Released in 1982, “You’re My Number One” was a track from the Average White Band’s album Cupid’s In Fashion. ” … the group decided to keep things a bit funkier on this release … ” (Soulfinger). ” … they brought in some cool cats like Dan Hartman to write ‘You’re My Number One’. Say what you will about Hartman, but that man can make a fun song … AWB could do LA pop without losing their soul … “
Hartman is perhaps best known for his own release “I Can Dream About You” (which reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1984 and #12 on the UK Singles chart in 1985). He wrote and/or produced many other successful tunes for other artists, including “Living in America” for James Brown (1986), as well as tracks for a wide-ranging list of artists including The Plasmatics, Steve Winwood, Tina Turner, Joe Cocker, Dusty Springfield, and Bonnie Tyler. Hartman passed away from HIV in 1994 at the age of only 43.
1980s LA pop could hardly have a better standard-bearer than this track. Its funk foundation, nimble horn section, glossy production, and an entire instrumental verse devoted to a sax solo all belie the fact that Average White Band is from … Scotland! The modulation kicks in at 1:46.
Rolling Stone Australia gathered a list of “75 Greatest Boy Band Songs of All Time” in 2020: “Irresistibly catchy, unapologetically inauthentic, sexy and they know it — the boy band is the most fabulously pre-fab of all musical outfits. From the scripted TV shenanigans of the Monkees to the charming folkiness of One Direction, as long as there are junior high school notebooks to deface, there will be outfits providing pop spectacle in its purest, least filtered form.”
Coming in at #72 on the list is the 1987 track from UK-based trio Bros, “When Will I Be Famous?” The group “epitomized the late Eighties Young Conservative air of steely determination: money, power, and success at any cost. Twins Matt and Luke Goss, along with schoolmate Craig Logan, prioritized fame and fashion over brotherly bonhomie (the increasingly sidelined Logan quit, then sued the brothers). The mean streak in their lyrics, their distinctive crewcuts and bomber jackets, and their penchant for wearing Grolsch bottlecaps on their shoes made them ripe for parody and vitriol in the press … Britain had seen nothing like it since the Bay City Rollers … the Casio cowbell serves as the instant timewarp back to 1987.”
At 2:47, the relentless electronic groove downshifts a bit in terms of intensity and loudness, but goes on to add even more ruthless layers of synth shimmer instead. By its end, the bridge has tapered down to a percussion and vocals-only break. Next, the band heaves itself through a stuttering, meter-shifted portal at 3:34 before regaining its balance (just in case you didn’t notice the half-step key change).
Many thanks to regular contributor Ziyad for this submission!
We usually feature an up-tempo track on Fridays. But in light of this week’s invasion of Ukraine, focusing on music’s ability to bolster our common humanity seemed like the best choice for today.
“Finlandia is probably the most widely known of all the compositions of Jean Sibelius,” (This is Finland). “Most people with even a superficial knowledge of classical music recognise the melody immediately. The penultimate hymn-like section is particularly familiar; soon after it was published, the ‘Finlandia Hymn’ was performed with various words as far afield as the USA.”
In 1899, Sibelius composed the music “for a series of tableaux illustrating episodes in Finland´s past … a contribution towards the resistance (against) Russian influence … While Finland was still a Grand Duchy under Russia, performances within the empire had to take place under the covert title of “Impromptu” … In Finland, the ‘Finlandia Hymn’ was not sung until Finnish words for it were written by the opera singer Wäinö Sola in 1937. After the Russian aggression against Finland in 1939 (the Winter War), the Finnish poet V.A. Koskenniemi supplied a new text, the one that has been used ever since. Sibelius arranged the Hymn for mixed choir as late as 1948.”
Keith Bosley’s English translation of Koskenniemi´s text:
Finland, behold, thy daylight now is dawning, the threat of night has now been driven away. The skylark calls across the light of morning, the blue of heaven lets it have its way, and now the day the powers of night is scorning: thy daylight dawns, O Finland of ours!
Finland, arise, and raise towards the highest thy head now crowned with mighty memory. Finland, arise, for to the world thou criest that thou hast thrown off thy slavery, beneath oppression´s yoke thou never liest. Thy morning´s come, O Finland of ours!
The lyrics most frequently used in modern-day protest and worship settings were updated yet again by Lloyd Stone. The third verse is attributed to Georgia Harkness:
This is my song, O God of all the nations, a song of peace for lands afar and mine; this is my home, the country where my heart is; here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine: but other hearts in other lands are beating with hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.
My country’s skies are bluer than the ocean, and sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine; but other lands have sunlight too, and clover, and skies are everywhere as blue as mine: O hear my song, thou God of all the nations, a song of peace for their land and for mine.
May truth and freedom come to every nation; may peace abound where strife has raged so long; that each may seek to love and build together, a world united, righting every wrong; a world united in its love for freedom, proclaiming peace together in one song*
This contemporary arrangement of the piece (2021), performed by British vocal octet ensemble VOCES8, is by the group’s tenor, Blake Morgan. VOCES8 “is proud to inspire people through music and share the joy of singing. Touring globally, the group performs an extensive repertoire both in its a cappella concerts and in collaborations with leading orchestras, conductors and soloists. Versatility and a celebration of diverse musical expression are central to the ensemble’s performance and education ethos.”The Guardian describes the ensemble’s sound as “the beauty of perfectly blended unblemished voices.”
After beginning in G# major, there is a modulation up to B major at 2:36. Many thanks to Jackie D. for bringing this arrangement to our attention!
A submission from Paul “Steck” S., one of our regulars:
“Rumer is the stage name of Sarah Joyce, a Pakistan-born British singer-songwriter who has been very popular in the UK, but less well-known in the US. Her contralto voice is sometimes redolent of Karen Carpenter; indeed, Richard Carpenter wrote her to praise her first album, Seasons of My Soul, released in 2010. She’s released several albums since then, one as recently as 2020.
Rumer has been extensively involved with the music of Burt Bacharach. In 2010, she released a Christmas EP with a Bacharach song; in 2012, she performed at the White House as part of the tribute to Bacharach and Hal David; and in 2016, she released an entire album of Bacharach/David songs.
The tune here, “Aretha,” is taken from the first album; yes, it’s Aretha Franklin that she’s singing about. It’s a tale of a schoolgirl, attending a school where the kids are mean, while coping with a mentally ill mother. Listening to Aretha on her headphones is a refuge. It was written by Rumer and producer Steve Brown.
The song is a soul ballad in the key of B♭, mostly in 4/4 time (with a 12/8 feel), with measures of 2/4 and 3/4 in the verse. The bridge at 1:56 features the singer lightly harmonizing with herself. At 2:30, there’s a modulation to C for the final verse.”
“Ten Summoner’s Tales is, far and away, (Sting’s) best solo album, both as a whole and for the sum of its parts. Released in 1993 and produced by Sting and the brilliant producer Hugh Padgham, the disc is a fusion of elements from pop, jazz, rock, country, classical and numerous other styles … The disc is a unified whole, with a single sound and aim; the song themes generally concern romance, and are written and performed in a similar vein,” (Sputnik Music).
“January Stars” didn’t make the cut as an album track for Ten Summoner’s Tales (best known for the singles “If I Ever Lose My Faith in You” and “Fields of Gold”), but made an appearance as a B-side track.
After the tune starts in C minor, an instrumental interlude in A minor enters at 1:54; we then return to C minor at 2:10. But there’s a recurrence of A minor at 2:24 — all the more striking this time as the vocal melody outlines the downward modulation.
Sting also cranked out a tune with the same instrumental parts — but featuring an entirely separate set of lyrics and a largely new melody — called “Everybody Laughed But You.”
According to the video description on George Harrison’s Vevo channel, in honor of the 50th anniversary of George Harrison’s classic solo album All Things Must Pass, “a suite of new releases including a stunning new mix of the classic album by Grammy Award-winning mixer/engineer Paul Hicks, overseen by executive producer Dhani Harrison,” George’s son.
“…That’s the problem with being a really good songwriter in a band with two great ones,” (American Songwriter). “Since Harrison was only allotted one track per side of a typical Beatles album, his accumulation was substantial as the group disbanded around September of 1969. When he started recording what most consider his first solo project in 1970 … those tunes gushed out of him … The resulting collection is on anyone’s shortlist of finest Beatles solo releases, many placing it near the top.”
After starting in E major, “My Sweet Lord,” considered by many to be the centerpiece of the album, shifts to F# at 2:33. The video, released this month, stars dozens of noted actors, artists, and musicians, including Mark Hamill, Fred Armisen, Jeff Lynne, Ringo Starr, Joe Walsh, Jon Hamm, Shepard Fairey, Olivia and Dhani Harrison (George’s widow and son), and many others. Many thanks to our contributor Ziyad for this submission!
This week we will be featuring guest submissions, kicking off with our newest masthead contributor JB, who provided the write-up below:
Even though it sounds like a modern commercial jingle, the melody of Ding Dong Merrily on High is at least 500 years old, and the current lyrics are nearly 100 years old.
While there have been many recordings of this tune over the years — including the iconic Wiggles version from A Wiggly Wiggly Christmas — it’s a safe bet that none of them has had more modulations than Michael Biggins’ version. There are key changes at 1:04 and 1:27, a full mode change from 1:50-2:14, and multiple keys-of-the-moment and other harmonic tensions sprinkled throughout.
Biggins was named the 2021 Young Traditional Musician of the Year by BBC Radio Scotland, the first pianist ever to win this prestigious award. One of the reasons that the award had, in the past, always recognized pipers, fiddlers, and other players of melody instruments is that the piano is generally relagated to the role of a rhythm instrument in Scottish trad, playing simple boom-chuck accompaniment to support the melody players. This role delineation is still honored in the video, where Biggins plays all the virtuosic tracks on the accordion (generally a melody instrument in Scottish trad), while keeping the piano track well below his pay grade.
“Offering a self-contained, funkier alternative to early Bananarama, London’s seven-woman Belle Stars played and sang neo-soul and dance-rock,” (TrouserPress). The music “provoke(s) a good time largely through the band’s own evident enjoyment.”
Kent, a MotD regular, submits “Iko Iko” by the UK band The Belle Stars. “It’s been recorded many times, charting three times on the Billboard Hot 100, but only twice in the Top 40. The Dixie Cups’ 1964 version may be the oldest one recognized by most, as it was recorded as a percussive version of a song one member remembered her grandmother singing, not realizing that it had been written in the 1950s as ‘Jack-a-Mo.’ Dr. John recorded another version in 1972, which missed the top 40, but the best chart success came in 1989 when the version by The Belle Stars was featured in the movie Rain Man, scenes of which appear in the video.” The Belle Stars’ 1983 version, which became a top 40 US hit, modulates rather gently from F to F# (1:23); the entire harmonic structure drops away, leaving only the groove still running, and then re-enters in the new key.
“Early in the [2021] press cycle for her fourth LP, Adele referred to 30 as her most personal album yet,” (Pitchfork). “It’s hard to imagine something more personal than the empathy bombs that Adele typically drops, but she did not lie about 30 … Here, she’s telling a more unexpected story about love: What it means to inflict that pain on your family, to rebuild yourself from scratch, and—big exhale—to try to love again … she’s taking cues from newer visionaries like Jazmine Sullivan and Frank Ocean as much as her diva elders … her vocals are more playful: Motown-style background vox are modulated to a chirp on “Cry Your Heart Out” and “Love Is a Game,” in a kind of remix of her usual retro homage.”
“‘Cry your heart out, it’ll clean your face,’ Adele admonishes herself … It’s a record in which Adele ugly-cries, then wipes off her streaked makeup, sloughing off layers of dead skin in the process,” (The Guardian).
“Love is a Game,” drenched with strings and saturated with layers of background vocals, is a Motown/R&B pastiche of the highest order. After a start in Db major, the bridge wraps up at 4:15 — with a transition to Eb as the drum kit stunt-stumbles over an odd-metered measure before settling into a new chorus at 4:22.
“You Gotta Not” is featured on the 2016 album Glory Days by the British girls group Little Mix. The album was their first to reach #1 in the UK; AllMusic claimed “the group deliver[s] a set of hooky, smartly crafted songs that balance swaggering, ’60s-style R&B with stylish, electronic-tinged dance-pop.” Co-written by Meghan Trainor, “You Gotta Not” highlights themes of female empowerment, and its groove recalls Jennifer Lopez’s “Ain’t Yo Mama,” also written by Trainor. The tune modulates from Db up to D at 1:12.
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