Did More Artists Die Young in the 1960s? Mailbag
Did More Artists Die Young in the 1960s? Mailbag
Also including Taylor Swift's weirdest time signature and why songs have gotten shorter
This marks the third mailbag edition of Can’t Get Much Higher, and it’s quickly becoming one of my favorite things to do. If you want to submit a question for next month, just click the button below. If your question is selected, you get a free month of the premium version of this newsletter, which includes four more editions each month.
Just discovered your newsletter, and I love it! Here's my Q: What was the most bizarre or unusual time signature in a Top 40 hit? - Lara
Welcome to the newsletter, Lara. I don’t think I could declare a time signature “the most bizarre,” but I can tell you about some pop songs that utilize weird ones. First, the most familiar time signatures in the pop universe are 4/4, 3/4, and 6/8. Of those three, 4/4 is by far the most used in the last few decades. In fact, it’s sometimes just called “common time.” “Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson is in 4/4, or common time. 3/4 and 6/8 are two waltzy time signatures. Think “Piano Man” by Billy Joel or “When a Man Loves a Woman” by Percy Sledge.
So, we’ll define an uncommon time signature in the negative, meaning we’ll call something uncommon if it’s not in 4/4/, 3/4, or 6/8. While we could find many songs that fit those criteria, your stipulation that these songs be a top 40 hit makes this more difficult. Most top 40 hits are in 4/4, 3/4, or 6/8. Here are a few that aren’t.
Top 40 Hits in 5/4
I think the two most famous pieces in 5/4 are “Take Five” by Dave Brubeck and the “Theme from Mission: Impossible”. The former fits your popularity criteria. The latter only sort of does.
The original “Theme from Mission: Impossible” only made it to number 41, but a cover by U2’s Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, Jr. for the 1996 film cracked the top 10. That said, their version is mostly in 4/4. I think that ruins some of the song’s intrigue, but that’s beside the point. I’ll count it. For more contemporary examples, Hozier’s “From Eden” and Taylor Swift’s “tolerate it” both came to mind. I was shocked that neither cracked the top 40.
Top 40 Hits in 6/4
The most famous songs that I can think of that utilizes 6/4 heavily is MGMT’s “Electric Feel”. It never made the top 40, though. Let me know if I missed one here.
Top 40 Hits in 7/4
Pink Floyd’s “Money” is by far the most well-known top 40 hit in 7/4. Peter Gabriel’s sublime “Solsbury Hill” is also mostly in 7/4 but only made it to number 68.
Top 40 Hits in 12/8
I like to think of 12/8 as still in the waltz universe but with longer phrases. The three biggest hits I can find that utilize the time signature are Britney Spears’ “Womanizer”, Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World”, and The Teddy Bears’ “To Know Him is to Love Him”. Each went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
Top 40 Hits with Multiple Time Signatures
I’ve always been fascinated by songs that have sections in different time signatures. I think probably the two most famous examples of this are The Beatles’ “We Can Work It Out” and Elvis Presley’s “Suspicious Minds”, which prominently utilize both 4/4 and 3/4.
Dionne Warwick, who often sang the sophisticated songs of Burt Bacharach, has a handful of songs that utilize many strange meters. My favorite examples are “I Say a Little Prayer” and “Anyone Who Had a Heart”. I have no hard proof on this, but my sense is that combining different time signatures is not as popular as it once was.
Top 40 Hits with Debated Time Signatures
From my perspective, time signatures are largely just about practicality. You could probably notate a song that everybody thinks of as 4/4 in 3/4 if you wanted to. It’s not some God-given fact that a song must be in a certain time signature. Because of that, there was a months-long argument on the internet about what time signature Outkast’s “Hey Ya!” is in. I’m pretty sure it’s basically all in 4/4 with a bar of 2/4 thrown in at points. But you can believe whatever you’d like.
Is there a way to judge the average cost of a major label single before it gets to market? I know it's tough to get exact details, but I'd love to know. Is it a million? Ten million? A hundred grand? - Matty
It almost goes without saying that music can be recorded much more cheaply today than was possible even 20 years ago. With a few hundred dollars, you can get a digital audio workstation, microphone, and audio interface. I won’t promise that you’ll make a hit, but you can record high quality audio very, very cheaply today.
That said, you asked about major label singles. I didn’t know the answer to this, but I reached out to my network and got a helpful response from a friend of a friend. They asked to remain anonymous, but here’s what they told me for A-list artist budgets.
Single: $10k to $50k for a producer, $5k for mixing, and then probably a few thousand dollars more for studio time, depending on how fast you can work
Album: The biggest budgets top out around $500k, but the biggest artists in the world can blow through those budgets and just put up their own money
You didn’t ask this, but in a typical record contract, the label will front the artist money to record. The artist won’t start making any money until they generate enough royalties to recoup the label’s investment. This is why you’ll hear about artists who get a hefty advance from the label and then never make another dime because their project flops.
Why did so many artists die in their prime in the 1960s and 1970s (and many at the same age of 27)? Coincidence, hard living, or J. Edgar Hoover conspiracy to take down counter culture? - Tim
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