# 45 RPM Singles. Did you play the B-side? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 8, 2005, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/45-rpm-singles-did-you-play-the-b-side/307503 "2005-06-08T20:26:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/45-rpm-singles-did-you-play-the-b-side/307503/101 "2013-07-15T02:01:21Z")
> [@fishbicycle](#): > > Bruce Springsteen has a great track called “Pink Cadillac” that was only on the B-side of “Dancing In The Dark” and its 12" single. There are lots more. > > How about you? Ever found a great tune where you didn’t expect to? R.E.M. has usually put non-album instrumentals on their singles, whether they were 45s, cassingles, or CDs. Some are gems, and some - well, not even R.E.M. bats 1.000. “Reveal” was proof of that. :smack: BTW, Aretha Franklin turned “Pink Cadillac” into a big hit single. And did you know that Springsteen wrote “Because The Night” and “Blinded By The Light”? The former is obvious; the latter wasn’t, and one other thing. That mysterious word in BBTL is “Deuce”, as in a racecar or a roadster, not that thing women sometimes do that’s not usually recommended by doctors and is actually the French word for “bathe”. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/45-rpm-singles-did-you-play-the-b-side/307503/102 "2013-07-15T02:12:16Z")
> [@ltfire](#): > > I have a juke box in my basement, and whenever I am down there doing whatever, it’s cranked up so that the windows rattle. All 60’s stuff. It has a switch inside, that allows for continuous play, and I had never used it, happy to pick out my own play list instead of random. So, I am working on a plumbing problem, up a ladder, and expecting to be at it for an hour or so. For the first time, I hit the continuous play switch, thinking it will play some 50 or so selections in an hour. Cool. > Well, for one hour, I listened to the B sides of every record played. I thought some one had broken in, stole all my classics, and re stocked the box with..well, B sides! > Terrible music. > I could not even guess what group was singing. > I have since reversed all the records in their slots, and had to turn all the title/artist cards around, so I can enjoy this feature. 🆒 I wonder what the B-side is of the single for Blue Oyster Cult’s “Burnin’ For You”. You know, that line “…time to play B-sides…” ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/45-rpm-singles-did-you-play-the-b-side/307503/103 "2013-07-15T02:25:15Z")
I always played the B side. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/45-rpm-singles-did-you-play-the-b-side/307503/104 "2013-07-15T02:45:57Z")
There were two cassettes of B sides I listened to incessantly in the mid 80s: > **[Various - Attack Of The Killer B's, Vol. 1](https://www.discogs.com/release/1499255-Various-Attack-Of-The-Killer-Bs-Vol-1)** > > View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 1983 Vinyl release of "Attack Of The Killer B's, Vol. 1" on Discogs. > **[Various Artists - Revenge of the Killer B's, Vol. 2 Album Reviews, Songs...](https://www.allmusic.com/album/revenge-of-the-killer-bs-vol-2-mw0000858132)** > > Discover Revenge of the Killer B's, Vol. 2 by Various Artists released in 1984. Find album reviews, track lists, credits, awards and more at AllMusic. Really great fun. And hey, everyone in this thread knows what I meant by ‘cassettes’! ---
**Author:** ![ruh-roh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ruh-roh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruh-roh)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/45-rpm-singles-did-you-play-the-b-side/307503/105 "2013-07-15T02:55:43Z")
The flip side of “They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!” is the same song, in reverse. Even the label was a mirror image of the A side. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/45-rpm-singles-did-you-play-the-b-side/307503/106 "2013-07-15T03:03:06Z")
My favorite B side was on _Rock Around The Clock_ (Bill Haley and the Comets). It was called _[13 Women and Only One Man in Town](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzL8n5_OOkA)_. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/45-rpm-singles-did-you-play-the-b-side/307503/107 "2013-07-15T03:24:33Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I’m trying to remember what a 45 cost in the 50’s. Seems like it might have been a buck. Anybody remember for sure? That seems like a lot of money. The price I paid was about 69 cents each. I was able to save 10 cents from my lunch money each day and had almost enough at the end of the week to buy a record. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/45-rpm-singles-did-you-play-the-b-side/307503/108 "2013-07-15T03:29:29Z")
National Lampoon’s _Goodbye Pop_ album had a song called _The B Side of Love._ ---
**Author:** ![ruh-roh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ruh-roh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruh-roh)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/45-rpm-singles-did-you-play-the-b-side/307503/109 "2013-07-15T03:32:50Z")
The B side of, I think, the 1960 Johnny Bond version of Hot Rod Lincoln was titled “7 Minute Love Affair”. Only at the end of the song does it become obvious that it is a song about smoking a cigarette. ---
**Author:** ![Apocalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Apocalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apocalypso)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/45-rpm-singles-did-you-play-the-b-side/307503/110 "2013-07-15T13:29:51Z")
> [@mambocrow](#): > > The Beatles caused some problems for Capitol Records back in the day when **occasionally the B side of a Beatle’s single would ascend into the top 10 along with the A side**. An example of this that I remember was a single released in 1965 “I Feel Fine” (A side) and “She’s A Woman” (B side), I think **both those songs made it to #1**. It happened again with “Penny Lane” and “Strawberry Fields Forever” (I forget which was the A and which was the B, but I think I remember one of them hit #1 and the other #3). Capitol would lose money when this happened, since they would have preferred that these songs were released on separate singles, so they could sell more records. > > I always listened to every cut on every phonograph record I bought, at least once. I listen to every selection on any music CD I buy now. (If I paid for it, I’m going to listen) 😕 Of course records were around when I was growing up, but they were dying out. When I started buying music of my own the big deal was cassette tapes so that’s what I bought (You could play them in your CAR, man!). These ‘A sides’ and ‘B sides’ are different sides of the same record? Records were tracked by sales, right? How can an A side and a B side be tracked separately and reach different positions on the charts when they’re sold together as one record? ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/45-rpm-singles-did-you-play-the-b-side/307503/111 "2013-07-15T15:52:42Z")
Regarding 45 records-there were two ways to play them-you either inserted a plastic adapter (to make it compatible with the 33-1/3 spindle, or you put a plastic adapter over the spindle. Anyway, do they still make these adapters? ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/45-rpm-singles-did-you-play-the-b-side/307503/112 "2013-07-15T16:16:13Z")
Slight hijack: If you want to hear the best ever version of Pink Cadillac, check out Jerry Lee Lewis and Bruce Springsteen on Killer’s “Last Man Standing” album. Amazing. Then listen to the rest of the album. It’s great. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/45-rpm-singles-did-you-play-the-b-side/307503/113 "2013-07-15T16:56:32Z")
> [@Apocalypso](#): > > These ‘A sides’ and ‘B sides’ are different sides of the same record? Records were tracked by sales, right? How can an A side and a B side be tracked separately and reach different positions on the charts when they’re sold together as one record? Because they were “tracked by sales” but not in the computerized Soundscan way they’re tracked today - instead retailers would write out a list of their bestsellers and submit the list to Billboard (or whatever other chart compiler). The retailer could decide whichever side of the record people were buying it for and list the record under that title… Also, chart positions were partially determined by radio airplay, so this data would make it more clear which side of the single was the popular one (at the moment; often the popular side would switch)… Also, jukebox sales were factored in, and there’s no ambiguity there about which side people are playing. In the case of Billboard, this all became academic in late 1969 when they stopped tracking separate sides of a single and began listing them as one unit. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/45-rpm-singles-did-you-play-the-b-side/307503/114 "2013-07-15T17:15:47Z")
> [@ruh-roh](#): > > The flip side of “They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!” is the same song, in reverse. Even the label was a mirror image of the A side. I read somewhere that a person played this on a restaurant jukebox, and the restaurant was vacated before the song was over. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/45-rpm-singles-did-you-play-the-b-side/307503/115 "2013-07-15T17:17:06Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Regarding 45 records-there were two ways to play them-you either inserted a plastic adapter (to make it compatible with the 33-1/3 spindle, or you put a plastic adapter over the spindle. > Anyway, do they still make these adapters? Actually, they do. You can buy them anywhere that sells new vinyl. ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/45-rpm-singles-did-you-play-the-b-side/307503/116 "2013-07-15T21:24:46Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > BTW, Aretha Franklin turned “Pink Cadillac” into a big hit single. Actually, it was Natalie Cole who had a hit single with “Pink Cadillac.” Aretha had a hit with “Freeway of Love” which included the line “We’re riding on the freeway of love in a pink cadillac” which may be the source of the confusion. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/45-rpm-singles-did-you-play-the-b-side/307503/117 "2013-07-15T21:48:28Z")
Believe it or not, Gloria Gaynor’s massive disco classic “I Will Survive” was a B-side. No one remembers the A-side, “Substitute” (not the Pete Townshend song). ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/45-rpm-singles-did-you-play-the-b-side/307503/118 "2013-07-16T02:18:19Z")
I believe I only ever purchase a single single in all by vinyl buying days (which lasted well into the CD era)…that was the aforementioned “Immigrant Song” by Led Zeppelin…and it was only because it was the only way to get my hands on “Hey Hey What Can I Do”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/45-rpm-singles-did-you-play-the-b-side/307503.md?page=5)