With Justin Timberlake at #1 on iTunes with "Mirrors", which is 8 minutes and 6 seconds in length - I thought it'd be appropriate to start this topic. :D

 

Some examples of long #1s

 

 

And if you include club/extended mixes, Avicii vs. Nicky Romero "I Could Be The One", Swedish House Mafia "Don't You Worry Child" and Tomcraft "Loneliness" could all join this list! Obviously the popular versions of those songs are their radio edits :P

 

Any other examples of #1s over the normal length of time for a song?

Edited February 22, 201312 yr by Thermometer

Don McLean - American Pie, its probably around 9 mins long.

The Beatles' Hey Jude is very long as well, I think it's around six minutes long? :unsure:

Meat Loaf - I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That). The radio edit was over 5 minutes long, the version on the CD single over 7 minutes and the album version was over 13 minutes. :o

Don McLean - American Pie, its probably around 9 mins long.

 

 

Only made No.2. His two chart-toppers were Vincent and Crying.

The longest single to chart is "Blue Room" by the Orb, which was 39:57 long and got to #8 in 1992.

 

It was a piss-take of the (at-the-time chart compilers) Gallup deciding that CD singles longer than 40 minutes should be classed as albums.

 

 

 

The shortest song ever to chart Top 40 is "The Ladies' Bras" which reached #27 in September 2007 and is just 36 seconds long, previous to that it was Liam Lynch's excellent "United States of Whatever" which is just 1:26.

Edited February 22, 201312 yr by Doctor Blind

The longest single to chart is "Blue Room" by the Orb, which was 39:57 long and got to #8 in 1992.

 

It was a piss-take of the (at-the-time chart compilers) Gallup deciding that CD singles longer than 40 minutes should be classed as albums.

 

Haha! :lol: That was an incredible idea! :D

 

The longest single to chart is "Blue Room" by the Orb, which was 39:57 long and got to #8 in 1992.

 

It was a piss-take of the (at-the-time chart compilers) Gallup deciding that CD singles longer than 40 minutes should be classed as albums.

The shortest song ever to chart Top 40 is "The Ladies' Bras" which reached #27 in September 2007 and is just 36 seconds long, previous to that it was Liam Lynch's excellent "United States of Whatever" which is just 1:26.

 

This thread's about long No.1's. :wacko:

 

Still interesting facts and thanks. Almost 50 minutes, must have been taking the proverbial. How much of it did Radio 1's chart show play then?

The Beatles' Hey Jude is very long as well, I think it's around six minutes long? :unsure:

 

It seems like longer...

Still interesting facts and thanks. Almost 50 minutes, must have been taking the proverbial. How much of it did Radio 1's chart show play then?

 

They would have definitely had a radio edit...

It seems like longer...

 

Agreed. Would have been a perfect single at about 2 minutes shorter. :D

The shortest song ever to chart Top 40 is "The Ladies' Bras" which reached #27 in September 2007 and is just 36 seconds long, previous to that it was Liam Lynch's excellent "United States of Whatever" which is just 1:26.

 

This chart hit taken from The Simpsons Movie is very short too, at 1:05

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkaygjimrMo

Haha! :lol: That was an incredible idea! :D

 

Well I do know my chart stuff and especially No.1's.

This thread's about long No.1's. :wacko:

 

Still interesting facts and thanks. Almost 50 minutes, must have been taking the proverbial. How much of it did Radio 1's chart show play then?

 

There was a 3 minute radio edit. I know this thread is primarily about UK #1s but the long ones have all been covered already, and I thought it might be interesting...

Bohemian Rhapsody was 5.52 and was cut short by Tom Browne on the R1 Top 20 when it was on the way down the chart. They cut about the first 2 minutes and started at "Mama, just killed a man". Sounded just wrong!

 

Radio 1 almost didn't playlist Bo Rap. Head of Music then, Doreen Davies, was told about this song at almost 6 minutes long and said it was too long to play in full. Then she played it at the regular weekly playlist meeting for DJ's and show producers and they were all gobsmacked at how good it was and immediately playlisted it. The rest is history although it probably would have still been a huge hit without Radio 1 airplay.

Edited February 22, 201312 yr by Common Sense

There was a 3 minute radio edit. I know this thread is primarily about UK #1s but the long ones have all been covered already, and I thought it might be interesting...

 

It was so no worries. :)

I've just changed the thread subtitle so that we can talk about very long or very short songs that made the charts :D Otherwise this thread wouldn't last for much longer ;)

Swedish House Mafia's 'Greyhound' was only available in its near-7-minute full version for the majority of its chart run (and that version remained the most popular one even when a shorter version was made available through whatever Now! album it was on).

 

Ed Sheeran's 'Give Me Love' could technically count as it's only available in non-remixed form (on iTunes at least) as the 8:46 track on his album - however, this includes a long silence and the hidden track 'The Parting Glass' at the end of the actual song so it's kind of cheating.

Edited February 22, 201312 yr by Bré

The House Of The Rising Sun had a very long length of time for a song in those days. :D

The 5 longest and 5 shortest tracks in the current iTunes top 200:

 

Shortest

1 2:24 Jake Bugg - Lightning Bolt

2 2:37 One Direction - One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks)

3 2:43 The Lumineers - Ho Hey

4 2:46 Bingo Players - Get Up (Rattle) [feat. Far East Movement] [Radio Edit]

=5 2:51 Blink-182 - All the Small Things

=5 2:51 Jake Bugg - Seen It All

 

Longest

1 8:04 Justin Timberlake - Mirrors

2 7:30 Oasis - Chapmagne Supernova

3 6:34 Elbow - One Day Like This

4 6:19 Burns - Lies (Otto Knows Remix)

5 6:13 Kid Cudi - Pursuit of Happiness (Steve Aoki Remix) [Extended]

 

Interesting that the current #1 is over 3 times longer than the #2 and they're on very opposite ends of the length spectrum :o If they're the official top 2 this week or next then it surely must be one of the biggest differences in length between the top 2 ever. Oasis 'All Around The World' held off All Saint's 'Never Ever' which is also fairly lengthy (the 'radio edit' was 4:54 according to Wikipedia).

Edited February 22, 201312 yr by Bré