Tag: UK

Laura Mvula | I’m Still Waiting

“The word ‘comeback’ is overused, but in Laura Mvula‘s case, it really does hold true,” (NME). “Though her impressive second album, 2016’s The Dreaming Room, earned her MOBO (the UK’s Musician of Black Origin award) and Mercury Prize nominations plus an Ivor Novello award, she was unceremoniously dropped by RCA Records six months after it came out. The supremely talented Birmingham-born musician later revealed that she received the bad news in a forwarded seven-line email.

Having dusted herself off – writing the music for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s 2017 production of Antony & Cleopatra must have helped – Mvula is back on a new label, Atlantic, with an overhauled sound. Where her 2013 debut Sing to the Moon largely blended soul with orchestral pop and The Dreaming Room introduced a touch of funk and disco to the mix, Mvula has called Pink Noise (2021) an album ‘made with warm sunset tones of the ’80s’. She isn’t overselling it.”

“I’m Still Waiting,” was first a #1 UK hit released by Diana Ross on her 1971 album Everything is Everything. Mvula’s cover starts in C major; the second half of the first verse features an unprepared modulation at 0:18, settling into Eb major at for the duration. With an accompaniment full of sighing pauses and comprised only of keyboards and feathery layers of backing vocals, the focus falls all that more squarely on the storytelling of Mvula’s poised lead vocal.

Ross’ original, in Eb major, features no key changes and a gentle but more consistent groove throughout.

Susan Boyle | I Dreamed a Dream

Scottish singer Susan Boyle rose to fame as a contestant on the third season of the reality singing competition Britain’s Got Talent singing “I Dreamed a Dream” from the blockbuster musical Les Miserables. Her debut album of the same name, released in 2009, quickly became the UK’s best-selling album of all time, and with over 10 million copies sold is now one of the best-selling records of the 21st century. Boyle has gone on to release seven additional albums.

The tune begins in Eb and dramatically modulates up a whole step to F at 1:44.

Seal | The Beginning

“… on his debut album (1991), Seal is an ambiguous, mercurial entity—not so much a singer as a pure source of heat and light,” (Pitchfork) “For all the marvels of his voice, the music surrounding him is just as opulent; his singing is just one thread in a vast tapestry of crushed velvet, raw silk, and spun gold. (To paraphrase Project Runway host Heidi Klum, who was married to Seal from 2005 until 2012, it sounds expensive.)

… Though Seal had already written some of the album’s songs on guitar, in (producer Trevor) Horn’s hands, the material became far more ornate. (On) ‘The Beginning,’ the album’s most straightforward club-centric cut … Horn manages a more multidimensional sense of space; light-years stretch between the string pads, funk guitars, and layered percussion … From the first moment we hear Seal arcing upward across the stereo field, it’s clear that Horn knew exactly how precious this particular instrument was … Seal may have idolized literary writers like Dylan and Mitchell, but you don’t come to Seal for poetry; you come for that voice and the way it navigates Horn’s productions, like a bird surfing springtime’s swirling air currents.”

The lush percussion layers of “The Beginning,” repeated nearly to the point of trance, suddenly disappear as an unexpected downward modulation kicks in between 3:30 and 3:46, returning as the tonality returns to the original key.

Howard Jones | Hide and Seek

UK native songwriter/performer Howard Jones’ career blossomed with his signature single, “Things Can Only Get Better.” That uptempo tune, which acknowledges life’s complexities but maintains an infectiously positive attitude, seems to have set the tone for Jones’ career. From a 2022 interview with 48Hills: “‘From the first album, the first single, I wanted the music and the lyrics to be of use to people to help them get through difficult times in the same way that music helped me. It had been such a comfort and an inspiration to me as I was growing up … I was consciously writing the music for the times when people, including myself, needed a boost, to get over some really difficult situation that life is constantly throwing at us … we need everyone on this planet to be functioning at their highest, most positive level if we’re going to overcome the difficulties we’re facing.'”

“Howard looks at the big picture in this song, where he goes back to the big bang and asks us to remember a time when there was ‘nothing at all, just a distant hum,'” (Songfacts). “Howard Jones performed ‘Hide and Seek’ at Live Aid in 1985 on Freddie Mercury’s piano.” Stepping the tempo up noticeably compared to the studio version of this ballad, Jones somehow gathered the courage to perform this track solo at the piano amidst Live Aid’s otherwise saturated aural textures and huge bands. The transatlantic concert was witnessed by 70,000+ audience members in London and 80,000+ for the US set; “an estimated audience of 1.9 billion, in 150 nations, nearly 40% of the world population” viewed the broadcast on TV or listened via radio (CNN).

After an intro and a verse in D minor, the chorus lifts the mood with a shift to D major (first heard from 1:52 – 2:23) before reverting to the hook-driven minor interlude and verse. The connective tissue in the transition from minor to major is a prominent Dsus4.

Pretenders | Mystery Achievement

“Like (the Clash album) London Calling, Pretenders came out in the U.K. in 1979 and here in the U.S. in 1980,” (Medialoper). “So while it’s technically a 1979 album, all of its impact — however you define that slippery term — came in 1980. Therefore, like London Calling, I really think of it as the first of the great albums of the 1980s, not the last of the great albums of the 1970s.

Which made sense: while both albums couldn’t have existed without punk rock, both albums were also signposts towards what was going to happen after punk rock, as punk rock became just one more bit of musical history upon which to draw upon when creating a sound … Kicking off with a simple, unstoppable double-time backbeat by Martin Chambers and a Pete Farndon bassline that was its own instant hook, ‘Mystery Achievement’ was hooky, dancey and fun as all hell … “

After this musical perpetual motion machine revs up in C# minor, driven by its iconic bass line, 1:22 brings an unconventional modulation to D major for the chorus. At 1:50, the key reverts to C# minor for the next verse, alternating back and forth through the rest of the tune.

Marion Ryan | Hot Diggity (Dog Ziggity Boom)

Marion Ryan, born in 1931 in Yorkshire, England, was a “popular singer with a vivacious style, was successful in the UK on records, radio, and television in the 50s and early 60s (AllMusic) … (she) first appeared on the UK music scene in 1953 and became a favourite on UK television … In the late 50s, Ryan covered several big hits, including Perry Como’s ‘Hot Diggity (Dog Ziggity Boom).'”

From The Independent: “In 1967 (Ryan) retired after a second marriage (to) the millionaire impresario Harold Davison, who handled Frank Sinatra. … Ryan’s personality may be gauged by her entry in the 1962 Radio Luxembourg Book of Record Stars. ‘Pet likes: lounging casually at home. Pet hates: rude, loud, ill-mannered people. Favourite food: Chinese. Hobbies: reading.'”

The carnival-like instrumentation of “Hot Diggity” (1956) somehow provides no competition for Ryan’s confident vocals. At 1:29, a half-step modulation kicks in.

Aretha Franklin | Border Song

“Border Song” was written by Elton John, appearing on his 1970 eponymous album. Aretha Franklin offered a gospel-tinged version, stretching the melody to new places.

“The song was one of the first Elton John singles released in March 1970. It featured John’s vocals, his strong piano performance, plus a generous gospel-style chorus,” (PopHistoryDig). “However, the song did not chart in the UK. In North America a few months later, it did better. In Canada, it peaked at No. 34, and thereby became Elton John’s first chart appearance in any country. In the U.S., meanwhile, during October 1970, the song broke into the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 92, and No. 69 on the Cash Box chart. But good news on the song was soon to come from another quarter.

… Aretha Franklin decided in 1970 that she wanted to do a cover version of ‘Border Song.’ Aretha was 28 at the time, at the peak of her rising stardom, and involved with civil rights … Although Elton John by then had his American performance debut at the Troubadour club in Los Angeles in late August 1970, the news that Aretha Franklin would be doing a cover of ‘Border Song’ was a big affirmation for both him and Bernie Taupin … knowing what Aretha Franklin’s performance of their song would mean for their newly launched careers.”

The modulation appears at 2:12.

Beatles | Now and Then

“This single feels like a super-human attempt to re-frame the group’s ending,” critic Robin Murray wrote in Clash magazine. “Instead of rancour, unity. Instead of solo competition, studio unity. Instead of losing his friends, finding their voices once more. Maybe it’s the sentimental Beatle-maniac in us, but ‘Now And Then’ feels like something beautiful, something to cherish.”

The track, originally written by John Lennon in 1977, was finally released earlier this month, with Lennon’s voice extracted from his original demo with audio restoration technology. It quickly shot up the charts in countries across the world, and is accompanied by a music video directed by Peter Jackson featuring never-before-seen footage of the group.

The song subtly switches between A minor on the verses and G major for the choruses, with the relative majors of each key being tonicized occasionally as well.

Yusuf / Cat Stevens | Land of Free Love + Goodbye

One of the most prominent singer/songwriters of the 1970s, UK native Cat Stevens (now known as Yusuf) had many hits in the first half of that decade, releasing more than one album a year during a brief period. Just as his popularity started to wane a bit, Stevens released Numbers” … subtitled A Pythagorean Theory Tale … based on a fictional planet in a far-off galaxy named Polygor,” (from the liner notes).

“Numbers (1975) sits in a peculiar position in Cat’s back catalogue – the last real attempt at making something ‘new’ and different’ in his ‘first’ career, the last album started from scratch before his conversion to Islam and, most interestingly of all, the only real half-concept/story album in his back catalogue,” (AlansAlbumArchives). “Even when concept albums were all the range at Cat’s peak (1970-73) Cat never made an album like this one, based on one rounded theme (his songs almost always share the same theme but are separate discussions of each topic and sub-topic – he never again takes us on a half-hour journey somewhere like this again).”

After an intro in F# major, the verse tumbles into D major (0:16). At 2:25, an instrumental outro turns around a few times before landing us in B major.

Paul Young | Sordid

Let’s first establish that we’re not referring to THAT Paul Young (the vocalist with the multiple 80s pop hits — also from the UK).

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, we’ve landed in trad/folk world. “Paul (Young) has been a busy member of the Northern folk scene for a number of years now,” (Aluinn Ceiligh Band’s website). “Formerly a member of the well-known group Black Beard’s Tea-Party, he joined Aluinn shortly after their formation in 2011 and has been playing with them ever since. He also runs his own York-based band The New Fox Band. As adept on melodeon as he is on fiddle, Paul also has a busy teaching practice.” Young’s own website flips the script, emphasizing his melodeon work over the fiddle. Overall, Young’s web presence is very slim indeed, aside from his extensive Youtube videos.

Regular contributor JB adds: “In addition to stellar technique, Young is a pretty gifted songwriter.  All 30 tunes in the video are his original compositions, and while there are a few clunkers, most of the tunes manage to pull off a really difficult straddle: They sound sufficiently ‘trad-adjacent’ that they could be seamlessly mixed into a set with tunes that were written 200 years ago, but are also more harmonically adventurous than 95% of trad tunes.”

After starting in A minor, Young’s “Sordid” shifts to A major at 41:26, then back to minor at 41:42, alternating onward from there. (Our apologies for the oddly huge numbers on the timeslates, but this tune is merely a small part of a much larger compilation video featuring Young’s work).