For short, my definite fave is “The Wrong Company,” by Flogging Molly. Honorable mentions to “Anarchy for Sale,” by the Dead Kennedys, “Ringo no Uta,” as interpreted by Voltaire, “We are 138” and “Who Killed Marilyn?” by the Misfits, and “Why Don’t We Do It In the Road?,” by the Beatles. I could add a few more, I’m sure.
For the long ones, we’ve first got a couple of things you probably can call neither ‘pop’ nor ‘songs,’ Green Carnation’s “Light of Day, Day of Darkness” (at 60:00) and Edge of Sanity’s “Crimson” (at 40:00). For something that’s genuinely ‘pop,’ we’ve got the extended version of Falco’s “Rock Me, Amadeus,” Meat Loaf’s “Bat Out of Hell” and “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” (a personal favourite of mine, heh. :D).
I agree. The man who singlehandedly invented his own kind of rock and roll is immortalized on the charts by a double-entendre song. There is no justice.
I was rereading my list, and I thought it would be interesting to note that all of those songs were released in severely edited versions on singles, except “Down By The River” and “Stop.”
I was going to mention that “Stay” by Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs is also the shortest song to hit #1 on the charts. Interesting that this song (Maurice Williams’ and Jackson Browne’s version) is probably the only one that qualifies for both lists.
There seems to be some debate whether “Stairway to Heaven” is over 8 minutes long or not. I have seenit listed as 8:03 in some places, but I am almost positive on Zep IV it is listed as 7:55. Maybe a timed playing is in order.
