There's lots of attention in the movie (trailer), biographies, etc. how no radio station would want to play BoRap because of the length. Aren't Led Zep's Kashmir and Stairway songs over 7mins? Were these songs ever played on radio in the 1970s?
Yes but stairway and Kashmir weren't singles and so airplay wasn't crucial. Bo Rhap was pressed and put out as a single and involved a financial commitment, they couldn't afford to fail on it.
Stairway & Kashmir only get played AS album tracks for listeners dilectation.
'Hey Jude' by The Beatles is a full 1:16 seconds longer than Bo Rhap and was released as a a single seven years earlier. So in a way the precedent was already set. Of course, The Beatles were already huge at that point in their career, and Queen had only had a few singles released.
Kamenliter wrote:
'Hey Jude' by The Beatles is a full 1:16 seconds longer than Bo Rhap and was released as a a single seven years earlier.
True. But there was also the option for DJs to fade the song out whenever they wanted. That was Norman Sheffield's fear, actually. Are there any stories of it happening?
Bohemian Rhapsody may have not been the longest song ever released but is certainly one of the longest I can think of which doesn't have a single chorus. A lot of long songs have either that or a long instrumental solo or even both.
If there is any interest, I have " Bohemian Rhapsody" with DJ In- and Outro from BFBS ( British Forces Broadcasting Service) December 2003 on tape, when it was voted to No.1 in their all time top 100 edition that year.
Interesting under the impression of many people that the Queen fanbase had a little shrinkage since the late 90's.
Okay, "Bo Rhap" is a different animal i guess :)