Ten Great B-sides
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You know the moment - very rare but infinitely sweet. Your mind is on another level. You let the CD single slip on to
the extra tracks you never bothered playing or you flip the vinyl to the perpetual shadow that is its b-side. Then
- wallop - you are slapped out of your reverie by the throwaway song that pulls the punch the a-side forgot to chase.
The powerful backyard generator with the sweet perfume of dripping diesel. Ten examples are tendered here for argument
and awe.
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Katrina & the Waves
'Going down to Liverpool'
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U2
'Spanish Eyes'
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good decade and a half before they decided their mission was to save the UK from Eurovision shame, Katrina & the
Waves were working with the man who moulded REM's early and great riffs - Scott Litt. One of the fruits of their Litt
sessions was "Walkin on Sunshine" which is still guaranteed to have a conference of fish surgeons stomping the
floor and hooting like a hyena in no time. But it was its b-side that really should be out there booming from the
speakers. An understated, sublime piece of guitar heaven that will slowly turn your packed front room quiet if you just
slip it unannounced on the stereo. The Bangles cover of it provides no reference point to the gentle genius of the
original and doesn't even deserve to be alluded to here. One listen to the guitar break two thirds the way through the
original and you will pass the rest of the day perplexed, pondering on the Greek tragedy that was their descent to
Eurovision hell. (Submitted by Eoghan O'Neill) |
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 1987,
on top of the world with the Joshua Tree shipping in the thousands of millions, and the lads still had time to pack
their singles with luscious guitar epics. We had "Luminous-Times" on the arse-end of With or Without you,
there was the now ubiquitous "Sweetest Thing", but best of all, by an Irish mile, was Spanish eyes on the back
of Where the Streets. It's U2's hookiest moment, where the Edge finally cops to what Abba and the Beatles meant by a
catchy riff, Bono comes in roaring "Hey, Hey Hey!" and then we have the highest tempo, most lyrically acute
crush song of the 80's. Bono belts it out like a man obsessed and by the end of the 3 minutes, you're half in love with
this imaginary dark-eyed beauty too. Un-f**king-forgettable, and worth the ?40 or whatever it'll cost you to get your
hands on this. (Submitted by Jim Clarke) |
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An Emotional Fish
'Grey Matter'
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Oasis
'Acquiesce'
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 Back
in the days before everything and your mother got remixed, when Irish acts had 4 members who played different
instruments instead of 4 members who shaved their eyebrows, there was a remix of "Grey matter" on the back of
'Cry Like A Baby'. It's all deep bass and jangly guitars. And drug references 'I drilled a hole in my head to let the
sunshine through'. And if that isn't a perfect lyric to have licked in your ear while cycling into work on a rainy
Monday morning I don't know what is (submitted by Anais). |
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 "I
dunno what it is that makes me feel aliiiivvvvve...." So sings Liam Gallagher at the beginning of Acquiesce, b-side
to Oasis' first UK number one hit, 'Some Might Say'. Easily one of Oasis's best songs - a mixture of Liam's sneering
Lennon-esque delivery, a soaring chorus sung by Noel ( "...cos we believe in one another..." ) and a driving
rhythm and lead guitar attack. The song is testament to Noel's belief that the B-side is no place for throw-away
in-studio noodling... I could fill this entire Top10 with Oasis B-sides, especially songs from their earlier singles
like "Talk Tonight" and "Cum On Feel The Noize", all of which have been collected on their 1998
compilation, "The Masterplan" (submitted by Steve McNulty). |
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Beatles
'Rain'
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Radiohead
'How I made my millions'
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 The
B-side to Paperback Writer (and the first Beatles tune to incorporate the use of backward tapes), this typically melodic
John Lennon song with its simple, almost nursery-rhyme, lyric can be found on their Past Masters Vol 2 compilation.
Released in 1966 when, of course, The Beatles were "..bigger than Jesus..." a promo video that the group shot
for the song was shown on Top Of The Pops so does that make them the only group to have a B-side video shown on the
Pops?!? Filmed in colour, but broadcast in black-and-white, the video consisted of several intercut sequences of the
band lip-synching in front of some bushes (!), walking in a row through a conservatory and some quite bizarre close-ups
of Ringo's eyes..... A revolutionary band but a truly vile video! (Submitted by Steve McNulty). |
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four track recording, allegedly committed to tape in Thom Yorke's house, is just voice and piano. Some would consider
that Thom overdoes himself with the melancholy of his voice but the result is profoundly moving. It speaks a truth that
adds credence to the argument that writing about music akin to 'performing ballet for architecture'. So with that I
might as well stop writing.... (Listen closely to some bugger pour a bowl of Cornflakes in the background, surely
thinking to him- or herself that there must be happier ways to begin the day then have to listen to this emotional
cheer). (Submitted by Eoghan O'Neill) |
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INXS
'PTAR speaks'
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David Bowie
'Velvet Goldmine'
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 What's
going on here? This was the band that produced a cacophony of radio friendly, post-live aid, self-indulgent poseur rock
with a great big void at its heart. Then, out of nowhere, they furrow a song on the flip side of 1991's "Baby don't
cry' that resembles Mike Oldfield recovering from an Absinthe hangover? The complicated atmosphere it creates is without
precedence in their catalogue - a simple piano motif repeats occasionally over a shuffling drumbeat and voices in
foreign tongues, Germanic or Asian - it is difficult to tell, melt with the synthesizer. It seems to tap closely to that
place you journey to when waking at dawn from a mysterious dream. Some music captivates, but only very rarely does it
draw you back to your reverie. (Submitted by Eoghan O'Neill) |
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 When
Neil Armstrong was doing the zero gravity aided Triple Jump for all mankind, it was young Bowie who managed to capture
the zeitgeist succinctly with "Space Oddity". However, its b-side was not without its own claim to a place in the
stratosphere of music. Its initial signature guitar lick anticipates Mick Ronson's greatest moments on Ziggy Stardust
five years later. It slowly moulds itself towards a killer chorus that by the end has degenerated into an ethereal
humming, peppered with blissful melody. (Submitted by Eoghan O'Neill) |
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Manic Street Preachers
'Dead trees & Traffic Islands'
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Cure
'The Exploding Boy'
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 One
of three impressive b-sides that turned up on the CD single of "Design for Life". The firm and steady rhythm exists
in precarious harmony with the fragility of the wind section. But forget about the fragile assertion there - this is a
driven piece of music from the very first acoustic strums. "Paralysis through analysis" is the advice of the
opening line so I may as well leave it at that for the moment. (Submitted by Eoghan O'Neill) |
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 B-side
to 1985's "In Between Days". It seems like Bobby Smith and his medicine men had just got back from some Arab
destination of choice and made it past HM Customs with some very strange instruments. That's only explanation I can
muster for the twisted but haunting noise that kicks off this rustling, twisting piece of optimism that has its a-side
well rattled. (Submitted by Eoghan O'Neill) |
Next time it'll be TEN great music
videos. Send us your
nominations now!
Also make sure you check out the other ten lists:
ten great film
soundtracks
ten great one-hit
wonders
ten great hidden album
tracks
ten great debut
albums
ten great rock & pop
instrumentals
ten great naff
songs of the eighties
ten great cover versions
ten great album openers
ten great Irish
singles that time forgot
