Posted May 24, 20241 yr The average time of all 14,367 single to have made the UK Top 12 / Top 20 since 1952 - including today's chart is: 3 minutes 31 seconds. By decade: 1950's - 2 mins 36 secs 1960's - 2 mins 48 secs 1970's - 3 mins 35 secs 1980's - 4 mins 1 sec 1990's - 4 mins 5 secs 2000's - 3 mins 49 secs 2010's - 3 mins 38 secs 2020's - 3 mins 9 secs - so far 1959 was the year with the shortest songs at an average of 2 mins 23 secs 1957 had the shortest Top 20 song of all time with 1 min 27 secs: Elvis Presley's Let's Have A Party. 1998 has been the year with the longest average time of 4 mins 21 secs 1996 had the longest Top 20 song of all time with 7 mins 36 secs: Born Slippy by Underworld - although there are many different recordings of this track of lengths between 4 and 12 mins.
May 24, 20241 yr I don't know for certain what the longest top 20 song of all time is but I'm pretty certain it isn't Born Slippy. Blue Room by the Orb is the first song that comes to mind as that was about 39 minutes long
May 24, 20241 yr I don't know for certain what the longest top 20 song of all time is but I'm pretty certain it isn't Born Slippy. Blue Room by the Orb is the first song that comes to mind as that was about 39 minutes long It is Blue Room by The Orb at 39:58. I'm not sure how OP has arrived at Born Slippy. Blue Room peaked at No 8. Edited May 24, 20241 yr by DoBelieveTheHype
May 24, 20241 yr Thought the shortest was The Lady's Bras by Johnny Trumk and Wisby but it only got to #27.
May 24, 20241 yr Thought the shortest was The Lady's Bras by Johnny Trumk and Wisby but it only got to #27. So not in the top 20.
May 24, 20241 yr Thought the shortest was The Lady's Bras by Johnny Trumk and Wisby but it only got to #27. Ladies Bras is the shortest to ever chart in the top 40, but it broke a record set only weeks before by Green Day with the Simpsons Theme. That made the top 20 so I guess holds that record. The shortest ever top 10 was Liam Lynch United States Of Whatever, i’m not sure if that has been broken in recent years though. Longest top 10/20/40 record is quite comfortably the Orb I believe. Longest ever #1 was All Around The World by Oasis at over 9 mins. Edited May 24, 20241 yr by My... WAP??
May 24, 20241 yr McFly’s Baby’s Coming Back/Transylvania back in 2007? Double A-sides pretty much died out with the physicals. Leona released Better in Time/Footprints In the Sand in 2008 but I think the CD release only got to #23 or something.
May 24, 20241 yr McFly’s Baby’s Coming Back/Transylvania back in 2007? Double A-sides pretty much died out with the physicals. Leona released Better in Time/Footprints In the Sand in 2008 but I think the CD release only got to #23 or something. Wasn't that when they split off 'Footprints in the Sand' separately and it cost her the #1?
May 24, 20241 yr What was last ever top 20 double A SIDE single to chart At a guess the Leona Lewis one that killed the double A side when the download discrepancy cost it #1.
May 25, 20241 yr The closest is that we've kind of had some "spiritual" double A sides since then, like Shape of You/Castle on the Hill, Texas Hold Em/16 Carriages, etc. Also there are radio edits of Blue Room which are 3-4 mins long so maybe OP got mixed up that way. It's an interesting read though, I had no idea songs in the 50's/60's were so short. I was joking to myself at Christmas that Rockin Around the Christmas Tree had the length of a modern song, but I guess that was just normal for its time. Edited May 25, 20241 yr by Eric_Blob
May 25, 20241 yr Author What was last ever top 20 double A SIDE single to chart In 2010: the Glee Cast charted two double-A sides simultaneously in February - Halo / Walking on Sunshine at No 9 and It's My Life / Confessions Part II at No 14. They both lasted 2 weeks in the Top 20. There have been no other double-A sides since 2010. There were 320 double-A sides to reach the Top 20, the first in 1954 and the most with 21 in 2004. Thank you to all about Orb's longest single.
May 25, 20241 yr Author It is Blue Room by The Orb at 39:58. I'm not sure how OP has arrived at Born Slippy. Blue Room peaked at No 8. Thank you: I did not look far enough down the spreadsheet for 1992, it ranked 115 out of 274 for that year. <_<
May 25, 20241 yr What about a length of EPs ? For sample "Magical Mystery Tour" was # 2 in UK singles chart.
May 25, 20241 yr In 2010: the Glee Cast charted two double-A sides simultaneously in February - Halo / Walking on Sunshine at No 9 and It's My Life / Confessions Part II at No 14. They both lasted 2 weeks in the Top 20. There have been no other double-A sides since 2010. There were 320 double-A sides to reach the Top 20, the first in 1954 and the most with 21 in 2004. Thank you to all about Orb's longest single. Don't think these count as double A sides. They were single tracks just combining two songs into one.
May 25, 20241 yr Author Don't think these count as double A sides. They were single tracks just combining two songs into one. OK. Then: 2008: Leona Lewis - Better in Time / Footprints in the Sand - charted between March and May inclusive Bandaged - Little Drummer Boy / Peace on Earth - late December for 2 weeks - so I suppose the next last double-A side unless that was a combination as well... McFly - Do Ya? / Stay with Me - early December for 1 week
May 25, 20241 yr Author What about a length of EPs ? For sample "Magical Mystery Tour" was # 2 in UK singles chart. 75 EPs charted between 1956 and 2011. They contained individual songs, so I don't think one can simply add up their total times to say it's the longest Top 20 entry - but I can try?! I suspect Orb would still be longer...
May 25, 20241 yr Author At a guess the Leona Lewis one that killed the double A side when the download discrepancy cost it #1. Duffy's Mercy was a pretty powerful No 1 that week, maybe Better in Time by itself would have toppled her...
May 25, 20241 yr Duffy's Mercy was a pretty powerful No 1 that week, maybe Better in Time by itself would have toppled her... To be fair, that was basically 'Better In Time' by itself as the sales of 'Footprints in the Sand' got counted separately and cost it the #1!
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