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User Name Thread Name Subject Posted
GUEST,Phil d'Conch Middle 8s (36) RE: Middle 8s 09 Jan 23


Covering a lot of the same ground as How the Beatles Destroyed Rock & Roll here.

All of the structures were known and used before the 1920s. What pop media brought was the three minute rule of 10"-78rpm shellac. The hard maths of signatures, bars & bpms meant only "small-time" acts need apply.

No matter how long your 1800s halyard was or how deep the bilge water... you had three minutes to get all the shantying in. Calypso, bluegrass, jazz... all the same.

Nobody even thought to time the original live Rhapsody in Blue, 18 minutes is a good guess. The first release had to be split over two 12" discs and even then was edited way down. The piano roll was two minutes! Jazz fans had to wait until the 1950s to hear it as intended by the artists.

Even after they hit the "big-time," the Beatles kept with their bread-and-butter of albums of more marketable hip three minute ditties and the small-time format still rules the pop awards, charts &c in 2023.


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