Wildwood Days

It's Memorial Day weekend so Wildwood Days by Bobby Rydell feels perfect. Half step key change about 58 second in.

-Tony Trov



PS
Watch the tram car please.

Overthinkingit.com on Livin' On A Prayer

Mad Props to Overthinkingit.com or as I'll call it "My New Favorite Website".

On the key changes of Livin' On a Prayer:
"If you bear the song as in minor throughout, it modulates E minor -> G minor, up a minor third. If you hear it as major, it goes G major -> Bb major, again up a minor third. If I understand Wrather right, he hears it as in minor before the modulation, and major afterwards, which would mean E minor -> Bb major, up a tritone (rad as hell!). And I suppose you could hear it as major before the modulation and minor after (G major -> G minor), but I find that reading a little perverse."



Read the rest HERE.

The Weight

Aretha Franklin's version of "The Weight" by The Band is freaknasty. The song is in B flat until about 2:10 or so, at which point it moves up a half-step to B. Oh, and her voice is perfect.
-Mike Oxman

You Don't Own Me

Lesley Gore Live, just epic.
-detorn




This song climbs chromatically on every verse. Starts in Gm and ends in Bb.

Tout Doucement

Feist's version of "Tout Doucement" is, for the most part, a basic I-VI-II-V chord change sequence. This is very common in pop tunes (in fact, the Muppet's "Mahna Mahna" is the same set of changes). The song is in B flat, making these changes Bbmaj7-Gmin7-C7-F7. The chorus also ends on F7, but instead of going back to B flat, it moves up to F# (the new V, essentially) and finally lands on Bmaj, the new key. Her voice also goes from playful to impassioned, which only adds to the intensity that the key change offers.
-Mike Oxman




The song was written by Emile Jean Mercadier and Rene Albert Clausier.

Ain't no Mountain High Enough

This is one of the best duets of all time featuring two different drummers (one for the verse and one for the chorus). Just when you think you can't love it anymore, it does the classic Motown half-step key change after the bridge. A classic in every sense of the word.
-Nick Anastasi

Soul to Squeeze

This is an unorthodox song structure: the first 8 measure are in A major, but it moves down two whole steps to F major and stays there for the rest of the song. It's a cool surprise every time (key changes are generally towards the end of most pop songs) and adds subtle complexity to an otherwise simple but beautiful rock/pop ballad.

Oh, and the bassline is one of the best ever written. Period.
-Mike Oxman