B-side myself

You know how some days you wake up with a song in your head for no apparent reason- you haven't listened to it for ages, no one's spoken to you about it, you haven't even thought about it as far you know but there it is, as large as life in between your ears. Well, it happens to me... anyway the latest one to manifest itself in this way was a Deep Purple song called 'When a Blind Man Cries'. Do you know it? It's brilliant- somewhat out of character for them as it's a slow minor-key blues that's rather at odds with the hard rocking material that they're better known for, but it's one of my favourite songs by them. Check out the original studio version here or a more recent live version (with Steve Morse on guitar) here and see what I mean- it's good isn't it? It's currently available as a bonus track on the CD release of their classic 1972 album 'Machine Head'- it was recorded during the sessions for said album but, so the story goes, guitarist extraordinaire Ritchie Blackmore didn't like it and so insisted that it was left off the record. I hadn't heard it for ages but it sounds to me to be as good as anything on the album, in fact when it comes on after the last track 'Space Truckin' ' it sounds like it's part of the album, sounds like it should have been part of the album...

Why am I telling you all of this? Well, leaving aside the fact that it's my blog and I'll write whatever I want to write (it's been a bad day ok?!?) it took me back to those days when music came on flat circular pieces of vinyl either 7 or 12 inches in diameter, specifically the smaller of the 2 options which, for the benefit of any younger readers still wading their way through this madness hoping for a punchline, used to be referred to by us disciples of sound as singles. These for cash-strapped schoolboys such as myself were among the greatest things ever created, as they enabled us to own music by the gods that we'd made without having to save up for an album which, lets face it, normally went on a bit and therefore wasn't as magnificent as the breathless bloodrush of mayhem mysteriously contained within the grooves of a single. You bought the single because you'd heard the A-side but you also got the B-side- and that's how I first heard 'When A Blind Man Cries' as it was the B-side of the 'Never Before' single. B-sides were often songs that were recorded during sessions for the A-side and/or accompanying album- they might have been rejected as not good being enough to be on the album, or they didn't fit in with the rest of the tracks. Not all artists that took singles seriously (more about them later) but those that did would often specifically record material for single release. In my opinion great bands made great B-sides, and given the fact that some of my favourite songs by my favourite artists were often on non-album singles or hidden away on the flip side I thought it would be interesting to explore this subject further here- so let's start as we mean to go on, with arguably the very best singles band of them all...

During their time together as a band The Beatles released 22 U.K. singles; well over half of them contained material not on any of their albums. (The 'Past Masters' albums neatly collect together these 'missing' tracks.) This was a common situation in the 1960's as we shall see, but The Beatles took it further than most, and as such are often seen as the definitive pop group. There aren't any bad Beatles singles in my not-so-humble opinion and picking a favourite is practically impossible (it changes on a day-to-day basis, as does my favourite Beatles album) but I've always thought that 'Paperback Writer' is a brilliant band performance on every level. Recorded during the sessions for the 'Revolver' album the single also features a track often held up as the best Beatles B-side- 'Rain'. It's a state-of-the-art recording for the time, with both vari-speeding and backward vocals (click here for further technical details, and here for the promotional films for both songs- imagine looking that cool! And do people really still think that the first pop video was made for 'Bohemian Rhapsody'? Silly people...) heavily featured, and Ringo's tremendous drumming shows up his detractors to be little more than the jealous no-hopers that they so often are. A magnificent single in every way. Other famously brilliant Beatles B-sides include 'Yes It Is', (extraordinary vocal harmonies) 'I'm Down', (out rock 'n' rolls their rock 'n' roll heroes) and the wonderfully mad 'You Know My Name (look up my number)' which is allegedly Paul McCartney's favourite Beatles track. And then there are the double A-side singles, where both songs were so strong that they were both hits in their own right- 'Strawberry Fields Forever' / 'Penny Lane' is probably the most lauded of these 'though 'We Can Work It Out' / 'Day Tripper' isn't exactly hopeless in the 'perfect pop music' stakes. It's no accident that millions of words have been written about The Beatles and that they continue to be a huge influence on today's pop culture- even the best part of 50 years after their first recordings were released, one listen to any of their music tells you why.

Running parallel to The Beatles many of the greatest bands and artists of the 1960's released non-album material on singles. The Rolling Stones released many classic 7-incher's (oo-er missus) but were never great B-siders for me- then again with the likes of 'Jumpin' Jack Flash', 'The Last Time' and 'Paint It Black' among their A-sides it hardly seems to matter. The first 3 Jimi Hendrix singles stand up as fine psychedelic pop with his first recorded composition 'Stone Free' on the B-side of 'Hey Joe', 'Purple Haze' giving us our first hearing of 'the Hendrix chord' (and '51st Anniversary' on it's flipside) and 'Highway Chile' (the B-side of 'The Wind Cries Mary') featuring a great 'live-in-the-studio' performance from the band. Unsurprisingly from my point of view I have to say that The Who win the race (with The Kinks and The Small Faces not too far behind, and The Beatles somewhere else entirely if you know what I mean) for the definitive '60's singles band. Most of their early singles can be found on the 'Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy' compilation album; I'll rave about the A-sides another time (all of which were written by Pete Townshend) and concentrate on the b-sides here, many of which were written by The Ox himself, John Entwistle. Among his classic flipsides are 'Doctor Doctor', 'Heaven and Hell' and 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde', all of which feature his trademark black humour 'though my personal favourite is probably 'When I Was A Boy' which reveals an oft-overlooked philosophical side. Keith Moon wrote 'Waspman' and 'Dogs part 2', both of which have to be heard to be believed; Roger Daltrey came up with the country-ish 'Here For More' and there was a blistering live take of 'Baby Don't You Do It' on the B-side of 'Join Together'. As the singles were all deleted shortly after initial sales subsided (a common practice for the time) most if not all of these tracks were unavailable for many years until the 'Who's Missing' and 'Two's Missing' compilation albums appeared in the mid 1980's- it's a testimony to the strength of the songs and the performances that they were both fine albums in their own right, and with the advent of a comprehensive CD re-issue programme, many of which featured the B-sides as extra tracks, younger listeners (like me!) were finally able to hear the 'lost' songs in the context of the better known material. They rarely sounded disappointing.

As a schoolboy in the 1970's glam rock loomed large in my embryonic singles collection, and the king of it all for me was the mighty Marc Bolan. Many of the T.Rex singles featured 2 songs on the B-side, giving a value-for-pocket-money feeling every time you bought one. The first record that I bought with my own money (earned on a milk round no less) was 'Metal Guru' which featured 'Lady' and 'Thunderwing' on it's flipside- unsurprisingly these are among my very favourite Bolan numbers. (Click here for a classic T.O.T.P. clip that I remember seeing at the time.) Whilst the B-sides can't quite compete with the A-sides they still sound pretty good in their own right- the double CD re-issue of 'Great Hits' featured one CD of A-sides and one of B-sides and both can be played through without skipping too many tracks- which considering how many pop classics bear the Bolan name is quite an achievement. The Sweet were an interesting B-side band as their A-sides were mostly written by Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman whereas the B-sides were self-penned and showed a much heavier side to the band, although their later Chinn/Chapman material also moved in this direction and they ended up writing their own hit material after splitting with the Chinnichap team. Mud were another very successful band of the time who's Chinnichap A-sides were backed by their own material- if you ever thought them to be little more than a novelty band then check out 'Mr. Bagatelle', the other side of 'Tiger Feet' which is a great song in anybody's book. Slade were another classic singles band although their A-sides beat their B-sides by no little distance in my book, and David Bowie released any number of killer singles including one of the great non-album A-sides of the time with 'John I'm Only Dancing'. But to me one of the great B-sides of the time is 'As Long As You Tell Him' which is hidden away on the flipside of the last Faces single 'You Can Make Me Dance, Sing Or Anything'- unavailable for years it was finally re-issued on the excellent 'Five Guys Walk Into A Bar' box set and features all the elements that made The Faces such a great band. Ok, it's not quite as good as 'Stay With Me', but it's not far off it, and anyway, very few things are as good as 'Stay With Me'...

Unbeknownst to me (and indeed quite a few others) punk rock was now approaching, and your humble narrator had by now realised that pretty much all the artists that he liked were the type that released singles, rather than the bands who concentrated on albums, maybe putting out an occasional perfunctory single with the appropriate 'we don't like it but the record company do' quotes in the music press. There were a few exceptions- I've already confessed to liking Deep Purple, and I'd also heard and enjoyed Led Zeppelin and Rory Gallagher as well as quite a few of the older blues artists, none of whom were even remotely interested in single chart success. The 'serious' bands like Yes and Genesis just sounded boring and not a little ridiculous to me, especially compared to something as exciting as the live-in-the-studio (it says so on the label!) version of 'Route 66' by Dr. Feelgood, which could be found on the B-side of their wondrous 'Roxette' single. (Click here for a live-in-a-T.V.-studio version...) I remember reading in the music press about a new label called Stiff Records that were releasing singles by bands that I didn't know but that sounded great- sadly lack of funds meant that I couldn't just send off for records without hearing them first, especially not to a bunch as dodgy sounding as this lot... I eventually heard 'New Rose' by The Damned on John Peel's radio show, I'd never heard anything like it before and thought it was absolutely astonishing- rather significantly I realised that I didn't know anybody that agreed with me, although quite a few people changed their minds over the next year or so...
Suddenly everyone was talking about punk rock and there were singles everywhere. People were even putting them out themselves; incredible as this concept was it was even more incredible to find them in high street record shops. The times they were a-changing, and changing for the better as far as people like me were concerned; many that it wouldn't last and that 'real' music would win in the end, but in the meantime it felt as though there were a million and one great punk singles to get hold of. Although many of the bands released great albums it's the singles that they're often best remembered for, and rightly so- 2-and-a-bit minutes of out-and-out energy seemed to be just right for most people's central nervous system. For many people the first 4 Sex Pistols singles (and indeed their one and only studio album) stand as the definitive punk statement, and that's an idea that I'm certainly not about to argue with, although I think that the B-sides are often overlooked. If ever a band proved the 'great bands made great B-sides' adage it's The Pistols- their astounding cover version of The Stooges' 'No Fun' (originally set to appear as the B-side to their debut single 'Anarchy In The U.K.', eventually coming out on the flipside of their third single 'Pretty Vacant') was one of the most radical recordings that I'd heard up to that point in time. Come to think of it, it still is! 'Anarchy' originally came out on E.M.I. Records with 'I Wanna Be Me' on the B-side; the single was withdrawn after the Bill Grundy incident although it was still available as a French import which is how most of us got it, and 'I Wanna Be Me' was also on the infamous 'Spunk' bootleg album. 'God Save The Queen' and 'Holidays In The Sun' featured 'Did You No Wrong' and 'Satellite'- taken together they're 4 of the best singles that I own.
Meanwhile The Clash were releasing classic after classic in quick succession, many of which weren't on any album- indeed they collected many of them together as 'Black Market Clash'. Picking a favourite Clash single isn't easy (for the same reason as it's hard for me to pick a favourite Beatles single) but I remember buying '(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais' without hearing it (getting braver!) and initially preferring it's B-side 'The Prisoner'; after playing it God-knows-how-many times I came to the conclusion that it was one of the greatest records of all time... mind you I played 'London Calling' 5 or 6 times in succession in jaw-dropped amazement before flipping it over and doing the same thing with 'Armagideon Time'. And then there's The Jam- analysis is almost futile here, so I'll just say that I couldn't believe how good 'Going Underground' was, until I turned it over and played 'The Dreams Of Children'. Things like this happened a lot in those days- yes I was young, but there was just so much great music about it was hard to take it all in. I haven't mentioned The Buzzcocks yet- suffice to say that their 'Singles Going Steady' compilation album is one of the great punk albums- or The Ruts ('Staring At The Rude Boys' / 'Love In Vain' anybody?) or XTC (another band to release compilation albums of both A and B sides) among many others. And then there's Elvis Costello, who released so many great singles around this time (and indeed a compilation cassette of single-only tracks) that I could almost write a whole article on them- maybe I will someday but in the meantime I'll just say that the chilling 'Tiny Steps' (the B-side of 'Radio Radio') features one of what for me is one of his most extraordinary vocal moments; listen to the disgust in his voice on the lines 'she's your baby now, you can keep her' and see if you don't squirm. (Incidentally Costello also features on a version of 'Tomorrow's Just Another Day' by Madness for which the word 'venomous' might have been invented; click here for a live version that's nearly as good.) But a real flipside fave of mine from this time is 'I'm Alright Jack' by The Tom Robinson Band- on the other side of 'Up Against The Wall' it heavily features the amazing talents of Danny Kustow on lead guitar, as do most of the T.R.B. recordings of the time.

12'' singles had first appeared in dance music circles in the mid-70's as a way of allowing longer tracks to be cut at a higher volume, often emphasising bass response which sounded good in the clubs and discos of the time. The first one I remember buying was 'Marquee Moon' by Television, which had the 9+ minute track in stereo on one side and in mono on the other. (I bought the album soon after which had the track on it so I could have saved my money!) Pretty soon they were everywhere, often with otherwise unavailable extra tracks- I bought a few, notably 'She's A Windup' and 'Baby Jane' by Dr. Feelgood as both had exclusive live tracks, but it all got a bit daft after a while, what with 7'' versions, 12'' versions, coloured vinyl, limited editions, extra tracks... it was too commercial, too cynical, and besides, I only had so much money! Of course I still bought them...

There wasn't much in the '80's for your humble narrator to get too excited about. That said the classic 'How Soon Is Now?' by The Smiths was originally a B-side so maybe there was? Then again there were The Prisoners, whose awesome single 'Hurricane' had 'Tomorrow (she said)' on it's B-side; they also released the 'Electric Fit' EP (short for extended play, these generally featured 4 or more tracks) which included the magnificent 'Melanie', one of my favourite records (and you can find a clip of them playing it on French T.V. here) of all time. The Godfathers collected their early singles on 'Hit By Hit' and in doing so made one of the great albums of the decade but by the time the likes of The Senseless Things, Mega City Four and Carter U.S.M. came along things had changed- CD singles were now appearing, often featuring 4 or more tracks making the old 'A-side/B-side' format all but redundant. With this in mind the last great B-side band might well be Oasis, with many of their best 'lost' songs being collected on 'The Masterplan' compilation album- the likes of 'Acquiesce', 'Half A World Away' and 'Rockin' Chair' are every bit as good as anything else in their catalogue, although how they managed to leave a song as good as 'Round Are Way' off it is a bit beyond me.

Thinking about it now maybe the golden age for the 7'' single was actually a bit before my time- sales in the 1970's were lower than on the 1960's reflecting the shift towards albums and away from singles; that said my personal golden age is probably the punk rock / new wave explosion in the late '70's, which no doubt goes a long way towards explaining my continued enjoyment of the music from that time. In these days of downloads singles seem to me to be a thing of the past, and not even of the recent past judging by the comments I get from people who don't even buy CD's anymore as it can all magically appear on their computer at 79 pence a track. I think that's a shame- I remember buying records when I was young and reading every word on the cover, lyric sheet, even the label, such was my excitement at hearing and indeed owning the music; a few clicks of your mouse and a flash of a credit card doesn't seem to hold the same alure for me I'm afraid.

So- I started off this piece by listening to a Deep Purple song and end it by sounding as though I'm bemoaning the death of popular music. Maybe I am! Oh well- at least I can always console myself by playing the rest of the 'Electric Fit EP... or how about 'Out Of Style' and 'Tilt' by Joe Jackson, both on the B-side of his cover version of 'The Harder They Come'? And then there's the great version of 'Pills' by The Lurkers from the B-side of 'I Don't Need To Tell Her'... actually now that I think about it, that came with a flexi disc of the extraordinary 'We Are The Chaos Brothers'... flexi discs! Remember them?!?

Hmm... EP's... flexi discs...that gives me an idea for a posting or two...