A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song (the one that the record producer hopes will receive radio airplay and become a "hit"), while the B-side, or flipside, is a secondary song that often does not appear on the artist's LP.
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The earliest 10-inch, 78 rpm, shellac records were single sided. Double sided recordings, with one song on each side, were introduced in Europe by Columbia Records and by the late 1910s they had become the norm in both Europe and the USA. There were no record charts until the 1930s, and radio stations (by and large) did not play recorded music until the 1950s (when top 40 radio overtook full-service network radio). In this time, A-sides and B-sides existed, but neither side was considered more important; the "side" did not convey anything about the content of the record.
In 1948, Columbia Records introduced the ten- and twelve-inch long-playing (LP) vinyl record for commercial sales, and its rival RCA-Victor responded the next year with the seven-inch 45 rpm vinyl record, which would come to replace the 78 as the home of the single. The term "single" came into popular use with the advent of vinyl records in the early 1950s. At first, most record labels would randomly assign which song would be an A-side and which would be a B-side. (All phonograph (gramophone) records have specific identifiers for each side in addition to the catalog number for the record itself; the "A" side would typically be assigned a sequentially lower number.) Under this random system, many artists had so-called "double-sided hits", where both songs on a record made one of the national sales charts (in Billboard, Cashbox, or other magazines), or would be featured on jukeboxes in public places.
As time wore on, however, the convention for assigning songs to sides of the record changed. Very early into the decade, the song on the A-side was the song that the record company wanted radio stations to play, as 45 records (or '45s') dominated the market in terms of cash sales. It was not until 1968, for instance, that the total production of albums on a unit basis finally surpassed that of singles in the United Kingdom.[1] By the early 1970s, double-sided hits had become rare. Album sales had increased, and B-sides had become the side of the record where non-album, non-radio-friendly, instrumental versions or simply inferior recordings were placed.
With the advent of cassette and compact disc singles in the late 1980s, the A-side/B-side differentiation became much less meaningful. At first, cassette singles would often have one song on each side of the cassette, matching the arrangement of vinyl records, but eventually, cassette maxi-singles, containing more than two songs, became more popular. With the decline of cassette singles in the 1990s, the A-side/B-side dichotomy became virtually extinct, as the remaining dominant medium, the compact disc, lacked an equivalent physical distinction. However, the term "B-side" is still used to refer to the "bonus" tracks or "coupling" tracks on a CD single.
With the advent of legal methods of downloading music via the Internet, sales of CD singles and other physical media have declined, and the term "B-side" is now less commonly used. Songs that were not part of an artist's collection of albums are made available through the same downloadable catalogs as tracks from their albums, and are usually referred to as "unreleased", "bonus", "non-album", "rare", "outtakes" or "exclusive" tracks, the latter in the case of a song being available solely from a certain provider of music.
B-side songs may be released on the same record as a single to provide extra "value for money". There are several types of material commonly released in this way, including a different version (e.g., instrumental, a cappella, live, acoustic, remixed version or in another language/text), or, in a concept record, a song that does not fit into the story line.
Additionally, it was common in the 1960s and 1970s for longer songs by soul, funk or R&B acts to be broken into two parts for single release. Examples of this include the Isley Brothers "Shout" (Parts 1 and 2), and a number of records by James Brown, including "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" (Parts 1 & 2) and "Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud (Parts 1 & 2). "Part 1" would be the chart hit, while "Part 2" would be a continuation of the same recording. A notable example of a non-R&B hit with parts 1 & 2 was the single release of Don McLean's "American Pie". With the advent of the 12" single in the late 1970s, the Part 1/Part 2 method of recording was largely abandoned.
Since both sides of a single received equal royalties, some composers deliberately arranged for their songs to be used as the B-sides of singles by popular artists. This became known as the "flipside racket".
On a few occasions, the B-side became the more popular song. This was usually because a DJ preferred the B-side to its A-side and played it instead. Examples include "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor (originally the B-side of "Substitute"), "I'll Be Around" by The Spinners (originally the B-side of "How Could I Let You Get Away"), "Maggie May" by Rod Stewart (originally the B-side of "Reason To Believe"), and "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" by Beyoncé (originally the B-side of "If I Were a Boy"). More rarely, both sides of the single would become hits, such as Queen's "We Are the Champions" and "We Will Rock You".
The song "How Soon Is Now?" by The Smiths started out as the extra track on the 12" of "William, It Was Really Nothing" but later gained a separate release as an A-side in its own right, as did Oasis's "Acquiesce", which originally appeared as a B-side to "Some Might Say" in 1995, but gained subsequent release in 2006 as part of an EP to promote their forthcoming compilation album, Stop the Clocks. Feeder in 2001 and 2005 had the B-sides "Just a Day" from "Seven Days In The Sun", and "Shatter" from "Tumble and Fall" released as A-sides after fan petitions and official website and fansite message board hype, and both charted at #12 and #11 in the UK. In 1986, the first single from XTC's record Skylarking, "Grass", was eclipsed in the United States by its B-side, Dear God --- so much so that the record was almost immediately re-released with one song (Mermaid Smiled) removed and "Dear God" put in its place, becoming one of the band's better-known "hits".
On some reissued singles the A- and B-sides are by completely different artists, or two songs from different albums that would not normally have been released together. These were sometimes made for the jukebox, as one record with two popular songs on it would make more money, or to promote an artist to the fans of another. For example, in 1981, Kraftwerk released their new single "Computer Love", with the B side of "The Model" from their previous album. After "The Model" found popularity, the single was re-released with the sides reversed, and "The Model" hit the UK No. 1 spot, three years after its album release.
Occasionally, artists released albums of compiled B-sides and rare tracks. Examples are numerous, including:
A "double A-side" is a single which has two featured songs. This practice was introduced by The Beatles in 1965 for their single "Day Tripper" which appeared on the same single with "We Can Work It Out". The Beatles released a number of other double A-sided singles, namely "Yellow Submarine" b/w "Eleanor Rigby", "Strawberry Fields Forever" b/w "Penny Lane", and "Come Together" b/w "Something".
Some singles have also been designated double A-sides in retrospect, such as Elvis Presley's 1956 "Don't Be Cruel" which appeared on the same single with "Hound Dog"; this was done because both sides became chart hits independently of one another. In fact, "Hound Dog" was the B-side of the single as originally released.
In the UK the biggest selling non-charity single of all time was a double A-side, Wings 1977 release "Mull of Kintyre"/"Girls' School", which sold over 2 million copies. It was also the UK Christmas No.1 that year, the only occasion on which a double A-side has topped that chart.[2]
Queen released "Fat Bottomed Girls"/"Bicycle Race" as a double A-side in 1978.
Occasionally double-A-sided singles are released with each side targeting a different market. During the late 1970s, for example, Dolly Parton released a number of double A-sided singles, in which one side was released to pop radio, and the other side to country, including "Two Doors Down"/"It's All Wrong but It's All Right" and "Baby I'm Burning"/"I Really Got the Feeling".
Oasis released "Little by Little"/"She Is Love" as a double A-side in 2002. Many artists continue to release double A-side singles outside of the US where it is seen as more popular. Examples of this include Bloc Party's "So Here We Are"/"Positive Tension" and Gorillaz "El Mañana"/"Kids with Guns".
Artists having the most U.S. double-sided singles where each side charted in the US Hot 100, according to Billboard:[3]
| Artist | number |
|---|---|
| Elvis Presley | 51 |
| The Beatles | 26 |
| Fats Domino | 24 |
| Pat Boone | 21 |
| Ricky Nelson | 19 |
| Nat King Cole | 19 |
| Brenda Lee | 16 |
| Ray Charles | 16 |
| Connie Francis | 13 |
| Everly Brothers | 13 |
| Perry Como | 12 |
| Brook Benton | 12 |
| Aretha Franklin | 11 |
| Sam Cooke | 11 |
| The Platters | 10 |
| Jackie Wilson | 10 |
| The Beach Boys | 8 |
| Creedence Clearwater Revival | 7 |
| Bill Haley & the Comets | 6 |
| Johnny Mathis | 6 |
| Rolling Stones | 6 |
NOTE: Perry Como (12) and Nat King Cole (19) both had additional double-sided singles on Billboard's pre-1955 charts.[4]
Artists having the most U.S. double-sided singles where each side reached the Billboard Top 40, according to Billboard:[3]
| Artist | number |
|---|---|
| Elvis Presley | 26 |
| The Beatles | 14 |
| Ricky Nelson | 11 |
| Pat Boone | 10 |
| Fats Domino | 9 |
| Brenda Lee | 6 |
| Connie Francis | 6 |
| Everly Brothers | 6 |
| Perry Como | 6 |
| Nat King Cole | 5 |
| The Beach Boys | 5 |
On vinyl, double A-side singles had one song on either side of the record, while double B-sides contain two songs on the same side (on the B-side; altogether giving 3 songs). When such singles were introduced in the 1970s, the popular term for them was "maxi single", though this term is now used more ambiguously for a variety of formats. These would not quite qualify as EP singles - as that is generally 4 songs on a single. The term is also sometimes used in a self-denigrating fashion for a release with no A-side at all, suggesting neither side is of high quality.
Examples include "Styrafoam" / "Texas Chainsaw Massacre Boogie" by The Tyla Gang Gang (1976), and "Jack Rabbit" / "Whenever You're Ready (We'll Go Steady Again)" by Elton John (1973).
Paul McCartney's 1980 single "Coming Up" had a studio version of the song on the A-side, while the B-side contained two songs, a live version of "Coming Up" and a studio instrumental called "Lunchbox/Odd Sox".
The concept of the B-side has become so well known that many performers have released parody versions, including:
The term "b/w", an abbreviation of "backed with" or occasionally "bundled with", is often used to refer to the B-side of a record. The term "c/w", for "combined with" or "coupled with", is used similarly.[5]