Tag: UK

S Club 7 | Never Had a Dream Come True

S Club 7’s “Never Had a Dream Come True” was released in 2000, and chosen to be the official BBC Children in Need song that year. It hit the top of the UK Singles chart, and was also the UK group’s only single to chart in the US, where it was the 61st best-selling single in 2001. Key change at 3:05.

John Lennon | Woman

Released after his death in 1980, “Woman” was the second single from the John Lennon and Yoko Ono album Double Fantasy. According to an interview with Playboy, Lennon wrote “Woman” not only for his wife Yoko Ono, but for all women. The opening moments of the track feature Lennon saying “For the other half of the sky …”, a paraphrase of a famous Chinese saying about the equal importance of the sexes.

From AllMusic’s review of the album: “He’s surprisingly sentimental, not just when he’s expressing love for his wife and child, but when he’s coming to terms with his quiet years and his return to creative life. These are really nice tunes, and what’s special about them is their niceness — it’s a sweet acceptance of middle age, which, of course, makes his assassination all the sadder.”

At the opening of the last verse (2:22), a half-step modulation drops without warning. Rather than providing any preparation or ramp-up in energy, the song simply continues on, flowing like a river.

Jacob Collier (feat. Mahalia + Ty Dolla $ign) | All I Need

Jacob Collier‘s latest single, “All I Need,” dropped last week, and it is a doozy. Featuring Mahalia Music and Ty Dolla $ign, the track trends more toward mainstream pop than most of his other work, while still maintaining the incredible harmonic and rhythmic sophistication that are trademarks of this UK native’s style.

The key changes up a quarter tone at 2:14 before winding its way back down to the original key from 3:15-3:17.

Steel Pulse | Ravers

AllMusic notes that “Steel Pulse are one of Britain’s greatest reggae bands. Generally a politically minded Rastafarian outfit, it started out playing authentic roots reggae with touches of jazz and Latin music and earned a substantial audience among U.K. punks as well as reggae loyalists.”

From AllMusic’s review of “Ravers” (1978): “…for all its debt to the Jamaican dancehalls, the Birmingham bandmembers don’t so much emulate the current island craze as bend it to their own will…set(ting) the stage with (a) flurried tattoo of militant beats and percussion…only partially soften(ed) with a pulsing bassline. One of the many highlights of Steel Pulse‘s True Democracy album.”

A brief bridge from 2:20 – 2:32 shifts the key from G major to Bb major. As the verses continue to the end, the percussion becomes increasingly free, adding unexpected kicks and tumbling triplets over the otherwise classic reggae feel.

Many thanks to regular contributor JB for submitting this track!

Rolling Stones | Dear Doctor

Not a band normally known for modulations, the Stones produced a tune with a key change in “Dear Doctor” from 1968’s Beggar’s Banquet. The tune is a country/blues waltz — a classic story song about an ill-fated romantic pairing.

According to AllMusic, “Jagger may be poking fun a little, but he could not nail the parlance of the characters so precisely if he had not studied it closely as a fan of the music…in a sense, they have been musicologists, interpreting musical forms that were in danger of dying out.”

At 1:38, there’s a big key change (up a major fourth). Many thanks to mod scout Rob Penttinen for this contribution!

Thomas Dolby | The Flat Earth

After releasing his debut album Golden Age of Wireless, which featured his iconic hit “She Blinded Me With Science,” UK songwriter / keyboardist / synthesist / vocalist Thomas Dolby‘s work took a turn towards the atmospheric. Much of his second album, The Flat Earth, had a gentler, more organic sound. A huge contributing factor to the sound of both albums was bassist Matthew Seligman, whose imaginative, wide-ranging style is front and center in the mix throughout. Much of Seligman’s work on The Flat Earth was on fretless bass, further burnishing the sound.

Seligman also worked with David Bowie and The Thompson Twins; did session work for Morrissey, Tori Amos, the Waterboys, and more; and co-founded The Soft Boys. He passed away last week from complications of COVID-19 at the age of 64.

AllMusic reports that Seligman’s bass on The Flat Earth “is a welcome addition — throughout the album his work is lavish, growling, popping through octaves, funk-a-fied and twinkling with harmonics. The title track is a wondrous R&B daydream of piano and Motown stabs of rhythm guitar…”

Although the tune is largely in Db major, there’s a short bridge in D major (3:33 – 4:02), striated by layers of nearly wordless vocals, before a transition back to the original key.

Madness | The Sun and the Rain

The Guardian suggests that Madness “are still perhaps England’s greatest post-Beatles singles group. ‘The Sun and the Rain’ was a tribute to precipitation, and what could be more English than that? Accompanied by an urgent, string-laden stomp,” the lyric speaks of “standing up in the falling down.” The track was released in 1983 as a stand-alone single, reaching 10 weeks on the UK Singles chart (peaking at #5). It later appeared on the group’s subsequent album, but only after its strong showing as a single.

Setting the tone, there’s a quick key change from the intro into the first verse at 0:34. Taking a back seat to the band’s unique piano-driven post-ska sound and goofy, irreverent style, the main modulation drops with minimal fanfare between two choruses at 2:49. Many thanks to MotD regular Rob Penttinen for this submission!

Jacob Collier | Hallelujah

I have posted Jacob Collier singing a different arrangement of this same song here before, but I came across this rendition today, filmed a few days ago, and it is so transcendent that I have to share it again. As Collier says before he begins, “It starts in C Major, but we’ll see where it ends up,” making it particularly fitting for this page.