In the mid-1960s, artists like The Beatles and The Beach Boys began emphasizing longer works over shorter, radio-oriented singles. But before the album-oriented trend, singles dominated the market. The A-side was the focus track for radio programmers, while the B-side (or flip side) included lesser-known songs. Yet some B-sides became hits and even outperformed their A-side counterparts. The four classic songs below were first released as B-sides, but their flip-side status nonetheless didn’t keep them from becoming as iconic as the singles they backed.
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“How Soon Is Now?” by The Smiths
The Smiths’ B-sides were not throwaway songs. These non-album tracks rivaled other bands’ singles, and “How Soon Is Now?” further proves what a prolific songwriting duo Morrissey and Johnny Marr were. It appeared as the B-side to “William, It Was Really Nothing” in 1984 and saw an international release on the compilation album, Hatful Of Hollow.
Marr’s iconic riff echoes Bo Diddley’s signature groove, and he created its pulsing tremolo effect by running his guitar back through four Fender Twin Reverb amplifiers. Marr had to record the tremolo part in short bursts, beginning again each time the tremolo lost sync with the rest of the track. Meanwhile, Morrissey’s introvert anthem borrows from George Eliot’s Middlemarch: “I am the son and the heir / Of a shyness that is criminally vulgar.”
“Half The World Away” by Oasis
The Smiths’ legendary B-sides inspired Noel Gallagher, and many Oasis B-sides reached similar mythical status among the Britpop faithful. Gallagher based “Half The World Away” on Burt Bacharach’s “This Guy’s In Love With You”, and it first appeared backing the 1994 single, “Whatever”.
Oasis’ B-sides were later collected on The Masterplan, and there’s an alternate reality where many of the songs would have been left aside for Be Here Now. Imagine the Earth 2 version of the third Oasis album includes “Acquiesce”, “Talk Tonight”, “Going Nowhere”, “The Masterplan”, and “Half The World Away”. In the 1990s, standalone single releases with B-sides often preceded the full-length album as indie rock bands began to dislodge pop stars from the U.K. singles chart.
“Pink Cadillac” by Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen first recorded “Pink Cadillac” during the demo sessions for what became Nebraska. It sounded nothing like the mid-century rock and roll recording that became the B-side to “Dancing In The Dark”. Re-recorded with the E Street Band, it nearly made the track listing for Born In The U.S.A., but Springsteen, instead, chose “I’m Goin’ Down”.
Elvis Presley’s cover of “Baby, Let’s Play House” inspired “Pink Cadillac”, specifically the lyric: “You may have a pink Cadillac / But don’t you be nobody’s fool.” (Presley famously traveled to early gigs with his band in a pink Cadillac.) The slap echo effect on Springsteen’s recording also pays homage to the King of Rock and Roll.
“I Am The Walrus” by The Beatles
The Beatles set the standard for nearly everything a rock band does, so it’s no surprise they also recorded historic B-sides. “I Am The Walrus” appeared as the B-side to “Hello, Goodbye” in 1967, and John Lennon’s psychedelic song became one of The Beatles’ most beloved tunes.
Lennon wanted “I Am The Walrus” to be a single, but Paul McCartney and producer George Martin voted it down in favor of “Hello, Goodbye”. It surprised no one when Lennon admitted to journalist David Sheff that he’d written the song during an acid trip. “Goo-goo g’joob!”
Photo by David Tan/Shinko Music/Getty Images
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