Tag: pop

Luther Vandross | A House Is Not a Home

Ever pushing the envelope, composer/pianist Burt Bacharach wasn’t content to throw a routine modulation into the 1964 ballad “A House Is Not a Home.” Instead, the tune’s bridge starts in the original key at 2:40, waits to change key until after the bridge has started at 2:53, and then reverts to the original key at 3:21.

While it was only a modest hit (#71) on its initial release, the song has spawned dozens of covers over the years, from Cher to Aretha Franklin to Sonny Rollins. The late Luther Vandross, a legendary 8-time Grammy winning vocalist, clearly made the tune his own. But the song’s original vocalist was frequent Bacharach muse Dionne Warwick.

Aimee Mann | I Should’ve Known

Busy mod scout JB has submitted “I Should’ve Known” by singer/songwriter Aimee Mann, formerly the frontwoman of the 80s band ‘Til Tuesday. The track was from her first solo album, Whatever (1993.) AllMusic‘s review gushes that Mann’s “blend of wit, smarts, cynicism, and downright hum-ability make for a wonderfully pleasing collection of catchy songs…Lyrically, it is often hard to know whether Mann is spilling her guts out over a love or a deal gone bad. In fact, it is often a combination.”

The tune modulates as the bridge starts at 2:25.

The Four Freshmen | Shangrila

The Four Freshmen, formed in 1948, released “Shangrila” in 1962. Known as a vocal band because all of the group’s members self-accompanied the quartet’s vocals with their own instrumental playing, the Freshmen featured jazz-infused open harmonies. According to his biographer, a young Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys found the 1950s output of the Freshmen to be an inspiration: “It brings a feeling of love inside me…that feeling of harmony.” The modulation is at 1:39.

Lady Gaga | Perfect Illusion

“Perfect Illusion,” a 2016 dance release by Lady Gaga, reached #15 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and #1 in France, Finland, and Greece. It also achieved a top 10 ranking in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Scotland, and Slovakia. The Verge​ likened the song to “Bad Romance” but with the “extra adrenaline shot of a big stadium rock song and some twinkly, vaguely creepy ’80s synthesizers.” The whole-step modulation is at 1:50.

Robert John | Sad Eyes

1979 saw the release of the soft rock tune “Sad Eyes,” written and performed by Robert John. It topped the US pop charts and went top 10 on the US Adult Contemporary, Australian pop, and Canadian pop charts. The track was one of only a handful of non-disco tunes to hit #1 on the pop charts that year as the disco mega-trend started to wind down.

Starting off gently in breakup anthem mode, the song jumps into overdrive as John revs up his striking falsetto at 3:32, preparing for a whole-step modulation at 3:36.

Garbage | Cup of Coffee

In a catalog replete with minor key paeans to misery, Garbage’s “Cup of Coffee” (2001) might be Exhibit A.

The Guardian calls Garbage’s sound “mongrel pop…(a) smelting-pot studio project cooked up from industrial remix sensibilities.” The focus on production and varying textures is certainly in the forefront here. The repeating triple eighth-note pattern which starts the tune continues throughout the relative hush of the verses — forming an uneven ground in combination with the 4/4 meter. Vocalist Shirley Manson unflinchingly increases the volume, intensity, and narrative on the choruses.

Starting in F# minor, the tune modulates up a whole step at 2:52 — uncharacteristically, during one of the song’s lowest-energy sections. This reverent fan-made video is patched together from various clips, but certainly captures the mood.

The Ventures | Perfidia

Another contribution from MotD fan Paul Steckler:

“Who can turn a dolorous Mexican popular song into a surf guitar classic? Why, The Ventures, of course. Their 1960 version of “Perfidia” (Spanish for “perfidy”, meaning faithlessness, treachery or betrayal) changes key at 1:07.”

Other than the Ventures’ version, which hit #18 on the pop charts, the tune has been covered by Desi Arnaz, Nat King Cole, and Linda Ronstadt, among many others.