21 February 04
Truck Driver’s Gear Changes
A truck driver’s gear change is a musicological term for modulation of a song up a key, generally just before the song’s end in a “repeat-until-fade” section. This effect has been termed an “odious time killer in much commercial music.”
This site is a catalogue of some of the most egregious examples of the genre, complete with clips from the songs. The site’s definitive example—“fearsomely sickening in its intensity, and yet somehow inspiring in its audacity”—comes from Michael Jackson’s 1987 song Man In The Mirror. The site warns that the clip may make you physically sick.
- VERY funny, Numenius! but with some reservations here. BeeGees, Barry Manilow, Michael Jackson, Cher—yes. Cher’s just one big TDGC after another, far as I can tell, to cover up the fact that she can’t sing AT ALL, so she’s just hollering. But Rod Stewart, Stevie Wonder, the Beatles, Sam and Dave? Nah. They know better than we mere mortals.— Doc Rock 22. February 2004, 08:21 Link
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