates up a half step to A minor at 2:43.

Adele | Don’t You Remember

“Don’t You Remember” is the fourth track on Adele’s 2011 album 21, which traces her grief after a break-up. This track marks a shift from anger and defensiveness to reflection and heartbreak. “”You know when you forget why you loved someone?” Adele said in an interview with The Sun discussing the song’s meaning. “I was just thinking about how my entire body would just shiver if my ex touched me to say hello. It’s sad when you can’t remember why you loved someone.” The album was the best-selling record of the 2010s decade.

The track begins in Eb and briefly shifts up to F near the end at 3:16.

Redwood | Time to Get Alone

Although also recorded by the Beach Boys, the band Redwood (later to become Three Dog Night) recorded Brian Wilson’s tune “Time to Get Alone” in 1967. Danny Hutton, one of Three Dog Night’s vocalists, recalls the recording session in the book Smile: The Story of Brian Wilson’s Lost Masterpiece:

“‘ … there’s something that sounds like this big, distorted, smooth guitar sound, and it’s just a little piano played through a blown speaker that I had at my house. Then I remember Brian calling in the string section. [Brian’s sister-in-law] Diane Rovell called them in at the last minute, and some of them still had their tuxedos on. Brian was thoroughly in control of those guys … he was sitting there, talking to me, while they were doing a take, and he stops and says, Hold it, Danny. Hey, viola! The second chair … you’re flat on that C. He not only heard a bad note; he knew which guy did it.’”

Redwood’s version and the Beach Boys’ subsequent 1968 version have some similarities and some differences, but anyone who’s heard Three Dog Night will recognize the overall textures of that band immediately. Wilson’s compositional sense, however, is so strong that it remains paramount throughout. At 1:31, there’s a shift from D major to C major.

More detail about the collaboration between Wilson and Redwood/Three Dog Night, directly from Hutton’s recollections: