Fantastic Flips

This collection celebrates that ubiquitous phenomenon of the music business in the golden days when singles were released on 78s and 45s – the ‘B’ side. Often they were throwaways – makeweights dashed off at the end of a session, or even worse backing tracks of the A side. Sometimes, they were songs written by the producer, manager or record company boss to pick up their 50% of the publishing income if the A side was a hit. Occasionally, however, the hurriedly recorded B side developed a life of its own, providing a hit or album track for another artist in later years or simply a hidden gem for collectors. This collection pulls together some of the great ‘B’ sides from hits or near hits of the rock ‘n’ roll era of the mid and late ‘50s. Some will be familiar enough (though you still might not have them in your collection), while others are less well-known classics of their kind. Together they give a fascinating and eclectic slant on one of the most exciting eras in pop and an aspect of our favourite music that often gets forgotten.