Which song is the shortest ever to reach number one?
The shortest Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 remains Stay by Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs (1960), about one minute and thirty-six seconds of doo-wop urgency.
Queen – Radio Ga Ga
Roger Taylor built Radio Ga Ga from a phrase his three-year-old son Felix said in Los Angeles, and Queen recorded it at the Record Plant in 1983.
Blur – The Narcissist
The Narcissist announced The Ballad of Darren on 18 May 2023. Eight years after The Magic Whip, Blur put out a steady alternative rock single produced by James Ford, recorded at Studio 13 in London and Devon between.
The Beatles – I Am The Walrus
On 5 September 1967 The Beatles were back at EMI Studios, Abbey Road, with a new John Lennon song that refused to behave like a pop lyric.
Foster The People – Houdini
Mark Foster sketched Houdini at Mophonics while writing jingles; Rich Costey co-produced the Torches cut that became the album's fifth single in 2012.
Interview of Grace Jones (1985)
The 1985 Australian Day by Day interview meets Grace Jones in the year of Slave to the Rhythm, the Trevor Horn production that turned one song into an album-length project, with Jean-Paul Goude still shaping the image.
Oasis – Acquiesce
Oasis’s Acquiesce, B-side of Some Might Say (Creation, 24 April 1995): stopped-train write, Liam/Noel split.
Sex Pistols – Pretty Vacant
Glen Matlock wrote Pretty Vacant before he was pushed out of the Sex Pistols, and the hook arrived in a bar. He has traced the descending riff to ABBA's SOS, heard on the jukebox at Moonies on Charing Cross Road while he was spending dole
Supertramp – School
School opens Crime of the Century with a playground tape, a girl's scream and Rick Davies's harmonica, recorded at Trident in 1974 with Ken Scott.
Supergrass – Alright
On 3 July 1995 Parlophone released Alright as a double A-side with Time, and the single opened at number two in Britain.