Tag: USA

George Benson | 20/20

Shape-shifting guitarist/vocalist George Benson, a Pittsburgh native, had a string of hits in the 1970s and 1980s, pulling from his 36 albums to date. “20/20” (1984) made a splash on three charts: #45/Pop, #20/R&B, and #3/Jazz.

The tune features a bridge with plenty of compound chords (1:50 – 2:25) which remains in the original key. The third verse (2:25) hits with a direct modulation, followed by Benson’s effortless duet combination of guitar and wordless vocals.

Seals + Crofts | Summer Breeze

Seals and Crofts‘ 1972 release “Summer Breeze” features an aural illusion — an apparent modulation where one doesn’t actually exist. The bridge (2:06 to 2:20) is built exclusively on compound/hybrid chords and a soaring vocal line that is unquestionably the high point of the tune. As we arrive back at the final verse at 2:20, it feels as if the tune modulated — all the cues are there. But we are still in the original key of E minor!

James Taylor | On the 4th of July

Happy Fourth! Apologies for the second James Taylor post in as many weeks!

JT somehow seamlessly combines Americana instrumentation with a light Brazilian groove and unmistakably jazz-infused chord voicings for “On the 4th of July” (2002). In the short instrumental section (2:11), the guitar restates the hook and the scene is set for the modulation (2:19).

James Taylor | Enough To Be On Your Way

Far removed in time from his early hits, 1997’s Hourglass was a James Taylor album home to wonderfully woven stories, increasingly complex harmonies, and multi-layered textures. The artist described the collection as “spirituals for agnostics.”

“Enough to Be On Your Way,” reported to have been written in the wake of the death of Taylor’s brother Alex, is quietly stunning even before the modulation — but JT adds a key change to the mix at 4:35. The track features cello by Yo-Yo Ma.

Bruce Hornsby and the Range | Look Out Any Window

Bruce Hornsby created a unique Americana-inflected pop style through his early 1980s work with Bruce Hornsby and the Range. In “Look Out Any Window,” (1988) ” … Bruce chooses to highlight the concern of environmental degradation at the hands of big business,” (Bruuuce.com) “By pointing a broad, sweeping accusatory finger at ‘Far away, men too busy getting rich to care,’ he taps into a popular sentiment among young, concerned, (though invariably middle class) western teenagers.

The song was written at a time just before concerns over the Ozone Layer and ‘Greenhouse Effect’ were about to burst into major headline news stories … The lyrics also tap into a wider sense of regional discontent at centralist government, or urban/rural divide: The valiant, subsistence labourers – ‘There’s a man working in a field’ and ‘There’s a man working in a boat’ – against the likes of the ‘Big boys telling you everything they’re gonna do,’ and ‘Fat cat builderman, turning this into a wasteland.'”

An instrumental bridge (2:52 – 3:28) which modulates and then reverts to the original key as it reaches the final pre-chorus.

Deborah Cox | Nobody’s Supposed To Be Here

R&B chanteuse Deborah Cox released “Nobody’s Supposed to Be Here,” the track for which she’s perhaps best known, in 1998.

“‘The song crossed my path in early ’98. I had taken a little time off — I got married in Jamaica — and was really searching for a direction for the second album,” (Billboard). “When Anthony ‘Shep’ Crawford and Montell Jordan (the co-writers) played it for me, I immediately knew the song was a smash. I just remember hearing it and going, ‘Oh my God, this speaks to me!’ I had just gone through the same thing: I was caught off guard with the love of my life, so it really resonated.”

This gospel-infused ballad builds to a big modulation at 3:00.

Player | Baby Come Back

“Yacht Rock” royalty, Player’s polished southern California sound was all over the charts in the late 70s. Multiple lead vocalists, complex chords, and tight vocal harmonies were some of the band’s hallmarks.

For “Baby Come Back,” the band’s smash 1977 hit, the modulation lasts for the duration of the bridge (2:23 – 2:48) before reverting to its original key.

The Fifth Dimension | One Less Bell to Answer

Among the top hits for legendary songwriting team Burt Bacharach and lyricist Hal David, 1970’s “One Less Bell to Answer” helped to cement the career of The Fifth Dimension.

Starting with Bacharach’s trademark torch song melancholy in the first verse, a more hopeful tone is reflected in the long bridge, which starts with a modulation at 1:07. An instrumental verse, beginning at 1:43, returns to the original key.

Chicago | Hard Habit to Break

“Hard Habit to Break,” a 1984 power ballad, was one of Chicago’s biggest hits and part of the band’s era of increasingly pop-friendly tunes. David Foster, well-known for producing lush songwriting, was one of the song’s co-writers and arrangers at this time, layering the band’s trademark horns with towering strings and synth saturation like there was no tomorrow.

The modulations are everywhere: 0:35, 1:00, 1:32, 1:56, 2:19, several quick pivots during the bridge around 3:12, and 3:18.