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A-side and B-side

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Victor 17929-A and 17929-B
Victor 17929-A and 17929-B
Victor 17929-A and 17929-B

The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company intends to be the initial focus of promotional efforts and radio airplay and hopefully become a hit record. The B-side (or "flip-side") is a secondary recording that typically receives less attention, although some B-sides have been as successful as, or more so than, their A-sides.

Use of this language has largely declined in the 21st century as the music industry has transitioned away from analog recordings towards digital formats without physical sides, such as CDs, downloads and streaming. Nevertheless, some artists and labels continue to employ the terms A-side and B-side metaphorically to describe the type of content a particular release features, with B-side sometimes representing a "bonus" track or other material.[1] The term B-side carries a more expansive definition in the K-pop industry, referring to all tracks on an album that are not marketed as title tracks.[2]

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Phonograph record

Phonograph record

A phonograph record, a vinyl record, or simply a record is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts near the periphery and ends near the center of the disc. For about half a century, the discs were commonly made from shellac, with earlier records having a fine abrasive filler mixed in. Starting in the 1940s polyvinyl chloride became common, the "vinyl records" of the late 20th century.

Digital audio

Digital audio

Digital audio is a representation of sound recorded in, or converted into, digital form. In digital audio, the sound wave of the audio signal is typically encoded as numerical samples in a continuous sequence. For example, in CD audio, samples are taken 44,100 times per second, each with 16-bit sample depth. Digital audio is also the name for the entire technology of sound recording and reproduction using audio signals that have been encoded in digital form. Following significant advances in digital audio technology during the 1970s and 1980s, it gradually replaced analog audio technology in many areas of audio engineering, record production and telecommunications in the 1990s and 2000s.

Music download

Music download

A music download is the digital transfer of music via the Internet into a device capable of decoding and playing it, such as a personal computer, portable media player, MP3 player or smartphone. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyrighted material without permission or legal payment. According to a Nielsen report, downloadable music accounted for 55.9 percent of all music sales in the US in 2012. By the beginning of 2011, Apple's iTunes Store alone made US$1.1 billion of revenue in the first quarter of its fiscal year. Music downloads are typically encoded with modified discrete cosine transform (MDCT) audio data compression, particularly the Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) format used by iTunes as well as the MP3 audio coding format.

K-pop

K-pop

K-pop, short for Korean popular music, is a form of popular music originating in South Korea as part of South Korean culture. It includes styles and genres from around the world, such as pop, hip hop, R&B, rock, jazz, gospel, reggae, electronic dance, folk, country, disco, and classical on top of its traditional Korean music roots. The term "K-pop" became popular in the 2000s, especially in the international context. The Korean term for domestic pop music is gayo, which is still widely used within South Korea. While "K-pop" can refer to all popular music or pop music from South Korea, it is colloquially often used in a narrower sense for any Korean music and artists associated with the entertainment and idol industry in the country, regardless of the genre.

History

Conventions shifted in the early 1960s, at which point record companies started assigning the song they wanted radio stations to play to side A, as 45 rpm single records ("45s") dominated most markets in terms of cash sales in comparison to albums, which did not fare as well financially. Throughout the decade the industry would slowly shift to an album-driven paradigm for releasing new music; it was not until 1968 that the total production of albums on a unit basis finally surpassed that of singles in the United Kingdom.[3]

Double A-side

A "double A-side", "AA-side", or "Dual single" is a single where both sides are designated the A-side, with no designated B-side; that is, both sides are prospective hit songs and neither side will be promoted over the other. In 1949, Savoy Records promoted a new single by one of its artists, Paul Williams' "House Rocker" and "He Knows How to Hucklebuck", as "The New Double Side Hit – Both Sides "A" Sides".[4] In 1965, Billboard reported that due to a disagreement between EMI and John Lennon about which side of the Beatles' "We Can Work It Out" and "Day Tripper" single should be considered the A-side and receive the plugging, "EMI settled for a double-side promotion campaign—unique in Britain."[5]

In the UK, before the advent of digital downloads, both A-sides were accredited with the same chart position, for the singles chart was compiled entirely from physical sales. In the UK, the biggest-selling non-charity single of all time was a double A-side, Wings' 1977 release "Mull of Kintyre"/"Girls' School", which sold over two million copies. It was also the UK Christmas No. 1 that year, one of only four occasions on which a double A-side has topped that chart, the others being Queen's 1991 re-release of "Bohemian Rhapsody" with "These Are the Days of Our Lives", Westlife's 1999 release "I Have a Dream"/"Seasons in the Sun", and The Beatles' aforementioned "Day Tripper"/"We Can Work It Out" in 1965.[6][7] Nirvana released "All Apologies" and "Rape Me" as a double A-side in 1993, and both songs are accredited as a hit on both the UK Singles Chart,[8] and the Irish Singles Chart.[9]

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Paul Williams (saxophonist)

Paul Williams (saxophonist)

Paul "Hucklebuck" Williams was an American jazz and blues saxophonist, bandleader, and songwriter. His record "The Huckle-Buck", recorded in December 1948, was one of the most successful R&B records of the time. In his Honkers and Shouters, Arnold Shaw credited Williams as one of the first to employ the honking tenor saxophone solo that became the hallmark of rhythm and blues and rock and roll in the 1950s and early 1960s.

EMI Records

EMI Records

EMI Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company of the same name in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the successor to its Columbia and Parlophone record labels. The label was later launched worldwide. It has a branch in India called EMI Records India, run by director Mohit Suri. In 2014, Universal Music Japan revived the label in Japan as the successor to EMI Records Japan. In June 2020, Universal revived the label as the successor to Virgin EMI, with Virgin Records now operating as an imprint of EMI Records.

John Lennon

John Lennon

John Winston Ono Lennon was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's work was characterised by the rebellious nature and acerbic wit of his music, writing and drawings, on film, and in interviews. His songwriting partnership with Paul McCartney remains the most successful in history.

Day Tripper

Day Tripper

"Day Tripper" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that was released as a double A-side single with "We Can Work It Out" in December 1965. The song was written primarily by John Lennon with some contributions from Paul McCartney and was credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. Both songs were recorded during the sessions for the band's Rubber Soul album. The single topped charts in Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands and Norway. In the United States, "Day Tripper" peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and "We Can Work It Out" held the top position.

Mull of Kintyre (song)

Mull of Kintyre (song)

"Mull of Kintyre" is a song by the British-American rock band Wings. It was written by Paul McCartney and Denny Laine in tribute to the Kintyre peninsula in Scotland and its headland, the Mull of Kintyre, where McCartney has owned High Park Farm since 1966.

Girls' School (song)

Girls' School (song)

"Girls' School" is a song by Wings released in 1977.

List of UK Singles Chart Christmas number ones

List of UK Singles Chart Christmas number ones

In the United Kingdom, Christmas number ones are singles that top the UK Singles Chart in the week in which Christmas Day falls. The singles have often been novelty songs, charity songs or songs with a Christmas theme. Historically, the volume of record sales in the UK has peaked at Christmas.

Queen (band)

Queen (band)

Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1970 by Freddie Mercury, Brian May and Roger Taylor, later joined by John Deacon (bass). Their earliest works were influenced by progressive rock, hard rock and heavy metal, but the band gradually ventured into more conventional and radio-friendly works by incorporating further styles, such as arena rock and pop rock.

Bohemian Rhapsody

Bohemian Rhapsody

"Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen, released as the lead single from their fourth album, A Night at the Opera (1975). Written by lead singer Freddie Mercury, the song is a six-minute suite, notable for its lack of a refraining chorus and consisting of several sections: an intro, a ballad segment, an operatic passage, a hard rock part and a reflective coda. It is one of the few progressive rock songs of the 1970s to achieve widespread commercial success and appeal to a mainstream audience.

Nirvana (band)

Nirvana (band)

Nirvana was an American rock band formed in Aberdeen, Washington, in 1987. Founded by lead singer and guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic, the band went through a succession of drummers, most notably Chad Channing, and then recruited Dave Grohl in 1990. Nirvana's success popularized alternative rock, and they were often referenced as the figurehead band of Generation X. Their music maintains a popular following and continues to influence modern rock culture.

All Apologies

All Apologies

"All Apologies" is a song by American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist, Kurt Cobain. It appears as the 12th track on the band's third and final studio album, In Utero, released by DGC Records in September 1993. The song closes the American version of the album, while non-US versions of In Utero feature an additional song, "Gallons of Rubbing Alcohol Flow Through the Strip," which begins after approximately 20 minutes of silence on the same track.

Rape Me

Rape Me

"Rape Me" is a song by the American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist Kurt Cobain. It is the fourth song on the band's third and final studio album, In Utero, released in September 1993.

Artists with the most Top 10 double-side singles

Artist Number
The Beatles 6
Elvis Presley 5
Ricky Nelson 4
Creedence Clearwater Revival 4

B/W

The term "b/w", an abbreviation of "backed with", is often used in listings to indicate the B-side of a record. The term "c/w", for "coupled with", is used similarly.[10]

B-side compilations

Source: "A-side and B-side", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, March 21st), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-side_and_B-side.

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See also
References
  1. ^ Plasketes, George (28 January 2013). B-Sides, Undercurrents and Overtones: Peripheries to Popular in Music, 1960 to the Present. Ashgate Publishing.
  2. ^ "These Were The Top 50+ Best K-Pop B-Sides In 2020, According To Fans". Koreaboo. 25 January 2021. Archived from the original on 27 July 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  3. ^ MacDonald, p. 296
  4. ^ Billboard (25 June 1949). "Rhythm & Blues Records". Billboard. Vol. 61, no. 26. p. 30. ISSN 0006-2510. Savoy and Paul Williams Lead Again with ... The New Double Side Hit – Both Sides 'A' Sides
  5. ^ Hutchins, Chris. "Music Capitals of the World Archived 20 March 2023 at the Wayback Machine" Billboard December 4, 1965: 26
  6. ^ "1977-12-24 Top 40 Official UK Singles Archive | Official Charts". Official Charts. Archived from the original on 3 June 2020. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  7. ^ "Every Official Christmas Number 1 ever". Official Charts Company. 25 December 2020. Archived from the original on 3 April 2015.
  8. ^ Nirvana – UK Singles Chart Archive Archived 2 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine officialcharts.com. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  9. ^ User needs to do an artist search for "Nirvana" Archived 24 May 2012 at archive.today irishcharts.ie. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  10. ^ "The Straight Dope: In the record business, what do "b/w" and "c/w" mean?". 15 October 1999. Archived from the original on 4 October 2008. Retrieved 12 January 2009.
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