Summary

The article presents a curated playlist of 30 songs, each under three minutes long, totaling just under one hour, inspired by a music writing challenge.

Abstract

In response to a writing prompt inspired by a Spotify playlist featuring 23 songs in one hour, the author has compiled a list of 30 short songs that can be enjoyed within a 59-minute and 43-second timeframe. This playlist, titled "Who Callin 'Short?'", spans various artists and genres, including classic rock, pop, and country. The author shares personal connections to some of the tracks, such as a song recorded on his birthday, and encourages other music lovers to create their own short song playlists. The article includes Spotify embeds for each song, allowing readers to listen directly within the article, and concludes with a call to action for readers to engage with the prompt and share their selections.

Opinions

The author expresses a special connection to "Red Rubber Ball" by The Cyrkle, as it was recorded on the day he was born.
"Canary in a Coalmine" by The Police is noted as a great track from their "fantastic" album "Zenyatta Mondatta."
"Holiday Road" by Lindsey Buckingham is described as a "very fun song" from the comedy film "National Lampoon's Vacation."
"Stood Up" by Ricky Nelson is listed as one of the author's top favorites from the early days of rock and roll.
"Slap Leather" by James Taylor is acknowledged as a song with political elements but is praised for its rocking vibe.
The author "loves" the lead and background vocals on "The Show Must Go On" by Pink Floyd, mentioning the contributions of Bruce Johnston and Toni Tennille.
"Bit Part" by The Lemonheads is highlighted as a standout track from the 1990s album "It’s a Shame About Ray."
"The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy)" by Simon & Garfunkel is celebrated as one of the "happiest-sounding and grooviest songs ever."
"Ouch!" by The Rutles is recognized as a song reminiscent of The Beatles' "Help," with The Rutles being a spoof of The Beatles.
The author prefers The Rolling Stones' version of "Not Fade Away" over Buddy Holly's original.
The Beach Boys' "Little Deuce Coupe" is praised for Mike Love's lead vocals and the band's exceptional background harmonies.
"Dance With Me Tonight" by The Wonders is noted as a fun song from the movie soundtrack of "That Thing You Do."
"Ain’t No Telling" by Jimi Hendrix is lauded as a short song that "rocks as much as" any other.
"Yakety Yak" by The Coasters is dedicated to anyone who feels like talking back, indicating the author's playful stance on dissent.
"Not Fade Away" by The Rolling Stones is described as a remake that the author prefers over the original by Buddy Holly.
The author endorses Ringo Starr's "No-No Song" despite not engaging in the activities mentioned in the song.
The Doors' "Hello, I Love You" is responded to with affection, addressing the band members by name.
"I’m Into Something Good" by Herman's Hermits is noted for its connection to the songwriting of Gerry Goffin and Carole King and its Beach Boys influence.
"Let Me Out" by The Knack is compared favorably to the band's bigger hits like "My Sharona."
The author expresses gratitude to writer Terry Barr for introducing him to the music of Kacey Musgraves.
The inclusion of AC/DC's "Get It Hot" after Kacey Musgraves' song is presented as a deliberate contrast in musical style.
REO Speedwagon's "Shakin' It Loose" is highlighted for its piano and guitar solos, with the author stating that the song "rocks."
The Beatles' "Her Majesty" is chosen to close the playlist, mirroring its position as the final track on the band's "Abbey Road" album.
The author invites readers to create their own playlists and tag him in their articles, fostering a sense of community and shared enjoyment of music.

30 Great Songs You Can Listen to in Less Than One Hour

If you’re short on time, you don’t need to be short on music

If you’re a regular reader of music articles on Medium, you’ve probably seen writer Paul Combs’ name pop up frequently. Paul has written A LOT of fantastic music-related stories here. He also often regularly comes up with wonderful writing prompts for music lovers like me.

His most recent prompt was inspired by an article he read from last year called ‘Rocking Takes No Time at all With These Two Minute Wonders’ by Walter Bowne. In that great piece, Walter shared a Spotify playlist he had created that was just an hour long — but it contained a whopping 23 songs.

Paul loved it. He decided to challenge himself by also making playlist featuring songs he loved and squeezing as many of them as he could into it — but limiting himself to just a one-hour-long playlist. His end results can be found in this great article he recently posted: 24 Awesome Songs That Are Under Three Minutes Long.

At the end of the piece, he challenged other music lovers to try the same thing. Since I can never seem to resist these sorts of challenges, I got right to work on it!

I came up with 30 songs you can listen to in just under one hour. In no order of preference, here they are:

1. Hello There — Cheap Trick

This was the opening track of Cheap Trick’s In Color album. A year later, a live version of the song also opened the band’s legendary At Budokan album.

2. (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear — Elvis Presley

One of my favorites from Elvis. I especially love the background vocals in it.

3. Red Rubber Ball — The Cyrkle

I’ve loved this song since I was a kid. I recently discovered that it was recorded on the day I was born — so now I feel an extra-special “connection” to it.

4. No Time — The Monkees

This fun song is from the band’s exceptional Headquarters album.

5. Lookin’ Out My Back Door — Creedence Clearwater Revival

Far and away, this is my favorite song by CCR.

6. Canary in a Coalmine — The Police

A great track from the band’s fantastic Zenyatta Mondatta album.

7. Holiday Road — Lindsey Buckingham

A very fun song from the very funny National Lampoon’s Vacation movie.

8. Stood Up — Ricky Nelson

One of my top favorites from the very early days of rock and roll.

9. Slap Leather — James Taylor

This one’s a little “political” in parts, but it’s a great, rocking and rolling song.

10. Sweet Talkin’ Guy — The Chiffons

I love, love, love the vocals in this one! The Chiffons’ harmonies in it are fantastic.

11. And Your Bird Can Sing — The Beatles

I once read an interview with John Lennon, in which he dismissed this as a “throwaway” song. I’ve never quite understood that. I love the song.

12. Lazing On a Sunday Afternoon — Queen

A fun little number from Queen’s classic A Night at the Opera album.

13. Tommy, Can You Hear Me? — The Who

One of the many songs from the nearly flawless Tommy album.

14. The Show Must Go On — Pink Floyd

I love the lead and background vocals on this song. Among those singing background on it are Bruce Johnston of The Beach Boys and Toni Tennille of The Captain & Tennille.

15. Bit Part — The Lemonheads

This is from the band’s classic It’s a Shame About Ray album, which is one of my favorite albums of the 1990s. Evan Dando and Julian Hatfield sound great singing together here.

16. The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy)

One of the happiest-sounding and grooviest songs ever!

17. Ouch! — The Rutles

The Rutles may have been a “spoof” of The Beatles, but they released several great songs. This one is very reminiscent of “Help” by The Beatles and it’s one of my favorites by The Rutles.

18. Not Fade Away — The Rolling Stones

This remake of Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away” was one of The Rolling Stones’ first hits. I strongly prefer their version over Buddy’s original. (Sorry, Buddy.)

19. Little Deuce Coupe — The Beach Boys

Mike Love did a great job singing lead on this one, but my favorite parts of it are the exceptional background vocals by the rest of The Beach Boys.

20. Dance With Me Tonight — The Wonders

A very fun song from the fantastic soundtrack of the movie That Thing You Do.

21. Ain’t No Telling — Jimi Hendrix

I haven’t heard every song under two minutes long (yet!), but I bet there are very few of them out there that rock as much as this one from Jimi.

22. Yakety Yak — The Coasters

I’m dedicating this one to anyone who ever feels like talking back to me.

23. No-No Song — Ringo Starr

A very fun one here from Ringo. As someone who doesn’t smoke weed, do cocaine, or drink moonshine, I fully endorse this song.

24. Hello, I Love You — The Doors

Hello, Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, Robby Krieger, and John Densmore. I love you too.

25. I’m Into Something Good — Herman’s Hermits

This great song was co-written by the legendary songwriting team of Gerry Goffin and Carole King. The latter has said that it was heavily influenced by the music of Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys. I can totally hear that.

26. Let Me Out — The Knack

This was the opening song on the band’s legendary debut album, Get The Knack. I think it’s as good as, if not even better than, their hit songs “My Sharona” and “Good Girls Don’t.”

27. What Doesn’t Kill Me — Kacey Musgraves

I was a little behind the times when it came to knowing the music of Kacey Musgraves. I mostly learned about her just in the past year, from articles on Medium by writer and music lover Terry Barr, who is a huge fan of her.

I’m glad I read those pieces because they inspired me to explore her music. I now like Kacey Musgraves a lot. Thank you, Terry.

P.S. — What has two thumbs and would follow the above gentle-sounding song with a hard rocker from an album called Highway to Hell?

This guy!

28. Get It Hot — AC/DC

Highway to Hell is my favorite AC/DC album from when Bon Scott was the band’s lead singer. This song is one of many reasons why.

29. Shakin’ It Loose — REO Speedwagon

From REO’s classic Hi Infidelity album. My favorite parts of it start at the 1:22 mark, when there’s a great piano solo that is immediately followed by a great guitar solo. This song rocks.

30. Her Majesty — The Beatles

If it’s good enough for The Beatles to close their Abbey Road album with, then darn it, I guess it’s good enough for me to close with too.

Here’s my complete 59 minutes & 43 seconds long Who Callin “Short?” playlist on Spotify:

So, how about you? Would you like to play along in this writing prompt?

What are the short songs that you would include on playlist that is no more than one hour long? Let me know in the comments — or, better yet, in your own article. If you do the latter, please tag me in your article so I can read about the songs you chose!

Speaking of tagging…I’m tagging some of my favorite groovy music-lovers here:

Lark Morrigan, Alex Markham, David Acaster, Ashley, Nicole Brown, Christine Schoenwald, Christine Carmichael, Bonnie Barton, Brandy Niremburk, Kevin Alexander, Laura Lind, Steve Goldberg, David Perlmutter, Kevin Alexander, Joel Selby, Simon Dillon, Anthony Overs, Nichola Scurry, Katemiya, Jasmine Aguilar, Rodrigo S-C, L Burton, Steven Hale, and Amber Walters.

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