B-Sides that are better than the A-Side.

If this has already been done, please delete. Anyway, I'll start off with Lonesome Tonight by
New Order, which I think is substantially better than the A-Side, Thieves Like Us.

 

The B side to Trini Lopez If I had a hammer was Unchain my heart. As a small person I was suitably impressed.

 

Technically this was a double A-Side, but this tune is both far superior to the better-known Love is a Stranger (the other part of the 'double') and also relatively unknown for a #1 record...

 

B-side to Absolute Beginners:

 

Mistakes, b-side to One Step Beyond

 

That's fab. Slept on this. Only had a couple of Madness 7"s.

 

This doesn't fit in the category, cos the A Side was one of the best pop songs ever, but worth a mention is the newly aired demo version of Prince's fantastic 17 Days (which was the b-side to When Doves Cry).

'He sang the part of a lonely person': the story of 17 Days, a lost Prince masterpiece

 

B sides to 'she bangs the drums'

 

Seconds, b side to Don't You Want Me

and two that while not better are at least the equal of:

1963, b side of True Faith
Friday night, Saturday morning, b side of Ghost Town

 

There's great rehearsal footage of that here.

Spoiler

 

Angles and Devils by Echo and the Bunnymen'
B-Side to Silver.

 

One of my favourite Beatles tunes - b-side to Paperback Writer (itself a great tune) - Ringo doing a good job.

 

the b-side to Small Town is also worth an honourable mention

 

The Who: Baby don't you do it, live at Leeds 1971. A favourite, regular Who live number from the mid-sixties.
B-Side to Join Together.


ETA: This is in memory of the incredible Keith Moon, on the anniversary of his death forty years ago yesterday.

 

Flip side to Wouldn't it be Nice



Much better than Part 1

 

B-side to Whatever

 

B-side to A Little Soul

 

There have been points in my life where I would have said "Underwear" was a better song than "Common People".

 

Shits on Some Might Say

 

Thieves like Us is good but Lonesome Tonight is fantastic. The synth chords at the end really move me. Great choice.

 

B-side of I Travel 12" had 2 great songs:





Always loved this one by my fave punk band at the time:

 

Great tune. For some reason I'm thinking its only the B side on the US release, not the uk, or the other way round?

 

It was the b side of the copy my dad had, so I assume UK ?


Eta wiki says both us and UK b/with 'rain'

Etfa that bass though

 

While the original version of Albatross by Fleetwood Mac was released in 1968 with Jigsaw Puzzle Blues on the B-side, it was re-released in 1972 with Need your love so bad on the B-side, so I guess it counts

 

Both wonderful B sides. True Faith is the best pop song of all time and Ghost Town possibly the greatest number 1 of all time so they have to be good to punch their weight.

 

Furry muff

 

One of many great Kinks b-sides, this had Autumn Almanac on the other side:



Love both sides of this but this side edges it:

 

Yes, those synths are glorious.

 

I liked Moonshadow by Cat Stevens but thought the B side Father & Son a better song.

 

A side is Hello Goodbye. Have you ever listened to Hello Goodbye on LSD? It’s pretty fucking good. Despite not being an LSD track. Which, if you think about it, makes I am the walrus even more magnificent. For logic I can’t fathom right now.

I don’t even like McCartney tracks (Hello Goodbye) either. Which just adds to the conundrum. And Oasis’s live version (of I am the walrus) is a masterpiece. And I don’t even like Oasis much.

Whole post is a mess. Enjoy.

E2A - that is definitely not even The Beatles. World’s gone mad. Mind blown.