Turnarounds
The turnaround is another very common chord progression, occurring in many Rock, Pop (Top 40) and Folk songs. There are two variations of the turnaround; namely, Turnaround One, which is based upon the I-VIm-IV-V7 chords, and Turnaround Two, based upon the I-IIIm-IV-V7 chords. In the key of C, these two turnarounds are:
Turnaround One
Turnaround Two
Unlike 12 Bar Blues, where the progression occurs over a fixed number of bars, the turnaround progression may vary in length. In the following example, turnaround one occurs over two bars:
It is the chord sequence, not the length of bars, that makes a progression a turnaround. Here are some songs which are based, entirely or in part, upon turnarounds one and two.
Turnaround One
- I Will Always Love You - Whitney Houston
- The Night has a 1000 Eyes - Bobby Vee
- It’s Raining Again - Supertramp
- More - Various Artists
- Ti Amo - Umberto Tozzi
- Crocodile Rock (chorus) - Elton John
- One Last Kiss - Various Artists
- Stand by Me - John Lennon
- Dream - Everly Brothers
- Return to Sender - Elvis Presley
- Telstar - Tornadoes
- Always look on the Bright Side of Life - Monty Python
- Why do Fools Fall in Love - Frankie Lyman/Diana Ross
- Sarah - Fleetwood Mac
- Take Good Care of my Baby - Bobby Vee/Smokie
- Where Have all the Flowers Gone - Various Artists
- Runaround Sue - Dion & the Belmonts
- Tell me Why - Beatles
- Let’s Twist Again - Chubby Checker
- Stay (Just a Little Bit Longer) - Four Seasons/Jackson Brown
- Cool for Cats - U.K. Squeeze
- U.M.C.A - Village People
- Tired of toein’ the Line - Rocky Burnett
- You Drive Me Crazy - Shakin’ Stevens
- Should I do it - Pointer Sisters
- Poor Little Fool - Rick Nelson
- You Don’t have to say you Love Me - Dusty Springfield/Elvis Presley
- Breaking up is Hard to do - Neil Sedaka/Partridge family
- Oh Carol - Neil Sedaka
- Two Faces Have I - Lou Christie
- Every Day - Buddy Holly
- Poetry in Motion - Johnny Tillotson
- Sweet Little 16 - Neil Sedaka
- Big Girls Don’t Cry - Four Seasons
- Sherry - Four Seasons
- How Do you do it - Jerry & The Pacemakers
- Shout, Shout - Rocky Sharp and The Replays
- Aces With You - Moon Martin
- Houses of the Holy - Led Zeppelin
- Uptown Girl - Billy Joel
- Build me up Buttercup - Foundations
- "Happy Days" - Theme
- Joane - Michael Nesmith
- Goodnight Sweetheart - Various Artists
- Looking for an Echo - Ol’55
- Summer Holiday - Cliff Richard
- Be My Baby - The Ronettes/Rachel Sweet
- Everlasting Love - Rachel Sweet/Love Affair
- I Go To Pieces (verse) - Peter & Gordon
- Love Hurts - Everly Brothers/Jim Capaldi/Nazareth
- Gee Baby - Peter Shelley
- Classic - Adrian Gurvitz
- Teenage Dream - T-Rex
- Blue Moon - Various Artists
- The Tide is High - Blondie
- Dennis - Blondie
- It Ain’t Easy - Normie Rowe
- My World - Bee Gees
- Hey Paula - Various Artists
- It’s Only Make Believe - Glen Campbell
- Can’t Smile Without you - Barry Manilow
- Take Good Care of My Baby - Bobby Vee/Smokie
- Crossfire - Bellamy Brothers
- Bobby’s Girl - Marcie Blane
- Do that to me one more time - Captain and Tenile
- Please Mr Postman - Carpenters/Beatles
- Sharin’ the Night Together - Dr Hook
- 9 to 5 (Morning train) - Sheena Easton
- Diana - Paul Anka
- Telstar - Tornadoes
- Enola Gay - Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
- Some Guys have all the Luck - Robert Palmer
- So Lonely - Get Wet
- Hungry Heart - Bruce Springsteen
- Land of Make Believe (chorus) - Bucks Fizz
- Daddy’s Home - Cliff Richard
- The Wonder of You - Elvis Presley
- So You Win Again - Hot Chocolate
- Hang Five - Rolling Stones
- Paper Tiger - Sue Thompson
- Venus - Frankie Avalon
- Costafine Town - Splinter
- If You Leave - OMD
- True Blue - Madonna
Turnaround Two
- Crocodile Rock (verse) - Elton John
- I Started a Joke - Bee Gees
- Different Drum - Bertie Higgins
- Black Berry Way - The Move
- Georgy Girl - Seekers
- Where Do You Go To My Lovely - Peter Sarstedt
- Mrs Brown, You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter - Herman’s Hermit
- Toast and Marmalade for Tea - Tin Tin
- Movie Star - Harpo
- It’s A Heartache - Bonnie Tyler
- I Don’t Like Mondays - Boomtown Rats
- My Angel Baby - Toby Beau
- Land Of Make Believe (verse) - Bucks Fizz
- I’m In The Mood For Dancing - The Nolans
- What’s in A Kiss - Gilbert O’Sullivan
- My Baby Loves Love - Joe Jeffries
- Dreamin’ - Johnny Burnett
- Cruel To Be Kind - Nick Lowe
- Where Did Our Love Go - Diana Ross & The Supremes
- Hurdy Gurdy Man - Donovan
- I Go To Pieces (chorus) - Peter & Gordon
- Get It over With - Angie Gold
- Sad Sweet Dreamer - Sweet Sensation
- Down Town - Petula Clark
- Easy - Oakridge Boys
- Only You Can Do It - Francoise Hardy
- Costafine - Splinter (Chorus)
- Where Did Our Love Go? - Phil Collins