What I heard on the radio this morning is that these 5 songs owe their success to cigarettes. How, you ask? During the time when these songs were released the deejays in radio played the songs from the album. They weren’t given single only copies and the deejays had to manually start each song, it wasn’t automatic like it is now. So when they wanted to go smoke a cigarette or run to the bathroom these were the top 5 go-to songs. All are around 7-8 minutes long or so, perfect for a single cigarette.

Here’s the list in order:

1. Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven
   According to Led Zeppelin biographer Charles Cross this song was never intended to be released and over 100 deejays said that the only reason it was played was to grab a cigarette. In fact, Robert Plant says he loathes the song.
2. Pink Floyd - Comfortably Numb
   Never released as a single (only a B-side to Hey You), Comfortably Numb is one of Floyd’s most recognized songs. Again, perfect length for break.
3. Lynyrd Skynyrd - Free Bird
   Probably the only song that is asked to be played by every musician ever by some drunk idiot. Started getting radio play prior to it’s release as a single.
4. The Allman Brothers Band - Jessica
   Mostly unknown in my mind, but that’s the way most instrumental-only classic rock songs are to me. This song is crazy to go through on Guitar Hero though…
5. Boston - Foreplay/Long Time
   I’ve always dug this song, but I found out they it was released as their second single in 1976 only due to the call to play it more due to these deejays needing a little break. When I think of Boston, I think of Long Time and More Than A Feeling.