During my childhood and adolescence, vinyl records remained the dominant format for music enthusiasts. Sure, we owned cassettes and 8-track tapes for convenience, but the truly cherished format was the LP. You couldn’t beat the 12-inch disc encased in a flat cardboard package of matching size. The record cover was colorful. It often presents a vibrant photo of your favorite band. On the back were song listings, along with their duration in minutes and seconds. Sometimes, songwriter credits were printed, which were informative in letting us know which songs were written by the artist and which were covers. A tasty icing on an already sweet cake was printed lyrics. They helped you decipher words that weren’t always enunciated clearly. No wonder the 12-inch LP made a comeback in the 21st Century.
Running a close second was the seven-inch 45 r.p.m. single. This was an inexpensive package that allowed a young consumer with limited finances to sample a pair of songs by their favorite artists. The A-side, which was usually a radio hit, was the enticement. The other side, which was a lesser-known song, was frequently a surprise. Sometimes, it was a song found nowhere else. You had to buy the single to own it.
B-sides were haphazard in quality. Usually, they were album tracks or a random song that the artist dismissed. Once in a while, that second side produced a true gem, a song every bit as worthy as the A-side. In my fifty-plus years of collecting music, here are my absolute favorite B-sides.
1. I’m Down – The Beatles.
Released August 1965 as the flip of “Help!”
Although The Beatles were rapidly advancing in their songwriting and arranging craft, this little gem was a throwback to their days of playing seedy and dangerous nightclubs in Hamburg. Paul McCartney proved he could write an R&B shouter every bit as memorable as his muse, Little Richard. Between Sir Paul’s tonsil-shredding vocals and John Lennon’s madcap riffing on the Vox organ, “I’m Down” was proof that The Beatles were indeed a Rock ‘n’ Roll band at heart.
2. Suzy and Jeffrey – Blondie.
Released October 1980 as the flip of “The Tide is High.”
I had been a Blondie fan since 1979. I enjoyed their refreshing pastiche of Punk, Pop, and 1960s Girl-Group. When “Autoamerican” came out in 1980, I thought it was a sellout. I did not want to hear Blondie buried in strings and horns like so many faceless 1970s Pop artists. I wanted them to stay true to their roots. To my ears, that was pre-psychedelic Rock ‘n’ Roll.
Fortunately, Blondie saved one such track for the B-side of “The Tide Is High.” It was “Suzy and Jeffrey,” a mutation of a 1960s Girl-Group into a more modern setting. The titular couple drove their new Chevrolet to the registrar for a marriage license when they “crashed into a wall.” The melodramatic tone and repetition of their fate was the perfect send-up of early 1960s teen death records like “Tell Laura I Love Her.” A macabre masterpiece.
3. Pink Cadillac – Bruce Springsteen
Released May 1984 as the flip of “Dancing in the Dark.”
I had loved Bruce Springsteen since hearing “The River” in late 1980. Like Blondie, I loved the fact that his sound was so strongly rooted in pre-psychedelic Rock ‘n’ Roll. His “Born in the U.S.A.” album was much anticipated, and I was glad to see it become a smash hit. Much of that success can be attributed to the album’s slick and contemporary production. A set of fantastic songs was saddled with gimmicky synthesizers and snare drums awash in gated reverb. Fortunately, Springsteen saved one of the best songs for the B-Side of “Dancing in the Dark.” That was the neo-Rockabilly “Pink Cadillac.”
The Blues melody chugs along at mid-tempo with pounding drums, twangy guitar, and saxophone. The lyric reads like a metaphor for money and sex. After all, “Pink Cadillac” was once a female anatomical euphemism. Springsteen nailed the 1980s in a single song.
4. Haunted Castle – The Kingsmen
Released June 1963 as the flip of “Louie Louie.”
During my adolescence, I loved to discover musical artists from “before my time.” The Kingsmen’s “Louie Louie” was a staple on local oldies stations. I loved the raw 3-chord vibe and the indecipherable lyrics. Like many fans, I assumed they were garbled obscenities. That didn’t bother me in the least. That was Rock ‘n’ Roll.
At that time, there was a Volunteers of America thrift store at the end of my street. I would periodically visit, usually looking for vintage ties and suit jackets. I periodically checked out the records, but with low expectations. The selection was either naff Easy Listening or good records that were severely damaged. Imagine my luck when I found a copy of “Louie Louie” that wasn’t trashed. I paid my fifty cents and took it home.
When I flipped the record, I was pleasantly surprised. “Haunted Castle” was a Garage Rock instrumental propelled by electric piano and the guitar on tremolo. I was hooked and played that side repeatedly. Why did I like “Haunted Castle?” Simply put, it lived up to its title: it was haunting.
5. 6060-842 – The B-52’s
Released July 1979 as the flip of “Rock Lobster.”
To a culturally stranded Midwestern teen, The B-52’s certainly stood out. They were a bizarre pastiche of early 1960s sounds mutated through campy futurism. Both Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson wore period bouffant hairdos and fashions. They looked and sounded like music from “The Jetsons.” They were so warped that I couldn’t help but love them.
“Rock Lobster” gained airplay in the spring of 1980, so I bought a copy. The flip, “6060-842,” was just as quirky. It was the tale of spotting a phone number scrawled on a restroom wall and calling it with illicit intent. The groove was every bit as danceable as “Rock Lobster,” and contained just as much retro Surf guitar. Oh, yeah, frontman Fred Schneider played a smoke alarm. That’s a good kind of crazy.
6. Listen, the Snow is Falling – Yoko Ono
Released November 1971 as the flip of “Happy Xmas (War is Over).”
Nothing brings out hatred and rancor more than the mention of Mrs. John Lennon, Yoko Ono. Many cling to the myth that she broke up The Beatles. Others focus, quite rightfully, on her vocal shortcomings. The latter is why “Listen, the Snow is Falling” comes as a pleasant surprise. This gentle wintertime melody features Ms. Ono in good voice. She hits most of the notes correctly, allowing one to focus on the song’s beauty. Given a mellow Pop-R&B backing, the traditional Japanese-style melody is very sweet and compelling. A hidden gem in post-Beatles history.
In the CD era and beyond, it seems that single B-sides are an antiquated concept. Compact Disc singles were usually extended to four or more tracks. Digital downloads come one song at a time. There is no need for a second song to fill up the other side. I guess I will consider myself lucky that I lived in a time when one could discover buried treasure on the flip side of a record.
Jim Hutter is a veteran Columbus musician, journalist, and ASCAP songwriter who has been active in these arts since the 1980's.