4 ms·

I recall reading that the push for shorter intros and 3 to 3.5 minute songs was radio, pre-streaming.

saghm 9y ago
This is purely anecdotal, but there are a bunch of songs I can remember hearing on the radio growing up (15-20 years ago, although the songs were much older than I was) that had extended instrumental intros that were almost always cut out; offhand, "Jump" by Van Halen and "Fly Like an Eagle" by Steve Miller come to mind, although I'm sure there are others I can't quite recall (technically the intro to "Jump" was listed as a different track on the album, but it wasn't ever played on its own, as it was only about 30 seconds long). There are also plenty of songs where the radio would play the shorter "single" version of the song, which would usually have instrumental parts cut out, rather than the album version. Although the radio format definitely encouraged shorter songs, there were plenty of workarounds already in use for longer songs.
- hansjorg 9y ago
  It's very common with a separate edit intended for radio play: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_edit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_edit
- dctoedt 9y ago
  Also from the 70s: Funeral for a Friend / Love Lies Bleeding by Elton John (on the Yellow Brick Road album, vocals start at 5:35) and Foreplay / Long Time by Boston (on the debut album, vocals start at 2:30). Of course, each of these is really an instrumental piece prepended to a vocal song.
  - puzzle 9y ago
    Yes' masterpiece, Close to the edge, has nothing but "nature" sounds for the first 57 seconds. The first human vocal sound (”aaahhhh") is at 2:00, while the first lyrics are at 4:01. But then the song, or suite, really, is 18:45 long. I'm too lazy to check their other long works.
- cyberferret 9y ago
  I was flabbergasted when I discovered the The Knack's "My Sharona" was cut down considerably for radio play. When I finally got the album back in the day, I was blown away by the extra bit (including the whole second guitar solo) that I had never heard before.
  - potta_coffee 9y ago
    The unedited version is so good too.
- klodolph 9y ago
  There are about 30 seconds of intro to Jump, but are you talking about the track "1984", which is just synthesizers? Sure, the track isn't played on its own but it's more of an intro to the album than an intro to Jump.
  - saghm 9y ago
    Every time I've heard it on the radio, it was as an extended intro to "Jump" (which admittedly is a small percentage of the times that I've heard "Jump" on the radio). It also flows quite naturally into "Jump" due to the shared synthesizer effects, whereas a lot of the other stuff on the album has little to no keyboards.
mc32 9y ago
I think in the "45" era, it was common to have under 3 min songs. Elvis, chuck berry, etc. The graver thing for me is the awful lifting of the volume floor, so everything is loud. Apparently this became a thing in the mid to late eighties and persists. It's said MJs Thriller which has a couple remasterings shows the effect in action as the later remasterings up the effect.
- viraptor 9y ago
  3-4 minutes is also a very common / desirable length of music for dancing. Not sure if it's common now because of the 45 era, or the other way around, but at least in those genres, it would be close to optimal time for DJs.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
dragonwriter 9y ago
It was for singles for radio, pre-streaming, but not every song on an album would be a radio-featured single, only a couple; these acted, for the album, the way that trailers for a movie work. (And, often, those radio singles were edited down from the album version of the song.) Now (more, I think, because of pre-streaming iTunes and the like than streaming) the unit being sold and listened to by purchasers is more often the single, rather than the single being a tool to sell an album. Personally, with unlimited streaming services, I listen to albums more than I have anytime since everything was purchased on physical media (and more than even then, because for me streaming has almost entirely displaced radio, so less of my music time is constrained by a medium which doesn't really allow listening to albums), but I don't know how common that is.
goialoq 9y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Entertainer_(song) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Entertainer_(song) > Another verse in the song references the shortening of Joel's song, "Piano Man", from 5 minutes and 38 seconds to 3 minutes and 5 seconds to fit a radio slot, referenced by the lyrics It was a beautiful song, but it ran too long If you're gonna have a hit you gotta make it fit So they cut it down to 3:05.

This is purely anecdotal, but there are a bunch of songs I can remember hearing on the radio growing up (15-20 years ago, although the songs were much older than I was) that had extended instrumental intros that were almost always cut out; offhand, "Jump" by Van Halen and "Fly Like an Eagle" by Steve Miller come to mind, although I'm sure there are others I can't quite recall (technically the intro to "Jump" was listed as a different track on the album, but it wasn't ever played on its own, as it was only about 30 seconds long). There are also plenty of songs where the radio would play the shorter "single" version of the song, which would usually have instrumental parts cut out, rather than the album version. Although the radio format definitely encouraged shorter songs, there were plenty of workarounds already in use for longer songs.

hansjorg 9y ago
It's very common with a separate edit intended for radio play: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_edit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_edit
dctoedt 9y ago
Also from the 70s: Funeral for a Friend / Love Lies Bleeding by Elton John (on the Yellow Brick Road album, vocals start at 5:35) and Foreplay / Long Time by Boston (on the debut album, vocals start at 2:30). Of course, each of these is really an instrumental piece prepended to a vocal song.
- puzzle 9y ago
  Yes' masterpiece, Close to the edge, has nothing but "nature" sounds for the first 57 seconds. The first human vocal sound (”aaahhhh") is at 2:00, while the first lyrics are at 4:01. But then the song, or suite, really, is 18:45 long. I'm too lazy to check their other long works.
cyberferret 9y ago
I was flabbergasted when I discovered the The Knack's "My Sharona" was cut down considerably for radio play. When I finally got the album back in the day, I was blown away by the extra bit (including the whole second guitar solo) that I had never heard before.
- potta_coffee 9y ago
  The unedited version is so good too.
klodolph 9y ago
There are about 30 seconds of intro to Jump, but are you talking about the track "1984", which is just synthesizers? Sure, the track isn't played on its own but it's more of an intro to the album than an intro to Jump.
- saghm 9y ago
  Every time I've heard it on the radio, it was as an extended intro to "Jump" (which admittedly is a small percentage of the times that I've heard "Jump" on the radio). It also flows quite naturally into "Jump" due to the shared synthesizer effects, whereas a lot of the other stuff on the album has little to no keyboards.

mc32 9y ago

I think in the "45" era, it was common to have under 3 min songs. Elvis, chuck berry, etc. The graver thing for me is the awful lifting of the volume floor, so everything is loud. Apparently this became a thing in the mid to late eighties and persists. It's said MJs Thriller which has a couple remasterings shows the effect in action as the later remasterings up the effect.

viraptor 9y ago
3-4 minutes is also a very common / desirable length of music for dancing. Not sure if it's common now because of the 45 era, or the other way around, but at least in those genres, it would be close to optimal time for DJs.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

dragonwriter 9y ago

It was for singles for radio, pre-streaming, but not every song on an album would be a radio-featured single, only a couple; these acted, for the album, the way that trailers for a movie work. (And, often, those radio singles were edited down from the album version of the song.) Now (more, I think, because of pre-streaming iTunes and the like than streaming) the unit being sold and listened to by purchasers is more often the single, rather than the single being a tool to sell an album. Personally, with unlimited streaming services, I listen to albums more than I have anytime since everything was purchased on physical media (and more than even then, because for me streaming has almost entirely displaced radio, so less of my music time is constrained by a medium which doesn't really allow listening to albums), but I don't know how common that is.

goialoq 9y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Entertainer_(song) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Entertainer_(song) > Another verse in the song references the shortening of Joel's song, "Piano Man", from 5 minutes and 38 seconds to 3 minutes and 5 seconds to fit a radio slot, referenced by the lyrics It was a beautiful song, but it ran too long If you're gonna have a hit you gotta make it fit So they cut it down to 3:05.