Look Back (1983): "Synchronicity" by The Police

1983 was an incredible year for music (and we'll look back at some more of these soon)....the year that saw chart topping songs like "Billie Jean" and "1999", "Karma Chameleon" and "Let's Dance", "Flashdance...What a Feeling" and "Every Breath You Take"....the year we lost legends like Karen Carpenter & Muddy Waters, and future legends were born like T-Pain & Amy Winehouse....the birth of band Bon Jovi & The Cult, and the death of bands Humble Pie & Roxie Music...the year of "Rebel Yell" by Billy Idol and "Let's Dance" by David Bowie and "Thriller" dominated the charts....the year debut albums from Madonna, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Branford Marallis, Rock Goddess, Whodini, Tears for Fears, Weird Al Yankovich, Ministry, Afrika Bambaataa, Pantera, Suicidal Tendencies, Wham!, Metallica, The Waterboys, Queensryche, Cyndi Lauper, and others.....and so much more!

Today, however, we'll look back at the masterpiece from The Police, the album "Synchronicity".

Look Back (1983): "Rebel Yell" by Billy Idol

1983 was an incredible year for music (and we'll look back at some more of these soon)....the year that saw chart topping songs like "Billie Jean" and "1999", "Karma Chameleon" and "Let's Dance", "Flashdance...What a Feeling" and "Every Breath You Take"....the year we lost legends like Karen Carpenter & Muddy Waters, and future legends were born like T-Pain & Amy Winehouse....the birth of band Bon Jovi & The Cult, and the death of bands Humble Pie & Roxie Music...the year of "Synchronicity" by the Police and "Let's Dance" by David Bowie and "Thriller" dominated the charts....the year debut albums from Madonna, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Branford Marallis, Rock Goddess, Whodini, Tears for Fears, Weird Al Yankovich, Ministry, Afrika Bambaataa, Pantera, Suicidal Tendencies, Wham!, Metallica, The Waterboys, Queensryche, Cyndi Lauper, and others.....and so much more!

Today, however, we'll look back at the masterpiece from Billy Idol, the album "Rebel Yell".

Sonic Sorcery: Exploring Alliteration

Tupac Shakur

"Peter piper picked a peck of picked peppers"

"Sally sells seashells by the sea shore."

"How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?"

These are all very fun & silly examples of a literary device called "alliteration", the repetition of the opening sound of words. Designed to be both tongue twisters and humorous, they stick in the mind and are a fun game for kids and elementary school English teachers.

But it should be noted that alliteration is a very useful technique, with no requirement for either twisting tongues or humor. Used properly, its a great way to (as Kris Kristofferson once put it) have words "slide off the tongue and into the ear".

Super Bowl: Star Spangled Banner

I heard wonderful reviews of Chris Stapleton's performance opening the festivities at the Super Bowl and realized that though I've taught lessons before following Super Bowl performances in the past (some to just my students - like following performances by Prince, Tom Petty, Bruno Mars, etc - and and some public, like this lesson), I've never just taught the USA's national anthem.

Stapleton performed the song in C#, but it was originally written in the key of Bb. However, when the song was standardized in 1917, the key of C was chosen. Its an interesting history that you can read about here. 

Now, as you can see from the score, the song is essentially melody and lyrics, with no specific harmonization required. So I'll be charting it below with what is probably the simplest approach, and more complex arrangements can be built from that.

For the record, I would strongly encourage the reader to check out other Super Bowl performances of the anthem by such stellar performers as Tom Sullivan (1976), Diana Ross (1982), Whitney Houston (1991), Backstreet Boys (2001), Alicia Keys (2013), as well as incredible instrumental performances by artists like Wynton Marsalis (1986) and Doc Severinsen (1970).

I'll return to this article in the future to provide links to any new public articles I write on building arrangements, though one might take a look at the entire "Sonic Sorcery" series for some insight. But for now, this chart will be enough for you to accompany yourself or someone else performing the "Star Spangled Banner"....and then I'll provide a second (and slightly more complex) arrangement below that.

"Star Spangled Banner"

music: John Stafford Smith

lyrics: Francis Scott Key

version one:

C - - /Am - - /C - D7 /G - - /

C - - /G - - /C - - /C - - /

C - - /Am - - /C - D7 /G - - /

C - - /G - - /C - - /C - - /

C - - /C - - /G - - /G - - /

C- - -/G - - /Am - D7 /G - - /

C - - /Am - - /Dm - - /C - - /G - - /

C - - /C - - /C - G /C - - /

version two:

C - - /Am - E7 /Am - D7 /G - G7 /

C - - /G - - /C - - /C - - /

C - G /Am - E7 /Am - D7 /G - G7 /

C - - /G - G7 /C - G /C - - /

C - - /Am - - /G - - /G7 - - /

Am- - -/G - - /Am Am7 D7 /G - G7 /

C - - /Am - Am7 /Dm - Dm7 /C - - /G - - /

C - - /C - Am7 /C - G7 /F - - /C - - /

The Titan, Jeff Beck (RIP)

The Titan Prometheus, banned from Olympus after the "Trick at Mekone", scaled the mount and stole fire. He took the fire and gave it to the human race, sparking a revolution - bringing mankind from "barbarian" to "civilization" (i.e. - science, technology, & arts).

For this crime, Zeus punished him severely....but time has a way of working things out, and now Prometheus is remembered as well as any of the Greek Gods.....

Jeff Beck was born in London in 1944. He sang in the church choir and had other such exposures to music, but when he heard Les Paul playing "How High the Moon", everything changed for him. He began playing in pub bands while in school, and by 1962 had recorded a single with the band Screamin' Lord Hutch & the Savages. From there he played with several other acts, logging hundreds of hours of stage time, and by 1965 had been tapped by The Yardbirds to replace departing guitarist Eric Clapton. The short span Jeff spent with the Yardbirds (under 2 years) yielded roughly half of their hit songs.

By the end of 1966, Beck had also recorded his first solo single, "Beck's Bolero", which featured Jimmy Page (later of Led Zeppelin, acoustic guitar), Nicky Hopkins (later of the Rolling Stones, piano), Keith Moon (of The Who, drums), and John Paul Jones (also Led Zeppelin, bass). The song became a calling card of sorts, showcasing how different his musical sensibilities were from the norm.

Then The Jeff Beck Group was formed...featuring Nicky Hopkins (keys), Ronnie Wood (bass), Ansley Dunbar (drums), and Rod Stewart (vocals).

Sonic Sorcery: Blondie's "Heart of Glass"

I was recently reminded of this fabulous song, and thought the oddity of the chordal approach coupled with several captivating lyrical phrases made it a decent candidate for this songwriting series.

Then I looked into the background and realized it would be a perfect song for reasons that will become clear in just a few moments.

Debbie Harry and Chris Stein (vocalist & guitarist of Blondie) wrote the song in 1975, and after several iterations, settled on a version for release on their 3rd album "Parallel Lines" (1978). The Song was the third single from the album (released January of 1979) and rocketed up the charts in in 15 countries, topping the charts in seven (including the US). Rolling Stone later named it number 255 on their "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list and it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2015.

The album propelled them to super stardom - this and the following 2 albums went platinum and spawned a series of hit singles (with "Heart of Glass" being their first number one hit in the US), and they went on to sell over 40 million albums, were nominated for & won multiple music awards (Grammys, Junos, Qs, etc), and inducted into the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame in 2006.

The song has seen multiple charting covers (from The Associates in 1988 to Miley Cyrus in 2020) and has been a major influence on many musicians since.

Let's dive in on the song's background, various iterations, chord progression, and lyrics!

Sonic Sorcery: Leonard Cohen's "Everybody Knows"

As one of the great writers of the 20th century, we could analyse Leonard Cohen songs all day (we peered into his uncanny ability to deeply link music and lyrics in "A Peak at Prosody", which takes a close look at "Hallelujah" as well as other songs that employ the technique).

Today, let's briefly examine Cohen's classic "Everybody Knows" - a song from Leonard's 1988 album "I'm Your Man". 

The song barely charted at its release, but was almost immediately a hit for film makers. Cohen's version was used in the 1994 film, "Exotica", and it was covered for many more films - from 1990's "Pump It Up" (covered by Concrete Blonde) to 2017's "Justice League" (covered by Sigrid).

So, let's break down what's happening with the lyrics first, and then the music.

"Dark Crystal" Mystics' Chord

My friend Eddy reminded me that this year marks the 40th anniversary of the release of the dark fantasy cult classic, "Dark Crystal" (released December 13, 1982). 

The animatronic film (animatronic refers to mechanical puppets, a style deeply associated with Jim Henson & Frank Oz, who directed the film, as well as other productions like "The Muppet Show" and "The Labyrinth") was scored by none other than famed composer Trevor Jones, who is known for his work on movies like "Time Bandits", "Angel Heart", "GI Jane", "Dark City", and more, including BAFTA & Golden Globe nominations for "Mississippi Burning", "Last of the Mohicans", and "The Mighty".

Of interest today, however, is not the entire score or a critique of the film (though I'd rate both a solid "A"), but to briefly examine a particular scene with characters known as "The Mystics" (formally, the urRu).

RIP Christine McVie (w/ Song Charts)

That Christine McVie, with her band mates in Fleetwood Mac, had a profound impact on modern music is an undisputed fact. This is evidenced by her writing or co-writing not only many of the band's biggest hits - from "Don't Stop", "You Make Lovin' Fun", and "Songbird" on the mega-hit album "Rumors" to "Over My Head", "World Turning", "Think About Me", "Hold Me", "Little Lies", and more - but having Top 10 hits of her own as a solo artist (like "Love Will Show Us How" and "Got a Hold on Me").

McVie with Fleetwood Mac

From Grammy Awards to Ivor Novella Award to The Brit Award to her induction into the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame, she climbed from humble beginnings to pop music icon....and her presence will be sorely missed.

Rather than gush on about her skills, her influence, and the like, I thought I'd instead simply present a taste of her work for music lovers to explore and musicians to play. So, with no further delay, let's look at some of her songs.

"Nemesis Tori" by Gregory Francis (part 3 of 3)

 

- - - Part III - - -

CHERIBUM VOID

TIMON DATE (TD) = TD-41999.358.0713

(Christian Date = 1999 AD, 7 days till years end, 7:13 a.m.)

3:1

                   "Fears from afar

              Killing many Holy ones -

              Spears made of stars

              A Testament in quantum sums -"

                            The Day of our Lord 9:19, v,5

                            AHKANON

  (Seventh Decription, WC-ARC-DIV.)

Content in the knowledge that theirs was superior, a secret sect, affiliated with a branch under control of the advocates of the New Order, initiated the final sequence of commands that would loose upon the world a wave of stars, setting them down upon the cities of their adversaries, reducing them in the cleansing nuclear fires. To them, no choices were left. One course only remained. With their masses starving, their allies turning away from them, the Common Market closing them off from the economic flows of the world, their lifeblood was swiftly draining away. What was there to loose? What could justify continuing such an existence?