“Crazier Than You” is from the 2010 Broadway musical The Addams Family, with a Tony-nominated score by Andrew Lippa. The song, sung by Lucas and Wednesday in Act 2, gives them an opportunity to express their love for each other.
The verses of the tune are set in D while the choruses modulate down to different keys: the first chorus, at 0:41, is in Bb, and the second at 1:26 is in C. The third chorus returns us to Bb at 2:07, and the final chorus subverts expectations by shifting up a half step to B at 2:24.
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.
A live-action adaptation of Disney’s beloved 1989 animated film The Little Mermaid, starring Halle Bailey, was released this past May. Alan Menken, who wrote the music for the original film, collaborated with Lin-Manuel Miranda on some additional songs, including the one we are featuring here. Menken’s trademark soaring melody is performed by Jonah Hauer-King, who portrays Prince Eric.
The track starts in F minor and modulates up a 4th to Bb at 2:08
The TV movie High School Musical premiered on the Disney Channel in 2006 and was the most-watched premiere in the network’s history; there have since been two spin-offs. “Start of Something New,” written by Matthew Gerrard and Robbie Neil, is the first track on the film’s soundtrack, which was the best-selling album of 2006.
The song begins in C, modulates to D after 8 bars at 0:28, and shifts up to E for the last chorus at 2:26.
“(Diana) Ross had always been something of an actress — a voice capable of conveying the entirely fictional emotional weight of the circumstances that the songs described,” (Stereogum). “She was beautiful and driven and precise and galactically famous, and it was only natural that she should become a movie star, too.” Ross had acted before, starring as jazz chanteuse Billie Holiday in Lady Sings the Blues. But her Motown boss and romantic partner, Berry Gordy, was a first-time director for 1975’s Mahogany.
“Mahogany bombed. It got terrible reviews and did bad business. Gordy never directed another movie. Ross only took one more big-screen role, in the 1978 musical The Wiz. These days, Mahogany has its defenders, but it’s mostly just remembered for its camp value. The movie did, however, spawn one unqualified success: The soft and elegant theme song,” co-written by Michael Masser and Gerry Goffin, “became Ross’ third solo #1 … a slight song, but it’s a pretty one … It’s a song that practically drowns in its own drama, filling up the mix with sighing strings and wailing backup singers and fluttering acoustic guitars and pianos. Musically, the song has nothing to do with the effervescent pop-soul of Motown’s ’60s past. It’s closer to down-the-middle Los Angeles pop, and at its biggest crescendo, it sounds a bit like the work of Gerry Goffin’s old collaborator Phil Spector.”
Modulations between C minor and C major are front and center in this track, nearly from start to finish. The first shift to C major (0:44) is accentuated by the addition of percussion to the instrumentation, while the first transition back to C minor (1:10) is ushered in with an odd-metered measure. At 2:32, a long, string-saturated instrumental outro cycles through multiple keys as multiple instruments take the lead on the now-familiar theme.
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Our thanks once again to the late Chris Larkosh, an energetic and consistent supporter of MotD. This submission is one of several he sent in over the years, even though we’re only now getting around to featuring it.
“Far From The Home I Love” is from the landmark 1965 musical Fiddler on the Roof, which tells the story of the Russian milkman Tevye trying to maintain his Jewish and cultural traditions in a rapidly changing world.
Sung by Tevye’s daughter Hodel near the end of the show, this song is her plea for Tevye to understand how much it pains her to leave her home and family to be with the man she loves, but that she must do it nonetheless. The music beautifully reflects Hodel’s conflicted feelings by easing between C minor and C major throughout.
Sheldon Harnick, a three-time Tony Award winner who wrote lyrics for the show, passed away last week at age 99.
*This is the fourth installment of a weeklong series featuring covers of the 1956 song “You Don’t Know Me”*
Elvis Presley recorded “You Don’t Know Me” for the 1967 film Clambake, which he also starred in. Presley was a fan of the song and personally added it to the film, which was directed by Arthur H. Nadel. The track starts in B and shifts up to C at 1:50.
*This is the fifth and final installment of a week-long series featuring songs from the 1985 Off-Broadway musical Nunsense*
“Holier Than Thou” is a gospel-infused number that brings the show to a rousing finish. There are four half-step modulations over the course of the song; beginning in C, it modulates to Db at 2:09, then up to D at 2:53, to Eb at 3:59, and finally lands in E at 4:16.
*This is the fourth installment of a week-long series featuring songs from the 1985 Off-Broadway musical Nunsense*
“I Could’ve Gone to Nashville” is the “11 o’clock number” in the show, during which Sister Amnesia remembers her real name. The tune has a laid-back country groove, reminiscent of the music to the 1978 musical The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas. It alternates back and forth between Ab and B a few times, and at Amnesia’s point of revelation at modulates up to C at 2:54.
*This is the third installment of a week-long series featuring songs from the 1985 Off-Broadway musical Nunsense*
This duet comes halfway through Act 2, and pays homage to Jerry Herman with its old-fashioned “boom-chick” accompaniment and kick-line at the end. George Gershwin’s 1919 song “Swanee” is also quoted. The track is sprinkled with key changes throughout. Beginning in F, we transition to Bb for the first verse at 0:27, up a half step to B for the second verse at 0:53, and up again to C for the third verse at 1:46. Finally, the “Swanee” quote leads to a modulation down to A at 2:40 for the final verse.
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