Entertainment For Lively Minds
Best B-Side Ever?
Posted by CiaranB on 4 June 2008 - 12:05pm.
I've been asked to put together a compilation for a group of friends and I've decided the theme should be B-sides. I have a few ideas so far, The Butterfly Collector (The Jam), Half The World Away (Oasis), How Soon Is Now? (The Smiths)... But does that last one count? What am I missing?
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Rain
The Beatles.
Seconded
I agree, that it the best one.
They are the only group...
...who could make a great album of B Sides.
I'll Get You, Rain, This Boy, Things We Said Today, She's A Woman, Yes It Is, I'm Down, Baby You're A Rich Man, Revolution.
And that's not including the double A sides like Day Tripper/ We Can Work It Out and Penny Lane/ Strawberry Fields Forever.
I've always had a soft spot
for 'Old Brown Shoe'. A gem.
Best B sides
You Got It by Average White Band, B-side (double A?) of pick Up the Pieces. Dance floor filler in mid 70's but spounds timeless.
Rain The Beatles
The best there is, never understood why this was hidden away as a B-side. As good as The Beatles ever got (and they got VERY good).
best b sides
How about 'Revolution'? The music press at the time (Disc and Music Echo!!) kept saying week after week that it was going to be the first Beatles Apple single. Then at the last minute they busted it down to the 'b' side to make way for Hey Jude. Rain is a stonker too, of course. Oasis obviously agree because they based their entire career on it!
Yep!
Rain....best B side ever!
Some of the early T Rex B sides could have been A sides!
The Smiths had good B sides
How about...
Rain by The Beatles
or was that a double A?
Interesting choice with 'Half a World Away', there's loads of others to go for.............but no-one wants to hear me go on about Oasis again
Acquiesce
There you don't have to go on about Oasis...
Help - Oaisis again
The only trouble with Oasis is that their A-sides are such silage.
Beatles again and Smiths again
I Am The Walrus and Back To The Old House, also Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want.
And
Play With Fire by Nanker and Phelge (Rolling Stones). Very fine.
and
Child Of The Moon b side of Jumping Jack Flash. One of the great lost Stones songs.
Through The Lonely Nights - b side of It's Only Rock 'n Roll ain't bad either
Lots of great Jam and Style Council b-sides
..other than Butterfly Collector: there is Tales From The Riverbank, Shopping, Dreams Of Children (although if I remember rightly that was a double A); Liza Radley from The Jam. Party Chambers, The Paris Match, Headstart For Happiness, Just Came To Pieces In My Hands from the first four Style Council singles.
Although Headstart was a b-side on the 12" of Money Go Round. Do those count as 'proper' b-sides?
What constitutes a 'proper' B-side...
...probably warrants a whole separate post. Keep 'em coming, though, I'm loving it so far.
Well yes
And b-sides that are also tracks on proper studio albums are not nearly so special - good songs though they may be. The Jam and The Smiths did do many that are not on their studio albums and Oasis kind of followed on with that in imitation to some extent (Oasis - imitators, that's a surprise). But it really mostly died out as an idea some time ago of course.
B Side Wins Again
Some great selections there! I'd count Headstart as a b-side although it did then appear on Cafe Bleu, albeit a different version. The Piccadilly Trail was a particular TSC favourite b-side of mine.
I still call them b-sides because "non-album tracks" just sounds a bit clunky. B-side sounds better doesn't it? Almost romantic. Small boys in their bedrooms...picture sleeves for goalposts...
Dreams Of Children
Yeah, it was a double A. In fact I seem to remember that it was meant to be the a-side in preference to Going Underground but a mix up at the pressing plant meant it was "relegated" to the AA-side.
Some of the early Squeeze singles had B side exclusives....
...and, as the compilation of As and Bs shows, some were shocking dreck too. However, let me commend Vanity Fair, as a B side it is a much more delicate and discreet piano led offering than the full band version on a later album.
The Housemartins
The Mighty Ship.
Housemartins
there was a cracker on the back of Me & The Farmer 12" too. Can't remember its title...
Housemartins love-in continues
Can't help with the Me and the Farmer one but Drop Down Dead on the B side of Sheep was cool too.
Drop Down Dead...
...wow...I'd forgotten that track. Great track!!
Not a b-side
but 'I'll be your shelter' off London 0 Hull 4 is one of their finest hours! Old Luther Ingram song I believe.
Mr Heaton sounding on fine form with his latest stuff...bit of Housemartins rawness and poppiness to it.
Rich
I've just looked this up and
I've just looked this up and "Step Outside" or "I Bit My Lip" were on there and I liked both of them. "Step Outside" was acoustic as I remember. The other track was "He Will Find You Out" which I don't remember. Might have to dig that out tonight!
He Will Find You Out
That's it! Thanks
Was that
"I Bit My Lip"?
I loved that more than the A-side.
Blur - Young & Lovely
Blur - Young & Lovely
Blur
and their gorgeous Maggie May on the back of Chemical World (or was it For Tomorrow?)
The '2
"Walk To The Water" or "Luminous Times" or "Lady With The Spinning Head" or "The Three Sunrises" or about a dozen others.
Sex Pistols
Did You No Wrong
Aztec Camera
Orchid Girl, b-side of Oblivious if I remember rightly.
I got rid of my vinyl years ago. I don't miss it in the slightest. Until people start talking about b-sides. God there were some great songs simply thrown away in that fashion. I always thought of them as the band's gift to the 'fan' who ever that was!
1977
The Clash
Them
Surely Gloria by Them has to be the best B side ever? Imagine flipping over the almost as good Baby Please Don't Go only to find this monster on the b side?
10.15 Saturday Night
B-side to The Cure's Killing An Arab. Better than the A-side.
And then some...
The Cure have released quite a few very good B-sides: Lament, The Big Hand, The Exploding Boy, Breathe, Scared As You, Fear Of Ghosts, ...
10.15 Saturday Night and Killing An Arab should have been a double A-side. Both songs are great, IMHO.
I wonder whether they will re-introduce the good B-side tradition with the three forthcoming singles... Not putting any money on it, though...
Clash
The Prisoner.
More Clash
How about Armagideon Time? One of my favourite Clash tracks. Also, Gates Of The West.
Not the most popular groups on here but...
Suede - To the Birds, My Insatiable One and Where the Pigs Don't Go. B-sides from 1st 2 CD singles - all crackers.
The Charlatans - b-side to Jesus Hairdo - Stir It Up. One of their best ever songs.
Don't know whether EPs count really but every track on Belle & Sebastian's first 5 EPs were all brilliant.
Suede
Excellent b-sides. Don't forget "The Living Dead".
Suede
I agree - suede are one of the great proponents of the b-side. Their b-collection Sci-fi Lullabies is one of my favourite compilations. Where the pigs don't fly, for me.
More Smiths
"Jeane", the b-side of "This Charming Man" also deserves a mention here, although a lot of Smiths b-side material did end up on LPs one way or another.
B-sides the '80s
"Test Tape No. 3", b-side of The Dream Academy's "Life In A Northern Town" is sublime.
"If It Rains", from Hurrah's "How Many Rivers?"
"1963", b-side (and equal of) New Order's "True Faith"
And the bronze medal goes to..
Don't Worry Baby - Beach Boys (b-side of "I Get Around")
as Rain and I Am The Walrus already covered.
You Can't Always Get What You Want
b-side of Honky Tonk Women.
Must be good as it's the only Stones record I've ever bought.
We have a winner
a b-side? Wow!
Is it hell
It is the last track on let it bleed
Jail Guitar Doors
by the Clash as well.
b sides
"Country Air" The Beach Boys...cant remember which single though.
"Reason to Believe"-Rod Stewart, b-side of "Maggie May" which was originally the b-side of "Reason to Believe."
Another Beatles is Lennon's heartfelt "Dont Let Me Down" b-side of "Get Back"???
Specials "Friday Night, Saturday Morning" b-side possibly of "Ghost Town".
a few more
"Isnt it A Pity"- Wee Georgie Harrison b-side of "My Sweet Lord"
"Life's A Gas"-T Rex b-side of "Jeepster"
"Scarecrow" b-side of Pink Floyd's "See Emily Play"
and last but by no means least "Canyons Of your Mind" b-side of "I'm the Urban Spaceman"
Beat me to it...
I was about to suggest The Specials one (yes, from Ghost Town), so I'll now plump for Madness' 'Don't Quote Me On That' from the Work, Rest and Play ep
Raw Ramp
on t'other side from Get It On.
Teenage Fanclub
My favourite b-side is "Some People Try To Fuck With You" from Teenage Fanclub's "Mellow Doubt" single. Their b-sides are of a consistently high standard. "Wierd Horses" is another ace one (think that's on "Radio").
Fannies
It is track 3 of the Radio cd single, but is topped 10 times over by "Broken" on the flip of "Aint that Enough". Heartbreaking country pop, fizzling out into spacey twinkling bleeps.
Seconded
Broken and Hey Everybody as a pair of b sides on my cd single. Better than the very fine a side.
Yes. but
Everybody is a goofy sample, isn't it? Of Tommy Roe - of "Dizzy" fame
Neil Young
Don't forget "Don't Spook The Horse" (from Mansion On The Hill)!
"LISTEN, THE SNOW IS FALLING"
by Yoko Ono. I think it was the b-side to "Merry Xmas War Is Over" by her husband.
Another vote for Suede
Pretty much any b-side of the Bernie era, but my personal faves would be Whipsnade and My Dark Star.
Also:
Pet Shop Boys: Shameless, Miserablism, The Truck Driver & His Mate, Screaming
Mozzer: Nobody Loves Us - magnificent song from the midst of his mid-90s lull, tucked away as support act to Dagenham Dave, of all songs.
Ben Folds: The Secret Life Of Morgan Davis, b-side to Rockin' The Suburbs single.
Radiohead: Talk Show Host, b-side to Street Spirit.
And of course The Divine Comedy's My Lovely Horse, b-side to Gin Soaked Boy.
You forgot `hey headmaster`
by the pets...but i have to say that their DOUBLE album of b-sides still gets regular plays in my gaff
Not only was Alternative a
Not only was Alternative a double album of b-sides, but didn't it get 5 stars from Q at the time?
They now have another double album's worth of quality stuff worked up including the aforementioned Truck Driver and his Mate, Always and Sexy Northener- 3 tracks most bands would kill to have as a-sides.
Earlier PSB bsides...
Some of their earlier flipsides were also awesome - A Man Could Get Arrested (West End Girls), You Know Where You Went Wrong (It's A Sin), the sublime Your Funny Uncle (It's Alright) and the absolutely stunning Bet She's Not Your Girlfriend (errr...can't remember the A-side to that!) to name but a few...
Rich
james king and the lone wolves
I Don't Care if You Live or Die is my fave B, closely followed by City of the Dead, by t'Clash.
Suede again...
The Living Dead and My Dark Star, both already mentioned here- and both brilliant- were B-sides to the non-album single Stay Together. Value for money or what!
Also, another Oasis nomination: The Masterplan. And Headshrinker. If only Noel had saved all those B-sides for the 3rd album.
OMD!!!!! Bunnymen!!!!
Navigation - B-side to Maid of Orleans! Very strange song but I have always loved it. Thankfully, they released an OMD B-sides Cd a few years ago!
B-side of Seven Seas by Echo & The Bunnymen - Cover of All You Need is Love - great live version from the famous Crystal Day - breaks into theme tune to Steptoe and Son!!!!!
Brother Costello...
..knocked out some storming B-sides during his late 70s/early 80s purple patch : Radio Sweetheart, Girls Talk, Big Tears, Tiny Steps, Stranger In The House, My Funny Valentine, Psycho & From Head To Toe all cut the mustard.
Costello
His version of Getting Mighty Crowded was another great b-side,
Banshees
Siouxsie & the Banshees kept some of their best tracks for B-sides: Voices; Eve White/Eve Black; Pulled to Bits; Love in a Void; Obsession II.
A couple more good Bunnymen B-sides - Angels & Devils and also Over your Shoulder, the B-side to Dancing Horses.
B sides
What's the difference - Scott Mackenzie (San Francisco)
Donkey rides, a penny a glass - Small Faces (The Universal)
Did you no wrong - Sex Pistols (God save the Queen)
Shazam - The Shadows (Geronimo)
Santa Clause is comin' to town - Bruce Springsteen (My Hometown)
Stevie's Blues - Spencer Davis Group (Somebody help me)
(I'm not your)stepping stone - Monkees (I'm a believer)
Scott MacKenzie
Fantastic b-side it is also on his criminally underated debut album too. Contains some great covers including John Phillips, Tim Hardin, Donovan's "Celeste" plus his fantastic follow up to "San Francisco"- "Like An Old Time Movie". A "Buried Treasure" that needs an urgent re-appraisal along with Joe Brown's last two solo albums.I know, not anything to do with this thread but, you know, any opportunity to plug a neglected gem.
Somebody's gonna get their head kicked in tonite
I'm posting this up as I have a dim and distant of a very ruff'n'reddy Fleetwood Mac b side, I guess from the flip side of Albatross, which I didn't own, but remember hearing back in 68 or whenever. At 11 I didn't like it: too rough for me, but I'd love to hear it again now.
Any one out there? Simon Hart had the copy I'm familiar with, but I haven't heard of him either for 35+ odd years
Man Of The World...
...was the A side. SGGTHKIT was credited to Earl Vince & The Valients and primarily the work of Jeremy Spencer. The Rezillos covered it on their debut album.
Bloody hell!
Man of the World was the 2nd single I ever bought. I must have really disliked it to have "remembered" it being on something else!!
The Beat
Stand Down Margaret on the flip of Best Friend.
And a vote of support for Costello's Psycho - still sends shivers down my back!
stand down the thatch
Love this song, memories of sticky floored, punky, new wave dance clubs,skinny ties, black suits and silly trilbys.
I was going to say Friday Night, Saturday Morning, so
how about these:
Please, Plesae, Please Let Me Get What I Want (William It Was Really Nothing)/Smiths
I Love My Shirt (Atlantis)/Donovan
Rite Of Man (Moonlight Shadow)/Mike Oldfield
Ken (Love and Anger)/Kate Bush
I Heard It Through The Grapevine (Typical Girls)/Slits
The Canyons Of Your Mind (I'm The Urban Spaceman)/Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band
and my favourite: Queen Bitch (Rebel Rebel)/David Bowie
Speaking of Fleetwood Mac...
...try Oh Well (part 2). Completely different to the A side, it's long, languid and reminds me of Sergio Leone's work.
Beautiful
I love it. It seems rather a perverse add on though. It's a bit like the coda in Layla, completely at odds with what went on before, but superb nonetheless.
Oh Well
A golden run of singles by Peter Green, fabulous stuff!
Speaking of Bowie...
...Amsterdam on the B-side of Sorrow. Also, was Rock & Roll Suicide the B-side of Ziggy Stardust?
Where the Gedge?
The greatest b-sides are by the ever generous wedding present:
I'm Not Always this stupid
Unfaithful
Crawl
Mix
PS I have just made a mix tape composed only of b-sides or ep tracks. It is figging awesome!
Paul Rodgers
The B side of My Brother Jake was Only My Soul which was very fine. Later when he'd moved on to Bad Co. the B-side of Can't Get Enough was Little Miss Fortune. A better song, but it didn't have the hook of the A side.
Talking of Free
All Right Now b/w Mouthful Of Grass - defines the word languorous
Best b-side
Is It Love/Summertime Blues
The flip side to Ride A White Swan by T.Rex
Stone Roses
Goin' Down and Mersey Paradisem, both b-sides, two of their best songs.
Also, Fool's Gold sort of started out as the b-side (or double-A) to What The World Is Waiting For before things were reversed.
"You've got a lotta nerve..."
A quick trawl through the 45's reveals not only Bob Dylan's Subterranean Homesick Blues / Positively 4th Street but CCR's Bad Moon Rising / Lodi - not a bad couple of things to find as a bonus on the b-side. My favourite b/w remains, however, The Popticians Spare Pair. "The place is unfamiliar, my face is bare, I've mislaid my glasses, ('ave yer?), Yeah".
Blockheads
The b side of What a Waste by Ian Dury and the Blockheads has always been a big favourite of mine. 'Wake Up And Make Love To Me' is funny, funky and shows Dury at his lyrical best.
How Soon Is Now started as a b side too. The Smiths could always be trusted to do a proper b side.
Jeane
B-side of This Charming Man. It's The Smiths lost classic and comes with their best ever A-side.
Bubblesoul ???
The B Side of the bubblegum hit Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye by Steam was called (if my memory serves me well) The Magic In You Girl.
The label of this B side was covered with white paper by several leading Northern Soul DJs and passed of as an extremely rare soul delight.
The Who....
Daddy Rollin' Stone
A Legal Matter
Disguises
Brilliant, brilliant songs!
Got To Get You Into My LIfe
Oasis - Round Are Way. It's the best thing that they've ever done, b-side or no.
But it does sound a lot like something off Revolver.
Radiohead - Talk Show Host
They're another band who have a great catalog of b-sides, surely at some point destined to be stripmined by EMI.
Karen by the Go-Betweens
must be my favourite b-side. An incredible lyric and performance, I could easily quote the whole song, but instead:
www.go-betweens.org.uk/gb/lyrics/leeremick.htm
As a bonus, the lyrics to the also-quite-rare a-side Lee Remick are a treat, too ("...she's a darling").
Slades
killing them at the hot club tonight was a fantastic b side but for the life of me i cant remember what the a side was.
I'm pretty sure it was...
... My Friend Stan.
Not forgetting Pulp
Most of the Intro album, The Sisters EP, Cocaine Socialism...
Along with Suede, Blur, Oasis and Radiohead, you could make the case that they helped make the 90s a last hurrah for the great British B-Side.
Ansaphone and PTA
Pulp: Ansaphone and PTA also.
Peep Show
I played Squeeze's 'What The Butler Saw' ('Pulling Mussels..' flip) rather more than the 'A' back then, and hugely more than it since. It's a darkly orchestrated little pulp psychodrama with a cracking refrain and I'm sure it's one of the goodies Retropath2 has in mind.
...This is from another time
...This is from another time , I would suppose , and I'm both referring to American releases , and I am not sure what the topsides were , but:
The Shangri-Las " Sophisticated Boom Boom "
The Supremes " Ask Any Girl "
" b/w c/w "
...Oh , incidentally , a US vs. UK difference in useage was that , by the 70s anyway , the abbreviation used to refer to B-sides in America was " b/w " - " backed with " - while , in Britain , it was " c/w " - coupled with .
Incidentally , can the Stan Lee interview from a issuish back be found on the Web ? I had to get rid of my copy .
Wah! Heat
The B-side of 1st release Better Scream was the equally excellent Hey Disco Joe. Joe was the first Wah! song I ever heard Peel play. He may have given it as much airtime as the A side.
Suede & PSB
My two favourite b-side bands. Sci-Fi Lullabies and Alternative are two fabulous b-side collections.
Fav Suede - Modern Boys and Europe Is Our Playground.
Fav PSB - We All Feel Better In The Dark and Paninaro.
B sides
'Wondering Y' by Slade, B side of 'Take Me Back Home'
Bowie
Suffragette City was the B side of Starman
McCartney
'Country Dreamer', brillaint B side of the less wonderful Helen Wheels. Also, 'Little Woman Love', rocking B side of the controversial for the wrong reasons 'Mary Had a Little Lamb'.
Joy Division / New Order
Novelty (Transmission)
These Days (Love Will Tear Us Apart)
Lonesome Tonight (Thieves Like Us)
1963 (True Faith)
Behind Closed Doors (Crystal)
Five tracks that wouldn't be out of place in either band's "cannon".
Agreed. Behind Closed Doors
Agreed. Behind Closed Doors is an amazing track. "I check upon the scores/listen to the Corrs."
B-sides the point, perhaps, but...
Shouldn`t B sides which are also album tracks, esp. key album tracks, be disqualified? The `giving` of an album track as a `B` seems to be parsiminous to say the least. If these are valid, whither the `live` flips? Those `filler` Live At The Marquee swindles? I mean, technically, one of my faves is a live track; `TV Stars` by The Skids.
Another giddy throwaway I love is `mars bars` by The Undertones, but the best B not already mentioned (unless I missed it) is `Into The White` by Pixies...or perhaps `I Love You, You Big Dummy` by Magazine.
Cuttooth by Radiohead.
Cuttooth by Radiohead. B-side of Knives Out
Originally intended as the last track on Amnesiac, apparently.
Marillion
Grendel, the B-side to Marillion's first 12" single, Market Square Heroes. How can you not love a band who fill their first extended B-side with a 16-minute paean to Beowulf's monster that goes through several different movements before ending with "let the blood flow" repeated over and over?
It's still the best thing they've done.
Billy Bragg
Walk Away Renee (version). B Side to Levi Stubbs Tears, and some of the best, humourous lyrics in la Braggs cannon.
Renee
"I said 'I'm the most illegible bachelor in town', she said 'I know, that's why I can't read those stupid letters you send me'"
Genius!
It's better than genius!
Lets have the whole thing:
"She said it was just a figment of speech
And I said you mean 'figure'
And she said no 'figment' because she
could never imagine it happening
But it did
When we first met, I played the shy-boy
When she spoke to me for the first
time, my nose began to bleed
She guessed the rest
The next day we went on a bus ride to the ferry
And when nobody came to collect our
fares, why I knew then this was
something special
I couldn't stop thinking about her
And everytime I switched on the radio,
there was somebody else singing
a song about the two of us
It was just like being on a fast ride at Fun
[ Find more Lyrics at www.mp3lyrics.org/uZL ]
Fair- the sort you want to get off
because it's scary and then, as soon as
you're off again, you want to
get straight ba
ck on again
But oh love is strange
And you have to learn to take the
crunchy with the smooth I suppose
She began going out with Mr. Potato Head
It was when I saw her in the car park with
his coat around her shoulders
I realized
I went home and thought about the two of
them together until the bath
water went cold around me
I thought about her eyes and the curve of
her breasts and about the point
where their bodies met
I confronted her about it
I said 'I'm the most illegible bachelor in town'
And she said 'Yea, that's why I can never
understand any of those silly
letters you send me'
And then one day it happened
She cut her hair
And I stopped loving her."
(All said, not sung, to delicately picked accoustic version of the tune we know and love. Un-bloody-believable. Eat your heart out, "the" Streets!!!))
I know, I know...
...that MacArthur Park by Richard Hrris polarises opinions like there is no tomorrow but the B-side is the splendid Paper Chase, also from A Tramp Shining, again written by you-know-who.
The Who - Mary Ann with the
The Who - Mary Ann with the Shaky Hand electric version (I Can See For Miles b-side)
The Beatles - Don't Let Me Down
The Who
The b side of the original 1967 release of"I Can See For Miles" was "Someone's Coming" written by John Entwhistle, specifically for...the b side of "I Can See For Miles"!
Blur again
Just remembered: La Comedie, Blur's fantastic French version of To The End with Françoise Hardy that was the b-side to the (frankly dreadful) Country House single.
David Bowie - A New Career In A New Town
Sound & Vision flip-side:
Only paid for about 10 singles
The b - side I remember best is I Got A Feeling by the Four Tops, b-side of Bernadette and a great dance track and floor filler!!
The Jam were B side masters...
...hence (a few chronologically)
Takin' My Love
A Bomb In Wardour Street
The Butterfly Collector
Smithers-Jones
Dreams of Children
Liza Radley
Tales From The Riverbank
The Great Depression
'Somebody's Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonight'
By Earl Vince and the Valiants (aka Fleetwood Mac) B-side of 'Man of the World', believe it or not
The problem of a really good blog....
....is that the responses are so many that the same answers appear further up a list. Not a complaint or a criticism, just an observation. It's like Jazz is crap appearing as a topic every 3 months.
Hey Heppo, time for another Randomiser to clear the decks?
It's on the home page
for a change. I missed it. By the time I got there 60-odd had aleady beaten me to it.
THERE'S A STRANGER IN THE
THERE'S A STRANGER IN THE HOUSE - ELVIS COSTELLO. B of WATCHING THE DETECTIVES.
A pedant writes...
... the B side of the UK single of "Watching The Detectives" featured live versions of "Blame It On Cain" and "Mystery Dance." "Stranger In The House" was the A side of a freebie single (the B side was a version of The Damned's "Neat Neat Neat") that came with initial pressings of "This Year's Model."
Told you So - The Undertones
B-Side of Wednesday Week,...It was intended to be given away as a Smash Hits Flexi disc..hence the intro
" Hi Smash Hitters and a big hello, this here record is called " Told You So "
ah were we ever so young!
Debris
by The Faces, the flip to Stay With Me.
And not forgetting Prince...
Three of his best songs:
Erotic City – (B-side of "Let's Go Crazy")
Irresistible Bitch – (B-side of "Let's Pretend We're Married")
She's Always In My Hair – (B-side of "Raspberry Beret")
Two great piano ballads:
How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore? – (B-side of "1999")
Another Lonely Christmas – (B-side of "I Would Die 4 U")
Great lost Rock and Roll:
Gotta Stop (Messin' About) – (B-side of "Let's Work" 12 inch single)
Horny Toad – (B-side of "Delirious")
Tour report:
Hello – (B-side of "Pop Life")
And finally, the longest ever song title for a decent song award:
17 Days (the rain will come down, then U will have 2 choose. If U believe, look 2 the dawn and U shall never lose.) – (B-side of "When Doves Cry")
And all proper 'only on the single' tunes until 15 years into his career - I didn't even get to *hear* Horny Toad for the first four years I was a hardcore every-release-in-every-format Prince fan... none of this download-instana-fan nonsense when these were released.
My earliest musical dabblings
When I was but a boy, my mum bought me a load of singles of which 'Rain' & 'You know my name look up the number' were two tracks that got me into The Beatles which ought to be in a best b-sides compilation.
Other suggetstions are 'There ain't half been some clever bastards' (Ian Dury), 'Smells like teen spirit' (Tori Amos), 'Go buddy go' (Stranglers), 'Talk show host' (Radiohead), 'Ne t'en fuis pas' (Kate Bush), 'Ran Tan Waltz' (Kate Bush), 'Brain salad surgery' (ELP), 'Green fields' (Faith No More) - actually I think that they're all songs that were never featured on albums. (Just edited out 'Something' - for some reason I always had that as a b-side)
Double A
My copy of Peaches / Go Buddy Go is clearly marked as a double A side.
Macca
One of the first records I ever bought was the 7" of Ebony and Ivory. I was very small, about 6, but was smitten by this friendly-looking chap and his mate with the big afro on the sleeve.The title track was pleasant enough, but it was the B-side - Macca busking a jangly, country ditty complete with very psych shenai solo in the middle - that was just gorgeous.
"You know, that sounds a lot like The Beatles" commented my mum.
And so began a lifelong obsession...
The Moz
Will Never Marry the flip to Everyday Is Like Sunday. Chuck in Disappointed as well and you have one of the best ever uses of a 12"vinyl.
Also, I thoroughly concur with New Order's Lonesome Tonight. Spine tinglingly good.
Geordie sunday
by Jack Charlton, on the Bell record label, 1972. A-side "Simple little things" or was it the other way round? Actually, scrub them both. They're shit.