Short and Sweet: Supremes Hits Under Three Minutes

Noticing that it seems all ? [ - have looked at several, but not at every one] of The Supremes earliest hits were under three minutes and some around 2 1/2 minutes.

Shorter songs were common in the sixties , but not universal. Were the Supremes singles short by design? Were most Motown releases so brief ??

Now I'm wondering which Supremes single first broke the three minute barrier?
What was the longest single ever by the group??

Somebody, I bet, already has this all charted out .... Sup fan??


While we're at it , what was their shortest single release ??
WHERE DID OUR LOVE GO started it all off at 2:32.

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Originally Posted by Boogiedown

Noticing that it seems all ? [ - have looked at several, but not at every one] of The Supremes earliest hits were under three minutes and some around 2 1/2 minutes.

Shorter songs were common in the sixties , but not universal. Were the Supremes singles short by design? Were most Motown releases so brief ??

Now I'm wondering which Supremes single first broke the three minute barrier?
What was the longest single ever by the group??

Somebody, I bet, already has this all charted out .... Sup fan??


While we're at it , what was their shortest single release ??
WHERE DID OUR LOVE GO started it all off at 2:32.

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I think FOREVER CAME TODAY and SOMEDAY were the longest of the 60s releases. SOME THINGS YOU NEVER GET USED TO was probably the shortest.

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Originally Posted by reese

I think FOREVER CAME TODAY and SOMEDAY were the longest of the 60s releases. SOME THINGS YOU NEVER GET USED TO was probably the shortest.

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And FOREVER didn't break the 3:00 minute ceiling

there you go, SOMEDAY clocks in at a marathon 3:14!

Don’t know if this one counts because it’s a “duet”, but doesn’t “I’m gonna make you love me” clock in just past 3 minutes?

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Originally Posted by Boogiedown

And FOREVER didn't break the 3:00 minute ceiling

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Depends on which version you're listening to. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XGIGJ5Qu9o

'Forever Came Today' is my fav DRATS single. HDH also rate it very highly.

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Originally Posted by Boogiedown

While we're at it , what was their shortest single release ??
WHERE DID OUR LOVE GO started it all off at 2:32.

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Their shortest single release has to be the B-side to "Where Did Our Love Go", "He Means The World To Me" at 1:52.

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Originally Posted by reese

Depends on which version you're listening to. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XGIGJ5Qu9o

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Thanks! Give me as much of this song as possible!!

Surely all their singles were constructed from originally longer studio versions that were intentionally tightened and whittled down.....

https://i.ebayimg.com/thumbs/images/...9f/s-l225.webp


Trimmed to 2:59 as to not be one second longer !!

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Originally Posted by Motown Eddie

Their shortest single release has to be the B-side to "Where Did Our Love Go", "He Means The World To Me" at 1:52.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUt_rSxJZsQ

they couldn't have padded this a little? And it sounds like the fade is a little premature Diana is still going on full steam ...

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Originally Posted by Boogiedown

Thanks! Give me as much of this song as possible!!

Surely all their singles were constructed from originally longer studio versions that were intentionally tightened and whittled down.....

https://i.ebayimg.com/thumbs/images/...9f/s-l225.webp


Trimmed to 2:59 as to not be one second longer !!

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I believe the single version of Forever Came Today clocks in a bit over 3 minutes, but was listed as 2:59 to not alienate DJ’s who may not have wanted to give attention to longer singles. I remember reading somewhere this was a fairly common practice in the sixties.

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Originally Posted by JohnnyB

I believe the single version of Forever Came Today clocks in a bit over 3 minutes, but was listed as 2:59 to not alienate DJ’s who may not have wanted to give attention to longer singles. I remember reading somewhere this was a fairly common practice in the sixties.

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Yes. I think the most famous example of this was YOU'VE LOST THAT LOVING FEELING by the Righteous Brothers. Phil Spector put a false length on the record label even though the recording was actually about 45 seconds longer.

yep I checked youtube and there are no FOREVER CAME TODAY versions there that clock at 2:59. All about 15 seconds longer.

So Motown intentionally lied about the single's actual time being "2:59", wink wink.
Makes you wonder what else they might have lied about on this record's label ....
Diana Ross "and the Supremes" ??......:p

Hopefully someone else can confirm this, but the reason why most of the Supremes' hits [[and Motown's as well as the rest of the industry's records) were under 3 minutes is a fairly practical one. I'm fairly sure Ralph or someone else here has stated that you HAD to fade a record before the 3-minute mark because the volume would immediately drop during the mastering process. So how did Phil Spector manage a record over 3 minutes? Good question...

So even if you could get a record to be longer than 3 minutes, it might not get onto radio station playlists. I don't know how it was in other countries/continents, but I've been learning from more than a few books on the history of Top 40 Radio, that stations didn't favor long records. I think it had to do with the format being geared towards playing so many records in a frame of time, keep the go-go pace going; a long record would throw off the increasingly tighter and tighter schedules radio stations were favoring. That's why Phil had to lie about the timing of "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" and even after the truth was discovered, radio stations I think were still ticked off about it.

It wasn't until maybe '67 with the newer, hipper bands coming on the scene that things started to change -but not much. On the whole, AM radio doggedly stuck to 3-minutes and under as the rule. FM radio was still new and uncharted territory and often used as an outlet for soundtracks and show tunes. Only until the college kids started using FM to play an underground format of Rock and entire albums did radio start playing longer cuts. But until AM completely died out as far as playing music, it was still all about keeping 'em short and sweet.

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Originally Posted by WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance

Hopefully someone else can confirm this, but the reason why most of the Supremes' hits [[and Motown's as well as the rest of the industry's records) were under 3 minutes is a fairly practical one. I'm fairly sure Ralph or someone else here has stated that you HAD to fade a record before the 3-minute mark because the volume would immediately drop during the mastering process. So how did Phil Spector manage a record over 3 minutes? Good question...

So even if you could get a record to be longer than 3 minutes, it might not get onto radio station playlists. I don't know how it was in other countries/continents, but I've been learning from more than a few books on the history of Top 40 Radio, that stations didn't favor long records. I think it had to do with the format being geared towards playing so many records in a frame of time, keep the go-go pace going; a long record would throw off the increasingly tighter and tighter schedules radio stations were favoring. That's why Phil had to lie about the timing of "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" and even after the truth was discovered, radio stations I think were still ticked off about it.

It wasn't until maybe '67 with the newer, hipper bands coming on the scene that things started to change -but not much. On the whole, AM radio doggedly stuck to 3-minutes and under as the rule. FM radio was still new and uncharted territory and often used as an outlet for soundtracks and show tunes. Only until the college kids started using FM to play an underground format of Rock and entire albums did radio start playing longer cuts. But until AM completely died out as far as playing music, it was still all about keeping 'em short and sweet.

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Interesting info. Many thanks for posting. :)

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Originally Posted by WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance

So even if you could get a record to be longer than 3 minutes, it might not get onto radio station playlists. I don't know how it was in other countries/continents, but I've been learning from more than a few books on the history of Top 40 Radio, that stations didn't favor long records. I think it had to do with the format being geared towards playing so many records in a frame of time, keep the go-go pace going; a long record would throw off the increasingly tighter and tighter schedules radio stations were favoring. That's why Phil had to lie about the timing of "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" and even after the truth was discovered, radio stations I think were still ticked off about it.

It wasn't until maybe '67 with the newer, hipper bands coming on the scene that things started to change -but not much. On the whole, AM radio doggedly stuck to 3-minutes and under as the rule. FM radio was still new and uncharted territory and often used as an outlet for soundtracks and show tunes. Only until the college kids started using FM to play an underground format of Rock and entire albums did radio start playing longer cuts. But until AM completely died out as far as playing music, it was still all about keeping 'em short and sweet.

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Touch Me In The Morning was originally released on a 45 at 3:51. Subsequent pressings were 3:15. It took 10 weeks for TMITM to reach the Top 10. It's possible that many radio stations weren't playing the 3:51 release and only started to play it when it was shortened to 3:15. Of course I prefer the original version at 3:51. It took me a few years to find a duplicate copy of that 45.

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Originally Posted by johnjeb

Touch Me In The Morning was originally released on a 45 at 3:51. Subsequent pressings were 3:15. It took 10 weeks for TMITM to reach the Top 10. It's possible that many radio stations weren't playing the 3:51 release and only started to play it when it was shortened to 3:15. Of course I prefer the original version at 3:51. It took me a few years to find a duplicate copy of that 45.

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With TOUCH ME..., I think there was also some mistake that made the shorter version actually appear on the album and the longer version appear on the single. I remember being very disappointed when I bought two copies of the album and the title tune faded early.

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Originally Posted by WaitingWatchingLookingForAChance

Hopefully someone else can confirm this, but the reason why most of the Supremes' hits [[and Motown's as well as the rest of the industry's records) were under 3 minutes is a fairly practical one. I'm fairly sure Ralph or someone else here has stated that you HAD to fade a record before the 3-minute mark because the volume would immediately drop during the mastering process. So how did Phil Spector manage a record over 3 minutes? Good question...

So even if you could get a record to be longer than 3 minutes, it might not get onto radio station playlists. I don't know how it was in other countries/continents, but I've been learning from more than a few books on the history of Top 40 Radio, that stations didn't favor long records. I think it had to do with the format being geared towards playing so many records in a frame of time, keep the go-go pace going; a long record would throw off the increasingly tighter and tighter schedules radio stations were favoring. That's why Phil had to lie about the timing of "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" and even after the truth was discovered, radio stations I think were still ticked off about it.

It wasn't until maybe '67 with the newer, hipper bands coming on the scene that things started to change -but not much. On the whole, AM radio doggedly stuck to 3-minutes and under as the rule. FM radio was still new and uncharted territory and often used as an outlet for soundtracks and show tunes. Only until the college kids started using FM to play an underground format of Rock and entire albums did radio start playing longer cuts. But until AM completely died out as far as playing music, it was still all about keeping 'em short and sweet.

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Being live on air: timing was everything. There's a certain rhythm for inserting commercials, maintaining the right ratio of music to ads, being able to end the music exactly at the top of the hour. I can imagine that stunt of Phil's really irked the programmers, and only aided in their cooling to his product. Not smart, and at 45 seconds, such a glaring discrepancy OF COURSE they would notice.

Also station listeners would be patient enough to wait through a short song they didn't really like for hopes of the next one being a favorite. But if you didn't like or were tired of the entirety of American Pie....halfway through ...what else is on the dial.

. In the 60's, programming was based on a Top 40 playlist, a number you could manage and keep the hotter stuff in rapid rotation. As records got longer in the 70's stations began using a trimmed down Top 30 list so as to be able to keep all the tunes heard in a timely rotation and to especially assure the hottest singles got frequent play.

And, "All I Know About You" is a contender for one of those under 2 minute quickies.

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Originally Posted by khansperac

Don’t know if this one counts because it’s a “duet”, but doesn’t “I’m gonna make you love me” clock in just past 3 minutes?

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looks like you found another 'mistake', shortened by about ten seconds , by Motown's Timekeeping Dept.

https://i.ebayimg.com/thumbs/images/...U8/s-l225.webp

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvhVgMcNEdc

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Originally Posted by Boogiedown

Being live on air: timing was everything. There's a certain rhythm for inserting commercials, maintaining the right ratio of music to ads, being able to end the music exactly at the top of the hour. I can imagine that stunt of Phil's really irked the programmers, and only aided in their cooling to his product. Not smart, and at 45 seconds, such a glaring discrepancy OF COURSE they would notice.

Also station listeners would be patient enough to wait through a short song they didn't really like for hopes of the next one being a favorite. But if you didn't like or were tired of the entirety of American Pie....halfway through ...what else is on the dial.

. In the 60's, programming was based on a Top 40 playlist, a number you could manage and keep the hotter stuff in rapid rotation. As records got longer in the 70's stations began using a trimmed down Top 30 list so as to be able to keep all the tunes heard in a timely rotation and to especially assure the hottest singles got frequent play.

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That's really interesting and I'm glad to have a confirmation that I was on the right track as far as there being an actual reason why songs were uniformly under 3 minutes. It's really fascinating how Top 40 Radio worked. It's often taken for granted that it was this super fun part of the 60s and 70s, but there actually were a lot of headaches and frustration behind the scenes.

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Originally Posted by Ollie9

Interesting info. Many thanks for posting. :)

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You're welcome. I love this stuff!