Talk:A-side and B-side

message: Two questions: firstly, shouldn't this page really live at B-side, with the redirect going the other way - it's not like they only ever exist in the plural. Secondly, should it exist at all, or should it be merged with flipside, which seems to mean the same thing (I'm guessing this is a US/UK issue, cos I've only ever heard them called B-sides myself.)  I may come back and sort this out sometime, seeing as neither article is very good at the moment, but I thought I'd try and bring it to the attention of anyone looking for something to do. - IMSoP 02:26, 19 Jan 2004 (UTC)
replies: text: Well, I've gone ahead and moved this (from B-sides), because I really don't see why it should have to be plural. I haven't got time to deal with the flipside issue at the minute though. - IMSoP 19:41, 4 Feb 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: Two questions

message: Where it says: "These songs are normally songs which did not make it onto the album, either because they were not considered good enough or because they did not fit in with the overall sound of the album tracks, or remixes."  Should that last part be "or because they are remixes," or is it saying something else?  --LostLeviathan 21:58, 5 Oct 2004 (UTC)
thread_title:  Unclear 

message: redirects here. I don't think that's right.
:As does A-side, which I also think isn't right, and is why I checked the talk page in the first place. The A-side != the B-side, and a Double A-side is something completely different - it hasn't got a B-side. --Kiand 03:51, 15 January 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Well usage wise I think it's appropriate because you really only use the term "A-Side" when contrasting it to the B-Side of an album. -- 03:51, 15 January 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Double A-side... 

message: very few vinyl singles are still released
Well, I still see a lot of new singles released on both CD and vinyl. Admittedly more are released on CD than vinyl, but to say that there are very few released at all is somewhat incorrect.
even the CD single has become virtually non-existent
That's even worse. There are hundreds of new singles released every month, to say CD singles are "virtually non-existent" is really incorrect.
What would be better ways of phrasing these?
Korinkami 15:48, 14 July 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Not quite true..

message: Shouldn't those B-Side collections and A-Side single lists be put in a separate article? --201.66.173.224 22:59, 13 August 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Endless Lists 

message: In the "history" section, isn't wrong the 1990s in this paragraph??
By the early 1990s, double-sided hits had become rare. Album sales had increased, and B-sides had become the side of the record where non-album, non-radio-friendly, instrumental versions or simply inferior recordings were placed.
I think it should be 1970s because the continuousness of the section.
190.1.211.196 04:39, 9 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Wrong decade? 

message: Do I remember right that "Yellow Balloon" (artist forgotten) was backed with the same song backward?  —Tamfang 06:00, 27 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  "[[Yellow Balloon]]" 

message: The "Other types of non-primary sound recording" seems a bit out of place. Unless it is mentioned at the end of the "B-sides" or the end of "Significane" section that these types of sound recording are occasionally included in album or on compilations, they have their own articles. This section is almost as big as the articles themselves. James Who (talk) 02:36, 8 January 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Other types of non-primary sound recording 

message: The article is called "A-side and B-side" but the entire article appears to be just about b-side or just a general discussion on singles. Perhaps some of this should be integrated into just a "singles" article, or the two sections should be divided up as some have suggested regarding the redirection funtion of this article. James Who (talk) 02:39, 8 January 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  All about B-Sides 

message: From the current text, it is not clear how many tracks are on the A side and B side respectively as far as a "double A side" and "double B side" is concerned. 85.127.135.188 (talk) 13:59, 18 June 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: There is no such thing as a "double B side." A seven-inch single record can either have an A side and a B side, or a Double A side, but not a Double B side. PJtP (talk) 00:29, 10 April 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  confusing double A/B side sections 

message: This section has been marked as "unclear", and I suspect much of the problem arises from the inclusion of the paragraph on Japanese "multiple A sides".  The fact is that neither of the examples cited really represent singles releases, but are rather EPs: a single recording with multiple tracks but not quite adding up to an entire album.  With concensus, I would like to delete that paragraph. WikiDan61ChatMe!ReadMe!! 14:15, 2 October 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Double A Side 

message: What about triple A-sides and other multiple A-sides greater than 2?  (Especially on cassette and CD. I know there are a few, but exact examples escape me just now.) --Champaign (talk) 05:12, 4 August 2009 (UTC)
replies: text:  If a short release has multiple A-sides (more than two) and no songs designated as "b-sides", then it'd be an EP, not a single.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 114.72.240.105 (talk) 21:53, 25 January 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Multiple A-sides 

message: Does anyone else find a list of examples to be unnecessary? It's obvious just by reading the article that such albums and songs exist, so it seems redundant to include an ever-growing "list of examples" to this article. Perhaps a Category:Albums containing B-sides and/or Category:B-sides for songs would be better? mheart (talk) 23:27, 26 January 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  List of examples necessary? 

message: The fact that people often use b-side in place of those other words (like "unreleased tracks" or "bonus tracks" whether it is "proper usage" or not?) I'm sure there must be some examples of it to cite, but I think it should be noted that the term B-Side is not always used to denote a song off a single anymore. TheHYPO (talk) 21:06, 11 February 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Can we add some reference to... 

message: I have removed a number of examples from a number of places - this article has a common pop-culture-wikipedia-article problem: everybody adding every example they can think of, for some phenomenon. For example, we don't need more than a couple examples of bands that had two-song B sides to illustrate that concept, and it isn't a rare enough phenomenon that there is any value in compiling all the examples. - DavidWBrooks (talk) 19:05, 27 March 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Way too many examples 

message: From the "Significance" section, I have removed some text, as it appears to be WP:OR as well as being very confusing.  If anyone knows what was trying to be stated, please feel free to add it!  Removed text (in itallics) below:
:More rarely, both sides of the single would become hits, such as Queen's "We Are the Champions" and "We Will Rock You". The reason probably being that US radio stations played them together in a double A-side fashion, which was appropriate since the single itself was a double A-side, contrary to what people think (We Are the Champions being the A-side and being such on its own).
I have also requested clarification in the Double A side section, as it is not clear what b/w means.  I'm guessing that it isn't "black and white". Stephen! Coming... 13:37, 7 August 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Removed confusing text and requesting clarification 

message: Queen's "These Are The Days of Our Lives/Bohemian Rhapsody" was UK Christmas No.1 in 1991/92, so the comment on the Paul McCartney song is false.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 114.72.240.105 (talk) 21:54, 25 January 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Mull of Kintyre not the only Christmas double-A. 

message: This article pretty much describes what I understand the terms A-side and B-side to mean.  However, the article on Strawberry Switchblade has more B-sides listed than there are singles, which is obviously impossible.  What I guess the article means are non-LP sides, but I have never thought of that as having anything to do with B-sides. Shocking Blue (talk) 13:11, 12 March 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Alternate Use of the Term? 

message: Sometimes the record companies made singles which were the same on both sides.  Not a disco version and a country version, but identical tracks.  These were sent to radio stations so they couldn't play the B-side.  Aren't these called double A-sides?   Randall Bart    Talk   01:56, 7 August 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: I've never heard of a promo referred to as a double A-side. Piriczki (talk) 16:49, 7 August 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  Same on both sides 

message: For those researching the topic, here are books:
* Vinyl: A History of the Analogue Record by Richard Osborne
* Music in American Life: An Encyclopedia of the Songs, Styles, Stars, and Stories That Shape Our Culture by Jacqueline Edmondson
* My Old Man's A Busman by Peter Gilbert
* Billboard, October 16, 1971, pg. MOA-6
* Vinyl: The Analogue Record in the Digital Age by Dominik Bartmanski and Ian Woodward
* The Flipside: Tuning in to the Joy Within by Margaret A. Lashley
* Vinyl Highway: A Memoir by Dee Dee Phelps
* From Small Screen to Vinyl: A Guide to Television Stars Who Made Records, 1950-2000 by Bob Leszczak
* B-Sides, Undercurrents and Overtones: Peripheries to Popular in Music, 1960 to the Present by George Plasketes
* The Vinyl Dialogues: Stories Behind Memorable Albums of the 1970s as Told by the Artists by Mike Morsch
* Post Punk Diary: 1980-1982 by George Gimarc
* Out of the Vinyl Deeps: Ellen Willis on Rock Music by Ellen Willis
* Randy Bachman's Vinyl Tap Stories
* I Love It When You Talk Retro by Ralph Keyes
* Billboard, June 10, 1967
* 45 Rpm: The History, Heroes and Villains of a Pop Music Revolution by Jim Dawson and Steve Propes
* The Billboard Book of Number One Hits by Fred Bronson
They are all that I can find about flipsides or vinyl sides. I can provide more if I miss any. George Ho (talk) 03:13, 27 December 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  Sources discussing A- and B-sides 

message: Pinging Moscow Connection and Piriczki about this. Moscow Connection and I have been editing Spinout (song), All That I Am (Elvis Presley song), Fool (Elvis Presley song), and Steamroller Blues. We are wondering our research on single releases. Sources can consider one song an A-side and make the other a flipside (B-side typically). Is "Spinout" a B-side or an A-side? What about "Fool"? --George Ho (talk) 03:26, 27 December 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: More information here: User talk:George Ho&oldid=756825192#Spinout. --Moscow Connection (talk) 13:45, 27 December 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: I'm not completely familiar with Presley's catalog but I thought his records didn't necessarily have a designated A and B side with the expectation that they could and would become two-sided hits, and the more popular side came to be considered the "A-side." Goldmine's Standard Catalog of American Records and Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles list "Spinout" and "Steamroller Blues" as the A-sides. Jerry Osborne's Price Guide would be another good source. I'll check it later today. Piriczki (talk) 14:53, 27 December 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: I rephrased the articles "Spinout (song)", "All That I Am (Elvis Presley song)" like this: , .I think if there weren't designated A- and B-sides, then it's incorrect to say something like «"Fool" was released as a B-side to "Steamroller Blues"» even if contemporary record catalogues list "Fool" as the B-side.I think it would be a good idea to come up with a universal phrasing that we can use everywhere, in all or most of the articles about Elvis' singles. Or maybe we can add it as a comment, a note explaining that "Elvis' records didn't necessarily have a designated A and B-side." --Moscow Connection (talk) 13:27, 30 December 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: Looking at Billboard, Cash Box and Record World from the 1950s and 1960s, I don't see the terms "A-side" and "B-side" used much at all, whereas "flip side" is very prevalent. In the 1970s, yes. By then 45s were used to sell LPs and there were definite A-sides (the most popular tracks) and B-sides (usually an LP filler track). In the '50s and '60s jukeboxes were a more important part of the music industry and with 50 records (100 plays) per machine, you wanted hits on both sides. Maybe the infobox could have a parameter "flip side" added to use instead of A-side or B-side for older records. Piriczki (talk) 19:34, 30 December 2016 (UTC)
replies: text:  Shall we take this to template talk:infobox song and template talk:infobox single then? George Ho (talk) 00:15, 31 December 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: I think that is the next logical step. Piriczki (talk) 16:27, 31 December 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  Terminology of the topic 

message: I am moving the following uncited material here until it can be properly supported with inline citations of reliable, secondary sources, per WP:V, WP:CS, WP:IRS, WP:PSTS, WP:BLP, WP:NOR, et al. This diff shows where it was in the article. Nightscream (talk) 14:20, 4 July 2022 (UTC)
thread_title: Uncited material in need of citations

message: Firstly the lede in the article fails to mention a fairly obvious point that the notion of a/b sides pertains to media where there is one song on each side.  At least I never head of an LP having a "b" side.  Now no doubt somebody somewhere put out a cassette "single", but i expect that was sufficiently rare to not be called out in the lede.
Gjxj (talk) Gjxj (talk) 15:57, 3 September 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  cassettes?