September 26, 20222 yr Madonna didn't want to release it originally did she? It blows my mind such an iconic song was intended to be a b-side Thankfully it was changed as its one of madonnas stand out singles.
September 26, 20222 yr I thought maybe Tragedy which went on to be one of Steps’ most widely known singles (albeit a cover) was a B Side of Heartbeat from 1998. I couldn’t recall any other examples.
September 26, 20222 yr Author Wow I didn't realise we would have quite this many examples, I thought it was a much less frequent occurence but I was clearly wrong! I thought maybe Tragedy which went on to be one of Steps’ most widely known singles (albeit a cover) was a B Side of Heartbeat from 1998. I'm pretty sure that was issued as a double A-side.
September 26, 20222 yr Sam Fender - Alright Started out as a b-side to the physical release of ‘Long Way Off’ - then was issued as a RSD vinyl before finally being pushed as a standalone track and reached #61 earlier this year (The song which it was originally a b-side for never charted).
September 27, 20222 yr Author Wasn’t Bohemian Rapsody a B Side?? Absolutely not. I think you're thinking of 'We Will Rock You'.
September 27, 20222 yr Maybe was just thinking of the controversy around the length of the song which put DJs off initially!0
September 27, 20222 yr Arguable as to count this but 808 State's 'Cubic' (top 10 in 1990 as a double A side with 'Olympia') was originally the third and final track in 'The Extended Pleasures of Dance' EP which made no. 56 earlier that year. Depends if you count non lead EP tracks.
September 28, 20222 yr Oasis - Half The World Away was a B-side to Whatever and although it wasn't released as a single, it did chart in its own right in 2015 following Aurora's cover version for the John Lewis ad.
September 28, 20222 yr Not in the UK, but in the US 'I Feel Love' by Donna Summer started as the B side to 'Can't We Just Sit Down (And Talk It Over)'. The single flopped but the label noticed that the B side was attracting a number of plays, flipped the record and made 'I Feel Love' the A side. As mentioned above, the same happened to 'I Will Survive' by Gloria Gaynor which in the US started life as the B side to 'Substitute', a song that was charting in the UK at the time by a band called Clout. In the UK, the respective labels waited until the US labels had flipped the records and released the B sides as the A side.
September 28, 20222 yr Didn't something similar happen with Shaggy's It Wasn't Me? It was originally intended as the B-side to Dance & Shout in the US anyway until it started picking up plays of its own.
September 28, 20222 yr Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" was originally the B-Side of a Song called "Substitute"
September 28, 20222 yr Author Single Ladies. That was a simultaneous release with 'If I Were A Boy', not the same thing at all as being an earlier B-side. Not in the UK, but in the US 'I Feel Love' by Donna Summer started as the B side to 'Can't We Just Sit Down (And Talk It Over)'. The single flopped but the label noticed that the B side was attracting a number of plays, flipped the record and made 'I Feel Love' the A side. As mentioned above, the same happened to 'I Will Survive' by Gloria Gaynor which in the US started life as the B side to 'Substitute', a song that was charting in the UK at the time by a band called Clout. Two of the most iconic songs ever originally being B-sides is pretty insane!
September 28, 20222 yr Author Oasis - Half The World Away was a B-side to Whatever and although it wasn't released as a single, it did chart in its own right in 2015 following Aurora's cover version for the John Lewis ad. Not quite the same thing as it wasn't released as a single as you say, but that might be a contender for most famous B-side that wasn't subsequently released as a single in its own right. I can't think of many better known ones than that!
September 28, 20222 yr Into the Groove was a B side for Angel in the US. "The song was only available as the B-side of the 12-inch single of "Angel" in the United States, therefore it was ineligible to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 at the time" (Wikipedia)
September 28, 20222 yr Two of the most iconic songs ever originally being B-sides is pretty insane! It's crazy to imagine if neither of those had started getting plays by anyone, they'd have just fallen by the wayside and been forgotten!
September 28, 20222 yr Kylie Minogue’s where is the feeling was actually a b-side in a remixed version for her previous single, put yourself in my place. The single was also remixed for release!
September 28, 20222 yr Didn't something similar happen with Shaggy's It Wasn't Me? It was originally intended as the B-side to Dance & Shout in the US anyway until it started picking up plays of its own. Not quite - 'Dance & Shout' was pushed as the first single but 'It Wasn't Me' was just an album track until it started taking off when a radio DJ in Hawaii started playing it after downloading it off Napster.
September 28, 20222 yr Not quite - 'Dance & Shout' was pushed as the first single but 'It Wasn't Me' was just an album track until it started taking off when a radio DJ in Hawaii started playing it after downloading it off Napster. What a story!
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