The last 40 seconds of the Association’s 1967 #1 hit Windy is a continuing repetition of the hook. Not only did they keep playing the same thing, but if you listen carefully you can hear that damn recorder crank up again, then the tambourine comes in before the producer decided to turn everything down. Since the entire song is under three minutes, that means nearly 25% of it is the ending.
The Who did it on a lot of their works, especially pre-1970. Just off the top of my head I can think of I Can See for Miles, Magic Bus, Pinball Wizard, and See Me Feel Me/Listening to You. Strange for a band that earned its reputation playing live, rather than for its studio work.
I think though that the process of making records is not comparable to performing before a crowd. Fades are a studio creation, and have been part of the bag of studio tricks since at least the early fifties. Deciding to use one is more a matter of “let’s try this” where it might suit the song, leaving the listener wanting more. And if done at the right point, it can work well as a part of the whole, a choice and not a cop-out as some suggest.
Though Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield undoubtedly had to sing “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” and “Soul and Inspiration” to definite conclusions in live performances, I can’t imagine the singles being as effective as they were without the gradual fadeouts Phil Spector gave them.
On the other hand, he gave them a wonderfully dramatic cold ending on “Ebb Tide.”
Me too. I was working in retail when that song was on the repeated playlists that shops paid for, and it made me want to smash things. I’m not even going to click on the link because it would probably make me feel the same way.
There is a classic rock and roll song where it at the end plays mono then kinda fades out, I remember the lyrics “you’re gonna go far” about a dude getting into rock & roll.
It was the rare 45 that did not with a fade out. I grew up in the sixties and wondered why most recorded songs don’t end but instead fade out. I learned why a few years ago. It’s because of juke boxes. Juke box manufacturers figured the public would keep pumping coins into the machine if the music faded out.
It goes back at least to 40s radio—even with live performances of semiclassical music. And not just in America—you can find it in transcriptions from Europe, too. By the 50s, musicians were doing their own fade-outs, so that they could hope to have some control.
To the first 2, of course not. They don’t end the suite. Neptune does, and that’s what I was referring to.
…the orchestra is joined by an offstage female chorus singing a soft wordless line … The orchestra falls silent and the unaccompanied voices bring the work to a pianissimo conclusion in an uncertain tonality, as a door between the singers and the auditorium is gradually closed.
Which is why I gave it to you, complete with link. I was at a live performance and “Neptune” naturally was last. The audience was t sure when to start clapping. Like the link it was remarkably like Cage’s 4’ 52"
“The Rover” by LedZeppelin Jimmy Page’s phaser like guitar solo as the fadeout* from this killer song from 1975’s “Physical Graffiti” ; it’s called classic rock for a reason, kids!
Apologies for the extreme delay. This list is far from comprehensive (I kind of quit them after, “Time.”) but I did discover something – as ELO became more popular, they produced more fade-out (read: radio-friendly) tunes per album. Anyway, the list:
*No Answer – 9 songs, 1 fade-out
*ELO 2 – 5 songs, no real fade-outs
*On the Third Day – 9 songs, no fade-outs
*Eldorado – 10 songs, 1 fade-out
*Face the Music – 8 songs, 4 fade-outs
*New World Record – 9 songs, 4 fade-outs
*Out of The Blue – 17 songs, 7 fade-outs
*Discovery – 9 songs, 7 fade-outs
*Time – 13 songs, 4 fade-outs
