Well I had to know because i always thought it was true. A-ha's 2000 International Hit "Summer Moved On" contains the Longest Note Held on any record in history. Lead singer Morten Harket (possibly the Best Male Vocalist of this Generation) holds a note in the Song for 21 Seconds, and then after another two seconds holds another for five, so in the course of about 30 seconds he's holding notes for 27 of them. The more impressive thing is that in concert when A-ha performs Summer Moved On, the note is strectched another five and he actually goes Higher half way through the Note, which is pretty much impossible to any Human.

Damn fine song, too.

lastdecember said:

d a y u m

eat your hearts out Christina Aguilera and Beyoncé.
[Edited 10/24/05 5:41am]

That's um...interesting.

I would have thought it was Bill Wither's singing, "a lovely daaaaayyyyy....."

minneapolisgenius said:

You both know your stuff. I was curious and found this on the internets:



Longest Note Held In A Hit
http://www.everyhit.com/record7.html

This record is held by Morten Harket, lead singer with group A-Ha. In "Summer Moved On" (no. 33, June 2000) he holds a vocal note for 20.2 seconds.
Click here to hear it (Real Audio).

Runner-up, and the man responsible for the longest note held on a solo single is Bill Withers. In his 1978 (and 1988) hit "Lovely Day", he holds a vocal note for 18 seconds. We're told that the note is the 'E' above 'middle C'.
Click here to hear it (Real Audio).

The longest note held by a woman, is found in "Dim All The Lights," Donna Summer's 1979 hit (16 seconds).
Click here to hear it (Real Audio).

It is worth pointing out that a number of recent dance tracks have utilised digital 'stretching' techniques to give the impression of extended vocals. We have management / record company confirmation that the notes being held in the above tracks were all done in 'real time' and represent genuine vocal skill. Click here to hear Morten Harket perform the "Summer Moved On" note live (really) at the 1998 Nobel Peace Prize Concert.

minneapolisgenius said:

I woulda too....

Thank U all for giving Morten some props that are long OVERDUE him and A-ha.

Singers like Jessica S, Beyonce, Christina could never come close to this because, even though they have good voices they dont really know how to "sing" properly, too much screaming and wasting the power of their voices.

Its funny also to note that Morten Harket of A-ha is famous for "High" notes, and holiding notes, songs like "take on me" "sun always shines on Tv" and from their 2002 record "time and again" morten continues to pound out these notes. It 'll be interesting to see what the new CD "Analogues" (out 11/7) will hold.

Stax said:

No way! I was just kidding actually when I posted that, but it was the first song to pop into my head after reading the thread title.

For all the R&B fans on the board, Melba Moore held a note for at least 20 seconds on "Falling". That was a jam!