Music Trivia - 4 minute plus #1 Songs

Starting in 1955, Marty Robbins' 1960 El Paso was the first #1 single sided song to exceed 4 minutes in length ... name the next 4 minute plus single sided #1 song ...

 

Hey Jude comes to mind. How 'bout Stairway to Heaven?

Brian

 

Stairway was never a single. How 'bout American Pie?

 

WOW! I did not know that. I just assumed any song that's been played to death, was a single. My apologies, I've never been a top 40s guy.

What is the definition of a single? A release status, 7" format, or otherwise? Feelin' a bit daft at the moment, to tell ya the truth.

Brian

 

Suspicious Minds?

 

Like a Rolling Stone?

 

Yep, although nowadays, there are very few actual singles released in stores and Billboard was a major part of it.

 

If you are talking about Led Zeppelin's version ... believe it or not, it never charted ... even though it may be one of the most played songs on the radio that never charted ...

 

I've been trying to verify my guess, but I'm not where I can do that, so I've narrowed it down to two:

The Battle of New Orleans -- Johnny Horton, 1959

or

Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In -- The Fifth Dimension, 1969

Originally, I was going to go with Hey, Jude, but I did find out that it wasn't the #1 song of 1968, that honor belongs to Otis Redding for (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay.

All of the other number one singles for their prospective years I know weren't longer than 4 minutes.

 

Good guess ... but it happened before "American Pie"

 

"Ode to Billie Joe" by Bobbie Gentry in 1967 -- 4:13.

 

Another good guess ... 4:22 in 1969 ... but it occurred before that ...

 

Re: Re: Music Trivia - 4 minute plus #1 Songs

Ding ... ding ... we have a winner ... good work Tim ... did you have to look it up?

 

Superstar, not the Carpenter's but the finale from JC Superstar?

 

Re: Re: Re: Music Trivia - 4 minute plus #1 Songs

I looked up the exact time, but I knew the right answer.

 

Of course "Hey Jude" was the #1 song of 1968! Wasn't it #1 for 9 weeks straight??(Don't have any refererence books handy!)

 

Your memory is good ... 9 weeks at #1 ... Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" was the second most popular song of '68 ... 7 weeks at #1 ...

 

What about "Macarthur Park" by Richard Harris? IIRC it's more than 7 minutes long. Did it never make it to number one in '68?

Gary

 

Damn! You beat me to it!

OK, how about:
Papa Was A Rolling Stone-The Temptations-1972
You Should Be Dancing-Bee Gees 1976
Disco Lady-Johnny Taylor 1976
Silly Love Songs-Wings 1976
FM-Steely Dan 1977
Ball Of Confusion-The Temptations 1970
Stay In My Corner-The Dells 1968

 

Good guess ... but hit only #2 in '68

 

No 1 where?

House of The Rising Sun by The Animals from 1964 was well in excess of 4 minutes.

 

Hi Tony ... the point of reference ... which I should have stated ... is the U.S. Billboard Top 100 and Hot 100 ... according to Joel Whitburn, the version of "House of the Rising Sun" that hit #1 in 1964 clocks in at 2:58 ... the album version may have been longer ...

 

The full-length version, which indeed is over four minutes long, wasn't released in the United States until the 1966 album The Best of the Animals.

 

"Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" holds the record as the second-longest #1 song on one side of the same 45 -- even edited from its LP track, the 45 was 6:58. Only "Hey Jude" (7:11) was longer.

"You Should Be Dancing" was 4:15.
"Disco Lady" was 4:20
"Silly Love Songs" was 5:54, another of the longest #1s of all time.

The other three didn't hit #1 --
"FM" (#22, 1978) is only 3:51 in its 45 rpm version.
"Ball of Confusion" (#3) was 4:04.
"Stay in My Corner" (#10) was 6:10 ... a true "lost classic"; what a song!

 

Oh, shoot, see what happens when you rely on the Internet for your sources? I found the reference on a page and now I can't find it, but obviously, the page was in error. From now on, I'll double-check everything. (Hmmm, my shoes need salt.....)