David Hunter
History of the Pop Song Single
As the 1940s ended, record companies were challenging themselves to come up with a way to continue manufacturing hit songs while exposing them to easier world wide acceptance through radio stations. A great read about the history of the 45″ LP showcases how quickly the landscape changed. Columbia Records created an LP which rotated at 33 1/3 RPM which contained 20 minutes per side. In 1949, RCA Victor unveiled the 45 RPM. Singles were relegated to the 45s and as the 78s were phased out by the late 1950s, the 45″ became the ‘single’ vinyl upon which bands and artists would, in most cases, literally make (or break) their careers.
The biggest impact was that the sides usually ran anywhere from 2 to 7 and a half minutes in length thus resulting in a lot of the singles of the 1950s generally being 2:00 to 2:30 in length. In the early 1960s, the length of the average song remained around 2:30 until the late 1960s when songs were hitting 2:50 in 1968 and 3:00 in 1969. The 1970s saw a large growth with the evolution of genres such as ‘arena rock’ leading to songs averaging 3:20 as early as 1972. In a span of just seven years from 1965 to 1972, the average song had risen by nearly a full minute in length.
From 1963 through 1993, the average song continued to get longer and longer until finally peaking in 1993 with an average of 4:06. A lot of the influence of this had to do with shifting genres such as R&B, Grunge & Alternative Rock, and Hip Hop. Radio stations often would edit down songs to fit ideal lengths along with trimming out objective content and axing unnecessary aspects of the songs, arguably trimming the fat and keeping the lean meat. One example is the classic hip hop track, “California Love,” by 2Pac Shakur and Dr. Dre which was trimmed to 4:00 for the radio edit with the vinyl LP version running much longer at 6:29.
It’s interesting to take note not only of the songs that largely made up what many music fans will call the “golden” era of music, roughly 1955 through 1970 (or 1975 if you want a precise 20 year span), and the fact that the tempos were often much faster for that period as well. Nowadays, a lot of singles rely on being mid-tempo unless they are coming from a specific genre such as pop punk or alternative rock. Let’s look at some examples.
Elvis Presley – Hound Dog: Year of Release = 1956. Length = 2:15.
Elvis Presley – Jailhouse Rock: Year of Release = 1956. Length = 2:10.
Elvis Presley – Viva Las Vegas: Year of Release = 1964. Length = 2:13.
Elvis Presley – Suspicious Minds: Year of Release = 1969. Length = 4:22.
The Beatles also got into the act with a lot of singles that were in quickly and out with a bang during the 1960s.
Please Please Me (1963): 2:00
She Loves You (1963): 2:18
A Hard Day’s Night (1964): 2:28
Can’t Buy Me Love (1964): 2:12
And I Love Her (1964): 2:29
Yesterday (1965): 2:04
Ticket To Ride (1965): 3:02
Help! (1965): 2:16
Yellow Submarine (1966): 2:40
All You Need Is Love (1967): 3:57
Strawberry Fields Forever (1967): 4:05
Hello Goodbye (1967): 3:24
Hey Jude (1968): 7:11
Lady Madonna (1968): 2:17
The Ballad of John and Yoko (1969): 2:58
Something (1969): 2:59
It’s interesting to see the gradual shift in song length in just 6 years for one of the most prolific rock bands of all-time in The Beatles. One of the benefits of writing such short songs as singles was that bands could release albums near annually while being incredibly prolific with their production and catalog in the 1950s and 1960s. By averaging 2:30 or 3:00, they could fill up a 10-12 song album and have it be done after a half hour or 45 minutes of listening while not needing to take added care of trying to arrange and produce multiple songs of 4:00+ in length. As drugs, especially LSD, began to enter the picture along with the burgeoning development of psychedelic rock and hard rock blues over in the United Kingdom, songs began to grow longer in length as evidenced by The Beatles’ output starting in 1967.
The Beach Boys also fell into a very similar run as they transitioned during the 1960s into the 1970s. A lot of their classic singles from the early ’60s including: Surfin’ USA, Surfer Girl, and Barbara Ann ranged between 2:05 and 2:45 at the longest. In an interesting twist and possible influence on The Beatles and the pop arms race taking place, by March of 1966 The Beach Boys started releasing slightly longer singles than previously done. Classic hits like: Sloop John B at 2:55, Good Vibrations at 3:35 in October of 1966, and Heroes and Villains at 3:36 in 1967 all started signaling a change.
By 1970, The Beach Boys were continuing to release singles over 3:00 in length. In 1979, capitalizing on the disco craze, The Beach Boys released, “Here Comes the Night,” at an obscene for the band’s history 10:42 in length. In an interesting case study came Bob Dylan whom was a large influence on his contemporaries and immediately challenged the single concept with his first hit release in 1965, “Like A Rolling Stone,” which clocked in at 6:00. “Positively 4th Street” was released as its own beast on the single circuit and went 3:50 in length, again subverting the prominent thought of the time of how long a single should be while clearly setting the stage for the rise of longer songs in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s.
On the other side in the UK, bands like The Who were also challenging the status quo as early as 1965 with their release of “My Generation,” which ran 3:15 in length. They continued to surge ahead including releases of songs such as: Magic Bus (3:10) in 1968, Pinball Wizard (2:55) in 1969, The Seeker (3:12) in 1970, and Won’t Get Fooled Again (3:37) in 1971.
As bands experimented in the 1970s and 1980s, radios began editing songs and paring them down to try and make them palatable to radio stations while garnering hit song power and emphasizing album sales as a result of the popularity. “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” by The Who was just one example of many during those two decades. Other bands were briefly hit machines before fading back into slight obscurity on the singles charts such as Jefferson Airplane who hit big with their songs, “Somebody To Love,” and “White Rabbit,” both of which ran under 3:00 in 1967.
While artists such as Madonna and Michael Jackson were riding the massive wave of dance pop that exploded into the early and mid 1980s, the metal underground along with harder alternative rock was developing an interesting aspect in regards to the pop charts and the singles machine as well. Riding the wave of the coined term, ‘hair metal’ or ‘glam metal’, numerous bands made a splash in the pop charts.
1984 Ratt – “Round and Round” was edited down to 3:45 for radio. It peaks at 12.
1986 Poison – “Talk Dirty to Me” released and runs 3:43. It peaks at 9.
1988 Poison – “Every Rose Has It’s Thorn” released and runs 4:20. It peaks at 1.
1988 Poison – Nothin’ But a Good Time” released and runs at 3:48. It peaks at 6.
1989 Metallica – “One” released on a 12″ 33 1/3rd RPM was edited down to 4:58 for radio. It peaked at 35.
1989 Warrant – “Heaven” released and runs 3:58. It peaks at 2.
1990 Poison – “Unskinny Bop” released and runs 3:47. It peaks at 3.
1990 Warrant – “Cherry Pie” released and runs 3:20. It peaks at 10.
1991 Metallica – “Enter Sandman” was edited down to 3:59 for radio. It peaked at 16.
1991 Metallica – “The Unforgiven” was edited down to 4:59 for radio. It peaked at 35.
1991 Metallica – “Nothing Else Matters” was edited down to 4:59 for radio. It peaked at 34.
1991 Warrant – “I Saw Red” released and runs 3:46. It peaks at 10.
In the early 1990s came the grunge explosion and many songs continued to run long. Nirvana staple “Smells Like Teen Spirit” was edited down to 4:30 for radio while Pearl Jam’s “Even Flow” and “Jeremy” both ran over 5:00 on their respective 7″ releases. Pearl Jam’s release of “Daughter” in 1993 was just shy of 4 minutes and even Alice In Chains saw their songs still roll well over 4 minutes despite being edited down for radio such as “Man In the Box” pared down to 4:28.
The punk of the early 1990s also lent itself closer to song lengths of the 1970s despite appealing to the brevity of ‘radio’ and garnering more hits as a result. The Offspring’s classic “Come Out and Play” went 3:19 while Green Day had “Basket Case” at 3:01 and “When I Come Around” at 2:58.
In an interesting insight, even the classic pop staples of female pop singers, boy bands, and modern day pop continues to stay well above the old school of the 1950s and 1960s hewing closer to the late 1970s and early 1980s at their best. It’s interesting to note how close all of the following tracks are with several of them being edited down for radio play too.
Backstreet Boys – Quit Playing Games (With My Heart) = 3:52
Backstreet Boys – Everybody (Backstreet’s Back) = 3:45 (radio edit)
Backstreet Boys – As Long As You Love Me = 3:32 (radio edit)
Backstreet Boys – I Want It That Way = 3:33
Backstreet Boys – Larger Than Life = 3:56
Britney Spears – …Hit Me Baby One More Time = 3:30 (radio edit)
Britney Spears – Oops… I Did It Again = 3:30
Britney Spears – Stronger = 3:23
Christina Aguilera – Genie In a Bottle = 3:36
Christina Aguilera – What A Girl Wants = 3:20 (radio edit)
‘N Sync – I Want You Back = 3:20 (radio edit)
‘N Sync – Tearin’ Up My Heart = 3:26 (radio edit)
‘N Sync – Bye Bye Bye = 3:19
‘N Sync – It’s Gonna Be Me = 3:11
Nelly Furtado – Turn Off the Light = 3:36 (radio edit)
As the world of music evolves and artists are turning more towards streaming services and even outright selling singles courtesy of ITunes or releasing their albums on their own sites or through torrents, let’s compare the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 as of yesterday’s date: 7/23/2015.
OMI – Cheerleader = 3:10 (video edit)
The Weekdn – Can’t Feel My Face = 3:35
Wiz Khalifa – See You Again = 3:47 (clean version)
Taylor Swift – Bad Blood = 3:19
Silento – Watch Me = 3:07
Fetty Wap – Trap Queen = 3:42
Walk The Moon – Shut Up + Dance = 3:17
Rachel Platten – Fight Song = 3:22
Major Lazer – Lean On = 2:56
The Weeknd – The Hills = 4:02
The latest Top 10 on the Billboard Top 100 showcases that despite going on 35 years now since 1980, radio tends to remain the same regarding the pop song and the ideal lengths it prefers.
Credit to InsectNewsNetwork.com for feature image.
