Electric Light Orchestra | I’m Alive

The 1980 film Xanadu featured the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) track “I’m Alive.” While the film did poorly at the theaters and with critics, its soundtrack was a double-platinum smash hit, peaking at #4 on the end-of-year charts. The tune, which features Jeff Lynne‘s trademark stacked vocals and plenty of real strings layered in with synths, modulates at 2:03.

Jeremy Jordan + Laura Osnes | The Next Ten Minutes Ago (from “R+H Goes Pop!”)

From the Rodgers & Hammerstein Goes Pop! series, Laura Osnes and Jeremy Jordan sing a mash-up of “Ten Minutes Ago” from R&H’s Cinderella with “The Next Ten Minutes” from Jason Robert Brown‘s The Last Five Years. There are a few key changes, but the big one is at 3:48. The track starts at 0:25.

Beck, Robyn + The Lonely Island | Super Cool (from “Lego Movie 2”)

The closing credit sequence for Lego Movie 2 (2019) has something for everyone, including a smile or two for the parents in the audience for its unapologetic “pro-credits = pro-reading” stance. Beck, Robyn, and The Lonely Island collaborated on this funk/pop/hiphop track. The tune starts in A major, drops a rollercoaster instrumental mini-bridge at 2:28, and lands in B major at 2:32.

The Monkees | Theme from “The Monkees” TV Show

A boy band before the term was even coined, The Monkees were assembled by TV professionals to cast a music-centric sitcom (1966-1968) “about an imaginary band… that wanted to be the Beatles,” according Monkee Mickey Dolenz. Eventually, the actors learned to play their instruments for real, continuing as a band until 1971 and producing several huge hits. The brief theme song from the TV show manages to pack in two direct modulations at 0:26 and 0:36.