Singles Where the B-Side Also Charted

RE: the Temptations "Since I Lost My Baby"/"You've Got to Earn it"...I just read on a Motown Facebook group that although recorded nearly a year apart, "both sides were issued as a single on June 1, 1965." Are the words 'both sides' stretching it?

Of course, I did some googling to learn that "You've Got to Earn It" did indeed get a place on Billboard's R&B chart and on some other minor Billboard chart.

I got to wondering...how about some other B sides getting a place on a significant singles chart...I researched the Supremes' B-side to "Where Did Our Love Go": "Ask Any Girl" since that seems to be fan favorite and made it onto two albums. No evidence that it charted.

Are there any other Motown B-sides that charted on their own?

DRATS' "The Young Folks" was the b-side of "No Matter What Sign You Are." It charted at #69 pop.

Other examples of both sides of a single charting:

The Marvelettes:
Beechwood 4-5789 / Someday, Someway
Locking Up My Heart / Forever

Martha and the Vandellas:
You've Been In Love Too Long / Love [Makes Me Do Foolish Things]
I Promise to Wait My Love / Forget Me Not

The Temptations:
My Baby / Don't Look Back

The Temptations I Wish It Would Rain/I Truly, Truly Believe [[B side charted on the soul chart)

The Contours Can You Jerk Like Me/That Day When She Needed Me [[another soul charting)

The Elgins Put Yourself In My Place/Darling Baby

Some early Miracles releases also had B side chartings, I'd have to look them up

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Originally Posted by reese

Other examples of both sides of a single charting:

The Marvelettes:
Strange I Know / Someday, Someway
Locking Up My Heart / Forever

Martha and the Vandellas:
You've Been In Love Too Long / Love [Makes Me Do Foolish Things]
I Promise to Wait My Love / Forget Me Not

The Temptations:
My Baby / Don't Look Back

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Thank you!!!!

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Originally Posted by sansradio

DRATS' "The Young Folks" was the b-side of "No Matter What Sign You Are." It charted at #69 pop.

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So that's why on some of the DRATS boards and forums, they mention this dreadful [[imo) song! Thank you

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Originally Posted by jobucats

So that's why on some of the DRATS boards and forums, they mention this dreadful [[imo) song! Thank you

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HA! It also made the '95 Anthology;).

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Originally Posted by jobucats

Thank you!!!!

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I had to correct one of my entries.

The first Marvelettes a and b side charter should have been:

Beechwood 4-5789 / Someday Someway

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Originally Posted by jobucats

So that's why on some of the DRATS boards and forums, they mention this dreadful [[imo) song! Thank you

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Lol. The Young Folks actually got played on an LA Top Forty station and I remember the DJ saying it was an improvement over the last single NMWSYA. I had to agree with him back then, but now [almost 55 years later!] I've learned to appreciate NMWSYA as a well-produced record.

Stevie Wonder's "I Don't Know Why [aka 'Don't Know Why I Love You']" [R&B #16 - Pop #39]/"My Cherie Amour" [R&B and Pop #4].
Marvin Gaye's "Can I Get A Witness"[R&B #15 Pop #22]/"I'm Crazy 'Bout My Baby" [Pop #77]. Both sides of this record were featured on Gaye's first Greatest Hits collection in 1964 as well.

The Miracles "Mighty Good Lovin'" [R&B#21-Pop#51]/"Broken Hearted" [Pop#97].

Mary Wells had 2 sided hits: Laughing Boy #15 POP, #6 R&B,flip Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right #100 POP.You LOst The Sweetest Boy #22 POP#10 R & B flip Whats Easy For Two #29 POP #8 R & B.Whats The Matter With You Baby #17 POP #2 R & B flip Once Upon A Time #19 POP #3 R & B. After Motown on 20th Century Ain't It The Truth #45 POP #6 R & B flip Stop Takin Me For Granted #88POP, on Atco Dear Lover #51 POP #6 R & B flip Can't You See#94 POP.

Also: "Going To A Go-Go" / "Choosey Beggar"
" It Takes Two" / It`s Gotta Be A Miracle"
"Trav`lin Man / "Hey Love"
"If This World Were Mine" / "If I Could Build My Whole World Around You"
"Destination: Anywhere" / "What`s Easy For Two"
"Doggone Right" / "Here I Go Again"
"Point It Out" / "Darling Dear"
"The Onion Son" / "California Soul"
"7 Rooms Of Doom" / "I`ll Turn To Stone"

Plus: "I`ll Be In Trouble" / "The Girl`s Alright With Me"
"Since I Lost My Baby" / "You`ve Got To Earn It"
"You`re My Everything" / "I`ve Been Good To You"
"Stop The War Now" / "Gonna Keep On Tryin` [[Til I Win Your Love)"
"Road Runner" / "Shoot Your Shot"
"Holly Holy" / "Carry Your Own Load"

How can a record get into the hands of all the DJs playing it daily such that one side goes to #1 while the other side can't even hit #100??

45s just confirm that at least half the songs written are total sandos [duds ].

Jobucats, "Ask Any Girl" was the B-side of "Baby Love". The B-side of "Where Did Our Love Go" was ""He Means The World to Me".

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Originally Posted by Philles/Motown Gary

Jobucats, "Ask Any Girl" was the B-side of "Baby Love". The B-side of "Where Did Our Love Go" was ""He Means The World to Me".

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Thank you for the correction!

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Originally Posted by Roger Polhill

Also: "Going To A Go-Go" / "Choosey Beggar"
" It Takes Two" / It`s Gotta Be A Miracle"
"Trav`lin Man / "Hey Love"
"If This World Were Mine" / "If I Could Build My Whole World Around You"
"Destination: Anywhere" / "What`s Easy For Two"
"Doggone Right" / "Here I Go Again"
"Point It Out" / "Darling Dear"
"The Onion Son" / "California Soul"
"7 Rooms Of Doom" / "I`ll Turn To Stone"

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Now I get it! ...RE: "I'll Turn to Stone"... So that's why they included it on their live album...it was a single in itself! Thanks

You're welcome, Jobucats!

STEVIE WONDER - "Someday At Christmas" / "What Christmas Means To Me"

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Originally Posted by Boogiedown

How can a record get into the hands of all the DJs playing it daily such that one side goes to #1 while the other side can't even hit #100??

45s just confirm that at least half the songs written are total sandos [duds ].

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The record company is only plugging one side.On D J copies it usually even said PLUG SIDE with Stars.Motown 45's were a bargain because even though the flip usually did not get air-play, we fans knew it would be a quality song.Phil Spector would just put crap or low quality instrumentals on his flip sides because he wanted to make sure all attention was on the A side.

Jimmy Mack/Third Finger Left Hand - I'm not sure if TFLH charted separately in the UK but it has always been a very popular song, to this day, at club Hen Nights and after wedding parties.

Perhaps it should have been a double A-side single release?

Attachment 21270
Mary Wells: “What's Easy For Two Is So Hard For One”/“You Lost The Sweetest Boy”
“Two Wrongs Don’t Make a Right”/“Laughing Boy”
“Your Old Stand By”/“What Love Has Joined Together”


Marvin Gaye & Mary Wells: “Once Upon A Time”/“What’s The Matter With You Baby”

I'm always surprised by the fact that Marvin's "Wherever I Lay My Hat" didn't chart in the US as it always got tons of UK radio plays. It maintained it's popularity to such an extent that Paul Young did a [[later) cover version that went high in the UK pop charts ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwr1Rz57J0M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ju_a2-Pve4g

An earlier Paul Young cover ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAVtcTPZeow

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Originally Posted by motony

The record company is only plugging one side.On D J copies it usually even said PLUG SIDE with Stars.Motown 45's were a bargain because even though the flip usually did not get air-play, we fans knew it would be a quality song.Phil Spector would just put crap or low quality instrumentals on his flip sides because he wanted to make sure all attention was on the A side.

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Very good point .....and lot of promos were designed to push that one song and pressed double sided that way. That would also be a way to provide stations with stereo/mono versions or sometimes shorter/longer versions or other reasons for an edited variation.
Seems like Motown would often press them with one song [two A sides] and concurrently press a promo with that same A side and another song as the B? And that's why the ones being mentioned occurred?

To my thinking, the first time that happens I'd think Berry would decide ....that's the way to do it. We have to press and distribute this record anyway, why not double our bang for our buck with two potential hits. That would generate as much as twice the purchasing as different buyers would be buying for different songs ....or also more likely to buy it at all with two desirable songs being offered. And its twice as likely for at least one to hit.

Heck the records out there anyway. All the same effort is involved.

[boy I make coming up with hits sound as simple as pie don't I:p]

RE: The record company is only plugging one side. ....
Yes, the record company decided which side they wanted to get radio plays ... BUT MANY TIMES THEY WERE WRONG .... so many times a radio DJ would flip a 45, like the B side better and set the wheels in motion for a NON-PLUG side to become a hit.
Examples are way too numerous to list but it was a fact that each year from say 1960, right thru to the early / mid 70's, the record company execs had to bite their lips and rejig a 45's trade press ad to push a NON-PLUG side.
After all, what record company was gonna turn away from a 'big-selling 45' just coz the public was buying the wrong side !!
Radio became corporate in the 70's, power was taken away from the DJ's and a 'committee' would decide on the stn's play lists. So the practice largely died out.
Attachment 21277

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Originally Posted by jsmith

RE: The record company is only plugging one side. ....
Yes, the record company decided which side they wanted to get radio plays ... BUT MANY TIMES THEY WERE WRONG .... so many times a radio DJ would flip a 45, like the B side better and set the wheels in motion for a NON-PLUG side to become a hit.
Examples are way too numerous to list but it was a fact that each year from say 1960, right thru to the early / mid 70's, the record company execs had to bite their lips and rejig a 45's trade press ad to push a NON-PLUG side.
After all, what record company was gonna turn away from a 'big-selling 45' just coz the public was buying the wrong side !!
Radio became corporate in the 70's, power was taken away from the DJ's and a 'committee' would decide on the stn's play lists. So the practice largely died out.
Attachment 21277

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those are the best ....what a great era to be a DJ. Motown seemed astute as to which side was the winner.

Thinking over my own thoughts about this.....problems: having two strong songs distributed to 300 radio stations might result in a split where as much as half are choosing one and half are choosing the other , watering down the exposure and the markets hearing one and not the other. Some stations might play both, but with tight playlists, others may not feel so gratuitous as to double the air time of any certain artist. So you might wind up with two deserving A sides without each getting the full exposure they would've gotten if there was a concentrated effort of working them independently.

I think that made sense ....:confused:

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Originally Posted by Boogiedown

Thinking over my own thoughts about this.....problems: having two strong songs distributed to 300 radio stations might result in a split where as much as half are choosing one and half are choosing the other , watering down the exposure and the markets hearing one and not the other. Some stations might play both, but with tight playlists, others may not feel so gratuitous as to double the air time of any certain artist. So you might wind up with two deserving A sides without each getting the full exposure they would've gotten if there was a concentrated effort of working them independently.

I think that made sense ....:confused:

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Martha Reeves said something similar in one interview. She went on to say that later in the 60s, Motown would put the same song on both sides of their promos so that DJ flipping sides wouldn't happen as much.

the case of Mary Wells' You Lost the Sweetest Boy" with "Whats Easy for Two" on the flip....she could/should have had 2 Top Ten POP hits off that where "Boy"#22 & "Whats Easy" #29.In Miami[[where I lived at the time)both POP stations were on "You Lost The Sweetest Boy" & was TOP TEN, I didn't know that in some cities "Whats Easy" was being played until my Dad showed me a Billboard Magazine with both sides being on the Charts. On the R & B Charts "Whats Easy...had the edge.

RE: the Mary Wells' 45 -- "Whats Easy for Two" may have been on the flip but it always was & is the PICK SIDE with UK Motown / soul fans ... . EMI even re-pressed demo copies of the 45 and placed ads in the UK music press for "What's Easy" ...
Attachment 21280

On a similar note to the above ... with UK fans Gladys Knight & the Pips "Got Myself A Good Man" always far outshone the 45's official plug side [["Nitty Gritty").

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Originally Posted by rovereab

Jimmy Mack/Third Finger Left Hand - I'm not sure if TFLH charted separately in the UK but it has always been a very popular song, to this day, at club Hen Nights and after wedding parties.

Perhaps it should have been a double A-side single release?

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It got covered by The Pearls, who charted with it IIRC. The original was a staple for my wedding gigs if the bride and groom were leaving before the end.

All the guests would form an arch through which the couple would make their way.

The first track would be "Chapel Of Love", followed by TFLH.

Aaaah!

In 1972 DJs flipped MOTHER NATURE by The Temptations enough that "Funky Music Sho Nuff Turns Me On" charted #27 Soul.

Also:
By having big songs released one at a time you extended the amount of time the act was on the radio , putting them into the ears of their concert going fans over a longer period.
And fans would now be tired of one song and ready and eager to hear [and buy] the next and newer one.

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Originally Posted by Boogiedown

In 1972 DJs flipped MOTHER NATURE by The Temptations enough that "Funky Music Sho Nuff Turns Me On" charted #27 Soul.

Also:
By having big songs released one at a time you extended the amount of time the act was on the radio , putting them into the ears of their concert going fans over a longer period.
And fans would now be tired of one song and ready and eager to hear [and buy] the next and newer one.

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In the UK we got the unreleased single mix of "Smiling Faces Sometimes" released with "Mother Nature" as the B-side. It didn't sell, however, possibly apart from to me at a discounted price. :)

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Originally Posted by Sotosound

In the UK we got the unreleased single mix of "Smiling Faces Sometimes" released with "Mother Nature" as the B-side. It didn't sell, however, possibly apart from to me at a discounted price. :)

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Hey Soto, do you know if this mix is available on CD or digitally anywhere?!!

Here: -

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Psychedelic...ar%2C85&sr=1-2

:)