Thinking about great b-sides to singles, I remembered a previous mention here on ICE of George Thorogood's 'That Philly Thing' (the flip side to the 'Nobody But Me' single).

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There have been some awesome songs that originally appeared exclusively on the back side of a released single (not counting double A-side singles, or common album tracks that were used as a flip side).

What's your favorite B-side?

Rain

Off the top of my head, Another Lonely Christmas by Prince.

Both 80's Prince & 70's Bowie had tons of awesome b sides.

"Silver Spring" - Fleetwood Mac

"Erotic City" - Prince

2 awesome choices. I'd have to rank SS as equal to my earlier choice.

"Child of the Moon"--Rolling Stones

"Gotta Stop (Messin' About) - Prince (I don't think this was originally a B-Side, but the first time I came in contact with it was as the B-Side to the 12" of "Let's Work". We had it at the college radio station I worked at.)

I'm pretty sure it was a b side, that's also where I first got it.

chuck's lament - CSN - bside of "live it up" better than most songs on the album.

interstate - neil young - bside of "big time" - just excellent

another vote for "erotic city"

and another fleetwood mac tune "you and i part 1"

My Generation - Patti Smith

Some more that I liked...

"Roulette" - Bruce Springsteen ("One Step Up")
"Theme From Wayne's World" - Aerosmith ("The Other Side")
"Driftwood" - A-Ha ("The Sun Always Shines On TV")
"Jump" (Van Halen cover) - Aztec Camera ("All I Need Is Everything")
"Everlasting Love" - U2 ("All I Want Is You")
"Dancing Barefoot" - U2 ("When Love Comes To Town")
"Daytime Nighttime Suffering" - Paul McCartney ("Goodnight Tonight")
"Pink Cadillac" - Bruce Springsteen ("Dancing In The Dark")
"January Stars" - Sting ("If I Ever Lose My Faith In You")
"30 Days Out" - Bruce Springsteen ("Roll Of The Dice")

"30 days out" is one of my favorite springsteen songs, i forgot that one.

Hey Hey What Can I Do - Led Zeppelin

i know it's on the album, but i always liked "rari" by the standells, the b-side of "dirty water".

"Don't Let Me Down" (b-side of "Get Back") is another favorite of mine.

Flexible Strategies - The Police.

I'm going to go with the first one that came to my head: "I Lie Around" by Wings. This isn't the greatest song of all time (several better ones have already been mentioned) but I'm naming it because I had the "Live and Let Die" single and at the time I was just becoming aware that some flip sides were not readily available on any album. Also, this song has a loose, playful feeling that was a nice contrast to the bombastic a-side.

Dunno if I could pick an all-time favourite, but here's a bunch that I like:

Beatles:
"This Boy"
"She's A Woman"
"Yes It Is"
"I'm Down"
"Rain"
"The Inner Light"
"Revolution"
"Don't Let Me Down"
"Old Brown Shoe"
"You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)"

Paul McCartney:
"C Moon"
"Daytime Nightime Suffering"
"Check My Machine"
"Secret Friend"
"Rainclouds"
"Ode To A Koala Bear"
"Flying To My Home"
"The First Stone"

George Harrison:
"Zig Zag"

Prince:
"Hello"
"She's Always In My Hair"
"Erotic City"
"Shockidelica"
"How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore"
"Another Lonely Christmas"

Billy Joel:
"I'll Cry Instead"
"Elvis Presley Boulevard"

Bruce Springsteen:
"Pink Cadillac"

Any Beatles B-side is worth it....even Yes It Is.

Into the Groove — Madonna

Four that haven't been mentioned yet:

"Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues (Live)"--Dylan w/The Band, b-side of "I Want You"
"Baby Don't You Do It (Live)"--The Who, b-side of "Join Together"
"Shut Out The Light"--Bruce Springsteen, b-side of "Born In The U.S.A."
"Dandelion"--The Rolling Stones, b-side of "We Love You"

The one that stands out in my mind:

I Can Hear You Calling - Three Dog Night ("Joy To The World")

A couple that I liked a lot as a kid:

Melody Hill - The Archies ("Sugar Sugar")
Truck Driver - The Archies ("Bang Shang A Lang")

Follow-up note:



Oops...that kind of went right by me. I don't think any of the above qualify under those terms.