Marking Bruce Springsteen‘s debut on MotD, “Hungry Heart” was the lead single on Springsteen’s 1980 album The River and hit #5 on the pop charts. Originally written for The Ramones, the tune ended up becoming a keeper for the Boss instead, winning the Rolling Stone Reader’s Poll for best single of the year.
The early instrumental bridge brings a modulation from C# major to E major at 1:37, and then reverts to the original key at 1:55.
“Ooh Child” was originally released as a single in 1970 by Five Stairsteps. The song’s uplifting, hopeful message led to its ranking of #402 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Performed here by Hall & Oates for their 2004 release, Our Kind of Soul, the verses and chorus modulate back and forth throughout.
Rising K-Pop stars 레드벨벳 (Red Velvet) are best known for up-tempo dance tracks, but their 2016 R&B-style ballad release “One of These Nights” shows an entirely different side of the vocal quintet. A persistent theory among the group’s fans is that the video’s somber mood and multiple references to water, small life boats, flickering lighting, etc. symbolize a memorial to the victims of the South Korean Sewol ferry tragedy of 2014. The Sewol sank suddenly, killing hundreds of passengers, most of whom were high school students.
The tune is full of modulations, further enhanced by a huge harmonic vocabulary. After the string intro, the verse begins at 0:14, loosely based around G minor; at 1:05, the chorus begins with a devastating downwards modulation to F# minor. The pattern holds for verse 2 and chorus 2. Finally, a bridge shifts briefly to a sunny G major at 3:06, but at 3:20, just where we’d expect a cliche upwards modulation by half-step, we instead get a 4-second pause before falling back down into the plaintive F# minor chorus. The group’s occasional mixing of English with Korean lyrics only adds to the affecting intrigue.
Vocalist, keyboardist, and songwriter Brent Bourgeois released “Dare to Fall In Love” in 1990 as the single from his first solo album after leaving the band he co-fronted during the late 80s, Bourgeois Tagg. The lushly produced track builds to a modulation at the start of the bridge (2:36), remaining in the new key throughout the return of the chorus (3:03) and the remainder of the tune.
Bourgeois remembers the tune’s origins well: “I didn’t want my record company to hear it, because it was very ‘pop,’ very commercial, and didn’t fit the tone of the rest of the record. I was afraid if they heard it, they would want to make it the single, and the record would be misrepresented to the public. Well, they heard it, and that’s exactly what happened.”
“For You I Will” was written by Diane Warren, and performed and released by Monica in 1996, placing as a top 10 hit on the US Billboard Hot 100, as well as on the Billboard R&B chart. Key change at 3:56 — enjoy the vintage music video as well.
UK pop/soul chanteuse Lisa Stansfield‘s career breakthrough was the smash 1989 hit “All Around the World.” The short intro ends by winding into the song’s sole modulation: a string-heavy compound chord which rings out in a crescendo from 0:14 – 0:18 leading into the first verse. The tune is driven by compound chords throughout and plenty of melodic tensions during the chorus.
The Beach Boys‘ first charting single, 1964’s “I Get Around,” was co-written by band members Brian Wilson and Mike Love. Starting in G major, the tune transitions to Ab major at 1:06.
Rolling Stone magazine’s Anthony DeCurtis praised Wilson’s tendency to be “very complex and have every single thing you do have an emotional impact, and have the hearer not even be aware of it — just hear it the first time and get it. That’s hard.”
Usually, modulations tend to happen closer to a tune’s end than the beginning, but seven-time Grammy winner Natalie Cole’s “Miss You Like Crazy” (1989) breaks that trend. The track became a huge hit in the US, Canada, and Europe.
“‘So many things have happened in my life,'” Cole reflected on her father Nat King Cole’s death when she was only 15. “‘But the death of my father remains the most painful.'” (Billboard). “‘I adored him in a way that only a teenager girl can adore her dad. When he died, I fell apart. For years, I ran from his memory. I even ran from his music. When I inadvertently stumbled into a career, I was thrilled to learn that I could sing rhythm and blues. I loved singing soul. But it wasn’t until I found the courage to sing the music associated with my father that I found my deepest peace and greatest satisfaction. The fact that even in Dad’s death we have grown closer brings me a beautiful comfort. It makes me think we ascribe too much severity to death. Spirit doesn’t die. Music doesn’t die. And the love that links spirit to music knows nothing about death. That spirit, that music, that love is eternal.’”
This power ballad modulates multiple times starting nearly right out of the gate (0:42) and continues with other shifts. At 2:18, the key locks in at the bridge and remains the same for the duration.
“King of the Road” by Roger Miller (1965) is yet another submission by mod scout JB. The key change at 1:13 is routine, he notes, but “it’s an iconic song from the very end of the epoch when Folk and Pop were still on speaking terms with one another (e.g., Kingston Trio, etc.).”
Phil Collins‘ career only grew after leaving Genesis, the pioneering UK-based prog-rock band. Producing other artists’ albums, writing for movie soundtracks, and cranking out multiple solo albums were all on the menu for Collins.
“Two Hearts,” a 1988 pop confection based on a relentless fast shuffle, starts off simply enough (the music starts at the 0:40 mark) in G major. But the bridge suddenly takes flight at 2:44, featuring syncopated kicks and multiple modulations before settling into Ab minor, then transitioning back into a chorus (in the original key, although it feels entirely new) at 3:12.
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