Time for another peek at what was on the flip-side of some classic number ones. Usually my ‘And B-sides…’ posts have been themed around a particular artist, but I’ve decided to every so often throw in some different flip-sides, from acts whose chart-topping careers are too short to fill a whole post.

First of all, a little something to blow the cobwebs away…

‘Rock and Roll Music’, by Manic Street Preachers – B-side to ‘The Masses Against the Classes’

This Chuck Berry standard has been covered by the great and the good, from the Beatles, to the Beach Boys, from Tom Jones to Showaddywaddy, and any decent garage band in-between. But I doubt it has ever lived up to its title more then when in the hands of the Manics. Just let me hear some of that rock and roll music… they demand, then deliver three minutes of blistering, gonzo, balls-to-the-wall rock and, yes, roll music.

‘It’s All the Rage’, by Boomtown Rats – B-side to ‘I Don’t Like Mondays’

Another spiky track, inspired apparently by a fight that Bob Geldof got into with another band. Out in the street, They’re usin’ their feet… This is a proper B-side: a very different track to the A-side, not a remix or a retread, a song that could easily have been the single, and a glance back to the Rats’ punky origins. The glorious middle-eight meanwhile, ripped straight from an sixties doo-wop track, shows their musical range. (Thanks to regular reader/commenter John Van der Kiste for suggesting this one!)

‘You Got the Jump on Me’, by Wizzard – B-side to ‘Angel Fingers’

Completing this trio of hard rocking flip-sides, ‘You Got the Jump on Me’ is another song that sounds nothing like the sixties-inspired, glam rock track that made #1. This is potentially as close as Led Zeppelin came to a chart-topper… Written by bassist Rick Price, it has the feel of an extended jam session, especially when the driving riff gives way to a boogie-woogie piano for the last minute or so of its six and a half minute run-time.

Again, most of this information comes from John Van der Kiste, who knows more about Wizzard than I could ever hope to learn. Like many of his peers, Roy Wood was a genuine Led Zep fan. He, Jeff Lynne and Bev Bevan (drummer for ELO and the Move) attended John Bonham’s funeral, which Bevan said afterwards was one of the most miserable, depressing funerals he had ever been to. There was an affinity between them as Bonham and Robert Plant were also from the Black Country. When The Move were being formed late 1965 Bonham, as one of the most renowned drummers in the area and possibly up for grabs, was suggested by someone as a suitable member, but Carl Wayne, who was the eldest of them all, had heard things about him and said no. How different things might have turned out…

Thanks again, John! If any other readers have suggestions for B-sides I can feature in future posts, then do let me know in the comments!