The Morning News set out to find the perfect length to any good rock song. Two minutes and forty-two seconds is what they came up with. "Anything else is just a goddamn waste of time"
My starting assumption: I knew the best songs were short and to the point. But exactly how short and how pointed?
My scientists told me that the perfect song length had to be closer to three minutes than two, but definitely shorter than three minutes. Three minutes is where bloat starts to set in. Where the band thinks: Hey, let’s do the chorus seven times. Hey, let’s give the saxophone guy a real moment to shine on this one. Hey, let’s add another bridge.
Just look at what clocks in between two and a half and three minutes: “Mr. Tambourine Man,” “We Got the Beat,” “Boys Don’t Cry,” “Hot Fun in the Summertime,” “Good Times Bad Times,” “I Would Die 4 U,” “Paranoid,” “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “Debaser,” “God Only Knows,” and “Fall on Me.” These are not only stone-cold classics but they also encapsulate all that is great about the band without wasting your goddamn time.
WENTZVILLE, MO—In a shocking revelation that turns a half century of rock-and-roll history on its head, legendary musician Chuck Berry recalled Monday how he got the idea for his iconic song "Johnny B. Goode"—believed for decades to have been written by Berry himself—after listening to a white teenager playing it over the telephone. "I'll never forget that night back in 1955 when I got the call from [cousin] Marvin [Berry] saying, 'Chuck, this is that sound you've been looking for!'" recounted Berry, explaining that his cousin was playing an "Enchantment Under The Sea"–themed high school dance when the mysterious teen, Calvin Klein, took to the stage and single-handedly invented rock and roll as we now know it. "Marvin held up the phone and I heard the song that would make me famous. Then I stole it."
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Thieves dressed as policemen talked their way past guards at Johannesburg's High Court, then locked them in a bathroom and stole highly sensitive documents, a police spokeswoman said on Tuesday.
About six armed men in police uniforms convinced security guards they were at the court on Sunday night to look into a rape case, spokeswoman Julia Claassen said. Once inside the building, the robbers disconnected surveillance and alarm systems, tied up the guards in the toilets, broke into a safe and left with the court documents.
"Police in the area outside the court noticed the men leaving and there was an exchange of gunfire," said Claassen, adding the gang had still managed to escape.
That's right, in 1965 the FBI devoted 31 months to discovering the lyrics to the third verse of The Kingsmen's "Louie Louie." I wonder why that Kennedy Assassination never got solved?
On this date in 1965, the Federal Bureau of Investigation ended one of its most bizarre pop-culture-related inquiries. After a mere 31 months of detective work, the FBI at last admitted that it could not decipher the third (possibly obscene) verse of The Kingsmen's "Louie Louie."
It was not for lack of trying. In a special FBI sound laboratory, bureau agents repeatedly sped up and slowed down the recording, trying to decode the somewhat slurred delivery in the 1963 hit. Many parents had complained about the song when it came out, charging that the lyrics contained obscenities that were corrupting their poor children's ears.
The third verse was the key -- and remained elusive to even the most trained government ears. It appears to be sung phonetically, or in some secret "rock language." Many suggested at the time that The Kingsmen deliberately slurred the vocals in the studio to obscure its lascivious subject matter.
Ugh. Two of the whiniest men alive. So, what's up with these collaborations? When did the formula become rapper and white piano player. Timbaland and One Republic? Now this. I don't get it but people are suckers for this stuff. I'm just not sure when I'm supposed to be in the mood to listen to this song.
We do love a good mocumentary, especially one about rock ("What day did the Lord create Spinal Tap, and couldn't he have rested on that day too?"). When it is done right.... few things are better.
Upload an audio file to our server, wait a few seconds for it to be reversed, and then you will hear it played backwards. No download or special software required.
For many years there have been rumors that certain songs, speeches, and ads contain hidden subliminal messages that can only be heard when played backwards. This is known as backmasking, and there is much debate about its existence. Use our website to find out for yourself if it is true. Or, listen just for the fun of it.
