Monday, August 30, 2010

To Be With You

A frat house after midnight classic, Mr. Big's To Be With You seems an unlikely place for a key change but it's there. The final chorus takes the plunge and jumps from E to G, totally making a fool of peer songs such as Pour Some Sugar on Me and Crazy Game of Poker.
-Nick

These Eyes

Get ready to have this song stuck in your head for the rest of the day. Nice key change in the outro as it modulates a whole step up. I never realized this was the Guess Who.
-Tony

Monday, August 23, 2010

13 Horses

13 Horses, by Alexander Rybak and is one of the sadder songs that exists out there. 13 horses are abandoned to drown in the ocean after a ship sinks, and the key and intensity shifts up every time a horse dies/loses its battle against the ocean. And the curiously placed major resolution to the song could either be one of the most peaceful or haunting key changes out there.
-Johannes

Remember

This little known yet awesome Hendrix song, Remember only appeared on the UK version of Are You Experienced. It didn't makw it to the US until the 1993 Alan Douglas American re-release. The song sits in a groove reminiscent of early Curtis Mayfield and is surely a product of Jimi's days on the Chitlin Circuit as a backup guitarist. It grooves in A through the solo, which comes back out to a verse. After the verse proceeding the chorus, at 2:03, Jimi pumps the song into B and rides it all the way out. Best - Guitarist - Ever.
-Nick

Monday, August 16, 2010

Put Your Head On My Shoulder

Here's a classic from Paul Anka that features a key change going into the last chorus. I'm not sure of the key, but I'm pretty sure it's a full step up.
-Al Bruno

C is for Cookie

Like any American with a soul, I love the Cookie Monster. "C is for Cookie," in addition to being a true statement, moves up a half-step at about 1:01. Awesome
-Mike Oxman

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

I Just Called To Say I Love You

Even the worst Stevie Wonder songs have key changes.
-Vivas

Sunday, August 1, 2010

The Way You Do The Things You Do

The song that pushed the Temps from a small time Detroit group to full out super-stardom, The Way You Do the Things You Do is a classic Smokey Robinson composition. The song sits in the key of D until the classic Motown key change comes in for the sax solo and carries you away in the key of E. At the time the Temps were experimenting with different lead singers and this was the Eddie Kendricks era. Although Eddie continued to get lead parts on many of the groups most successful singles, he was not their only front man. Temptation Paul Allen tried his hand at lead on A Love I Can See (the single before The Things You Do) but the song was only a minor hit. Temptation David Ruffin stepped out of the shadows to become the voice most people associate with the Temps today on classics such as My Girl, Ain't Too Proud to Beg, Since I Lost My Baby, and I Wish It Would Rain.
-Nick

Strawberry Fields Forever

The weird intro to Strawberry Fields Forever starts in F and jumps to Bb when John comes in with "Let me take you down..."
-Frank



I buried Paul.

Easy Like Sunday Morning

Lets face it. Lionel Ritchie is the man. Easy like A to Bb in the final refrain of this song is oh so good. Take it away Mr Commodore.
-Tony Trov