The 1969 song Led Zeppelin used to trick radio stations
Led Zeppelin always had a bit of a strained relationship with the press.
Even though they remained one of the biggest hard rock bands for most of the 1970s, the savage reviews they were getting from some of the biggest media outlets in the world didn’t endear them to international critics. While the band had played to sold-out shows worldwide, they were never ones to have singles blared all over the radio.
By the time Zeppelin had started making the rounds with their first records, they had openly eschewed any type of radio play. Instead, they co-opted the album as their medium of choice, trying their best to make something that held together as a cohesive whole rather than picking out individual songs at a time.
That approach fundamentally separated Led Zeppelin from many of their contemporaries. While pop and rock acts throughout the late 1960s still relied heavily on hit singles to drive album sales, Zeppelin treated each record as a complete listening experience, designed to be absorbed from beginning to end. Long-form tracks, dynamic shifts and sprawling instrumental passages became part of their identity, even if it made them a nightmare for radio programmers searching for concise three-minute singles.
Ironically, that refusal to conform only strengthened the band’s mystique. Fans felt like they were discovering something bigger and more dangerous than traditional chart music, and Zeppelin’s albums became cultural events rather than collections of potential singles. By rejecting the conventional music industry playbook, the group helped redefine what a rock band could achieve commercially without sacrificing ambition or artistic control.
For all of the great records they made each year, there was never a hit single between them, with ‘Whole Lotta Love’ only getting radio play and entering into the top ten decades after the fact. Despite the band making ‘Communication Breakdown’ one of their first singles off their debut record, they decided to get crafty when shopping for one of their first masterpieces onto the radio.
Right at the end of their debut album, ‘How Many More Times’ is a preview of what would be coming on Led Zeppelin II, with a fierce blues riff and one of Robert Plant’s most intense screams. Although there was some discussion around the punchy nature of ‘Communication Breakdown’, Zeppelin figured they try the same thing with the album closer by abjectly lying to radio stations.
On the sleeve of the record, Zeppelin put the time code of the song at 3:30, despite actually being a full eight minutes with the midsection jam. While it would have been easy to make a radio edit for the song, the band wasn’t looking to cannibalise one of their greatest songs, electing instead to just give the single to radio in the hopes that the DJs would be none the wiser.
Despite not being the radio-friendly type, Zeppelin delivered when they played the song live on their American tours, bringing the house down with some of the most savage blues-rock conceived by man. ‘How Many More Times’ would also become a favourite amongst other rock bands, with Deep Purple practically stealing the groove and a few of the notes for their single ‘Black Night’ just a few years later.
Although Zeppelin didn’t have much of a shot at getting an eight-minute song on the radio, it didn’t phase them that much. Throughout most of their glory years, part of their appeal was about keeping a certain mystique behind their music, closing some of the most nefarious activities off from the public and always turning their nose up at any critic who dared speak ill of their music.
For all of the radio audience that they were missing out on, Zeppelin managed to cross over regardless, becoming the main inspiration to everyone from Aerosmith to Rush and eventually becoming a staple once classic rock radio started to garner its format. Even if their songs were outside the parameters of standard radio songs, they would muscle their way to the top of the musical world either way.
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