Tag: r&b

Boyz II Men | Pass You By

AllMusic.com describes the sound of the remarkable R&B/Soul/Pop vocal quartet Boys II Men: “aching, tremulous harmonies (which) lifted some of the biggest pop hits of the 1990s…According to no less an authority than the RIAA, B2M are the most commercially successful R&B group of all time. They sold ludicrous numbers of records and were involved in three of the longest-running number one pop singles in history, and they did it as a unit of equals.”

“Pass You By” (2000) wasn’t one of those many runaway hits (it reached only #27 on the R&B/Hiphop chart, although it did better in Europe and Australia). The tune nonetheless scored a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group. The lush arrangement and raw emotion of the vocals suggests something a little weightier than the average breakup song; the video goes even further in suggesting the onward-and-upward route.

Starting in B minor, the tune builds in intensity through a few verses and choruses. At 2:27, a short bridge arrives, giving way to another chorus at 2:38, ascending upward a full step into C# minor.

Free Nationals | Apartment

AllMusic.com describes Free Nationals as “a smooth, funk-fluent R&B band” which has “recorded and performed extensively with Grammy-winning artist Anderson .Paak…The quartet became integral to (.Paak’s) progression on Malibu, a 2017 breakthrough nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Urban Contemporary Album.” In 2019, their debut self-titled album reached #3 on Billboard‘s Heatseekers chart. NME.com reports that the band “proudly wear(s) their influences on their sleeve – the band are long-term scholars of Stevie Wonder, Parliament-Funkadelic, Herbie Hancock and many more.”

Starting in B minor, “Apartment” features a syncopated intro which shifts into a settled C# minor groove at the first verse (0:28), then back to B minor at the chorus (0:52). The intro’s syncopated kicks and compound chords return to bracket verse 2/chorus 2 (1:39 and 2:56), leaving us hanging with an unexpected ending where the third verse should have been.

Stevie Wonder | Golden Lady

Stevie Wonder‘s “Golden Lady” was featured on his 1973 album Innervisions. Influenced by the Cuban montuno style, the track is quintessential Wonder, with a syncopated melody and unexpected half-step harmonic resolutions. The verses are in Eb major, contrasted with the chorus in G minor. At 3:30, the chorus is repeated and raised a half step each time.

Ronnie Laws | Always There

Saxophonist Ronnie Laws, the younger brother of flutist Hubert Laws, started his career in the band of trumpeter Hugh Masekela. In 1972, Laws joined R+B/funk legends Earth, Wind + Fire and played on their album Last Days and Time before moving on to his solo career.

During 1975, Laws teamed up with jazz trumpeter Donald Byrd, known as one of the only jazz musicians from the Bebop era who also explored funk and soul while remaining primarily in the jazz genre. According to AllAboutJazz.com, with Byrd’s assistance, Laws “soon signed his first recording contract with Blue Note records, resulting in the impressive debut album Pressure Sensitive (1975)…The release rapidly emerged to become the longest-selling album,” to date, in the 42-year history of the storied record label, reaching #25 on the Billboard Soul chart and gaining extraordinarily broad rotation across R&B, Soul, Jazz, and Rock radio stations.

The track is built around slightly off-kilter tuning, but it’s closest to F# minor. What’s definitely clear is the bridge’s departure from the regular key, as well as from the otherwise all-pervasive groove, from 3:01 – 3:28.

Smokey Robinson + The Miracles | Baby Baby Don’t Cry

Via our frequent contributor JB:

“This 1969 tune is a classic. There’s only one big mod (at 3:15), but the bridge that builds to it begins at 2:40, generating a huge amount of tension. When the mod finally comes, it’s as cathartic as a dam bursting. A great example of how an artful mod can infuse an otherwise-sleepy melody with a lot of dramatic tension.”

The Spinners | Cupid

Covering the original Sam Cooke #17 hit “Cupid” (1961) was not a task to be taken lightly; the beloved single weighed in at #452 on 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, by Rolling Stone. The track was described by AllMusic as a “perfect pop song.”

The Spinners re-made the the tune almost entirely in 1980, combining it with Michael Zager‘s “I’ve Loved You For a Long Time.” This updated version hit #4 (pop) and #5 (R&B). The modulation hits at 3:08.

Frank McComb | Somebody Like You

Our follower Christopher Fox submitted keyboardist/vocalist Frank McComb‘s 2013 track “Somebody Like You.” This relaxed video follows McComb on a tour of the Netherlands. According to AllMusic, McComb has collaborated with a laundry list of artists: Rude Boys, DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, Chaka Khan, Prince, Will Smith, Najee, George Duke, Gamble and Huff, Patrice Rushen, and many more. In 1994, McComb collaborated extensively with saxophonist Branford Marsalis on the jazz-rap fusion project Buckshot Lefonque.

After the short but punchy bridge at 2:54, the modulation hits at 3:13.

Kirk Whalum | Love Is the Answer

Although the original 1977 version by Todd Rundgren‘s Utopia wasn’t a charting single, a cover by England Dan and John Ford Coley attained a #10 position on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1978, as well as a #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart. Rundgren’s original featured cascading hybrid chords in a few spots; Dan & Coley’s version was slightly simplified harmonically. Here, R&B/Jazz crossover artist, tenor saxophonist Kirk Whalum, leads a big band in a 2015 version that is even further smoothed out harmonically, but features a gorgeous modulation that the other versions lack!

Many thanks for a great 2019, and to MotD follower, musician, and Rundgren fan Ari Shagal for this submission. All the best for 2020, Modulation Nation!

Stevie Wonder | Sunny

Here’s a wonderful cover submitted by regular guest poster JB:

“Stevie Wonder‘s a pretty sophisticated songwriter, but as a performer — especially in his early days — he was not above laying down a yeomanlike rendering of a pop standard. Part of Barry Gordy’s genius was in treating even his star vocalists as, in some ways, just glorified studio musicians, working their shifts in the Motown Hitsville Hit Factory.

Still, it’s kinda novel to hear Wonder cover Bobby Hebb‘s ‘Sunny,’ which features not one, not two, but three mods (1:40, 2:25, 3:06). While this kind of modulation ladder would sound cheesy nowadays, the tune comes from the era (early 60s) when cheesy lounge music was charting right alongside the early Beatles and Stones. I miss the biodiversity that pop music had back in those protean days…”