The death of b-sides

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Vern, May 17, 2015.

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  1. subzro

    subzro Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tx
    I have the Depeche Mode single for Personal Jesus on cd single as well as vinyl, both containing the song Dangerous.
    I think I just discovered Schrodinger's B-side.
     
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  2. thecdguy

    thecdguy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philadelphia, Pa.
    What about cassette singles? Some of them only had one song on each side.
     
  3. thecdguy

    thecdguy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philadelphia, Pa.
    I don't know if any of those were released as singles. It would seem senseless to do that, given how much music one side of a CD can hold. Weren't they basically audio on one side, video on the other? I never had any, so I'm not sure. A record store employee once told me that some people had problems playing those in their disc players.
     
  4. cublowell

    cublowell Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pittsburgh, PA
    On one hand, I always loved finding a new "import" CD single by one of my favorite bands in the 90s. You loved the album? What else did they do that didn't make the cut? These discs were usually 3 songs for $12-15, as much as a full-length album, for no apparent reason, and you already owned the first song. But the other two songs were almost always worth it, being the best way for bands to showcase their weird side or experimental side.

    What I can't stand is the damn "iTunes exclusive" bonus tracks now that aren't available separate from the album. Dumb idea.
     
  5. thecdguy

    thecdguy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philadelphia, Pa.
    More like they were fazed out by the end of the 90's. I was a big Cassette and CD Single collector myself, and the singles market was still alive and kicking when the decade began. By the mid-90's, many songs that were hits on the radio weren't being released as singles to help boost album sales. Many singles that were released only saw a limited pressing so that they could have a high chart debut (in a few cases, a #1 debut), and in some cases you really had to know a single's release date to make sure you could get your hands on a copy. ("Barbie Girl", "My Heart Will Go On" and "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It" come to mind immediately). This practice continued into the early 2000's and the format has been basically gone in the US for about 10 years, more or less. Even so, many of those singles' B-Sides are still the only place you can find them on CD. So for those of us who collect(ed) them, yes, they are very much missed indeed.
     
  6. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    This is why I'm always glad when CD remasters include rare B-Sides as bonus tracks. :)
     
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  7. thecdguy

    thecdguy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philadelphia, Pa.
    I think the format died out in the US more because the record companies were more concerned with album sales than singles. That's why they were hard to find in stores at that time. Collectors probably still would have bought them.
     
  8. Stereosound

    Stereosound Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
  9. Captain Groovy

    Captain Groovy Senior Member

    Location:
    Freedonia, USA
    Elton John always had the philosophy that if they're a fan, and they're going to buy your single and your album which will have the song on it, give them something a little extra! So he always made sure and included non-album tracks at some point earmarked for "b-side".

    "Deluxe Editions" these days don't cut it... it's just not the same feeling, either.

    Jeff
     
  10. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    I'd rather buy three Deluxe Editions with 10 or 15 B-Sides on them than a bunch of vinyl or CD singles.

    (That reminds me, we really need another Elton rarities box set)
     
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  11. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    The death of b-sides.

    Is b-sides a rapper? These guys are always getting killed.
     
  12. Demolition Man

    Demolition Man Forum Resident

    Only those who made a tidy profit selling the first few releases on Dual Disc since it was a limited market release.
     
  13. Love all those Paul McCartney's B-sides... Daytime Nightime Suffering to say one...
     
  14. BigManRestless

    BigManRestless Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    Really annoying! But it's not dumb from Apple (or whoever's) point of view in that they try and make you buy the whole thing again which means more profit for them.

    Like many others here I miss them and often make my own b-sides playlists on iTunes. Some bands already been mentioned (The Smiths, Suede, Blur) often had great b-sides. Some other great ones were Mansun, Pet Shop Boys and when they could be bothered with not just sticking an instrumental version of the a-side, New Order.
    I would much rather have a different/new song(s) as an extra track than remixes which I'd probably listen to once at most.
    Though it's odd a lot of hardcore fans back in the 70s or 80s would still buy a single even if both sides came from the album, or the b-side was a rubbish dub/instrumental version. Has the download era killed those off? Who'd bother to download one now?
     
  15. Captain Groovy

    Captain Groovy Senior Member

    Location:
    Freedonia, USA
    A fan of the artist.

    You don't find value in backing tracks, I see. No, the download era hasn't killed them off. In fact, I've notice they've increased dramatically.

    Very frustrating when a bonus is on iTunes-only (say, a backing track from Brian Wilson's SMiLE comes to mind). And of course, The Beach Boys release sessions, backing tracks, etc.... we love them!

    "We" being fans of the artist(s).

    Jeff
     
  16. BigManRestless

    BigManRestless Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    In general I don't like pop/rock instrumentals, and songs that are just the backing track with the vocals taken off aren't really for me.

    And I'm definitely one of the "we" who buys everything by certain artists no matter if I have the same songs elsewhere.
     
  17. Jim B.

    Jim B. Senior Member

    Location:
    UK
    The thing was though that the b-side offered a unique chance to do something different (if used right of course, we are not talking about just some album track put on there or some track that wasn't good enough for the album).

    A band knew essentially they had a free pass with b-sides, so could try something a bit different and experimental, that otherwise would not be heard as it wouldn't fit the album, or maybe a chance to cover an old favourite song that again wouldn't be considered 'right' for the full album.

    Best b-side band ever - The Smiths. Their b-sides are so good that I think 4 of them are on the 19 track 'Best Of'. Can anyone think of another band that had 4 b-sides on a best of? The best was William/How Soon is Now/Please Please Please and The Boy With The Thorn In His Side/Rubber Ring/Asleep.
     
  18. Summer of Malcontent

    Summer of Malcontent Forum Resident

    [​IMG]
    Hello, down there!

    I Am the Walrus, Revolution, Don't Let Me Down, Old Brown Shoe. And a couple more if you include either side of a couple of double-As.
     
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  19. Captain Groovy

    Captain Groovy Senior Member

    Location:
    Freedonia, USA
    That's cool - there's no "definition" of "megafan" - I can be blamed for not collecting every darn live release of my favorite bands or artists! I'm a "studio" guy... :)

    Jeff
     
  20. Jim B.

    Jim B. Senior Member

    Location:
    UK
    Ah, but that's a double album, so there will be more room.
    The Best of the Smiths vol 2 has a further 2 b sides, so 6 in total.
     
  21. RichC

    RichC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Charlotte, NC
    None of you are Ryan Adams fans, I take it....
     
  22. BigManRestless

    BigManRestless Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    So am I. I find studio out-takes (/bootlegs) far more interesting than live stuff in general. I was mainly thinking of 80s b-sides which are just the same track minus vocals (and sometimes given completely different titles - hello Thompson Twins). Stuff from the 60s or 70s that was built up take by take is totally different. I can happily immerse myself in the Good Vibrations sessions or the various Monkees tracking sessions on the deluxe editions of their albums.
     
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  23. scobb

    scobb Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    Bryan Adams?:hide:
     
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  24. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

  25. libertycaps

    libertycaps Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, OR, USA
    B-sides, E.P.'s, bonus tracks, 12" singles on CD or wax...it's all good.
    Now those "Hidden tracks" at the end of CDs after ##mins of silence? Annoying and a bit crap 99.9% of the time.
     
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