Tag: USA

Nick Allen | Hard Way to Go

“William ‘Nick’ Allen, Sr. was a Durham (NC) barber who often styled the hair of musical celebrities traveling through Durham,” (BullCitySoul.org). “Allen launched his own singing career with the gospel group the Interns. Later he recorded the soul song ‘Hard Way to Go’ as a soloist. He was also the father of Nick Allen, Jr., the lead vocalist of the Modulations.”

The scant information available on Allen is lacking in detail. But his heartfelt vocal definitely swung for the fences with “Hard Way to Go” (1968). There’s some flutter on the source tape (particularly around 1:44), making it a bit tough to tell whether the chord is major or minor! Starting in G major, the track shifts to A major at 1:03. After a grand pause, at 2:13, a long outro hits, complete with a completely different groove. The outro takes awhile to settle in, but once it does (2:27), it’s in C major.

Postmodern Jukebox feat. Puddles Pity Party | Royals (Lorde cover)

Scott Bradlee, the primary force behind Postmodern Jukebox, remembers working with international clown phenom Puddles (of Puddles Pity Party) over a decade ago: “I first met Puddles when I was working as the music director at Sleep No More, the immersive Off-Broadway show in NYC … Puddles was one part Andy Kaufman, one part Tom Jones … Puddles wasn’t too familiar with Postmodern Jukebox or YouTube in general at the time, but he let me know in his own way that he was happy to contribute his talents.  

Initially, I had picked ‘Mirrors’ by Justin Timberlake (I imagined him singing to his reflection), but then a new contender began climbing the charts: “Royals” by the critically-acclaimed New Zealand singer/songwriter Lorde. It was almost too perfect: a song written by a 16 year old girl about being an outsider, sung by a giant sad clown.  There was irony in the title — sure — but beyond that, Puddles was the perfect character to convey this message; after all, he was the ultimate outsider … In some ways, Puddles was made for the modern Internet age. He’s a reflection of all of our loneliness and confusion in a world that sometimes seems to have grown increasingly lonely and confusing. At the same time, he reminds us that there is greatness inside of each of us, and we needn’t be afraid to show it off.”

Unlike Lorde’s original, Puddles/PMJ’s 2013 cover features a key change. After a short bridge at 2:55, a shift from Bb to C hits for the final chorus — all the more striking because it’s not quite complete, cutting off before the final line of lyrics and leaving an unresolved bVII chord ringing in our ears.

Rufus feat. Chaka Khan | Sweet Thing

“Chaka Khan, known as the ‘Queen of Funk,’ … has multiple hits with both her band Rufus and her solo career,” (Imperfect Fifth). “She still has a large following, but only a handful of her biggest hits have reached younger audiences.” Her 2024 NPR Tiny Desk Concert set list “is a collection of seven singles from both her solo career and time with Rufus, spanning from 1974 to 1985, with the most famous singles being at the very end. Okay, let’s talk about Chaka Khan herself during this show. You would never believe that she’s 71 years old because she looks and sounds fantastic. Her energy is loose and fun, her singing hits the high notes with ease, and she sounds almost identical to the original studio recordings.

Just as good as her are her backing vocalists, who get moments of their own to shine (see Tiffany Smith getting a solo to show off her pipes on ‘Sweet Thing’). The onstage chemistry between Chaka, the backing vocalists, and the band is always apparent during the show. Like many Tiny Desk Concerts, part of the fun is also the interactions between the band and the crowd. A show highlight was Chaka letting the NPR audience sing several verses on their own during ‘Sweet Thing,’ and it’s adorable hearing the enthusiasm and love for the music from the crowd … Chaka Khan’s Tiny Desk Concert is nothing but delightful, and a victory lap for a monumental artist.”

At 14:05, the key moves up a half step. In addition to the Tiny Desk video, we’re posting the studio version of the tune just for good measure. On the studio version of this 1975 classic, the key change hits at 1:56.

Bob Kelly | I Had You In the Night

“Bob Kelly is a composer, pianist, and music director. His EP Open Road was released on streaming services in January 2021,” (artist website). “Works of musical theatre include gilgamesh & the mosquito (with Sam Chanse); Waiting… a song cycle (with Kelly Pomeroy); Truth or Lie (with Jonathan Keebler); and the short musical film A Most Average Musical (with Talia Berger and Jonathan Keebler) … Bob is a member of the TNNY Musical Writers Lab, and his work has been supported by the National Alliance for Musical Theatre, the Yale Institute for Music Theatre, The Gallery Players, Prospect Theater Company, Leviathan Lab, NY Theatre Barn, NYU CDP Series, New Musicals Inc., and the Festival of New American Musicals in Los Angeles.

Bob was the 2013 recipient of the ASCAP Foundation Max Dreyfus Scholarship for musical theatre composition, and in 2020 he was a finalist for the Johnny Mercer Foundation’s Songwriters Project. His work as a music director includes musical theatre productions and educational programs throughout NYC and across the country.”

“I Had You In the Night,” from Kelly’s 2024 EP It Begins, It Begins, features the composer/pianist on vocals as well. After the tune is established in E minor, there are many departures from the key throughout, but with a return to the initial key each time. At 2:53, we pass into an interlude and then a vocal bridge. 3:48 brings a clear shift which leads to the tune’s conclusion — perched on a knife’s edge between B major and its relative G# minor.

Carl Carlton | Everlasting Love

“Between 1968 and 1987, Detroit singer Carl Carlton racked up an impressive 19 hits on Billboard’s R&B singles chart,” (Soul and Jazz and Funk). “Initially recording under the moniker ‘Little Carl Carlton’ – in an attempt to invite comparisons with Motown prodigy Little Stevie Wonder – the precociously talented vocalist” scored several hits before his largest release – 1981’s Leon Haywood-penned ‘She’s A Bad Mama Jama (She’s Built, She’s Stacked). “Much of his other work, despite its merits, has been ignored by compilers and reissue companies.

His biggest hit for Back Beat was his soulful 1974 reconfiguration of Robert Knight’s 1967 smash, ‘Everlasting Love,’ which was a Top 10 US pop hit for silky-voiced Carlton … Carlton’s fame, though, rests on another Haywood produced number – the much-sampled disco-inflected ‘She’s A Bad Mama Jama (She’s Built, She’s Stacked),’ which still sounds good.”

After a start in A major, the tune’s chorus shifts to the closely-related key of E major (heard for the first time between 0:46 – 1:18). The key then reverts to A major and the pattern continues from there.

Eitan Kenner | Call Me Maybe

“Eitan Kenner is an award-winning keyboardist, composer, and music producer,” (Nord.com). “Born in Tel Aviv, Eitan began studying classical piano at the age of 6. After dropping out early from Jazz high school, he attended and graduated from Berklee College of Music before relocating to New York City. A versatile musician described as a musical wizard, Eitan has become one of the leading young forces both as a band leader of a highly praised genre-bending project named Kenner and as an in-demand sideman in the NYC Jazz scene.”

Kenner’s 2013 cover of the Carly Rae Jepsen’s 2011 hit “Call Me Maybe,” written by Jepsen, Josh Ramsay, and Tavish Crowe, is an intriguing instrumental expansion on the original track. Filmed on and around the Berklee College of Music campus in Boston, the video focuses on the lighter side of life at a college centered around music study. Starting in G major, the track goes through a few transformations along the way, including a prog rock interlude that transports the tonality up a whole step to A major at 2:23.

Dan Hartman | Time and Space

“When you’ve written a classic banger like the Edgar Winter Group’s ‘Free Ride,’ a huge disco hit like ‘Instant Replay,’ a monster 1980s smash ‘I Can Dream About You,’ and James Brown’s rousing movie theme ‘Living in America’ (a co-writing collaboration), what do you do for an encore? In Dan Hartman’s case: combine yet more writing — along with production and session work duties — for a stunningly diverse list of groups and acts including The Plasmatics, Nona Hendryx, Steve Winwood, John Waite, Paul King, Tina Turner, Dusty Springfield, Bonnie Tyler, .38 Special, Foghat, Muddy Waters, Diana Ross, Average White Band, Neil Sedaka, Chaka Khan, Joni Mitchell, and more.

Hartman gained so much traction by writing, producing, and performing for others that his solo recording and performance career was very much obscured. Renowned contemporary music critic Robert Christgau slammed Hartman’s workhorse ways in his review of Hartman’s 1989 album Instant Replay, seemingly with compliments wrapped in insults: “Too bad one of the few disco albums that out-dollar-for-dollar the corresponding disco single is this super-efficient piece of rock funk … ” But on the slow tune, ‘Time and Space’ … “Hartman breaks his own rule by trying to write a meaningful lyric and then triples the misdemeanor by running it through his own larynx. Who does he think he is, Robert Plant? Machines can’t sing.”

The ballad “Time and Space” begins in A major, with dynamics ranging from hushed sections accompanied by soft piano to rhapsodic passages supported by string section, plentiful percussion, and more. 2:26 brings us to the bridge, which shifts to C major at 2:55 via bouncy syncopation. Ultimately, Hartman is at the helm of a full-blown anthem — a ballad eventually turned power ballad.

Glasys | The Ghosts of Our Past Selves

“GLASYS (Gil Assayas) is a pianist, synthesist, producer and vocalist who melds many genres and influences including Electronic Music, Alternative Rock, Jazz, Classical and Video Game Music,” (GlasysMusic.com). “(GLASYS) has developed a large social media presence with over a hundred million video views, has been featured on the GRAMMY’s website, and has had his song ‘The Pressure’ played at a Portland Trailblazers NBA game. In 2017, he was discovered by Hip-Hop giant T-Pain on Reddit, which led to a collaboration. Since 2018, GLASYS has also been touring and collaborating with legendary musician and producer Todd Rundgren.

For the last decade GLASYS has been developing a unique left hand technique that allows him to play both the bass and drum parts simultaneously on a custom built MIDI controller. He often incorporates this technique in his live arrangements on his YouTube channel. GLASYS released his debut EP The Pressure in 2016 and his first full length album Defective Humanity (which was successfully crowd-funded on Kickstarter) in 2019. In 2023, GLASYS released a Chiptune album inspired by the Game Boy games from his childhood, titled Tugging on My Heartchips.“

“The Ghosts of Our Past Selves” (2023), set in a fast 6/8, begins with eight-measure segments, each one pivoting gradually into the next like a slowly turning page. After the tune starts in E minor, a second section in Eb minor begins at 0:11; these sections are repeated at 0:22 with some new melodic embellishments added. The melody begins at 0:45 during a section built in Bb minor. At 1:07, a chaotic bridge breaks loose, suspending any attention to key and disrupting the groove past the point of recognition. 1:22 brings a return to E minor and more familiar territory. The pattern continues from there; it’s not likely that the listener would grow complacent, but just for good measure, there are a few bars of 5/8 substituting for 6/8.

Faith Hill | The Way You Love Me

Breathe, the 1999 album by country/pop artist Faith Hill, hit #1 on both the Billboard 200 and the Top Country Albums chart and became the second most successful album of 2000 on the Albums chart. Breathe reached top 40 album status in ten countries (Wikipedia).

“The Way You Love Me,” a single from the album, was released at first only country radio, where it hit #1 on the Hot Country Songs chart. The song later migrated to pop radio, reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and went on to spend 56 weeks on the chart. The song was Hill’s most successful single at the time, reaching the top ten in Hungary and Spain, the top twenty in the UK, and the top forty in New Zealand, Australia, Italy, Sweden, and Ireland.

Songwriters Keith Follesé and Michael Dulaney packed a lot into a tune just a shade over three minutes in length. After a start in C major, 0:42 brings the pre-chorus in D major, followed by the short chorus (1:01) in E major. The cycle continues through a second verse/pre-chorus/chorus, leading us into a bridge (1:58), which pivots a bit before landing in A major. At 2:10, we’re back to the pre-chorus in D and then the chorus and outro in E.

Lena Horne | Do Nothing ‘Til You Hear From Me

“In 1943 Duke Ellington and His Orchestra introduced ‘Do Nothin’ Till You Hear from Me’ with featured vocalist Al Hibbler.” (JazzStandards.com). “The record became a best-selling rhythm and blues hit and appeared on the R&B charts in early 1944, climbing all the way to #1, where it would stay for eight weeks … Despite the flurry of recording activity following its initial release with lyrics in 1944, this tune languished until pianist Oscar Peterson brought it back into favor in 1952. Again, the tune went into hiding for a few years when Peterson’s mentor, Art Tatum, dusted it off … Billie Holiday also revisited the number (1955).

‘Do Nothin’ Till You Hear from Me’ is considered by many as one of the high points, perhaps even a masterpiece, of Duke Ellington’s body of work. The song was created when Bob Russell fitted lyrics to the predominant theme of the 1940 Duke Ellington composition ‘Concerto for Cootie.’ … In The Poets of Tin Pan Alley: A History of America’s Great Lyricists, Philip Furia praises Russell’s ability to coax genuine sentiment out of an Ellington melody and calls it ‘probably the slangiest pledge of romantic fidelity ever written.'”

Lena Horne’s 1995 version is kitted out with full big band. The form is AABA; Horne’s version built in C major overall, with a diversion to Ab major during the first portion of the B section (0:42-0:51) before returning to the original key. Then the entire tune moves up to Db at 1:16. Even at age 78, her performance here shows her trademark range, built throughout her career with one foot in Hollywood and another in the music world. “Born in Brooklyn in 1917 … at the age of sixteen she was hired as a dancer in the chorus of Harlem’s famous Cotton Club,” (PBS). “There she was introduced to the growing community of jazz performers, including Billie Holiday, Cab Calloway, and … Duke Ellington.” No wonder she seemed so very at home with this performance!