Entertainment For Lively Minds
Now That's What I Call A B-Side
Don’t know if anyone hs posted a similar theme before, but someone should release an album of the greatest b-sides ever.
What tracks would you nominate?
Here’s a few nominations from the top of my head.
The Beatles: She’s A Woman. I’m Down. Rain.
XTC: Dear God. Blame It On The Weather. Tissue Tigers.
Madness: Tomorrow’s Just Another Day (with vocals by Elvis Costello)
Aztec Camera: Jump
Ian Dury: You’ll See Glimpses. There Ain’t Half Been Some Clever Bastards. Common As Muck. Razzle In My Pocket.
The Jam: The Butterfly Collector. The Dreams Of Children. Tales From The Riverbank. Precious.
The Stranglers: Go Buddy Go. Mean To Me. In The Shadows.
Sex Pistols: No Fun.
Propaganda: Jewel
Be Bop Deluxe: Shine
Tom Robinson Band: Martin.
Dexy’s Midnight Runners: Breaking Down The Walls Of Heartache. Liars A to E.
Nick Lowe: Heart Of The City. They Called It Rock.
U2: Silver And Gold. Everlasting Love. The Sweetest Thing.
Squeeze: Squabs On Forty Fab.
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Good Idea
That really is a very good idea. You've come up with a lot - I'd need to trawl through my singles at home to make a full list but to start with, I'd like to add Dollar "The Girls Are Out To Get Ya".
The Clash
1977
Jail Guitar Doors
City of the Dead
1 2 Crush on You
the Prisoner
Pressure Drop
Time is Tight
Groovy Times/ Gates of the West/ Capital Radio
Armagidion Time
- hell of a collection, not one on any regular elpee.
Clash
Pressure Drop and Armagideon Time do it for me also.
Clash
Pressure Drop and Armagideon Time do it for me also.
Well, there's the Kinks, of course...
... both Mindless Child of Motherhood and "This Man He Weeps Tonight" are both absolutely terrific. Take a bow, Ray and Dave.
The Jam: 3 good suggestions in the original post (although "Dreams of Children" may technically have been a double A side). Anyway, I'd add "Liza Radley".
How about John Otway & Wild Willy Barrett: "Beware of the Flowers (Cause I'm sure they're gonna get you, Yeah)"? Always a favourite around here.
The b-sides of Start and
The b-sides of Start and Really Free. I must concur.
Dreams of Children and Go
Dreams of Children and Go Buddy Go were both double A sides.
Martin (Tom Robinson) was part of the Rising Free EP, technically not a single
Double A?
I only ever remember Peaches and Going Underground being played on the radio or Top Of The Pops. Don't remember anyone saying "and straight in at No.1 Dreams Of Children". My copy of Going Underground is a Double 7" anyway. Not really a Double A in my opinion.
And TRB was only called Riding Free EP because they didn't want to print Glad To Be Gay on the cover. GTBG was the A - Side and there were two tracks including Martin (a live track) on the B-Side. Right On Sister isn't too shabby as a track either. Isn't an EP 4 tracks?
TRB/The Jam
"Don't Take No For An Answer" was the fourth track on Rising Free, and the one which received most airplay
Apparently Going Underground was originally intended to be the B side to Dreams of Children but a mix up in the pressing plant meant that both were listed as A sides. It wasn't The Jam's first Double A - they had previously released David Watts/A Bomb in Wardour Street but again radio stations only played one side
On the theme of Double A sides, wasn't Mull of Kintyre also a Double A?
TRB
Forgot about Don't Take No For An Answer.
And Girls School was a good Macca rocker. I remember the 2,000,000 copy was a Gold record and who ever got it won some sort of prize. That'll never happen again. 2,000,000 copies of one single!!!!!
I'm amazed anyone knows nowadays
but I am constantly surprised by the number of acts who put out numbers of "singles" for download with otherwise unreleased sons thereupon, thinking of Camera Obscura and David Ford to name but 2. I only ever discover this by chance when searching for info.
American Squirm (Nick Lowe) was backed by What's so funny 'bout Peace, Love and Understanding, again credited to Nick Lowe, but sung by Elvis Costello.
I have only recently discovered Camera Obscura
and am currently obsessed with the song "Modern Girl".
Extremely pleasant pop.
Elvis
Elvis also did a good version of Girls Talk as a b-side and also Shipbuilding.
Shame his early collection of
b sides and outakes is no longer available, 1o Bloody Marys and 10 Hows yer Fathers. I recall the cassette, which I owned, had a different listing fronm the US vinyl version.
Also missed is his next ragbag of left-overs, Out of our Idiot.
Much more digestible in this format than having to buy as the 2nd disc in yet another re-visiting of the early albums
A couple more
Taking as my cue non album track b sides:
Jellyfish - Ignorance is Bliss
Prefab Sprout - Nero The Zero
Nice idea BJ...
Those that come to my mind at once:
Beatles - The Inner Light
Them - Gloria (B-side of Baby Please Don't Go)
Johnny Kidd & The Pirates - Shakin' All Over (okay, it was flipped eventually!)
Roxy Music - South Downs (B side of Oh Yeah)
Brainbox - Mobilae (stunning instrumental b-side of two of their post-Jan Akkerman singles)
Oh, I'll stop there...
My favourite Punk Rock 7"
is The Rezillos "Flying Saucer Attack" with the B-Side "My Baby Does Good Sculptures", both absolute classic tracks.
Also another vote for The Jam's "Butterfly Collector".
Not only, but also...
The Smiths:
Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want
How Soon Is Now
Stretch Out And Wait
Rubber Ring
Morrissey:
Hairdresser On Fire
I've Changed My Plea To Guilty
Jack The Ripper
Nobody Loves Us
Ganglord
Suede:
To The Birds
My Dark Star
High Rising
Killing Of A Flash Boy
Europe Is Our Playground
Pet Shop Boys:
Miserablism
Shameless
Hit And Miss
Screaming
The Resurrectionist
The Divine Comedy:
Birds Of Paradise Farm
Gene:
I Can't Decide If She Really Loves Me
The Smiths 'How Soon is Now'...
...was a b-side originally wasn't it?
Roxy Music - Hula Kula (b-side of Street Life)
REM - Voice of Harold (b-side of So. Central Rain) - they also did a great pre - Wet Wet Wet cover of Love is All Around on b-side of Radio Song.
Another Roxy Music b-side
"The Pride and the Pain" - B-side of "Pyjamarama".
Epic movie soundtrack pastiche, puzzlingly misnamed "The Pride and the Pail" on the Swedish/German 45 I bought in my youth.
"Yes it is" - The Beatles (b-side of Ticket to Ride)
"Old Brown Shoe" - ditto, (b-side of Ballad of John and Yoko)
Aimee Mann's "Jimmy Hoffa Jokes"
CD-single extra track, if that counts.
On CD, the 2nd CD of the extended "Big Squeeze" collection has plenty of Squeeze B-side delights, incuding the aforementioned "Squabs on forty fab". Glenn Tilbrook is quoted somewhere as saying the record company were not pleased because it allegedly hurt sales of their first-of-many compilations.
I Love My Shirt/Atlantis by Donovan
Also Poor Cow by Donovan but I can't remember what's on the A side. Is it Hurdy Gurdy Man?
Rite Of Man/Moonlight Shadow - Mike Oldfield. Marvellous folk pastiche.
The Canyons Of Your Mind/I'm The Urban Spaceman - Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band.
I Heard It Through The Grapevine/Typical Girls - The Slits. Or was this a double A side?
Life's A Gas/Jeepster - T Rex
Queen Bitch/Rebel Rebel - Possibly the best B side EVER
The Mighty Ship/Happy Hour - The Housemartins. Could have been done by Mr Bloe.
Life's A Gas
Sorry, but that doesn't count. It was on the Electric Warrior album.
What are your rules, then?
Queen Bitch was on Hunky Dory, but it was still B-side. Do they have to be exclusive B side tracks only?
B-sides only
Yep, only tracks that haven't appeared on the artists albums. Tracks that for some reason weren't considered worthy enough to make the cut for their latest album. What were they thinking!
Shine On Me by The Supremes/ 1963 by New Order
b side of Stoned Love. Written and produced by Frank Wilson (of Most Expensive Record Ever fame).
Bubblegum psychedelic soul and a perfect complement to the a side.
http://open.spotify.com/track/6xruEIAKi6VWRN8lmyoKVu
Can’t remember what 1963 by New Order is the b side of. But it’s ace
http://open.spotify.com/track/37f1Wu9YjXuGJZk5QHFWDY
1963
B-side of 'True Faith'. Is on the Substance 1987 album which is a compilation of remixes/bsides...and was also released as a single in its own right in 199...err...4? Maybe 1995...
Rich
pete wylie - 'never fall for
pete wylie - 'never fall for a whore', bside to 'if i love you' single around '87. Wylie's finest hour and typical of his career chucked away on a bside that sold about 50 copies probably. check it out, a 5 minute epic, i'm sure it's online somewhere and was on his 'handy wah whole' comp cd.
also, 'promise Q', b side of Marion's hopeless single 'myiako hideaway', its a co-write with then producer Johnny Marr, a beautiful instrumental that easlily stands up to his Smiths instrumentals 'oscillate wildly' and 'money changes everything'.
She's Always in My Hair
The flip side of Raspberry Beret by Prince. A beautiful lost gem that eventually showed up on the 3 disc Hits/B Sides compilation.
Now i know they are not the most
favoured of bands amongst the massive, but surprised there is no mention of Oasis for this thread. Not a fan myself but they had a few cracking b sides, Acquiesce being probably my favourite Oasis track.
Special mention to Pet Shop Boys and the wonderful track 'Truck Driver and his Mate'
Oasis
I'm not an Oasis fan either but weren't both The Masterplan and Half A World Away non album B sides? it's always seemed to me that if we only had an album of Oasis B sides then we'd all love them as a great band
There is such an album, strangley enough called "The Masterplan"
and it is as you say possibly their best.
"The Spider and The Fly" in
"The Spider and The Fly" in UK and "The Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man" in US.
Both good songs in their own right. Indeed, I would argue that "the Spider and the Fly" is an early essay in what would become standard tropes of classic Stones - a sinewy blues motif; clever "knowing" lyrics and a whiff of misogyny.
The A-Side, "Satisfaction" is held in high regard too I am given to understand.
Nanker/Phelge
Spider and the Fly is one of my favourite Stones songs ever. Wonderful.
Great non-album B sides
though I can't for the life of me remember exactly which songs were on the A side (I'm sure someone on here will though)
Love and Money: Wanderlust 2
Belle and Sebastian: Travelling Light
Buzzcocks: Oh Shit
Stiff Little Fingers: You Can't Say "Crap" on the Radio
Blur
I have the 10 year anniversary box set from 1999 with every single and b-side.
I was 15 at the time and made a mix tape of my favourite b-sides.
It's an absolute classic!
On the ipod
Springsteen - Held Up Without A Gun
Queen - A Human Body
I got dissed once for bad mouthing Queen and I've never been mad on them, but I do like Roger Taylor's stuff.
Not an Oasis fan either (seems you have to start a sentence with that) but Round Are Way is great.
Sparks - Lost and Found.
Mott The Hoople - Rest In Peace.
The Stuffies
Me, My Mum, My Dad, My Brother is one of my favourite Wonder Stuff songs, and was probably the last really good song they wrote.