As I understand it, in general the B-sides of singles were not meant to be the main attraction for the record buyer. But usually, for most artists anyway, the B-sides could be found on the full album.

With Prince, many B-sides were left off of the album, yet they were sometimes better than the A-side single itself, or at least better than several other tracks that made it onto the album.

So what's up with these B-sides? How did "Erotic City" and "She's Always In My Hair" (among many others) not make the grade for the album? Or were they meant to be a reward for those willing to buy the singles and the albums? Did other artists do this?

Just wondering...

it used to be common practice (especially in the 80's) to
issue 'non album track' b-sides. B-sides weren't nesessarily
tracks that 'were not good enough' to make it onto the
album. They were often just unusual tracks that didn't fit
musically on any particular album. Prince hasn't had a
'true' b-side since 'Horny Pony' in '91.

BorisFishpaw said:

What about Rock and Roll is Alive?

lovemachine said:

Oh yeah!...my mistake, I forgot about that one

Okay,
Prince hasn't had a 'true' b-side since 'Rock and Roll
Is Alive! (and it Lives in Minneapolis) in '95.

TheMax said:

Loads of artists did this and many still do. Many artists took the opportunity to release songs as b-sides which wouldn't fit on the album either because of space or because they didn't fit the flow of the album.

For fans, the b-side offered the only new material a lot of the time and while some were devoted enough to buy the packaging, most wanted to find some new music inside it. Artists were usually depending on the support of their fans first to get a chart placing.

It hasn't always been the case that even the A side of singles appeared on the album. To start with singles were a product in their own right - Pink Floyd and The Beatles spring to mind as two acts that released singles that didn't appear on studio albums. Nowadays singles are mostly released to promote albums.

Sean
---
www.sean.co.uk

I miss Prince B-Sides [d]so much![/b] How a song like She's Always in My Hair didn't make an album is truly beyond me.

And a lot of times artists know when they're recording a song that it's going to be a b-side. It's a way to get more music out there than just the new albume every few years. And sometimes, b-sides are recorded after the album is already out and they're the fresh new thing. Take "Irresistible Bitch" for example. And I love how some artists now will put 2 or more b-sides on a single. B-Sides rule!

I think some bands record so much material, that the only way they can get away with releasing it all is to put half of it on album and offer the rest as B-sides...a band I like called St. Etienne has a practice of releasing album-length collections of the b-sides they released after they're finished releasing singles for an album...mo' money for them, I guess!

That was one of the true JOYS of being a Prince music lover in the 80s... the B-Sides were often in many ways more special than some of the music on the album.

"She's Always in my Hair" actually got radio play I remember and thought possibly one of his B-sides might do what Harold Faltermeyer did with the B-side Axel F that went to the top of the charts and number one in that year of 1985.

http://www.prebble.com/axelf.htm

Erotic City got a ton of airplay back in 84.

It all kinda makes sense, I suppose. When I think about "Erotic City," I have a hard time understanding how it was left behind on Purple Rain (including the movie!).

Ironically, back in '93, I bought The Hits / B-sides 3-disc set primarily to get that song on CD. I was a little pissed that the only way to get the B-sides was to buy the whole package; whereas, the other 2 discs could be purchased separately! WB (and Prince) clearly knew what they were doing with that set.

Seems like B-sides have been replaced with
'the remixes'...bring the hottest rapper of the
month into the studio, and, BAM, u got more
sales on that sorry-ass to begin with SONG!

I LOVE and miss Prince B sides. I remember when I first started collecting (back in 87) and I'd find an old 12" with a B side I didn't have and it was such a buzz!! Horny Toad!! My God!! I also think that 'Rave Into' Kinda gave us the extended versions and B sides (Beautiful Strange) that we woulda got from 'Rave Unto'

Revolution said:

Either that or get the latest techno DJ to do 5 remixes that all sound the same!. Generally I love B-sides, and hate Remixes, but there are a few good ones, such as Good Life (Big City remix) and Holy River (Ultrafantasy mix)

Pagey said:

that's right, it did. Before She's Always in My Hair, actually. Not even the radio station censors could stop that song, it was just too funky.

TheMax said:

it makes you wanna buy the single as well as the album. If single only contained the same tracks as the album no one would buy them

CD's killed the b-side, in more ways than the obvious. A vinyl LP used to consist of 7-9 tracks. and they could price them accordingly. Now CD's come along and 7-9 songs on a disc that holds 80 minutes of music won't cut it for the consumer. That's a CD EP (less ching for the suits).

Now we get the outtakes thrown in with the regular release, as filler ("here Joe consumer, knock yourself out").

Unfortunately, rare is the release that has 15 great songs on it...

usually a b*side can b a kick ass track...
but it just doesnt fit in with the album
Erotic City doesnt fit in with Purple Rain.
She'sAlwaysInMyHair doesnt fit in with ATWIAD.

often, with prince,

his b sides were his

best sides

many creative songs

were on the b sides

of his singles

LadyCabDriver said:

In my area,a TON of Prince B-sides received radio airplay.Beginning with "Irresistible Bitch" in 1983,these songs were all played on our biggest local R&B station...


"17 Days"
"Erotic City"
"Another Lonely Christmas"
"Hello
"Girl"
"La La La He Hee Hee"
"Shockadelica"


In many cases,these songs received just as much airplay as the A-side ("Erotic City" and "17 Days" especially).Prince was the King of the B-side in the 80s.

Joshy said:

I would argue that "She's Always In My Hair" would have fit perfectly on 'ATWIAD'.In fact,if it had been included,it would have been the obvious highlight of that album.It should have taken the place of "Tambourine".

But yeah,you're right about "Erotic City".It's WAY too funky for an album like 'Purple Rain' (which is mostly pop/rock).

I totally agree, She's always In My Hair would have fitted
on Around The World In A Day perfectly. I always suspected
that it wasn't included because the synth line was too
close to the one in Sex Shooter.

Erotic City, however, would have stuck out like a sore
thumb on Purple Rain, which in my opinion is probably
Prince's most perfectly sequenced album.

All you b-sides lovers should live in the UK. Especially in the 90's it was completely the opposite with Prince: many bands had two, three, four, five, even nine (blur) b-sides on EACH single release from an album! I'm talking about bands like Blur, Suede, Radiohead, Pulp, Oasis, and lesser knowsn bands as Elastica, Catatonia, Salad, Boo Radleys and loads of others. I like them also, but when a single is released and you need to buy both cdsingles plus a vinyl 7" plus a vinyl 12" because they all contain different b-sides, that can be pretty expensive (expecially in the netherlands where they let you pay 7 dollars for a cdsingle). Plus lots of bands aren't that talented to have all those unreleased songs. I mean sometimes there was a good reason the songs weren't on the albums: they were blueprints of other songs or sonic experiments, some great some crap. At this moment the dvdsingle is the next: Suede have released two singles off their last album A new morning. Each one had 6 b-sides divided over two cdsingles and a dvdsingle.

But yeah, I'd also loved him to do songs on b-sides again. Hell I'd love him to do SONGS again.
[This message was edited Tue Aug 5 8:25:13 PDT 2003 by Freekclaassen]

DavidEye said:

No way ! "She's Always In My Hair" is such a poppy anthem. ATWIAD is far too quirky and introverted for an upbeat song like that. The only song it could of replaced is Rasberry Beret, but that's CRAZY talk !!! LOL

Freekclaassen said:

I agree, Suede in particular (especially in the early days)
produced some fantastic b-sides, easily as good as any
tracks on their albums.

james said:

True, SAIMH and Raspberry Beret together on ATWIAD would have made it too poppy..

Prince had one non-album A-side: Gotta Stop Messin' About. TMBGITW also looked like it was intended as a non-album A-side.

I got into B-Sides as soon as I got into Prince (1992). The first I heard was 17 Days, and I was so surprised to hear how good his b-sides were. After being spoilt by Prince's b-sides I have been sceptical of artists who only release a nine track album every three years without a sign of a b-side (or in Prince's case, other songs just getting out there somehow). How un-prolific!

Pagey said:

I also remember hearing "17 Days" and "Another Lonely Christmas" on the radio back in the day.

Ahhh...B-sides...how I miss 'em.

17 Days, She's Always In My Hair, Irresistible Bitch, Hello,
Horny Pony, How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore, Horny Toad,
La,La,La,He,He,Hee, Shockadelica, Feel U Up, Alexa De Paris,
Another Lonely Christmas, I Love U In Me, Girl, Erotic City,
etc. etc. etc...

What a dumb ass negro 4 not including " or $" nor "Alex De Paris" in Parade They sooo fit the theme of the LP/movie.

Harlepolis said:

yeah, but they both got put out as b-sides, so it ain't bad at all. it woulda been really bad if he hadn't put 'em out at all!

think about it: "i was watchin utcm the other day, and i've grown to love that " or $" song that's on there!!! why didn't prince put it out as a b-side or sumfin??"

...da horror.