longest 45

The_Hook_UpThe_Hook_Up 8,182 Posts
edited December 2007 in Strut Central
just picked up a Led Zeppelin "Stairway to heaven" 45...Atlantic logo looks weird, and it just dawned on me I have never seen a 45 for this song, ever. I thought for sure I had, but nope in my best recollection I can say I have never seen one before...anyway, the shit is 7 minutes 55 seconds...I didnt know a 45rpm record could play this long...anybody know of any other 45s longer than this?

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  • DB_CooperDB_Cooper Manhatin' 7,823 Posts
    just picked up a Led Zeppelin "Stairway to heaven" 45..

    I thought Immigrant Song and Whole Lotta Love were the only Zep 45s ever released.

  • just picked up a Led Zeppelin "Stairway to heaven" 45..

    I thought Immigrant Song and Whole Lotta Love were the only Zep 45s ever released.

    I did also...thats why I though this was strange...its from a radio station and has the date 11-25-76 written on the label, so an after the fact single I guess...there's one up now on ebay sittin at $40...think I throw this one up for auction...

  • think I throw this one up for auction...

    And pass up the unbeatable sound quality of an 8 minute 45?

  • knewjakknewjak 1,231 Posts
    the shit is 7 minutes 55 seconds

    It is hard for me to imagine any 45 going past the 5 minute mark. Have you timed it? I've come accross plenty of 45s with misprinted song times. Usually, its a radio edit and the label is showing the time length from the LP.

  • just picked up a Led Zeppelin "Stairway to heaven" 45...Atlantic logo looks weird, and it just dawned on me I have never seen a 45 for this song, ever. I thought for sure I had, but nope in my best recollection I can say I have never seen one before...anyway, the shit is 7 minutes 55 seconds...

    I think its' a special promotional item, because the band pointedly made sure that "STH" wasn't released as a single...

    I didnt know a 45rpm record could play this long...anybody know of any other 45s longer than this?

    I've seen some 45's in the 6-7-minute range, although none come to mind at the moment. It can be done, but you can exoect the sound quality to decrease.

  • Is it a 45 or a 33? I thought that even at 33rpm 8 minutes was about the limit time-wise for a 7 inch record.

    I've seen a couple of 6+ minute 45s (all with playing time mislabled) but never anything like that.

  • just picked up a Led Zeppelin "Stairway to heaven" 45..

    I thought Immigrant Song and Whole Lotta Love were the only Zep 45s ever released.

    Not true. I don't know what the situation was like in the UK, but here in the States, "Whole Lotta Love" (1969), "Immigrant Song" (1970), "Black Dog" (1971), "D'yer Maker" (1973), "Trampled Under Foot" (1975), and "Fool In The Rain" (1979) all charted in the Billboard Top 40. And this was LONG before Billboard started listing album tracks on their singles charts.

  • RerogRerog 569 Posts
    I just got a Fela 45 that is over 7 minutes..I'll check when I get home and report actual legnth.

    I think Geraldo Pino "Heavy,Heavy,Heavy" is in that area too.

    Details at 6.

  • the shit is 7 minutes 55 seconds

    It is hard for me to imagine any 45 going past the 5 minute mark. Have you timed it? I've come accross plenty of 45s with misprinted song times. Usually, its a radio edit and the label is showing the time length from the LP.

    no, havent timed it but I will say the grooves on this thing are so tightly squeezed together, they are almost nonexsistent, you can barely make them out with the eye...

  • Is it a 45 or a 33? I thought that even at 33rpm 8 minutes was about the limit time-wise for a 7 inch record.

    I've seen a couple of 6+ minute 45s (all with playing time mislabled) but never anything like that.

    I was thinking it played at 33 also, but just tried it out, it plays at 45...

  • TNGTNG 234 Posts
    I've made 7"s over seven minutes no problem. Keep in mind it's all in the bass, the more bass, the wider the groove. Not much bass in STH (probably less than 2 minutes of full thump) - hence the ability to cut it long.

    I've actually had a few really thin grooved seven minute 7"s at 45... but they're really quiet.

  • I just got a Fela 45 that is over 7 minutes..I'll check when I get home and report actual legnth.

    I think Geraldo Pino "Heavy,Heavy,Heavy" is in that area too.

    Details at 6.

    Ah, we forgot the most obvious seven-minute seven-inch: "MacArthur Park" by Richard Harris.

    My copy is an MCA reissue from the eighties, and while the fidelity is a little quiet, they did manage to get the whole long shebang on a 45.

  • I just got a Fela 45 that is over 7 minutes..I'll check when I get home and report actual legnth.

    I think Geraldo Pino "Heavy,Heavy,Heavy" is in that area too.

    Details at 6.

    The Pino 45 clocks in at around 6 minutes, and it is much quieter than the flip.

  • mrmatthewmrmatthew 1,575 Posts
    Ive got a Tamba 4 a&m 45 that is technically an "EP", but its got about 7-8 minutes of music per side.
    Are we talking strictily one-track-per-side 45's?

  • SoulOnIceSoulOnIce 13,027 Posts


    Ah, we forgot the most obvious seven-minute seven-inch:


  • Ive got a Tamba 4 a&m 45 that is technically an "EP", but its got about 7-8 minutes of music per side.
    Are we talking strictily one-track-per-side 45's?

    I didn't start the thread, but if it were left up to me, I wouldn't count a multi-track EP, or a 7" that revolved at 33 1/3.

  • SoulOnIceSoulOnIce 13,027 Posts
    ... and also, one that I own that is even longer
    than "Hey Jude" is this Vanilla Fudge 45:



    It plays at 45 RPM and when I played it on the radio, I
    had to push the slider all the way to the max and it STILL
    was way too quiet. I can't think of them, but I have a few
    more 7 minute+ 45's from the late 60's/early 70's ... I'm
    surprised so many people are like "no way" and didn't think
    these could even exist ...

  • Ive got a Tamba 4 a&m 45 that is technically an "EP", but its got about 7-8 minutes of music per side.
    Are we talking strictily one-track-per-side 45's?

    I didn't start the thread, but if it were left up to me, I wouldn't count a multi-track EP, or a 7" that revolved at 33 1/3.

    yeah, longest tune crammed onto one side of a 45rpm 7"

  • There was a Bruce Springsteen 45, it was the B-side for "Fire" (it was for that 5LP live album), the B-side was 10 minutes @ 45 rpm. Sounded like shit, but I think that's the longest.

    EDIT: The song is a live version of "Incident On 57th Street"

  • just picked up a Led Zeppelin "Stairway to heaven" 45..

    I thought Immigrant Song and Whole Lotta Love were the only Zep 45s ever released.

    In the U.S. there were 45's for "Black Dog", "Rock'N'Roll", "D'yer Ma'ker", "Trampled Underfoot", and I believe "All My Love". Some of the picture sleeves released for 45's around the world are cool too, some of which are now on the "official" led Zeppelin website.

    This is one of my favorites:


    This one is, well:

  • There was a Bruce Springsteen 45, it was the B-side for "Fire" (it was for that 5LP live album), the B-side was 10 minutes @ 45 rpm. Sounded like shit, but I think that's the longest.

    EDIT: The song is a live version of "Incident On 57th Street"



    Here's an MP3 of it, and it's actually about 9:54 instead of 10:03
    http://www.sendspace.com/file/koxaoz

    There is a significant amount of "groove echo" between 4:05 and 4:35, due to how compressed the grooves are.

  • high_chigh_c 1,384 Posts
    yah you dudes win with the 10+ minute Bruce 45s but I got a Mexi press 45 of donny hathaway "the ghetto" that's the full album version on one side. sounds like absolute shit but the picture cover "el ghetto" is tough lookin so I keep it.

    runner up: any body got that Final Decisions "Who's Who" 45? Has short and long version. Long is 6 minutes + and is about half the volume of the flip.

  • RerogRerog 569 Posts
    I just got a Fela 45 that is over 7 minutes..I'll check when I get home and report actual legnth.

    I think Geraldo Pino "Heavy,Heavy,Heavy" is in that area too.

    Details at 6.

    Fela "Chop and Quench" 45 clocks in at 7.56
    Other side is about the same but lacks song legnth and I'm not feeling like stopwatching it right now.

  • yah you dudes win with the 10+ minute Bruce 45s but I got a Mexi press 45 of donny hathaway "the ghetto" that's the full album version on one side. sounds like absolute shit but the picture cover "el ghetto" is tough lookin so I keep it.

    Post the sleeve, I'd like to see it.

  • catalistcatalist 1,373 Posts
    Once you press anything longer than 4 minutes onto 45, the track has to be turned down during the laquer cutting or else the lathe will skip. For 12 inch singles I believe roughly 12 minutes is the point when it needs to be turned down.


  • Once you press anything longer than 4 minutes onto 45, the track has to be turned down during the laquer cutting or else the lathe will skip. For 12 inch singles I believe roughly 12 minutes is the point when it needs to be turned down.

    Exactly, which is why a lot of reggae and dancehall 45's generally are 3:30 to 3:45. When I pressed up my 12" singles through Richard Simpson, I had been told that 10 minutes was best for optimum sound. I wanted my tracks on 45 for better sonics, and at that speed it's better to have tracks at 8 minutes in length or less. My song was an appropriate 8:08, and it wasn't until after all of the records sold out that someone told me that the last few bars were sped up in order to compensate. When I pressed up an acetate, it didn't have that but... it's the anti-collectors item for the 7 Crut fans out there.
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