In the record business, what do "b/w" and "c/w" mean?

Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports
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With reference to: In the record business, what do “b/w” and “c/w” mean?

http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a991015.html

“The term single actually is a misnomer–couple is more like it, since a 45 has two sides. The side the record company felt had the most commercial potential was referred to as the A side, and the flip side was the B side.”

I recently found this while trawling around the Hi-Fi/Aoudiophile sites, which seems to inicate that there were, possibly, Single sided ‘singles’ and hence the name?

"A company built on original ideas. A company built on sound revolution. A company built simply on quality music.
Since 1910, when listeners were delighted with its first gramophones and single-sided records, Denon has been bringing sensual sound to life for thousands of individuals around the world with superb audio and audio-visual equipment and software products.
Today, Denon is recognised internationally as a leading manufacturer for both the professional entertainment and information industries as well as everyday people…like you. "

Site: http://www.denon.co.uk/startpage.htm

:rolleyes:

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I doubt that they’re related. Some early gramaphone records did have grooves on only one side while standard speeds and formats were being worked out, but the industry had long established common use of two-sided 78 rpm disks by the time the 45 and 33-1/3 formats came into existence. “Single”, as Cecil indicated, was used to indicate the release of a selected track from an LP for promotion on the “A” side of a 45. Given that the 45 had two sides, something was put on the other side of it, but not usually heavily promoted, leading to the misnomer.

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backed with, comes with.