RIP

Bonnie Tyler | Total Eclipse of the Heart

“Bonnie Tyler, the gravelly voiced, Grammy-nominated Welsh pop star whose 1983 chart-topping power ballad ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ enchanted succeeding generations with its bombastic charms during solar and lunar eclipses, has died. She was 75,” (AP, 7/9/26). “Tyler earned three Grammy nods and … was honored as a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2022 for her services to music by Queen Elizabeth II, thanks mainly to ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart,’ which has had more than 1 billion streams, boosted by real eclipses in 2017 and 2024.

The song spent four weeks at #1; when Stereogum re-evaluated it in 2020, the music outlet declared it an ‘extinction-level event rendered in musical form … It’s pop music as heart-pounding, chest-thumping, blood-gargling, heavens-falling passion explosion. It’s sheer spectacle. It’s fireworks and lasers and lightning and thunder. It soars and swoops and barrel-rolls,’ the site said … The song has never really gone away: it was covered by the English singer Nicki French in 1995 and the band Westlife in 2006. Cate Blanchett sang it while hitting Billy Bob Thornton with her car in 2001’s Bandits, it appeared in a wedding scene in 2003’s Old School, and One Direction sang it in 2010 on a U.K. version of The X Factor.“

The tune was written and produced by Jim Steinman, Meatloaf’s longtime collaborator. Steinman’s flair for the dramatic is immediately on display from the track’s opening bars. The tune provided Tyler, a Wales native, with her biggest hit; it was later voted the third favorite #1 1980s hit in the UK. Beginning in a slightly uptuned Bb minor, the tune shifts upward to B mixolydian at 0:22, then E major at 0:37, before jumping back to begin a second verse in the original key. At 1:29, the Ab major chorus makes its first entrance, followed by a short interlude that runs through 2:59, leading into an instrumental verse. The pattern continues from there. Many thanks to “Copley Scott” for his suggestion of this tune!

Connie Francis | Pretty Little Baby

“Connie Francis was one of the reigning queens of the Billboard Hot 100 in its early days,” (Billboard). “The late-’50s and early-’60s pop star scored a whopping 15 top 10 hits on the chart, including three #1s: ‘Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool,’ ‘My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own’ (both 1960) and ‘Don’t Break the Heart That Loves You’ (1962). And over six decades after her commercial peak, Francis is once again having a big pop culture moment – but it’s not with any of those charting singles.

‘Pretty Little Baby,’ a non-single (written by Don Stirling and Bill Nauman) from Francis’ 1962 album Connie Francis Sings Second Hand Love, has caught fire on TikTok in the past month. Users have been lip synching along to the ‘You can ask the flowers/ I sit for hours/ Telling all the bluebirds/ The bill and coo birds/ Pretty little baby, I’m so in love with you’ verse of the song, often while wearing cute retro outfits and/or singing to actual babies, with over a million videos being created to the song … the song has already begun to cross over from TikTok to streaming in massive numbers … a (recent) gain of over 7,000% … (and) could soon be threatening a Hot 100 debut, a mere 63 years after its initial release.”

At 1:19, a textbook half-step upward key change appears in the midst of the diminutive tune, which features a run time of only 2:22 in total.

EDIT: Connie Francis passed away at the age of 87 on July 16, 2025, one day after we posted this tune.

Thank you, Quincy Jones

In honor of Quincy Jones, the singular musician, performer, producer, educator, and mentor, we’re bringing back a post from 2022 which sheds a bright light on his extraordinary gifts. Jones passed away yesterday at the age of 91. Given that his career spanned the worlds of jazz, R+B, funk, and pop over many decades, it’s likely impossible to describe its full impact. But many of our posts here on MotD featured his work as a producer, even though the names of the artists and bands in question accompanied the songs’ titles.

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“‘Quincy Jones was looking for artists for his new label, Qwest Records,” jazz/pop vocalist and guitarist George Benson remembered in a Guardian interview). ‘I’d started to cross over from jazz and Quincy asked: Do you want to make the world’s greatest jazz record – or go for the throat? I laughed and said: Go for the throat! … He said: George, put yourself in my hands. I know more about you than you do yourself. I was insulted at first, but calmed down, and things started happening.’

George was under pressure to have a crossover hit. Nobody yelled at each other but there was tension, because he wouldn’t always do what Quincy told him to. (The sessions for 1980’s ‘Give Me the Night’ were) a clash of the titans at first. ‘I asked for the same musicians he’d used on (Michael Jackson’s) Off the Wall. The sound they made inspired me. Quincy also brought in Rod Temperton, formerly of the band Heatwave … Rod was always in the background except for when something went wrong. He didn’t mind saying: George, you’re singing in the wrong key.” Patti Austin, now known for her own R+B, jazz, and pop material, was the accomplished background singer Jones hired. Austin remembers: “‘When I went into the studio, the tracks were already recorded. I used to be a jingle singer; you have to be able to walk in, sight-read, and make whatever product the jingle is plugging sound orgasmic. So I worked very quickly.'”

Built in F minor overall, the tune shifts to Ab minor for the chorus at 1:19 – 1:42, later repeating the pattern. The track crossed over with a vengeance; it wasn’t a smash hit, but managed to become a solid global presence (see below) while hitting top five on the US Pop, Soul, and Disco charts.

Thank You, Sergio Mendes (1941 – 2024)

“There’s a word in English that I love: Serendipity. That’s the story of my life.”

– Sergio Mendes

“Serendipity and joy are two common threads that weave throughout the staggeringly diverse tapestry of music that Sergio Mendes has created over his remarkable six-decade career,” (SergioMendesMusic.com). “One of the most internationally successful Brazilian artists of all time, Mendes has recorded more than 35 albums, many of which went gold or platinum. He’s a three-time Grammy Award winner, Oscar-nominated songwriter and the subject of a joyful 2020 feature documentary.

From his pioneering contributions to the foundations of bossa nova alongside the likes of Antonio Carlos Jobim, through the era-defining Latin-pop sound of his iconic group Brasil ’66; his scintillating collaborations with jazz legends like Cannonball Adderley and Herbie Mann to his chart-topping adult contemporary smash ‘Never Gonna Let You Go;’ on through his 21st-century reinvention with the Black-Eyed Peas and John Legend or his Oscar-nominated theme song from the animated hit Rio: an infectious spirit of joy pervades everything Mendes has ushered into the ears of listeners.”

We have featured many tunes by Mendes, who passed away this week, over the years. In his memory (though it’s very difficult to choose just one tune), we offer his collaboration with his fellow countryman Hermeto Pascoal, “Pipoca.” Though short in length, the track reflects Mendes’ positivity; his masterful use of the textures, colors, and shifting rhythms of Brazil; buoyant vocals (in this case, universally wordless); and the ever-present contemporary flair which pushed his music forward.

This 1992 track, which we initially featured in 2018, starts off with a tumbling, mischievous feel, throwing us its first modulation at only 0:16 (!) after a playful ascending chromatic run. The intro sets the scene for key changes which continue to to turn on a dime as they arrive frequently throughout the track.

Theme from “Pee Wee’s Playhouse”

Paul Ruebens, a one-of-a-kind actor and comedian and creator of the 80s hit television show Pee Wee’s Playhouse, passed away over the weekend. “Pee-wee’s Playhouse debuted in September of 1986 and ran five seasons and 45 episodes,” (80sXChange.com). “It aired on Saturday mornings on CBS as one of the few live-action shows among mostly cartoons. (It featured) the iconic Pee Wee Herman character alongside all of his friends and neighbors. Pee-Wee’s Playhouse was designed as an educational yet entertaining and artistic show for children, but the show quickly acquired a dual audience of kids and adults.

… One of the musicians who provided music for the show was Mark Mothersbaugh from Devo who most remember for their biggest hit “Whip It”. Since Devo, Mothersbaugh has developed a successful career writing musical scores for film and television and that really started after he worked on Pee-wee’s Playhouse. In film, he went on to work frequently with filmmaker Wes Anderson, scoring four of his feature films … Mothersbaugh was tasked with writing the opening theme song for Pee-wee’s Playhouse … (the theme) introduces us to most of the other characters and really sets the tone for the fun, colorful show … The opening prelude theme is an interpretation of Les Baxter’s ‘Quiet Village’. The Pee-wee’s Playhouse theme song was actually performed by Cyndi Lauper imitating Betty Boop” with a side order of Edith Bunker. Lauper was credited as Ellen Shaw.

The frenetic theme bounces along, following a classic (if sped up) songwriting template during its 90-second length. After a few verses, a bridge unfurls at 0:43, leading into a half-step key change at 1:06 for the final verse and ending tag.

Tony Bennett | Steppin’ Out With My Baby

20-time Grammy winner Tony Bennett passed away last week at the age of 96. With his release of Love For Sale in 2021, a collaboration with Lady Gaga, he broke the Guinness World Record for oldest person to release an album of new material.

His 1993 album Steppin’ Out, a tribute to Fred Astaire, won the Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance. “Steppin’ Out With My Baby” is the lead track, and the music video featured here was aired on MTV.

After a long, winding intro that quotes “Fascinatin’ Rhythm” among other tunes, we ultimately land in D minor for the start of the song. It modulates subtly to D major for the 8 bar “B” section at 1:00, then returns to D minor at 1:12. The tune continues alternating between these two keys throughout, and also briefly detours to C major for 8 bars at 1:40.

Seals and Crofts | We May Never Pass This Way Again

After getting their start in rock and pop bands in the 1950s, Jim Seals and Dash Crofts, “adherents of the Baha’i faith, sought to make a calmer brand of music, mixing folk, bluegrass, country and jazz influences and delivering their lyrics in close harmony,” (New York Times). “‘Jim Seals plays acoustic guitar and fiddle,’ Don Heckman wrote in the NYT in 1970 in a brief review of their second album, Down Home, “and Dash Crofts plays electric mandolin and piano; together they sing coolly intertwined, and quite colorful, vocal harmony.” The duo had an impressive run of top 10 soft rock hits in the 1970s (including “Summer Breeze” and “Hummingbird”), although they never topped the US pop charts outright.

“We May Never Pass This Way Again” (1973) “calls on people to show courage and continue to stand with one another, partly because they may never see each other again. Written by the duo, it’s an example of their strong convictions to the Baha’i faith. They made a pilgrimage to Haifa, Israel, where they studied the teachings of the faith, and often based their lyrics on themes of compassion and devotion.” (Songfacts).

The ambitious track shows the duo’s writing abilities soaring toward their highest point. The track reached top 30 on multiple US, Canadian, and Australian pop charts and #2 on both the Canadian Adult Contemporary and US Easy Listening charts. Alternating between vocal solos, unisons, and harmony, the duo (with lead vocals by Jim Seals) urge the listener to seize the day. It’s hard to imagine now that a densely textured harmonic feast of a tune — centered around the life philosophy of living in the moment, marinating in earnestness, and clocking in north of four minutes — was fodder for top 40 radio. But somehow, this track’s many sections took flight when combined together, somehow creating a feeling of advance nostalgia for … now.

Seals passed away this week at age 79. It would be difficult to find a better tribute to the songwriter and performer than this track.

0:00 intro and verse 1 / A Major
0:33 Pre-chorus 1a / C major
0:50 Pre-chorus 1b / multiple compound chords
0:58 Chorus / B minor
(Second verse and chorus)
2:27 Bridge / F major
3:14 Instrumental chorus / B minor
3:56 Outro / E major (modulation via common tone in melody)

Captain + Tennille | Love Will Keep Us Together

Originally co-written by hitmaker Neil Sedaka, who released the tune only in France, ”Love Will Keep Us Together“ hit #1 in the US, Canada, and Australia when covered in 1975 by American duo Captain and Tennille.

Backed by members of the famed group of session musicians The Wrecking Crew, the tune features a huge upward half-step key change as the outro starts at 2:55. Daryl Dragon, half of the duo (who were married for many years), passed away this week at the age of 76.