Category: Song of the Week

Great B-Sides: Breakaway by The Cars

It’s the year of Our Lord 2019, and we’re rapidly approaching peak-rock-star-death era. The Cars’ mastermind Ric Ocasek passed away … Continue Reading Great B-Sides: Breakaway by The Cars

Aside from their debut, each of The Go-Betweens’ studio albums follows a set formula – exactly ten songs with five … Continue Reading Great B-Sides: That Girl, Black Girl and Rock ‘n’ Roll Friend by The Go-Betweens

In 1978 New Zealand art-rockers Split Enz were in crisis. The group had lost key original members like Phil Judd … Continue Reading Semi Detached by Split Enz: Great B-Sides

Neil Young first rose to prominence in 1960s folk-rock group Buffalo Springfield, playing lead guitar on their breakthrough hit ‘For … Continue Reading Sugar Mountain by Neil Young: Great B-Sides

John Flansburgh and John Linnell have been making nerdy pop music as They Might Be Giants since 1982. The Massachusetts … Continue Reading James K. Polk by They Might Be Giants: Great B-Sides

Little Richard emerged in the first wave of rock and roll in the 1950s, with hits like ‘Tutti Frutti’ and … Continue Reading I Don’t Know What You’ve Got But It’s Got Me (Part 2) by Little Richard: Great B-Sides

James Murphy always intended to be a drummer or a sound technician, but ended up fronting a dance-rock band New … Continue Reading Yr City’s A Sucker by LCD Soundsystem – Great B-sides

In 1967, The Rolling Stones followed The Beatles into baroque psychedelia. While the resulting album, Their Satanic Majesties Request, has … Continue Reading Child of the Moon by The Rolling Stones: Great B-Sides

There are b-sides that are of high quality, that should never have been left off their parent albums. And then … Continue Reading The End of the Affair by Prefab Sprout – Great B-sides

Rock chameleon David Bowie experienced two separate career peaks. Most artists improve with experience then run out of ideas, but … Continue Reading Velvet Goldmine by David Bowie: 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