I'm trying my hardest to remember any classic B sides that spring to mind other than Nirvana's cover of 'D7'. I do remember however 'www.sad' by 3 Colours Red which was a breath of fresh air to hear something new from them after listening to 3 Colours Red's 'Revolt' album no stop for weeks on end.

I have to disagree to some extent on the mention of the live tracks. I looked forward to hearing them myself, it gave me an insight as to how the band might reflect live i guess (despite its heavy editing on the studio prior to release).

I do remember when Muse were first discovered and thier first singles and eventual first album 'Showbiz' was released, each single came out as a 2 x CD set plus a vinyl release, each containing track a: the single, Track B: the B side and track C: a live song. Tracks B & C differing on each CD and vinyl.

That was a great way to hear more of a band who just couldn't get enough airplay back in the day, I've still got the first four CD singles (both discs of each and the vinyls) in my loft and to this day hearing 'Sunburn' being played on the guitar instead of the piano as it does on the album is incredible to hear.

Stuart, you mention 'Sappy' no that was a tune that just simply shouldn't have been axed, not that i could imagine it on 'In Utero' but nonetheless a brilliant tune, as is 'Aneurysm' another tune that failed the major album releases but managed to appear on the 'stop gap' release of 'Incestcide'.

Slightly off subject but i also feel tracks for motion pictures need a mention here. 'Kick me when I'm high' by Sum 41 never appears on an album, jeeeez what a tune! It ended up on the final, final credits of 'Dude where is my car' which warranted it's appearnce on the soundtrack. Paramore's 'Decode' is another great tune that never appeared on any of thier albums.

Long live the B side!

Stuart, is the compilation you refer to 'No Alternative'? I think there was a hidden NIrvana track on that… I remember picking that up at Hitchin Market many years ago, it was as though someone had knocked on every door in Seattle until they'd amassed all the popular American bands of the time. I think Soundgarden and Sonic Youth were on that album too.

Mark, I hear what you're saying regarding the quality of B-sides towards the end of the 90s, however, rather than tar every artist with the same brush I think it's fair to say that a few labels reluctant or unable to spend cash came up with the idea of chucking a few remixes of the same song on. This practice still continues today and I think it really undermines the value of the single. Don't get me wrong, I love hearing alternate mixes of a tune, however, one remix is enough, not three of the same song. At the risk of upsetting you further, I'm not convinced the addition of live tracks was ever to project the song 'as it was meant to be heard'. In fact, the recording of live performances is a relatively low cost affair and another way of chucking a B-side on without care (I am yet to hear a truly astounding live performance as B-side. Usually it's simply a badly mixed feed from a mixing console).

Another trick of record labels is to take a band's previous hit single and chuck that on the next release as a B-side, albeit as a variation on the original (live or remix), in order to try and shift more copies of the new song, which on its own might not perform as well.

One of my favourite B-sides is a song by The Cure named 'The Big Hand' (1992). It really is a fantastic tune produced by a band enjoying the greatest of success, and the production on the final recorded version is great. It appeared as the first of three B-sides to the single 'A Letter To Elise' taken from the 'Wish' album. The link below shows the song in it's very early stages being test-driven during some intimate live shows in 1991. The song developed a great deal in the following year and was a staple of The Cure's recent run of live shows. Track it down if you can, the final version is a brilliant tune.

http://www.youtube.com/user/audiojustice#p/c/F971A48C2C4B48D7/5/1NRi9BL2ORQ

Soooo many hours I used to spend sifting through dusty boxes in charity shops and record fairs to hear Pumpkins, Nirvana and Placebo B-sides.

I still maintain that Placebo had some great experimental b-sides which were often far more interesting than their more formulaic guitar driven album tracks.

If I had to pick a B-side that rocked my world I'd have to go with the Nirvana tune Sappy.

It was rejected from 'In Utero' and ended up being the secret track on an aids awareness compilation. I've still never got my head fully round that. A secret track on a charity compilation CD. Stuff of legend

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BE1KRj5iiM

The mid to late 90s was a terrible time for B-sides though. That was the time of the "remix" by some crappy dance DJ who usually plonked a crappy drum beat in the background along with a bass line that didnt match the song or vocal line.

Harking back to an earlier blog entry I posted, however, I think we're back to the 'iTunes' model of music consumption again, where the only songs downloaded are the 'hits'. How many people that you know have downloaded a B-side recently?!

I hear you Jamie; trawling record fairs far and wide was a guilty pleasure for many of us, particularly if you were looking for a B-side or two that had been deleted/removed from circulation by the time you'd decided you wanted to get hold of it. Looking back, while it is easy to remember the real sense of achievement from having located and purchased these rare tracks, I can't help but feel ever-so-slightly deflated knowing that if I'd have held on for a few years they'd all be available to me in a remastered-box-set format at a fraction of the cost. Pah!

The die-hard fans (of which I was certainly a self-confessed b-side hunter) loved that moment of finding "something" that only a select few would really appreciate.

That opportunity to "surprise and experiment" would often be something that only the very "discerning" would ever appreciate.

I recall the b-side to Alive by Pearl Jam. In fact, there were two, but the one I remember was the every-forgettable "Dirty Frank" (written as an after-thought for a roady on the "Ten" tour). It was truly an awful track, but the fact that the real "fan" would find it, made it priceless.

I soon discovered "bootleg" fairs, which would ultimately be replaced by fansites and online downloads.

Surely that moment for the "hardcore" would be lost forever?

What are your thoughts? Incidentally, great article there Mr Dan!