Tag: rock

Gnarls Barkley | Going On

Gnarls Barkley’s smash debut hit “Crazy” was considered by many to be 2006’s global song of the summer. Last.FM reports that it was “the first #1 UK single to be obtained solely through Internet downloads.” The band, a duo comprised of producer/multi-instrumentalist Brian “Danger Mouse” Burton and funk/soul vocalist Cee Lo Green, continued to crank out unpredictable tunes until 2010, straddling multiple genres of psychedelia-tinged hiphop, soul, neo-soul, and funk.

Playing up the psychedelic aspect, the video for “Going On,” filmed in Jamaica, centers around “a group of people celebrating the discovery of a door that leads to another dimension,” according to MTV.com. The song garnered a 2009 Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop Performance; in 2011, Time Magazine listed the lo-fi, dance-centric video among its 30 All-Time Best Music Videos, calling it a “sucker punch of joy …(a) three-minute piece of percussive pop perfection.”

Featured on the duo’s second album, The Odd Couple (2008), “Going On” alternates between an uptuned Eb minor and F minor throughout. The tune features an intro in Eb minor, verse one in F minor (0:18), chorus in Eb minor (0:47), etc.

Toad the Wet Sprocket | Scenes From a Vinyl Recliner

Many thanks to chronic mod submitter JB for today’s feature: “Scenes from a Vinyl Recliner,” a 1989 release (and MotD debut) by Toad the Wet Sprocket. AllMusic reports that the band was “named in honor of a sketch by the Monty Python comedy troupe … one of the most successful alternative rock bands of the early ’90s, boasting a thoughtful folk-pop sound that wielded enough melody and R.E.M.-styled jangle to straddle both the modern rock and adult contemporary markets. The group broke into the mainstream with the 1991 release of their third album, Fear, and its hits ‘All I Want’ and ‘Walk on the Ocean.'” The tune alternates between C# minor and E minor.

JB writes: “While lots of Toad’s tunes have juicy mods, this is one of their less-known songs. Even though the ‘structure’ of the mods is just the vanilla A/B verse/chorus structure, the subjective tonal quality of each mod is pretty unusual. Some of this is the direction and interval of each mod, but the instrumentation is also critical: The mod into each chorus (0:38, etc.) is very abrupt, and is primarily announced by the vibes (or synth equivalent thereof), striking a note in the new key in relative isolation. Likewise, the mod back to each verse (1:10, etc.) is announced by a single note on the piano, again in relative isolation. These timbres, sounding in isolation, make a nice contrast to the rest of the song, which follows the sort of cliched soft/loud verse/chorus structure that was one of the things that made TTWS alt-rock adjacent, rather than a pure folk-rock sound.”

Danny + The Juniors | Rock + Roll Is Here to Stay

Although a little less well known than “At the Hop,” their biggest hit, “Rock’n’Roll is Here to Stay” was a hit for doo-wop group Danny and the Juniors; the single reached #19 on the pop charts and somehow also attained a #16 peak on the R&B chart. The quartet, originally called The Juvenaires, was comprised of four Philadelphia-area high school classmates. The group was a natural to be featured performers on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand, but had to wait until a last-minute call when Little Anthony + the Imperials cancelled!

There are half-step modulations at 1:40 and 1:56. In addition to singing, the boys do a great job of helping the entire crowd clap on two and four!

The Dregs | Bloodsucking Leeches

“One of the top jazz-rock fusion ensembles ever, the Dixie Dregs combined virtuoso technique with eclecticism and a sense of humor and spirit too frequently lacking in similar project,” reports AllMusic. From Music Aficionado’s profile on the band: “During the Georgia-based Dregs’ heyday in the late 70s and early 80s, their output consisted of longish instrumental workouts that mixed elements of southern rock, bluegrass, prog, metal, classical, jazz and fusion, among other styles, all of it shot through with ridiculously complex technical acrobatics,” The band’s name was initially The Dixie Dregs, but the group dropped “Dixie” from the name towards the end of its run. The group was led by guitarist Steve Morse (also known for his work with Deep Purple).

Founding bassist Andy West says of “Bloodsucking Leeches” (1982), via Music Aficionado: “This song is our statement on the music industry at the time, which is where the title comes from. The feel of this one, to me, it’s not quite metal, but it’s definitely rock. If you trace it back, it’s like a Led Zeppelin kind of thing, if Led Zeppelin had kept on going.” Maybe — if Zeppelin had “kept on going” right off the edge of the planet and into its own unique universe of southern-fried funk/rock!

Starting in E major, 0:38 shifts to a focus on the closely-related key of A major, a much bigger jump to G major at 1:25, back to A at 1:53, and a return to E at 2:13. The shifts continue until the tune settles back into E major in its final seconds (3:54).

Grateful Dead | Sugar Magnolia

Grateful Dead makes their MotD debut today, with one of their most loved and well-known tunes, “Sugar Magnolia.” Originally released on the group’s fifth studio album, American Beauty, in 1970, it was subsequently included on many live albums, including Europe ’72, where it peaked at #91 on the Billboard Top 100 in 1973. The majority of the tune is in A major, but it abruptly modulates up a step to B at 2:30, where it remains for the duration.

Sly + the Family Stone | Stand

A much-overdue MotD debut for the famously eclectic Sly & the Family Stone today. The band “harnessed all of the disparate musical and social trends of the late ’60s,” AllMusic explains, “creating a wild, brilliant fusion of soul, rock, R&B, psychedelia, and funk that broke boundaries down without a second thought. Led by Sly Stone, the Family Stone was comprised of men and women, and blacks and whites, making the band the first fully integrated group in rock’s history. That integration shone through the music, as well as the group’s message. Before Stone, very few soul and R&B groups delved into political and social commentary; after him, it became a tradition in soul, funk, and hip-hop.”

Released in 1968, “Stand” is just one of a full line of unusual singles from S&TFS, not easily described by the vocabulary that preceded them. AllMusic continues: “Like Brian Wilson, Sly Stone incorporated beautiful, magical moments on his records that were some of the most musically progressive. In this song, a simple but brilliant four-on-the-floor drum pattern and gospel vocals create what would be the virtual blueprint for what was to become known as disco. Moreover, the song is yet another message song that helped bridge the gap between the black and white rock audiences…one of the most timely records of its age.”

The verse is built around a de-tuned Ab major (I / IV / I / bVII); the bVII major serves as a sub-V for the new key of F major (0:14), repeating the same pattern for Verse 2 (0:28) before reverting to Ab for the one-word chorus (0:51). Each switch from Ab to F is accentuated by a 2/4 bar among the overall 4/4 meter (heard for the first time at 0:13 – 0:14). An entirely new groove, built around a 4-bar pattern, kicks in for an extended outro in C minor at 2:18. The outro is a joyful, uproarious shout chorus featuring multiple vocalists on a repeated wordless vocal hook, instrumentalists playing at full tilt, and gospel-style eighth-note claps building on the already high energy — just as the slow final fade kicks in.

The Doobie Brothers | One Step Closer

Released in 1980, One Step Closer was the ninth studio album by the American rock band “The Doobie Brothers,” and the last to feature Michael McDonald before he left the group to pursue a solo career (though he continued to return as a guest performer over the subsequent decades.) The title track starts and remains in A for all but the final 30 seconds, where an unexpected modulation arises from virtual silence at 3:43 and lands the tune in B major for its playoff. Cornelius Bumpus, known primarily as a saxophonist who also played with Steely Dan, joins McDonald on vocals.

Genesis | Please Don’t Ask

Released on Genesis’ 1980 album Duke, “Please Don’t Ask” couldn’t have been a bigger part of the Western world’s cultural zeitgeist: with the longtime stigma against divorce lifting quickly, marriages were ending at rates which would have been unimaginable even a decade before. The lyric covers feelings of hurt, remorse, and ambivalence, as well as a splitting couple’s love and care for their children: a tall order indeed.

Duke likely marks the completion of Phil Collins’ ascendance as the second vocalist and frontman of the prog rock band, which moved towards a more broadly accessible focus after the departure of founding vocalist Peter Gabriel. As Collins’ first marriage ended in 1980, it’s hardly surprising that one of his songwriting contributions to this wide-ranging album would be so unflinching in its treatment of such a difficult subject. Classic Rock Review reports that Duke “was the first album by Genesis to reach the top of the UK Album charts and it has been certified Platinum on both sides of the Atlantic.” The book Genesis: Chapter and Verse quotes Collins as saying it’s “the most personal song I’ve probably ever written.”

The tune starts in F major, but its opening progression is a repeated ii -> iii, making the tonality tricky to pin down and somehow putting even more emphasis on the heart-rending lyric. Further, the first note of the vocal is an emphatic tension (an 11, when taken in the context of the ii chord), throwing the listener off the scent even more in terms of tonality. From 0:34 – 0:45, a jarring second section of the verse shifts to Eb major and back — and then again from 1:09 – 1:19. The plaintive chorus (1:20) is built around F minor/Ab major. At 2:14, the transition from the end of the chorus into the second verse involves a bruising tri-tone drop in the bass line. The tune ends with a relatively uncomplicated Ab major, although the protagonist seems to find no such easy resolution.

Many thanks to the wide-ranging mod plugger JB for suggesting this tune!

Chicago | Make Me Smile

“(‘Make Me Smile’) was written by James Pankow, a founding member of Chicago, whose primary instrument is the trombone,” reports Songfacts. “What made him smile was the thought of a beautiful relationship: ‘Relationships, if they’re good, put a big smile on our faces. Love songs have always been a powerful ingredient in the song’s process – the songwriting process has often taken writers to that place.’

(The 1970 single) is the first section from the 13-minute musical suite ‘Ballet for a Girl from Buchannon’ on the group’s second album (‘Colour My World‘ is also part of this suite). Without the band’s knowledge, their record company excerpted the ‘Make Me Smile’ section and pushed it to AM radio stations, which had thus far ignored the band. The band had mixed emotions upon hearing their musical masterpiece chopped down for radio play, but were thrilled when the song became their first hit. The first Pankow heard this song on the radio was when he flipped on the mighty Los Angeles radio station KHJ-AM in his car and the song came on. He had no idea the record company had packaged it as a single.”

This album version includes an extended intro not found on the single version (0:00 – 0:38), as well as an extended outro (3:44 – 4:10) before the single version’s ending picks back up at 4:11. Both the intro and the outro are unsettled, giving the horn section free rein over meters that shift on a dime; a settled 4/4 is reached as the first verse starts at 0:42, before the most noticeable key change hits as the bridge starts at 2:14. The band’s trademark horn-saturated kicks and ambitious multi-layered backing vocals were well on their way to icon status with this hit track.

Many thanks to our diligent stringer JB for contributing this tune!

Buzzcocks | I Don’t Mind

“With their crisp melodies, biting lyrics, and driving guitars, the UK’s Buzzcocks were one of most influential bands to emerge in the initial wave of punk rock,” AllMusic reports. “Buzzcocks were inspired by the Sex Pistols‘ energy, but they didn’t copy the Pistols‘ angry political stance. Instead, they brought that intense, brilliant energy to the three-minute pop song.”

Buzzcocks’ album Another Music In A Different Kitchen (1977) featured the single “I Don’t Mind,” which reached #55 on the UK Singles charts. The tune features a bridge at 1:16 — unusual for the punk genre. But at the end of the bridge, another rarity arrives: a half-step modulation (1:50), making this 2:20 track quite unusual within its genre.

Many thanks to Rob Penttinen for this contribution!