Created in Europe at the turn of the century, popularized by Americans to fill the second side of a 45 RPM single, the B-side triumphed in the England of the sixties, where a youth culture that had grown up with their parents’ deprivations snapped up any piece of product by their favorite artists. Hence the domination of white Anglo-British acts.
Three rules: (a) no B-side on this list appeared on any album other than a comp; (b) I included no double A-sides; (c) and one song per act to prevent Prince, Suede, Pet Shop Boys, and Pavement from running away with this.
1. Kate Bush – Be Kind to My Mistakes
2. The Who – Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
3. Suede – To the Birds
4. New Order – Cries and Whispers
5. Yoko Ono – Don’t Worry Kyoko (Mummy’s Only Looking for Her Hand in the Snow)
6. Nirvana – Even In His Youth
7. Psychedelic Furs – Aeroplane
8. Fleetwood Mac – Silver Springs
9. Prince – Gotta Stop (Messin’ About)
10. Depeche Mode – Sea of Sin
11. Bruce Springsteen – Shut Out the Light
12. Them – Gloria
13. Buzzcocks – Something’s Gone Wrong Again
14. The Cure – This Twilight Garden
15. The Smiths – These Things Take Time
16. Funkadelic – Stuffs and Things
17. The Beatles – The Inner Light
18. The Go-Go’s – Good for Gone
19. Go-Betweens – Rock and Roll Friend
20. Electronic – Second to None
21. Bob Dylan – The Groom’s Still Waiting at the Altar
22. Pearl Jam – Yellow Ledbetter
23. Sugar – Needle Hits E
24. Pet Shop Boys – I Get Excited (You Get Excited Too)
25. The Specials – Friday Night, Saturday Morning
26. Pavement – Westie Can Drum
27. Stevie Nicks – One More Big Time Rock and Roll Star
28. The Clash – City of the Dead
29. Wings – Daytime Nighttime Suffering
30. Morrissey – Sister, I’m a Poet
31. Arctic Monkeys – Despair in the Departure Lounge
32. Madonna – Supernatural
33. XTC – Jump
34. Bloc Party – Skeleton
35. Pere Ubu – Heart Of Darkness
Humanizing The Vacuum 