Tag: pop

Timi Yuro | And That Reminds Me

Husky-voiced Timi Yuro scored a big hit in 1959 with “Hurt” (Billboard #4), a tear-jerker ballad replete with a true-to-form spoken recitative. She had another hit in 1962 with “What’s a Matter Baby” (Billboard #12), with a mid-tempo rock arrangement. She continued to record and perform throughout the 1960s, with only modest success. In 1969, she decided to leave the music business. In the early 1980s, she managed a comeback in the Netherlands, with new recordings reaching the top of the Dutch charts.

“And That Reminds Me” qualifies as a standard; it’s been covered many times. Based on an Italian instrumental “Concerto d’autunno,” by Camillo Bargoni, English lyrics were added by Al Stillman and Paul Siegel. The recording here appeared on Timi’s 1961 album Hurt!.

The first verse begins in B♭, continuing in that key through the beginning of an instrumental verse. At 1:27, there’s a modulation up to B. By the second verse, we’ve made it up to C♯, staying put in that key through the end. Regardless of key, Timi’s voice drips with emotion throughout!

Danny and Alex | Friends Kiss Too

“Friends Kiss Too” is a 2019 single released by Danny and Alex, a pop duo based in St. Petersburg, Florida. Counting Steely Dan, Prince, and The Beatles among their influences, [Danny] Scordato and [Alex] Merrill write and produce all of their music; they released an EP in 2018.

The track begins in A and modulates up to C at 2:28.

Daryl Hall | Wildfire

Daryl Hall released BeforeAfter, a retrospective double album, this year. From Goldmine‘s coverage: “As Jeremy Holiday writes in the accompanying liner notes, ‘How paradoxical that Daryl Hall is most associated in the public imagination with a long-term musical partner. Because few artists are as individualistic, and individually complete … Yet Daryl Hall is also a brilliant collaborator, and, perhaps ironically, that quality is equally if not more apparent within his solo work. More than a chance to work alone, Hall’s individual pursuits have granted him license to be more eclectic in his choice of collaborators and to push further outside the expected bounds.’”

Hall’s 1993 solo outing Soul Alone paid homage to the singer’s early roots in Philly soul, including the Top 100 hit “I’m In a Philly Mood” and an adaptation of Marvin Gaye’s classic track “When Did you Stop Loving Me, When Did I Stop Loving You.”

“Wildfire” is one of many polished, harmonically rich tracks from the album, which leaves Hall and Oates’ 1980s pop sensibilities in the rearview mirror. This live version finds the quality of Hall’s vocals typically indistinguishable from the studio version. The track shifts up a whole step at 3:54.

Shania Twain | Any Man of Mine

“Any Man of Mine” was country singer Shania Twain’s first number one hit, selling over 500,000 copies and topping the country charts. Co-written with Twain’s then-husband Robert John “Mutt” Lange, the track was originally featured on the 1995 album The Woman In Me, and was nominated for Best Country Song and Best Female Country Performance at the 1996 Grammy Awards. “Another Canadian singer breaking national borders and stylistic barriers,” said the British magazine Music Week of the song. “This debut single from the new album features hubby Mutt Lange’s crunching but considered rock production (and vocals) plus enough country to catch the ear.”

Starting in Ab, the tune modulates up to Bb at 2:48.

James Taylor + Carly Simon | Mockingbird

“Carly Simon and James Taylor where performing in 1979 for the MUSE No Nukes concert in New York City (Daily Rock Box). The ‘Mockingbird’ performance was lively and magnetic. Their energy was absolutely addicting.  The duo’s dancing and stares were definitely a welcomed form of PDA. Carly and James did fall in love. They were married for a decade and had two children. Their music was so good because they were so good.”

The live track, which reached #34 on the pop charts, shifts up a whole step at 1:55.



Del Shannon | Runaway

“Runaway” by Del Shannon is an “eerie, aching, chart-topping 1961 single” according to the AV Club. “Few songs in popular music are so enduring yet ethereal. ‘Runaway’ is a moody song for a brooding scenario, one that seems to instantly sublimate into a glum, haunting fog. Written by Shannon and his keyboardist, Max Crook, it outlines in tear-streaked detail a guy who’s lost his girl. Guys losing girls is a primary preoccupation of pop songwriters, then and now, but ‘Runaway’ nudges that theme to a preternatural level. ‘As I walk along I wonder / what went wrong,’ he begins the song, not bothering to mention where he’s walking or why.

The not-so-secret weapon of ‘Runaway,’ though, is its keyboard. Crook joined Shannon’s band in 1959, and soon after he began toying with a riff on his Musitron, a self-built version of the clavioline that served as a precursor to the analog synthesizer. Modifying the instrument with spare parts from television sets and household appliances, Crook used his invention to turn his riff into the spooky, unsettling hook of ‘Runaway.'” The single went to #1 in the US and was a true international smash hit as well, hitting Top 5 in Australia, Canada, Chile, Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the UK, among others.

The intro, verses, and iconic keyboard feature sections are in Bb minor; the choruses (first heard at 0:31) shift to Bb major.

Parachute | What Side of Love

“What Side of Love” is featured on Wide Awake, the fourth studio album by the Virginia-based rock band Parachute, released in 2016. “While pleasing critics has never been Parachute’s M.O., they certainly know their way around big melodic hooks,” said critic Timothy Monger, reviewing the record for AllMusic. The gospel-tinged song was written by lead vocalist Will Anderson with James Flannigan and Sean Douglas. Starting in Bb, the tune shifts up to C at 2:45.

Britney Spears | Where Are You Now

“Where Are You Now” is from Britney Spears’ second studio album, Oops!…I Did It Again, released in 2000. The album debuted at number 1 in fifteen countries and has gone on to become one of the best-selling albums of all time. Starting in A major, the tune modulates up to B for the interlude following the second chorus at 2:42, and then shifts up another half step to C for the final chorus at 3:13.

Hall and Oates | Laughing Boy

“For all the success that this Philadelphia-based duo would experience later on in their career, Daryl Hall and John Oates struggled to find a commercial footing early on,” (ClassicRockReview.com). “That’s not to say that they didn’t produce interesting and creative music as demonstrated brilliantly on their second album, Abandoned Luncheonette, released in late 1973. Despite only reaching #33 on the album charts during its initial run, this album slowly grew in stature and would finally reach platinum-selling status about three decades after its release.

For Abandoned Luncheonette, the group and production team moved from Philadelphia to New York where their disparate influences of folk, rock, and soul were refined with the help of expert session players to forge the album’s musical tapestry as well as the group’s signature sound for the next decade.”

In addition to one of their breakthrough hits, “She’s Gone,” Abandoned Luncheonette featured “Laughing Boy,” a ballad which showcased Daryl Hall’s vocals and keyboard skills. An unusually high percentage of the tune’s sonic real estate features chromatic basslines; for example at 0:08, we start out with a bassline alternating between C and B; at 0:31, we’re down to Bb, then D/A before the pattern breaks. The short chorus (0:57 – 1:10) is built around F# minor, which makes the tritone jump to C Lydian at the start of the next verse quite distinctive. There’s not a strong feeling of tonality to begin with, so modulation isn’t really on the menu per se, but that tritone shift (which recurs several times) is quite the statement!

Carole King | Beautiful

“Beautiful,” featured on King’s breakout 1971 album Tapestry, became one of her best-known songs and is the title song in the 2014 Broadway musical based on King’s life. Reflecting the message in the lyric of finding hope and determination even amidst darkness and hardship, the key fluctuates fluidly between C minor and its relative Eb major. Prior to the last verse, the tune modulates up a half step to C# minor (and E major) at 1:35, where it remains till the end.