Bilbo Posted May 7, 2015 Share Posted May 7, 2015 Remember when singles were 7" and we all had the pleasure of an unexpected b-side? Occasionally, you would get what they called a 'double A side' with the two faces alternating in air-play etc but, mostly, the b-side was an album track or even a track not available anywhere else. A couple I remember being quite impressed by were 'Own Up, Take A Look At Yourself' by The Sweet and, a song that I have loved for years now, 'Evidence of Autumn' by Genesis (b-side to 'Misunderstanding'). There will be others but I always remember thinking that, often, the b-sides were the better songs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE Posted May 7, 2015 Share Posted May 7, 2015 Rivers of Babylon ! Became a no.1 hit on its own. Brown girl in the ring ,was the a side. Years ago, I got spirit of radio, with the trees on the b side. Cool12" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Number6 Posted May 7, 2015 Share Posted May 7, 2015 I seem to remember buying the Toy Dolls Nellie the Elephant in 82' and the b side was Fisticuffs in Frederick St.....which i loved! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary mac Posted May 7, 2015 Share Posted May 7, 2015 The Sweet often had, what I thought were good B sides, much more Rock than Pop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Riva Posted May 7, 2015 Share Posted May 7, 2015 B-side to Bowie's Knock on Wood was a live version of Panic in Detroit, this was many years before it was ever officially released as part of the expanded David Live CD. His version of Knock on Wood was nothing special, the version of Panic in Detroit was great. Featured a fine bass flourish by Herbie Flowers to boot.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Riva Posted May 7, 2015 Share Posted May 7, 2015 (edited) Re. Sweet. Didn't they do a B-side called Burning? That was a lot heavier than their singles. Edited May 7, 2015 by Old Man Riva Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anaxcrosswords Posted May 7, 2015 Share Posted May 7, 2015 If I remember right, the B-side to Level 42's Love Games was Forty-Two, a cracking instrumental and exactly the right bassline for someone just getting into slap/pull. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE Posted May 7, 2015 Share Posted May 7, 2015 [quote name='Old Man Riva' timestamp='1430998255' post='2766677'] B-side to Bowie's Knock on Wood was a live version of Panic in Detroit, this was many years before it was ever officially released as part of the expanded David Live CD. His version of Knock on Wood was nothing special, the version of Panic in Detroit was great. Featured a fine bass flourish by Herbie Flowers to boot.. [/quote] My fave boss track queen bitch was a b side. Was it rebel rebel? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE Posted May 7, 2015 Share Posted May 7, 2015 Poxy spellchecker ! Bowie not boss Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyJohnson Posted May 7, 2015 Share Posted May 7, 2015 A lot of those RCA Sweet b-sides are best found on the Sweet Fanny Adams and Desolation Boulevard CD reissues. Bringing things forward a bit, there used to be a great blog called 'B-Sides R Us'. Loads of great stuff on there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spongebob Posted May 7, 2015 Share Posted May 7, 2015 The Stranglers had some superb flip sides - 'Fools Rush In' has always been a fave of mine. I'd also chuck in 'Psychadelic Rockers', the flip of 'Too Nice To Talk To' by The Beat....cracking bass, great tune! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobbayne Posted May 7, 2015 Share Posted May 7, 2015 There was a song called IIRC called "They're Coming to Take Me Away Ha Ha" The B side was it played backwards and spelt backwards. !AAAH-AH ،YAWA ƎM ƎʞAT OT ʚИIMOƆ ƎЯ'YƎHT") Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE Posted May 7, 2015 Share Posted May 7, 2015 Yes! I remember that one. I may track it down on you pube and see if it's as good as it once was Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted May 7, 2015 Share Posted May 7, 2015 (edited) The Sweet's B-sides were always excellent. I'd also recommend "Home Is The Range" from The Comsat Angels (B-side of Total War) and the flip side of most of the singles from Freur and Underworld Mk1 where they were a lot more experimental while still (mostly) retaining their pop sensibilities (and you can see where a lot of the ideas that later resurfaced in the better known version of Underworld originally came from). There's a Facebook group called [url="https://www.facebook.com/groups/240098362684435/"]Besides it's a B-side[/url] that's well worth following. Edited May 7, 2015 by BigRedX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevB Posted May 7, 2015 Share Posted May 7, 2015 (edited) Yes The Sweet were always something of a schizo band with a much heavier side below the (often written for them by Chinn & Chapman) pop singles. They could be almost Deep Purple-esque at their rockiest. If you see a cheap copy pick up the [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/music/dp/B00000J9RR"]'Hard Centres' [/url]compilation for some less commercial stuff. Edited May 7, 2015 by KevB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevB Posted May 7, 2015 Share Posted May 7, 2015 There are some delightfully mental B-sides in the Gillan back catalog which have subsequently ended up on the extended CD versions of their album releases. My particular favourite is Your Sister's On My List. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ziphoblat Posted May 7, 2015 Share Posted May 7, 2015 (edited) More recent, but Futurism and The Groove by Muse are both great B-sides. Edited May 7, 2015 by Ziphoblat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timmo Posted May 7, 2015 Share Posted May 7, 2015 Strange Town - The Jam. The B side was Butterfly Collector. There are a lot of Jam records that had great B sides Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timmo Posted May 7, 2015 Share Posted May 7, 2015 I also forgot, Afterglow of Your Love-Small Faces. The B side being Wham Bam Thank You Mam. One of my favourite songs by them, and paved the way for the sound of Humble Pie i would say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spectoremg Posted May 7, 2015 Share Posted May 7, 2015 [quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1430997039' post='2766656'] Remember when singles were 7" and we all had the pleasure of an unexpected b-side? Occasionally, you would get what they called a 'double A side' with the two faces alternating in air-play etc but, mostly, the b-side was an album track or even a track not available anywhere else. A couple I remember being quite impressed by were 'Own Up, Take A Look At Yourself' by The Sweet and, a song that I have loved for years now, 'Evidence of Autumn' by Genesis (b-side to 'Misunderstanding'). There will be others but I always remember thinking that, often, the b-sides were the better songs. [/quote]Nice one. Genesis were one of those prolific bands who did tons of b-sides. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spectoremg Posted May 7, 2015 Share Posted May 7, 2015 It Bites did some good b-sides. I'll Meet You In The Spring is prob my favourite. It's good to remember a time when you didn't just get four mixes of the single. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mykesbass Posted May 7, 2015 Share Posted May 7, 2015 [quote name='timmo' timestamp='1431016454' post='2766964'] Strange Town - The Jam. The B side was Butterfly Collector. There are a lot of Jam records that had great B sides [/quote] Didn't the Jam make quite a big thing about not putting loads of singles on their albums? Thereby treating the single as an important release in its own right, none of those dodgy instrumental/dub b sides for them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Nada Posted May 7, 2015 Share Posted May 7, 2015 I think bands who really cared for their fans would use B sides almost like a present for their hardcore fan base. Sadly, this became a way for record companies to flog extra singles, particularly in the CD single era. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger2611 Posted May 7, 2015 Share Posted May 7, 2015 From memory the B side of The Skids, In To The Valley was TV Stars....a song paying homage to Ena Sharples, Albert Tatlock and Leonard Rossiter! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Riva Posted May 7, 2015 Share Posted May 7, 2015 (edited) Some great shouts on here... Bowie was an odd one when it came to B-sides. Rebel Rebel and Queen Bitch are a great pairing; Drive in Saturday and Round and Round aren't - Drive in Saturday a fantastic piece of music, lyrically up there with his best and musically sublime, and Round and Round being an awful cover of a Chuck Berry number. The Small Faces had an instrumental track Grow Your Own as a B-side to Hey Girl. Grow Your Own would be enough for a lot of bands to build a career around, for the Small Faces it was a B-side! And I'd completely forgotten about The Skids' TV Stars. Great stuff. An equally odd B-side from the punk era was Jonathan Richman's Roadrunner - you had Roadrunner (Once) as the A-side and Roadrunner (Twice) as the B-side. Turn over the single for essentially the same song, but, erm, different.. Peaches and Go Buddy Go was a great double A-side single. Also, anyone remember the T Rex's Solid Gold Easy Action B-side - Born to Boogie is the B-side but with a Christmas message from Marc Bolan at the start of the track. Edited May 7, 2015 by Old Man Riva Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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