Tag: UK

Connie Laverne | Can’t Live Without You

“Can’t Live Without You” by Connie Laverne was originally released as white label DJ copy on the New York record label GSF shortly before the label folded in 1974,” reports Sam Beaubien of NPR affiliate WDET’s program CultureShift. “This record is rarely seen and is highly coveted … (it became) popular through modern DJs playing this song in their sets, specifically in the UK. Since then, the track has been remastered and released for the Club Classics album celebrating 50 years of UK’s Northern Soul scene.

Information on the vocalist Connie Laverne is extremely hard to find. GrooveCollector states that the single was produced by George Kerr. Phyllis Hyman later recorded (but didn’t release) a version of the tune. From The Guardian’s overview of the genre, which is said to have been the UK’s answer to Motown: “One of the many beauties of Northern Soul is its sheer unknowability. It’s a scene that has always thrived on the rare, the obscure, and the undiscovered. Since it first emerged in the dance halls of northern England in the late 60s, it has existed in direct opposition to the very concept of greatest hits … There is no carved-in-stone canon – everyone’s journey through it is unique. Northern Soul is a culture based on chance finds, crate-digging and word-of-mouth recommendations.”

1:12 brings a half-step upward modulation; at 1:43, we seem to be headed for another, but we fall back into the original key instead! Many thanks to our prolific contributor JB!

Billy Ocean | Love Really Hurts Without You

British singer Billy Ocean’s first Top 40 hit in the US, “Love Really Hurts Without You” was featured on his eponymous first studio album, released in 1976.

Ocean claims he wrote the song while simultaneously learning how to play the new piano he had just bought. “The novelty of it was coming home every lunchtime and evening and tinkling my piano until eventually I did get something out of it which was the song ‘Love Really Hurts Without You’,” he said. “My left hand started playing the melody and my right hand just did some down beats and my voice just started coming out with [the opening lyric] ‘You run around town like a fool and you think that it’s groovy’ and the song just came together there and then.”

The song has since appeared in the 2013 film Filth, as well as in the Netflix series Sex Education. Beginning in F major, the tune modulates up to G at 2:07.

Level 42 | The Sleepwalkers

“When (Mark) King formed Level 42 … they were jazz-funk aficionados, deep into Miles Davis, John McLaughlin and Keith Jarrett,” (ClassicPopMag.com). “While this was sonic worlds away from the pop terrain that became their regular stomping ground in the 80s, (bassist) King had been a fan of music of all kinds at eight years old – and his first vinyl purchase was a Cream album … ‘I was only really trying to do what I’d been hearing coming across from America… I’d been listening to Stanley Clarke and Larry Graham … The idiom they were thumping the music in wasn’t as broad a spectrum as pop, so I’d somehow managed to leap the fence with that, and we were straight out into the pop mainstream. It happened to coincide with our first European tour, when we opened for The Police.'”

AllMusic sums up the band’s progression from its inception to its biggest hit-making days: “At the beginning of their career, Level 42 was squarely a jazz-funk fusion band … By the end of the ’80s, however, the band — whose music was instantly recognizable from Mark King’s thumb-slap bass technique and associate member Wally Badarou’s synthesizer flourishes — had crossed over to the point where they were often classified as sophisti-pop and dance-rock, equally likely to be placed in the context of Sade and the Style Council as was any group that made polished, upbeat, danceable pop/rock.”

1987’s “The Sleepwalkers” was a track from Running in the Family, which became a top ten album for the year in Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Australia, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, and New Zealand — with a #2 berth in the UK, as well, although the release only hit #23 in the US. Like so much of the band’s output, the tune is a multi-layered machine, built around a percolating bass line, an up-the-neck funk guitar, several strata of synth sheen, and clock-like drums. After starting in Ab major, the tune makes an unlikely tritone leap to D minor with a syncopated kick of backing vocals at 1:00 for the chorus. At 1:23, we revert to the original key; the pattern is maintained throughout.

The Beatles | And I Love Her

First time contributor Galen Cruess, in his submission of The Beatles’ 1964 hit “And I Love Her” from the album A Hard Day’s Night, writes: “It’s a unique acoustic song sung and written mostly by Paul McCartney that reflects his more ballad-like songs. Elements like George Harrison’s introductory riff, arpeggiated chords during the verses, and Ringo’s use of bongos and clavés give the song a different sound that is only heard in a few other Beatles songs, such as ‘Til There Was You’ and ‘Michelle.'”

“Before the soundtrack to (the movie) A Hard Day’s Night burst on the scene, Paul’s songwriting was mostly encompassed within the framework of writing ‘eyeball to eyeball’ (as Lennon would call it) with John in collaborative efforts,” (BeatlesBooks.com). “When he did faction off to write by himself, the songs would be rockers, such as ‘I Saw Her Standing There’ and ‘Can’t Buy Me Love.’ His reputation as a ‘balladeer’ began with the inclusion of ‘And I Love Her’ on the movie soundtrack album. This soft, acoustic sentimental love song stuck out like a sore thumb and made everyone take notice of what this long-haired British rock group was capable of.”

After a start in F# minor the key raises a half step to B minor at 1:30 with George Harrison’s solo on classical-style nylon string acoustic guitar. The tune ends on a striking major chord (piccardy third).

Culture Club | Time (Clock of the Heart)

“Time (Clock of the Heart)” wasn’t released on the debut Culture Club album Kissing to be Clever; “it was a stand-alone single that proved another smash hit and was later added to the album in America.” (Diffuser.FM) “In the process, Culture Club pulled off a pretty amazing feat, becoming the first UK band since the Beatles to have three singles from a debut album make the Top 10 in America. Despite the grand success of the music, for many the look often overtook the sound as the media began a love affair with the band, and George in particular. ‘People felt there was something really happening,’ said Culture Club drummer Jon Moss. ‘I think that was the main thing. People would look and say, Blimey, what is this?‘”

In a GQ interview, George recalls he “was obsessed with music as a little kid, that was where I escaped to. I shared a room with my four brothers and most of the time I didn’t have the room to myself, so whenever I could I would have the record player on. I’d listen to everything from Irish show tunes to early Bowie, T. Rex and disco. Discovering Bowie was the ‘Whoa, that’s what I want to be’ moment. I was 11 and somehow my dad got me a ticket to see Ziggy Stardust.”

“It was kind of almost overnight for us,” he said in a 2015 interview. “You know, one minute we were an unknown band that literally couldn’t get signed, but once we got on TV, it was the public, more than anything, that decided they liked us and I think that’s always been the case.”

Starting in G minor, the 1982 single features a short instrumental bridge at 2:26 in Bb minor before settling into the next chorus at 2:43.

The Jags | Back of My Hand

“Record labels and radio in the U.K. were grudgingly forced to allow new-wave and punk sounds to edge onto the airwaves in the late-’70s, long before their U.S. big brothers would even consider such an experiment. The Jags were perfectly suited to seize that moment.” (Magnet Magazine)

“The Jags’ sound in 1979 was jangly and based around clean, ringing guitar, with slashing rhythms, quick musical changes and expertly precise three-minute arrangements. Their original songs were upbeat, full of hooks, elegant melodies and guttural rock energy: a perfect model of power-pop/new-wave fun. (The UK press) quickly tagged the band as ‘Elvis Costello imitators,'” a comparison which the band wasn’t able to transcend.

After a start in E major, “Back of My Hand” (1979) features a downward shift to G major during an instrumental break (2:03), then a return to E major at 2:14 for a bridge that pivots about as if it might modulate to F# major at 2:29 — but doesn’t. According to AllMusic, the tune had “a chart life of 10 weeks and peaked at #17 in the UK. In the US, the song peaked at #84 on the Billboard Hot 100.”

Sheena Easton | Morning Train (9 to 5)

The 1980 hit “Morning Train (9 to 5),” written by Florrie Palmer and recorded by Scottish singer Sheena Easton, rose to the top of the U.S. adult and contemporary charts and was certified gold. Originally released in the UK with the title “9 to 5,” it was re-named “Morning Train” upon its US release to avoid confusion with the Dolly Parton hit, which was released that same year. The track has since been featured in numerous TV shows including Will & Grace, Good Girls, and South Park.

Characterized by a driving, insistent quarter note pulse, the tune begins in G major before smoothly transitioning to C for the opening verse at 0:18, and subsequently alternating between C and G for the verses and choruses respectively.

Electric Light Orchestra | Mr. Blue Sky

Jeff Lynne, who essentially is Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), wrote and produced “Mr. Blue Sky,” which was recorded for the UK band’s Out of the Blue album in 1977. “The song forms the fourth and final track of the ‘Concerto for a Rainy Day’ suite, on side three of the original double album, and was later released as a standalone single,” (SmoothRadio.com). ELO’s mix of modern production, tips of the hat to Beatle-esque songwriting, and unapologetic earnestness was popular with the public: RockFandom.com reports that “from 1972 to 1986, ELO accumulated 27 Top-40 hit singles in both the UK and the US. The group also scored 20 Top 20 UK hit singles, as well as 15 Top-20 hit singles in the US . The band also holds the record for having the most Billboard Hot 100 Top 40 hits of any group in US chart history without ever having a number one single.”

“Lynne has said that he wrote ‘Mr Blue Sky’ after locking himself away in a Swiss chalet, and attempting to write ELO’s follow-up album to (the 1976 release) A New World Record (Smoothradio.com). ‘It was dark and misty for two weeks, and I didn’t come up with a thing,’ he told the BBC. ‘Suddenly the sun shone and it was, Wow, look at those beautiful Alps. I wrote it, and 13 other songs, in the next two weeks.'” The tune reached only #6 on the UK pop charts and only #35 in the US, but retroactively has become a classic: “it has since become ELO’s signature song, and has been one of the most downloaded and streamed songs of the 1970s” and has been featured in many TV and film productions, including Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and Doctor Who.

Written mostly in an emphatic F major, 3:43 brings an extended instrumental outro. Starting in Db major, the outro heavily features two ELO signatures: choir and strings. At 4:24, a section in Eb major further demonstrates Lynne’s unique approach of adding classical music conventions to a rock/pop sound — the rock instrumentation falls away entirely. Many thanks to our our regular contributor JB for this submission!

Cats UK | Luton Airport

Luton, a borough of just over 200,000 less than 30 miles from London, made its name as a center of hat manufacturing. Its arts center, the Hat Factory, was exactly that during the industrial revolution. So its residents were probably a bit surprised when a single named after its airport, released by the all-female band Cats UK, reached #22 on the UK Singles Chart in 1977.

The tune was inspired by the 1977 Campari television commercial: a woman answers the pickup line “Were you truly wafted here from paradise?” by saying “Nahh, Luton Airport!” (The Scotsman).

There’s a whole-step modulation at 2:37.

Will Young | Evergreen

Will Young was the first winner, in 2002, of the British music competition television series Pop Idol. “Evergreen” was one of two tracks slated to be released by the winner, and Young’s cover of the tune (originally recorded by the Irish boy band Westlife) went on to become the fastest-selling debut single in the UK. The song modulates from C to D at 2:53.