Single B-sides that should have been A-sides

I don't necessarily mean singles where the B-side was better and the sides should have been reversed, though those would work here too. I'm talking more about B-sides that were never released as A-sides but should have been, regardless the quality of the A-side they actually backed.

I'll start with Steely Dan's "Any Major Dude Will Tell You," which was the B-side of "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" but instead should have been an A-side of its own. I think it would have been a more successful "Rikki" follow-up than "Pretzel Logic" (U.S. #57).

Any others?

 

"Hello, Goodbye"/"I Am The Walrus" and "Hey Jude"/"Revolution" could have been double A-side singles.

 

"Silver Springs" by Fleetwood Mac

 

My pick would be Sonny & Chér's Love Don't Come, which was the B side of The Beat Goes On. I wish it would have been the follow-up single that Spring of 1967, instead of A Beautiful Story. Love Don't Come has a very strong melody, interesting lyrics, and one of Sonny Bono's best vocals as well as a fine vocal by Chér. I believe it had the potential to at least be a Top 20 single.

 

AC/DC's version of Baby Please Don't Go, originally the B-side of Love Song off the Australian High Voltage.

 

Never having heard either song, I listened to them just now and I agree. Btw, "Love Don't Come" reminds me of another song, though the name isn't coming to me.

 

IIRC, "Mr. Brownstone" was the B-side to "Welcome to the Jungle" and could have been an A-side. "Think About You" was never released as a single at all and could have been an A-side.

"A Passage to Bangkok" was the B-side to "Vital Signs."

 

If you guys don't mind, please list the artists you're referring to as I'm not familiar with some of these. For example, in the last post I knew Guns 'n Roses but had to look up Rush. Thanks.

Great examples so far, btw...

 

Velvet Goldmine should have been an A-Side in ‘72 or ‘73, instead of being relegated to a B-Side in ‘75

 

Thin Lizzy - Memory Pain, b-side to Trouble Boys

 

Oh yes. That chorus, the outro...

I'm sure the lyrics played a part in deciding how/where to release it.

 

The Kinks ~ I'm Not Like Everybody Else

(b-side to Sunny Afternoon)

 

PJ Harvey-“Memphis”

Just as good as the A-side, “Good Fortune”

 

I'm not sure how it would have fared as an A-side, but it's an awesome song.

That video won't play here, btw.

 

I always felt Waitin' Guilty by the Black Crowes was too good of a song to be relegated to the b-side of their Hard To Handle cover. In addition, they play it live quite a bit as well.

 

Pretty much any Beatles b-side.

 

Oasis
Acquiesce - one of the best songs the band ever wrote ( A side was, Some Might Say).

The Masterplan - another classic relegated to the B side though the A side, Wonderwall, was pretty decent too!

A strange one next...Jasper Carrot! The A side was the distinctly average Funky Moped. But the B Side had his rather amusing adult interpretation of the children's programme, The Magic Roundabout!

 

The Animals I'm Gonna Change The World the b-side of It's My Life could have been a good a-side.

 

The Jam also regularly did great B sides especially Butterfly Collector and Tales From The Riverbank.

 

Too Many People (B-Side of Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey) from Paul McCartney's RAM is A-Side material... but I was happy to get both on the same 45 when I bought it in 1971.

 

'I Am The Walrus' is great. Love it. One of my fave Fab Four songs...but it could never have been a hit single.

 

The Association- Looking Glass

 

Stevie Wonder probably has a few of these. I'll just go with "Too High," the "Higher Ground" B-side.

(And slightly off-topic: Why Stevie's "Golden Lady" was never released as an A- or B-side is beyond me.)

 

Right?

 

The Cure "Harold & Joe". A b-side head and shoulders above a-side "Never Enough". I believe the head was Harold's and the shoulders were Joe's.