the B-Side movement

Newbie answers!

"Erotic City", now nobody else can say it ha ha ha!

Er, we've done this quite recently. "ILM likes doing it backwards."

Pretty much everybody hates Suede, as far as I know, but "The Sound of the Streets" is a simply wonderful B-side.

Whoa! Mista Darnielle... pleasure to have you on board!

Well, I think most people who have taken music more seriously than the average Wherehouse consumer has a grand list of favorite B-sides. In other words, you might as well ask what your favorite non-single album tracks are, your favorite tracks that start with a Q are, etc.

So, I'm gonna try to limit this to songs that, I'm guessing, the artists intended to be B-sides or at least material that the band didn't necessarily want remembered..

• Devo "Turnaround" (1980)
  I believe this was my first memory of a song on a 7" that I clearly distinguished as a B-side, as opposed to a single or album track. It demanded your attention as much as its more rated A-side, but at the same time knew its place in the track sequence social world, but stood confident regardless. "Turnaround" was the flipside to "Whip it". I actually enjoyed "Turnaround" more than "Whip It" at the time because, well, a) I wasn't burnt out on "Turnaround" due to constant airplay on commersh radio of "Whip it" in 1980, and b) it was just quirkier and more electronic. (It didn't take much to please me as a kid) "Turnaround" had more a pounding bite to it. The spoken word part in the middle was something I wished "Whip it" had. Needless to say, the song was soon fater relegated to my subconscious until Nirvana decided to bring it alive again around 1993 or so, via "Hormoaning" and "Incesticide".
• Art of Noise "Hoops and Mallets" (1985)
  Grossly underrated B-side to "Legs". Definite precursor to whatever people call "IDM" these days. The percussion is just Fairlight samples of clopping shoes, while this extremely low gargoyle synth bass voice plods the song along. Both this and "Legs" proved that the Art Of Noise didn't really need Trevor Horn to be brilliant. Too bad that this single is the only proof of that.
• The Village People "The Women" (1970something)
  Yes, I was a disco kid. I forget if this was the flipside of "Macho Man" or "YMCA", but "The Women" is a song that I still have trouble finding in any sort of Village People retrospective or collection, so I'm guessing it was meant to only be a B-side. In any case, it was the most menacing, growling Village People song I remember. The verses were just downright sleazy, and was hardly subtle about it. Dare I say it was "heavy"? Unfortunately, the chorus would break the song out of the sludgey verses and completely wuss out into the realm of typical Village People filler fare.
• Super Furry Animals "Calimero" (1997)
  A B-side is a good B-side when it is the track that gets you into that band's music. And hearing this as Ned's house on day sold me into the SFA world. All the chaotic synth noises in the guitar din are purely bells and whistles, and I hate to admit it, but these bells and whistles lured me into the rat cage.
• Disco Inferno "D.I. Go Pop" (1993)
  Not to be confused with the album of the same name. This is the b- side from the "Last Dance" single. It's a completely playful headfuck of a song... just bass, sampler, and vocals. But they touched upon a weird hazy sick feeling in this track that can only be matched by moments from MBV's "Loveless".
• Sweet "Burning" (1973)
  Yeah, it was a bit of rip of "Immigrant Song", but I can't help but giggle whenever each melody ends with the fey bellows of "AAAAAAAAHHH Aaaaaaah"...

Hoops and Mallets!! Nice one, Brian. I shall play that again tonight.

My favorite My Bloody Valentine song ever is "Swallow"

Does "DWYCK" count if it never charted? I'm not guaranteeing that it didn't chart, and it was definitely an underground/mixtape hit, but still....

The Auteurs, "Kenneth Anger's Bad Dream"

Saint Etienne, "Duke Duvet"

Hey, Hey What Can I Do -- Led Zep.

Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf) -- Pixies.

And Erotic City was a fine answer, dave.

oh, and the live version of "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" on the flip of Dylan's "I Want You." A-Maze-Ing.

"Man Inside My Mouth" - The Cure. Always loved this song - reminds me of a Sid & Marty Kroft theme.

"Love is All Around" (Mary Tyler Moore Theme) Husker Du - B-Side to "Makes no Sense at All".

The Clash "1 2 Crush On You" - their finest moment?
Magazine "I Love You Big Dummy"

Magazine - "My Mind Aint So Open"

Buzzcocks - "Lipstick"

Joy Division - "Novelty"