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The B Side

 


When I was growing up the record player was a vital accessory for a young person. All record players that I saw always had four speeds: 16, 33 1/3, 45, and 78 RPM (Revolutions Per Minute). I never saw any actual 16 or 78 records, but the speeds were there on the record player. All my albums were 33 1/3. Singles were always on 45 RPM records which were smaller than albums and needed a special adapter to fit the larger hole. In general, the faster a record spins (the more RPMs) the higher the sound quality. This makes sense. You can pack in more data per second if the record is spinning faster. So, 16 RPM records were lower quality and 78 RPM records were the highest quality. Although in practice, the faster the speed also means the faster the record wears out.

When bands released an album, it was common to also release at least one single on a 45. Most of the records I bought were albums. I bought a lot of albums. But I can count the singles I bought over the course of my life on one hand. I’m not sure why. I guess I just felt I was getting my money’s worth with an album. The single was a song the record company thought might gain traction and get radio play. If people heard the single and liked it, they might buy the album. The 45 singles had one song on each side (so, it was actually a double). The side that had the song they wanted people to hear was on the “A” side. Some other song from the album was on the “B” side. Also known as the flip side.

Funny thing though, record companies were not always savvy about picking the song that the public was going to latch onto. Sometimes they picked duds, and sometimes the song they picked for the B side wound up more popular than the one on the A side. Here are some examples:

 

Elvis Presley, “Hound Dog” (the A side was “Don’t be Cruel”)

Chicago, “Color My World”

Bill Withers “Ain’t no Sunshine When She’s Gone”

Patti Page, “The Tennessee Waltz”

Donna Summer, “I Feel Love”

Rod Stewart, “Maggie Mae”

The Righteous Brothers, “Unchained Melody”

Kiss, “Beth”

Ritchey Valens, “La Bamba”

The Doobie Brothers, “Black Water”

The Beach Boys, “God Only Knows”

Bill Haley and the Comets, “Rock Around the Clock”

The Rolling Stones, “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”

 

The Beatles were a special case. They were such a hit machine that on many of their singles it was hard to say which of the songs the people were buying. B sides include: “I am the Walrus,” “Revolution,” “Strawberry Fields,” “P.S. I love You,” “Rain,” “Don’t Let Me Down,” “I Saw Her Standing There,” “Ask Me Why,” “Baby, You’re a Rich Man.”

“Singles” continued into the CD era but it wasn’t quite the same, more of a holdover from the past. It’s not like it costs the record company less to produce a CD with one or two songs on it when they already have an album of twelve songs ready to go.

It is not hard for me to understand why record companies had trouble picking out the winner. Art is hard to figure out, or at least it is hard to figure out what art is going to sell. Maybe it is because selling is business. Art is all about emotion. Selling and creating come from different parts of the brain. Whatever kind of art you enjoy, it is always good to check out the B side. 


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