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The Beauty of the B-Side

Stephen McCauley explores and celebrates B-sides in all their idiosyncratic glory.

The rise of music streaming has effectively made the ‘b-side’ redundant but b-sides occupy a unique space in music history.

A vestige of physical media, the b-side was a track, or tracks, that artists put on the other side of a 7” single. It escaped the journalistic scrutiny applied to a-sides and albums and, as a result, represented a free space where artists could experiment and try out different ideas.

Many b-sides were nothing more than filler but most were fascinating and, in quite a few cases, better or more significant than the a-side single itself. Stephen McCauley explores and celebrates the beauty of the b-side including iconic flip-sides from The Smiths, Elvis Presley, Bjork, Lafaro, Oasis, PJ Harvey, Aphex Twin, Duke Special and The Cure.

2 hours, 49 minutes

Last on

Fri 19 Jul 202419:04
BBC Radio Foyle & BBC Radio Ulster

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17/11/2023

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Conchúr White live in session

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Music Played

  • The Smiths

    How Soon Is Now

  • Elvis Presley

    Hound Dog

  • Stereolab

    French Disko

  • The Cure

    The Exploding Boy

  • Iggy Pop

    Passenger

  • Primal Scream

    Velocity Girl

  • Joy Division

    Novelty

  • The Beatles

    Rain

  • Oasis

    Half The World Away

  • Nirvana

    Aneurysm

  • The Undertones

    Mars Bar

  • Bonobo

    Nightlite (Bonobo Remix)

  • Them

    Gloria

  • Ramones

    I Wanna Be Sedated

  • Ash

    Don't Know

  • Aphex Twin

    Flim

  • Bob Dylan

    Don't Think Twice, It's All Right

  • PJ Harvey

    Memphis

  • The Cure

    Too Late

  • New Order

    1963

  • Jetplane Landing

    My Father's Hands

  • The Doors

    Lovestreet

  • McCarthy

    We Are All Bourgeois Now

  • Manic Street Preachers

    Hibernation

  • Little Richard

    Reddy Teddy

  • Radiohead

    Talkshow Host

  • Judy Street

    What

  • The Beatles

    I Am The Walrus

  • Therapy?

    Pantopon Rose

  • LaFaro

    All Of These Things

  • The Cure

    A Foolish Arrangement

  • Björk

    Karvel

  • The Jesus and Mary Chain

    Why'd You Want Me

  • Rod Stewart

    Maggie May

  • Magazine

    My Mind Ain't So Open

  • The Velvet Underground

    Rock and Roll

  • The Afghan Whigs

    Rot

  • David Bowie

    Suffragette City

  • Duke Special

    Quiet Revolutionaries

  • The Beach Boys

    God Only Knows

Broadcasts

  • Fri 24 Nov 202319:03
    BBC Radio Ulster & BBC Radio Foyle
  • Fri 19 Jul 202419:04
    BBC Radio Foyle & BBC Radio Ulster