B-Ware The Death Of The B-Side

From last Sunday (January 9th), Hit40UK - the chart used by Britain's commercial radio stations - will base the chart on airplay and downloads only. So it would seem that the CD single will become obsolete. Whilst there is nothing surprising about this it does bring to the fore once more the question of the b-side and what implications this will this have for it. Whilst it is true that amongst indie bands the 7" has had a resurgence, the demise of the cd single format and tendency for people to download only single tracks means that that there is now no pressure on artists to record / release any more than the single itself. Whilst I have no intention of sounding like a technophobe I do believe that we may now lose many songs that would have made it on to a b-side, with bands choosing to put out only what they consider their very best recordings. But a look at the list of great b-sides suggests that this could result in many lost gems.

Hound Dog by Elvis, Revolution by The Beatles, How Soon Is Now by The Smiths, Unchained Melody by The Righteous Brothers, No Fun by Sex Pistols - all of these were originally b-sides thought not good enough to be released as a single or put on an album. But it is the b-sides of lesser-known bands that have a special place in my heart and are most at risk of not being replicated by modern bands (even if 7" sales are healthy you can only fit one or two songs on each side and the propensity of remixes these days means even less original output). When you consider that over the past decade (on average) weekly sales of 20,000 will get you a top ten hit then a minor hit obviously is not shifting thousands of units and a single in the lower reaches of / outside the chart not a great number at all. For me this has meant that discovering a gem of a b-side has always felt special as, whilst most people will buy an album they like, they are unlikely to buy all / any of the singles - therefore leaving great tracks to be unearthed and treasured.

Thus it is that Brutality by Black Box Recorder, Won by The Beta Band and Calimero by SFA (from which I take my dj pseudonym) form part of a collection of songs that always stir that little something else when listened to. I hope that vinyl sales keep up this fine tradition as I fear that the next generation of music-buyers may be missing out on something if not. For as good as it is to have so much music so widely available on the Internet, discovering a great b-side has always meant investing that little bit more (emotionally as well as monetarily) in a band.

My favourite b-side of all time is Birds Of Paradise Farm by Divine Comedy, off the Something For The Weekend single (closely followed by Songs Of Love off the same single, but that also appeared on the album - Cassanova - so it doesn't count!) . It features Neil Hannon crooning and swooning his way through three minutes and fifty seconds of pop-perfection. This was the time of three b-sides on a single and it still offers great value for money as all three, as well as the single, are first-rate songs that have been lovingly crafted. And for that I will always love it, and them. Which is another thing about b-sides, they are a good pointer as to the respect a band have for their fans. If a band puts in the effort to produce great b-sides then it is a show of appreciation to the fans who buy them, like doing a couple of hours work after everyone else has gone to the pub. A lot of bands will stick a demo and a remix on the b-side, this suggests they either can't be arsed or they haven't got enough material - neither a satisfactory outcome. The latter can be argued of The Charlatans, although they have produced many good singles their b-sides have always fallen short of matching the a-side.

I'm sure there will be some bands who continue to put the effort in and release singles on 12" with two or three b-sides but they will probably be few and far between...I hope I'm wrong.