Tag: USA

Four Tops | Baby I Need Your Loving

“Forming in Detroit, Michigan, the Four Tops would become one of Motown Records’ most successful groups,” (Cryptic Rock). “Having twenty-four of their singles reach the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100, it all began in July of 1964 when radio stations debuted the single ‘Baby I Need Your Loving.’ A song that immediately caught many listeners’ ears, it would reach #11 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and was a prelude to a career that produced over fifty million records sold … some would consider ‘Baby I Need Your Loving’ one of the greatest songs ever.

… With a superior instrumental foundation in place thanks to the legendary Funk Brothers, Four Tops was largely the writing/production work of the Motown hitmaking trio of Lamont Dozier and brothers Brian and Eddie Holland … Truly a classic Motown-sounding album, Four Tops would hit #1 on the R&B charts and #63 on the Billboard 200, but it was merely a prelude to grander success toward the end of 1965, when the group released the Four Tops’ Second Album which featured the mega hits ‘I Can’t Help Myself,’ ‘Something About You,’ and ‘It’s the Same Old Song.’

After a start in Bb major, the chorus shifts at 0:40 to the closely related key of Eb major. The second verse shifts back to the original key at 0:55. The pattern continues from there.

The Spinners (feat. Dionne Warwick) | Then Came You

” … The Spinners … like so many of the other great soul groups of the early ’70s, had started off singing doo-wop in the ’50s,” (Stereogum). “The original group, first called the Domingoes, came together in the Detroit suburb of Ferndale in 1954. They released their first single in 1961 and joined the Motown roster in 1963, when Motown bought out all of the competing local label Tri-Phi. Even with the Motown machine behind them, the Spinners couldn’t score a top-10 single all through the ’60s. They came close once — 1970’s ‘It’s A Shame,’ which Stevie Wonder co-wrote with Lee Garrett and Syreeta Wright, peaked at #14. But the Spinners were consistently overshadowed by the other titans on the Motown roster, and they left the label for Atlantic in 1972. Atlantic paired the Spinners up with Thom Bell, and things started to click. All of a sudden, the Spinners had a bunch of hits. (Before ‘Then Came You,’ the Spinners’ highest-charting single was the 1972 Bell production ‘I’ll Be Around,’ which peaked at #3 … )

Warwick and the Spinners weren’t really a natural combination. They came from two different worlds. But early-’70s soul had absorbed some of the Bacharach/David aesthetic, that combination of orchestral flash and emotional depth. And on ‘Then Came You,’ they make sense together … written by Sherman Marshall and Philip Pugh, (it’s) a simple little trifle of a love song with a big hook … Warwick and the Spinners sing the beginning of the song together, making a sort of chocolate/peanut butter combination. But as the song goes on, they break apart, with Warwick doing the leads and the Spinners ad-libbing, pushing her on. Eventually, Warwick and Spinner Phillippe Wynne are jumping back and forth on each other, vamping hard.

But it’s the groove, more than the voices, that sells the song. There’s a central pulse to ‘Then Came You,’ one that nods toward disco without giving in to it. And there are all these great little Thom Bell production touches to it: a flanged-out wah-wah guitar, an itchy bongo ripple, a shivery string figure. All those things are there to serve the groove, which pushes relentlessly forward. Warwick and the Spinners just surf that groove, their voices dancing on top of it. That groove is what keeps ‘Then Came You’ memorable … ” In the middle of an interlude section that mimics the intro, the track features a whole-step key change at 2:12.

Peter Allen | Continental American

“In the 1970s, Peter Allen gained recognition both as a composer of romantic ballads such as ‘I Honestly Love You’ and ‘Don’t Cry Out Loud,’ and, contrastingly, as a flamboyant stage performer,” (AllMusic). Allen, an Australian, later served as an opener for Judy Garland. In 1970, Allen played his first show as a solo act at the Bitter End nightclub in Greenwich Village.

“Allen became interested in the trend toward introspective singer/songwriters in the early ’70s, and in writing more commercial music. Employed as a staff writer at Metromedia Records, he co-wrote ‘Jennifer’ with Carole Bayer Sager,” co-wrote “I Honestly Love You,” with Jeff Barry, (a #1 hit for Olivia Newton-John), and provided Melissa Manchester with the Top Ten song “Don’t Cry Out Loud” (co-written with Carole Bayer Sager). Rita Coolidge released a Top 40 hit with another Allen-Sager ballad, “I’d Rather Leave While I’m in Love.” Allen, Bayer Sager, Burt Bacharach, and Christopher Cross co-wrote the theme for the film comedy Arthur, which was a #1 hit for Cross in the fall of 1981 and won Allen and his fellow songwriters the Academy Award for best song. His songwriting career continued until he passed away from complications of HIV in 1992.

“Continental American (1974) was a dour singer/songwriter collection that used show business clichés in music and words to express a world view of regret and resignation.” Starting in G minor, the tonality of album’s title track flips over to the relative major (Bb) at 0:45. After another verse and chorus, an extended interlude starts at 2:25 in Bb mixolydian before a downward shift of tonality to A minor at 2:54, leading to the familiar flip to the relative C major. 3:34 brings a shift to Db major for another chorus, then upward again to D major at 4:o3 and yet again for another jump to C major for the tune’s multi-layered ending. Many thanks to regular contributor Rob P. for this intriguing tune!

Artie Shaw | Alone Together

“Jean Sargent introduced “Alone Together” in the Broadway musical Flying Colors … (which) opened at the Imperial Theater on September 15, 1932, produced by Max Gordon and directed by Howard Dietz,” (JazzStandards.com).

“The late Artie Shaw had impeccable musical taste. He was an obsessive perfectionist, and his clarinet playing and the bands he led performed exceptional, quality music. Many of the tunes he selected for his big bands of the 1930s and 40s became standards years after he recorded them. Shaw was the premier jazz musician to record “Alone Together.” The first reading was with his standard “reeds, brass, rhythm” band in 1939. He recorded it again in 1940 with a group including strings and with a different arrangement. Although both versions lean towards the smooth, instrumental, dance band style of that era, it’s Shaw’s brief clarinet expositions that reveal the improvisational potential of the song.”

The AABA tune, built primarily in D minor, shifts to the closely-related key of G minor for the B section before returning to the original key for the final A section.

Heatwave | Whack That Axe

“Rod Temperton,” (Heatwave’s keyboardist) “could write … Temperton might have been the brains, but the rest of the guys did a great job executing his vision,” (SomethingElseReviews). “Party bands have gotten so pre-fab these days, relying so much on sampling and studio help. Heatwave, however, was a real band. The musicians who played on stage were the same ones who played it in the studio, with a minimal amount of session players brought in for Central Heating (1977). The musicianship … makes this period music hold up so well to the present day.

The vocals, led by brothers Keith and the late Johnnie Wilder, were well above the pack, too. Keith’s harder-edged vocal was perfectly complimented by Johnnie’s velvet-smooth croon. In the studio, they often added layers upon layers of choral vocals that rivaled in richness to contemporaries Earth Wind and Fire.” The band formed in the UK but had a mixed roster of two Brits, two Americans, a Swiss citizen, a Czechoslovak national, and a Jamaican!

Built in C major overall, “Whack That Axe” (written by Temperton and sharing an album with one of the band’s three biggest hits, “Grooveline”) gently flips over to the relative A minor for the brief bridge (2:08 – 2:26).

The Four Guys | Too Late to Turn Back Now

“Formed in the late 50s … in Steubenville-Toronto, Ohio, USA, (The Four Guys) group moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and appeared on the Grand Ole Opry in April 1967,” (AllMusic). “Their reception was such that they became regulars on the show and built lasting popularity from this engagement.” The group worked with Hank Williams, Jr., Jimmy Dean, and Charley Pride.

The quartet were “just as much at home on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry as they are on the Las Vegas circuit” (Slipcue) … The Four Guys released several albums and a number of singles from the early 1970s through the early 1980s.

“Too Late to Turn Back Now” (1974) featured the quartet’s famous vocal blend; the tune shifts up a half-step at 1:31.

Barrett Strong | Money and Me

“In July of 1959, Berry Gordy was working with Motown songwriter and office administrator Janie Bradford on a new song,” (Motown Museum). “He explained to her the thing he wanted most at that moment was not love but money. (Vocalist) Barrett Strong was in the studio that day and heard them working. He took over the piano playing from (Motown chief) Berry Gordy, and together the trio created ‘Money (That’s What I Want).’ The song took off, reaching #2 on the US R&B charts, and almost broke the top 20 on US Pop charts. It was Motown’s first major hit, and no one was prepared. Requests were coming from around the country for a copy of the iconic song and the small Tamla label struggled to keep up.

While Barrett Strong released a few follow-up songs including ‘Yes, No, Maybe So’ (1960), he eventually left Motown in 1961 … Strong would not return to Motown as a performer, but he began to write for other artists, including countless songs in partnership with Whitfield. They penned the iconic ‘Heard It Through The Grapevine’ performed by both Marvin Gaye and Gladys Knight and the Pips, ‘War’ performed by Edwin Starr, and a slate of songs for the Temptations. His work helped usher in the ‘Psychedelic’ era for the Temptations, which included songs ‘Cloud Nine’ and Grammy-winning ‘Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone.’ Barrett Strong ended his working relationship with Motown in 1971, but his contributions to the company’s success would earn him induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2004. 

“Money and Me” (1959) is much more harmonically and melodically basic than most Motown tunes, but the tune’s compelling groove gives a hint of the great future in store for the iconic Detroit record label. After a start in F major, a half step key change hits after an instrumental verse (1:30). Another half step key change drops at 1:53 as the intro starts.

The Tubes | I Want It All

“Produced by Todd Rundgren, Remote Control (1979) is a concept album that could be seen as the next installment in Utopia, so similar are the two,” (Progrography). “Rundgren is credited with co-writing two songs (‘Love’s a Mystery’ and ‘TV Is King’), but his fingerprints are all over Remote Control, from the high-register choruses to the compressed and sped-up arrangements. Of course, sounding like Utopia isn’t a bad thing; in fact, this is probably my favorite Tubes album after their first. The album generated a legitimate hit (okay, in the UK) with ‘Prime Time,’ and should have had a second with ‘Love’s a Mystery (I Don’t Understand).’ If the reports are true that the band entered the studio with a concept but without any songs, then this record is a testament to the band’s creativity, because there isn’t a bad song in the batch.

Along with (Rundgren and Utopia albums) Adventures In Utopia, Healing, and Swing To The Right, Remote Control represents a sort of Rundgren renaissance for art pop fans between 1979 and 1982. The Tubes never made another album like it, and they never made a better one after it. If you haven’t heard this or the three Utopia/Rundgren records I just mentioned, turn off the TV tonight and turn on to some great music instead.”

Starting in B major with plenty of compound chords ringing out over the tonic pedal point, the chorus (0:40 – 0:55) shifts into D mixolydian; the most prominent building block at that point is a D/C chord until the next verse returns to B major. The pattern continues until the second portion of the bridge (2:14 – 2:45) in G# dorian before the chorus returns at 3:00 and fades to the end.

Allman Brothers Band | Kind of Bird

“1990’s Seven Turns was a tentative comeback for (the Allman Brothers Band), which had gone nine long years without making a record,” (Ultimate Classic Rock). “Sparked by some new members, including guitarist Warren Haynes, the Allmans were blazing forward when they returned with Shades of Two Worlds. Haynes has a bigger role on the record, cowriting more than half of its songs. Veteran member Dickey Betts also turned in some of his strongest numbers.

… ‘There was just so much freedom, so much space,’ cofounder Butch Trucks told the Los Angeles Times in 1991. ‘For the first time since Duane (Allman) and Berry (Oakley) both died, there was a group of guys all going in the same direction, all feeling the same type of music and energy. It really (had been) a problem since that long ago.’ … Rooting themselves in tradition also set this lineup apart from the band’s doomed second edition, which saw what became a more pop-leaning 1978 comeback bid fizzle a couple of years later. Shades of Two Worlds would instead hearken back to the lengthy improvisational excursions found on 1971’s At Fillmore East, the last complete recording featuring Duane Allman.”

After starting in C minor, the instrumental track “Kind of Bird” shifts to Eb minor at 1:05, then cycles through both keys again before introducing an E minor section at 2:16. Angular melodies and the occasional odd meter keep listeners on their feet throughout the tune!

Bill Wurtz | Mount St. Helens Is About to Blow Up

“(Bill) Wurtz’s unique combination of absurd, surreal and non-sequitur lyrics and smooth jazz/pop/easy listening makes him quite difficult to classify as an artist, and I’m pretty sure he’s OK with that,” (TheProgressiveAspect.net). “Add to that his growing number of self-produced music videos featuring random imagery, signature neon text and careful synchronisation with the music and suddenly it feels like you’re in a different universe when listening to his songs. On an initial listen to one of his tunes, the bizarre lyrics really stand out: ‘Mount St. Helens is about to Blow Up’ (2018) features the lyrics:

‘All of these business suits that I’ve just purchased
Gonna have to throw them all away
And slip into something more reasonable and dance the night away.‘

The Beatles only wrote ‘I Am the Walrus’ once, John Lennon’s attempt to confuse listeners as to the meaning of his lyrics. Jon Anderson time and time again wrote faux-mystical lyrics about seasoned witches and sharp distances. But Bill Wurtz employs a different strategy, with lyrics that are grounded in reality, yet used in a non-sequitur fashion so that they resonate with nobody and everybody at the same time. You can spend hours puzzling over the patterns in his lyrics, which are generally positive but can, on a dime, evoke more unpleasant images: see ‘Outside’s’ Now I’m pregnant/With aliens. It seems that there are no rules, but Wurtz has managed to tread carefully and with precision to ensure that his lyrics are truly unpredictable and without any religious, political or any other sort of bias.”

Built in G major overall, the tune diverts to Eb major for the bridge at 0:49. At 1:12, we return to G major — a move that continues throughout, despite plenty of outright key changes and brief steps outside the key. For a much more detailed analysis of this tune’s 900-thread count fabric, we’re also including a video below from the brilliant and insanely fun theory wonk/educator Charles Cornell — very worth the time!