Category: Song of the Week

Needle Hits E by Sugar: Great B-Sides

I spent many happy hours in my late teens and twenties trawling used bins for CD bargains. I gained a … Continue Reading Needle Hits E by Sugar: Great B-Sides

The b-side is largely a 20th century commodity – from around 2005, singles charts began to count digital downloads, and … Continue Reading Fever by Carly Rae Jepsen: Great B-Sides

It’s counter-intuitive to include The Smiths‘ most iconic song in a b-side series, but it was first released as the … Continue Reading Great B-Sides: How Soon is Now? by The Smiths

So far, in this b-sides series, there have been four scenarios in which good songs find themselves languishing on the … Continue Reading Great B-sides: Find the Cost of Freedom by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young

As much as I love The Beatles, their solo careers have always mildly disappointed me. If you put ten years … Continue Reading Great B-sides: Daytime Nighttime Suffering by Wings

The Replacements started as a bratty punk band, but as the 1980s wore on they lost their rough edges. They … Continue Reading Great B-sides: If Only You Were Lonely by The Replacements

The late Tom Petty was a brilliant singles artist – he wrote hit after hit of likeable, jangle rock. Contemporaries … Continue Reading Great B-sides: Girl on LSD by Tom Petty

The untimely passing of Talk Talk mastermind Mark Hollis this week has sent many fans back to re-examine his masterpieces. … Continue Reading Great B-sides: Pictures of Bernadette by Talk Talk

Kate Bush‘s 1982 album The Dreaming was excellent, but it wasn’t especially commercially successful. She’d previously enjoyed ground-breaking UK success; … Continue Reading Great B-sides: Under the Ivy by Kate Bush

B-sides are a relatively rare commodity for progressive rock bands. They often refused to stoop to the level of those … Continue Reading Great B-sides: Twilight Alehouse by Genesis

Remember the 1990s, when physical albums sold by the truckload? Manchester band Oasis had their second album, (What’s the Story) … Continue Reading Great B-sides: The Masterplan by Oasis

In hindsight, The Flirtations’ best known song, ‘Nothing But A Heartache’, sounds like a girl group classic from the early … Continue Reading Great B-sides: How Can You Tell Me? by The Flirtations

Last week’s great b-side was a 1980s college rock band with folk-rock inclinations covering a folkie from the previous generation … Continue Reading Great B-Sides: Wall of Death by R.E.M.

Folk-rock band 10,000 Maniacs often recorded covers for their b-sides; a smart move, as they showcased how cool their record … Continue Reading Great B-Sides: Hello in There by 10,000 Maniacs

After Ian Curtis’ passing, Joy Division transitioned into New Order, with Bernard Sumner taking over the front-man role, and Gillian … Continue Reading Great B-Sides: 1963 by New Order

I mean, Led Zeppelin didn’t write tunes that every one liked. They left that to the Bee Gees. Wayne Campbell … Continue Reading Great B-Sides: Hey, Hey, What Can I Do by Led Zeppelin