Short-Shorts: Pop’s Shortest Hits
“By the way, ‘The Letter’ is the second shortest single to reach Number One. It’s under two minutes long. The only song shorter was ‘Stay’ by Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs.” — Bob Dylan, “Mail,” Theme Time Radio Hour, 2008
This article celebrates an exclusive club: songs that, despite their minimal runtime, climbed to the very top of the American pop charts, proving that immense popularity does not always require extended airtime.
A striking number of the absolute shortest #1 singles emerged between the late 1950s and the mid-1960s. The period was a golden age for short-work chart-toppers, a phenomenon rooted in the technological, commercial, and artistic landscape of the `50s and `60s.
Song Lengths Through the Decades
In the 1950s, the average hit song on American radio ran approximately 2 minutes and 46 seconds. The average was even shorter in the 1960s, hovering around 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Those numbers contrast sharply with later decades; average song lengths grew considerably, reaching around 4 minutes and 14 seconds by the 1990s. While there is a contemporary trend back towards shorter songs, a phenomenon driven by factors such music streaming services and the attention economy, the classic short hits of the mid-20th century emerged from a distinct set of industry pressures and technical limits.
Until the rise of album-oriented rock and FM radio in the late `60s, the dominant physical format for popular music during much of those decades was the 7-inch 45rpm single. Much like its predecessor, the 10-inch 78rpm record — which typically held up to about three and a half minutes of music per side — the 45rpm format favored shorter songs. Concurrently, AM radio was the undisputed kingmaker for hit songs. Radio stations demonstrated a preference for shorter tracks because this allowed them to play a greater number of songs per hour, keeping listeners engaged and creating more opportunities for advertising slots.
The commercial reality created a strong incentive for artists and record labels to produce concise material tailored for radio-friendliness. The physical characteristics of the recording media, the commercial demands of radio broadcasting, and the prevailing artistic style created an environment where short songs were not just common but often the most successful.
The Champions of Conciseness
#1) Maurice Williams and The Zodiacs — Stay
With an official runtime of 1 minute and 36 seconds, Stay is widely recognized as the shortest single ever to top the Billboard Hot 100. It reached the #1 spot on the Hot 100 on November 21, 1960.
Outside of being the shortest song ever to reach #1 on the charts, Stay has stayed a popular song for years, gaining a whole new audience in 19 and 87 when it was showcased in the movie, Dirty Dancing.
Maurice Williams was born in Lancaster, South Carolina sometime between 19 and 38 and 1940 (sources differ on the year). He formed his first group, The Royal Charms, in 1953, the same year that he’d write Stay and another mega-hit for the group that would become the Zodiacs, Little Darling. Both songs were written by Williams for a girl he was wooing.
In 1958, the singers— then known as The Gladiolas — moved from Excello, requiring a name change, as the Excello label owned their name. A member of the group had seen a foreign car, liked the name, and “The Zodiacs” were born. Two years later, the Zodiacs were cutting demos for Herald Records and Williams revived Stay for one of the recording sessions. Stay became their debut on the label, hitting the #1 slot in the fall of 1960, and became the biggest hit in the history of Herald Records.
# 2) Elvis Presley — (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear
The hit single version of this song clocks in at 1 minute and 46 seconds, or at least that’s the most consistently cited length. The track was a #1 hit in the summer of 1957, topping Billboard’s “Best Sellers in Stores” chart — a key precursor to the Hot 100 — for seven weeks. It also reached #1 on Billboard’s R&B Best Sellers List and the Country chart.
The song was written by Kal Mann and Bernie Lowe and published by Gladys Music in 1957. Elvis recorded Teddy Bear on January 16, 1957, at Radio Recorders in Hollywood, California. IIt was released as a single by RCA Victor on June 11, 1957, with Loving You as the B-side.
Teddy Bear was featured in Elvis Presley’s second movie, “Loving You,” which was released in July 1957. The song also sparked a surge in the popularity of teddy bears. Fans began sending Elvis hundreds of stuffed animals, which he donated to the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, an organization dedicated to combating polio.
#3) Herman’s Hermits — I’m Henry VIII, I Am
Verging on novelty song territory, I’m Henry VIII, I Am became Herman’s Hermits’ second number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US in August 1965, unbelievably dethroning The Rolling Stones’ (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction. The track has a runtime of approximately 1 minute and 50 second, and became the fastest-selling song in history up to that point. Despite its massive success in the United States, the single was not released in the UK, possibly because the British have better taste than Americans.
I’m Henry VIII, I Am was originally a British music hall song written in 1910 by Fred Murray and R. P. Weston. Herman’s Hermits recorded their version on February 1, 1965, at De Lane Lea Studios in London. The track was produced by Mickie Most and released on the EMI label (MGM Records in the US).
The Herman’s Hermits rendition is notably different from the original, as it only includes the chorus and none of the three verses.
#4) The Box Tops — The Letter
At 1 minute and 58 seconds, The Letter ascended to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on September 23, 1967, and remained at the summit for four weeks. Even with the AOR/FM radio shift to longer cuts which was taking hold in the late ’60s, The Letter proved that sub-two-minute songs could still achieve success.
Written by Wayne Carson and produced by Dan Penn, The Letter was recorded at American Sound Studio in Memphis, Tennessee. Reportedly, around thirty takes were needed for the basic track, after which Dan Penn had a string and horn arrangement added to give the song a fuller sound. It was released as a single in August 1967 on the Mala label, with “Happy Times” as the B-side. Joe Cocker later had a Top 10 hit in the US with a longer, blues-rock rendition of the song in 1970.
If you remember the quote at the beginning of this article, you’ll see that Our Host and the Theme Time Radio Hour crack research team didn’t get it right that The Letter is the second shortest single to reach #1. In fact, there’s some pretty convincing evidence ag’in it even being #3. But considering how Mr. D. wailed on poor ol’ caller Tim Ziegler about being too anal over facts and figures in the TTRH Lock & Key episode, I’m a little scared about bringing it up.
Our Host: “What’s that Tex? Someone needs to talk to me on Line 2? All right. Hello caller, you’re on the air. What’s your name and where you calling from?”
Tim: “Yeah, uh, my name is Tim Ziegler calling from Champaign-Urbana, Illinois.”
OH: “Why, that’s beautiful country. What can I do for you, Tim?”
Tim: “Yeah, uh, I’ve been listening to the show all day, and that song you just played, ‘Somebody Done Changed the Lock on My Door.’ Well, you know, you told everyone it was on the King Record label, and, uh, I went to Wikipedia and sorry to tell you, it was on Apollo Records.”
OH: “Huh! What do ya know? You’re probably right, Tim. You know, sometimes we tell you who wrote the song, what kind of music it is, who else recorded it. But, you know, sometimes we don’t get it right. I mean, it’s important to remember, this isn’t a classroom here. This is music we’re playing. It’s music of the field, of the pool hall. The back alley crap game. The bar room and the bedroom. We don’t want to make it dusty and academic. It’s full of sweat and blood. It’s like life itself. If every once in awhile we get a name wrong, or we tell you it’s on the wrong label, it’s not going to kill anybody, Tim. Just listen to the music.”
Tim: “Well, I hear what you’re saying. But, ah, you know, it was on the Apollo Record label.”
OH: “Thanks for your call, Tim.”
Tim: “Yeah, thanks.”
OH: “Well, there’s no pleasing some people. That was ‘Somebody Done Changed the Lock on My Door’ by Wynonie Harris on the Apollo Record label. You happy, Tim?”
Here’s the deal. Nowhere can I find any evidence that The Letter was the second-shortest single ever to reach #1. “Under two minutes,” yep the song certainly is. I’ve found versions ranging from a high of 1:57 to a low of 1:52. But let’s give the original single the benefit of the doubt and say it clocked in at that low of 1:52. That’s still eight seconds longer than Teddy Bear.
Now, I suspect this is one of those geeky things that guys in thick glasses and over-tight t-shirts argue about at record conventions, and who knows who’s right? Are we counting what it says on the record label or are we timing it? Are we using the single that actually charted or another version? Does anyone really care?
Maybe somewhere out there there is a version of The Letter shorter than 1:52, maybe it’s even shorter than Teddy Bear and I’m Henry VIII. Or maybe Eddie Gorodetsky — who Tim Ziegler sounds suspiciously like — was simply pulling the audience’s chain. In the end it probably doesn’t matter except to guys like Tim Ziegler… because it’s all about the music.
But I still think you got it wrong, Bob.
Have a comment or question? Email me at fhbals@gmail.com
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