Technological revolutions can change the way pop songs are written. In 1949, RCA Records introduced a new 45rpm record made of vinyl instead of the more brittle and fragile shellac that 78rpm records were made of. There was one big caveat – it could only hold about three minutes of music. The pop single as we know it was born, the equivalent of 99-cent download song of its day.

Radio followed suit. Songs earmarked for radio play were released as singles on 45s. This approach meant that other, longer tracks were ruthlessly edited to fit the ‘radio edit’ format, often losing minutes.

In the 21st Century, an equally seismic change in the way pop songs are written has arrived with streaming services like Spotify. With another song only the click of a button away, and no revenue unless at least 30 seconds of the song have been heard, songwriters have frontloaded their songs to pack as much impact as possible into the first half minute – and often long before that.

But it wasn’t always like this. Through decades of pop music, we’ve learned a lot about how a long intro can create a memorable song. So, as Record Store Day approaches this weekend, we want to take a moment to celebrate the lost art of the classic long intro. Some of the examples below use intros to cast light and shade. Some amp up the anticipation for when the vocals kick in. Some deliberately try to subvert the rules. All of them created iconic moments in pop history.

If you want to hear them all, listen to the playlist here.

Arctic Monkeys

I Bet That You Look Good On the Dancefloor (2005)

Intro-meter: 0.28

