This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2006)

A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song (the one that the record producer hopes will receive radio airplay and become a "hit"), while the B-side, or flipside, is a secondary song that often does not appear on the artist's LP.

History[link]

The earliest 10-inch, 78 rpm, shellac records were single sided. Double sided recordings, with one song on each side, were introduced in Europe by Columbia Records and by the late 1910s they had become the norm in both Europe and the USA. There were no record charts until the 1930s, and radio stations (by and large) did not play recorded music until the 1950s (when top 40 radio overtook full-service network radio). In this time, A-sides and B-sides existed, but neither side was considered more important; the "side" did not convey anything about the content of the record.

In 1948, Columbia Records introduced the ten- and twelve-inch long-playing (LP) vinyl record for commercial sales, and its rival RCA-Victor responded the next year with the seven-inch 45 rpm vinyl record, which would come to replace the 78 as the home of the single. The term "single" came into popular use with the advent of vinyl records in the early 1950s. At first, most record labels would randomly assign which song would be an A-side and which would be a B-side. (All phonograph (gramophone) records have specific identifiers for each side in addition to the catalog number for the record itself; the "A" side would typically be assigned a sequentially lower number.) Under this random system, many artists had so-called "double-sided hits", where both songs on a record made one of the national sales charts (in Billboard, Cashbox, or other magazines), or would be featured on jukeboxes in public places.

As time wore on, however, the convention for assigning songs to sides of the record changed. Very early into the decade^[which?], the song on the A-side was the song that the record company wanted radio stations to play, as 45 records (or '45s') dominated the market in terms of cash sales. It was not until 1968, for instance, that the total production of albums on a unit basis finally surpassed that of singles in the United Kingdom.^[1] By the early 1970s, 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.

With the advent of cassette and compact disc singles in the late 1980s, the A-side/B-side differentiation became much less meaningful. At first, cassette singles would often have one song on each side of the cassette, matching the arrangement of vinyl records, but eventually, cassette maxi-singles, containing more than two songs, became more popular. With the decline of cassette singles in the 1990s, the A-side/B-side dichotomy became virtually extinct, as the remaining dominant medium, the compact disc, lacked an equivalent physical distinction. However, the term "B-side" is still used to refer to the "bonus" tracks or "coupling" tracks on a CD single.

With the advent of legal methods of downloading music via the Internet, sales of CD singles and other physical media have declined, and the term "B-side" is now less commonly used. Songs that were not part of an artist's collection of albums are made available through the same downloadable catalogs as tracks from their albums, and are usually referred to as "unreleased", "bonus", "non-album", "rare", "outtakes" or "exclusive" tracks, the latter in the case of a song being available solely from a certain provider of music.

Significance[link]

B-side songs may be released on the same record as a single to provide extra "value for money". There are several types of material commonly released in this way, including a different version (e.g., instrumental, a cappella, live, acoustic, remixed version or in another language/text), or, in a concept record, a song that does not fit into the story line.

Additionally, it was common in the 1960s and 1970s for longer songs by soul, funk or R&B acts to be broken into two parts for single release. Examples of this include the Isley Brothers "Shout" (Parts 1 and 2), and a number of records by James Brown, including "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" (Parts 1 & 2) and "Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud (Parts 1 & 2). "Part 1" would be the chart hit, while "Part 2" would be a continuation of the same recording. A notable example of a non-R&B hit with parts 1 & 2 was the single release of Don McLean's "American Pie". With the advent of the 12" single in the late 1970s, the Part 1/Part 2 method of recording was largely abandoned.

Since both sides of a single received equal royalties, some composers deliberately arranged for their songs to be used as the B-sides of singles by popular artists. This became known as the "flipside racket".

On a few occasions, the B-side became the more popular song. This was usually because a DJ preferred the B-side to its A-side and played it instead. Examples include "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor (originally the B-side of "Substitute"), "I'll Be Around" by The Spinners (originally the B-side of "How Could I Let You Get Away"), "Maggie May" by Rod Stewart (originally the B-side of "Reason To Believe"), and "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" by Beyoncé (originally the B-side of "If I Were a Boy"). More rarely, both sides of the single would become hits, such as Queen's "We Are the Champions" and "We Will Rock You".

The song "How Soon Is Now?" by The Smiths started out as the extra track on the 12" of "William, It Was Really Nothing" but later gained a separate release as an A-side in its own right, as did Oasis's "Acquiesce", which originally appeared as a B-side to "Some Might Say" in 1995, but gained subsequent release in 2006 as part of an EP to promote their forthcoming compilation album, Stop the Clocks. Feeder in 2001 and 2005 had the B-sides "Just a Day" from "Seven Days In The Sun", and "Shatter" from "Tumble and Fall" released as A-sides after fan petitions and official website and fansite message board hype, and both charted at #12 and #11 in the UK. In 1986, the first single from XTC's record Skylarking, "Grass", was eclipsed in the United States by its B-side, Dear God --- so much so that the record was almost immediately re-released with one song (Mermaid Smiled) removed and "Dear God" put in its place, becoming one of the band's better-known "hits".

On some reissued singles the A- and B-sides are by completely different artists, or two songs from different albums that would not normally have been released together. These were sometimes made for the jukebox, as one record with two popular songs on it would make more money, or to promote an artist to the fans of another. For example, in 1981, Kraftwerk released their new single "Computer Love", with the B side of "The Model" from their previous album. After "The Model" found popularity, the single was re-released with the sides reversed, and "The Model" hit the UK No. 1 spot, three years after its album release.

Double A-side[link]

A "double A-side" is a single which has two featured songs. This practice was introduced by The Beatles in 1965 for their single "Day Tripper", which appeared on the same single with "We Can Work It Out". The Beatles released a number of other double A-sided singles, namely "Yellow Submarine" backed with "Eleanor Rigby", "Strawberry Fields Forever" backed with "Penny Lane", and "Come Together" backed with "Something".

Some singles have also been designated double A-sides in retrospect, such as Elvis Presley's 1956 "Don't Be Cruel", which appeared on the same single with "Hound Dog"; this was done because both sides became chart hits independently of one another.

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, the only occasion on which a double A-side has topped that chart.^[2]

Queen released their first double-A-side single "Killer Queen", backed with "Flick of the Wrist", in 1974. However, due to lack of promotion, only "Killer Queen" became a hit, whereas "Flick of the Wrist" was all but ignored. Three years later, they released "We Are the Champions" with "We Will Rock You" as a B-side. Both sides of the single received much radio airplay, which made them sometimes referred to as double A-side. In 1978 they released "Fat Bottomed Girls"/"Bicycle Race" as a double A-side; that time both sides of the single become hits.

Occasionally double-A-sided singles are released with each side targeting a different market. During the late 1970s, for example, Dolly Parton released a number of double-A-sided singles, in which one side was released to pop radio, and the other side to country, including "Two Doors Down"/"It's All Wrong but It's All Right" and "Baby I'm Burning"/"I Really Got the Feeling".

Oasis released "Little by Little"/"She Is Love" as a double A-side in 2002. Many artists continue to release double A-side singles outside of the US where it is seen as more popular. Examples of this include Bloc Party's "So Here We Are"/"Positive Tension" and Gorillaz's "El Mañana"/"Kids with Guns".

Artists having the most U.S. double-sided singles where each side charted in the US Hot 100, according to Billboard:^[3]

NOTE: Perry Como (12) and Nat King Cole (19) both had additional double-sided singles on Billboard's pre-1955 charts.^[4]

Artists having the most U.S. double-sided singles where each side reached the Billboard Top 40, according to Billboard:^[3]

Double B-side[link]

On vinyl, double A-side singles had one song on either side of the record, while double B-sides contain two songs on the same side (on the B-side; altogether giving 3 songs). When such singles were introduced in the 1970s, the popular term for them was "maxi single", though this term is now used more ambiguously for a variety of formats. These would not quite qualify as EP singles - as that is generally 4 songs on a single. The term is also sometimes used in a self-denigrating fashion for a release with no A-side at all, suggesting neither side is of high quality.

Examples include "Styrafoam" / "Texas Chainsaw Massacre Boogie" by The Tyla Gang Gang (1976), and "Jack Rabbit" / "Whenever You're Ready (We'll Go Steady Again)" by Elton John (1973).

Paul McCartney's 1980 single "Coming Up" had a studio version of the song on the A-side, while the B-side contained two songs, a live version of "Coming Up" and a studio instrumental called "Lunchbox/Odd Sox".

Humorous implementations[link]

The concept of the B-side has become so well known that many performers have released parody versions, including:

• The 1988 "Stutter Rap (No Sleep 'Til Bedtime)" by parody band Morris Minor and the Majors featured a B-side titled "Another Boring 'B'-side".
• Parody band Bad News recorded a video b-side to the VHS version of their single "Bohemian Rhapsody" titled "Every Mistake Imaginable" in which the band discusses that they have to record an extra three minutes of footage for the single to be chart eligible.
• Tracey Ullman's hit "They Don't Know" was backed by a song entitled "The B Side" and featured Ullman in a variety of comic monologues, many of which bemoaned the uselessness of B-Sides.
• Paul and Linda McCartney's B-side to Linda McCartney's "Seaside Woman" (released under the alias "Suzy and the Red Stripes") was a song called, "B-Side to Seaside."
• The single "O.K.?" based on the TV series "Rock Follies of '77" contained a song called "B-Side?" which featured Charlotte Cornwell tunelessly singing about the fact that she is not considered good enough to sing an A-Side.
• The B-side of the single "They're Coming to Take Me Away Ha-Haaa!" by Napoleon XIV was called "!aaaH-aH ,yawA eM ekaT oT gnimoC er'yehT" and the singer billed as "NOELOPAN VIX". It was the A-side played in reverse; in fact, most of the label affixed to that B-side was a mirror image of the front label (as opposed to being spelled backwards), including the letters in the "WB" shield logo.
• Blotto's 1981 single "When the Second Feature Starts" features "The B-Side," a song about how bad B-sides are compared to A-sides.
• Love and Rockets' novelty side project The Bubblemen released only one single in 1988, "The Bubblemen Are Coming" coupled with "The B-Side," which is a field recording of bees.
• The Wall of Voodoo 1982 12" EP Two Songs by Wall of Voodoo has the 10-minute joke track "There's Nothing On This Side" on the B-side.
• Metric released in 2008 single "Help, I'm Alive" with a b-side "Help, I'm a B-side".
• Three Dog Night's 1972 single "Shambala" featured "Our 'B' Side", about the group wishing it could be trusted to write their own songs for single release. It is most notable as the only TDN single written and produced by the whole group, and features family members on background vocals.
• Dickie Goodman's 1974 release, "Energy Crisis '74", featured "The Mistake" as the B-side. "The Mistake" is simply a false start of the A-side, with Goodman saying, "Hello, we're...", followed by two minutes of silence.
• The Pearl Harbor and the Explosions song, "You Got It," was backed by "Busy Little B Side," also found on the Warner Brothers 2-LP sampler, "Troublemakers."
• The B-Side of BA Robertson's 1979 single "Goosebumps" is entitled "The B-Side" and contains lyrics from the song's point of view. The lyrics describe the song as being "The back of a hit" and "Real popular after the war" which can be said to relate to the domaninance of the 45 RPM single after this time and the change of significance of the A-Side and the B-Side after this time. This track also opens side two of BA Robertson's album "Initial Success"

Additionally, Shonen Knife released an album called The Birds & the B-Sides in 1996. Later, Relient K released The Bird and the Bee Sides in 2008. Neither are related to one another, but both albums' names are a play on an idiom, "the birds and the bees", and the term B-Side. In fact, both recordings also include many B-Sides, as their respective name would suggest.

B/W[link]

The term "b/w", an abbreviation of "backed with" or occasionally "bundled with", is often used to refer to the B-side of a record. The term "c/w", for "combined with" or "coupled with", is used similarly.^[5]

B-side compilations[link]

References[link]

General

Specific

Leo Romero (born November 28, 1986, in Fontana, California, U.S.) is a professional skateboarder. Leo is second generation Mexican American. Leo first started skating around 1997 with his friends, "the Death Junkies". His early influences included Jamie Thomas and Andrew Reynolds, which perhaps explains Leo's tendency to skate large obstacles and handrails. He lived at the Emerica Mansion II with Heath Kirchart, Kevin "Spanky" Long, and Bryan Herman.^[1] He recently bought his very own home with well known DJ M3MO(Guillermo Aguilar) in Long Beach, California.^[2]

In 2009, Leo left Baker Skateboards, switching to Toy Machine.^[3]

Romero owns a restaurant in Compton, CA.

Leo Romero is currently sponsored by Toy Machine."^[4] Toy Machine and Emerica have teamed up to offer a Leo Romero signature shoe line.^[5]

Leo is a gun aficionado.^[6]

Leo Romero won Thrasher Magazine's annual Skater of the Year award in 2010.

Current Sponsors[link]

• Emerica^[7]
• Toy Machine^[8]
• Pharmacy
• Eswic^[9]
• Independent Truck Company^[10]
• Spitfire

Video appearances[link]

• Leo Romero has been featured in several different videos including:
• Toy Machine's Brainwash. (2010)
• Emerica's Stay Gold (2010)
• Active Ride Shop's "Day in the Life"(2010)
• Baker's Baker has a Deathwish (2008)
• Shares a part with Tommy Gurrola in the April 411 (2006)
• Transworld's First Love (2005)
• in the "friends" sections of Forecast (2005)
• Foundation's That's Life (2004)
• This is Skateboarding (2003)
• Foundation European Tour
• Reason To Believe

References[link]

External links[link]

• Leo S.P.O.T profile

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Tagged since April 2011. The notability of this article's subject is in question. If notability cannot be established, it may be listed for deletion or removed. Tagged since August 2009. Very few or no other articles link to it. Please help introduce links to this page from other articles related to it. Tagged since August 2009.

Braydon Szafranski (born October 3, 1983; Las Vegas, Nevada) is an American professional skateboarder.

He began skating at the age of 14 in Las Vegas, Nevada, and was featured in Baker 3, This is Skateboarding, Baker has a Deathwish, and Stay Gold.^{[citation needed]}

He won the best rookie award at the 2007 TransWorld Skateboard Awards.^[1]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Boarders psyched for skate-friendly city

This biographical article related to American sports is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Jerry Hsu

Personal information
Nickname(s)	The Asian Elvis[1]
Nationality	United States
Born	(1981-12-17) December 17, 1981 (age 30) San Jose, California, United States
Residence	San Jose, California
Sport
Country	U.S
Sport	Professional skateboarding

Jerry Hsu (pronounced Hu Suey) (born December 17, 1981, in San Jose, California) is a professional skateboarder. His parents are both immigrants from Taiwan.^[2]

Biography[link]

At the age of nine, Hsu began recording himself skateboarding, for the purpose of discovering what his skateboarding really looked like. He rode for Maple with Louie Barletta, Chad Bartie, Chad Night, and others in the early 2000's (see Rodney Mullen with Marc Johnson). This footage has been featured on the internet show, "Epicly Later'd".^[3]

Hsu is featured in Enjoi's skateboarding video, for which he won an award for best video part by Transworld Skateboarding magazine, in addition to a readers' choice award.^[4][5] Hsu also has his own promodel shoe with Emerica, the Hsu.

He is featured as a playable character in the skateboarding video game EA Skate, as well as its sequels.

He expresses interest in photography, and contributes work to Vice magazine.^[6] In September 2010 he exhibited a body of photographic work at the Steinsland Berliner Gallery in Stockholm under the title Vatican Gold alongside artists Ed Templeton, Kevin Long and Jonnie Craig.^[7]

Sponsors[link]

Hsu's sponsors include Emerica shoes and apparel, Enjoi skateboards, CCS, Royal trucks, Mob grip tape, Ricta wheels, and Bones bearings.

External links[link]

• Jerry Hsu biography
• About Jerry Hsu
• Jerry Hsu's photography at Nofound to New Documents

This biographical article related to American sports is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Shawntae Harris (born April 14, 1974), better known as Da Brat, is an American rapper and actress. Her debut album, Funkdafied, sold one million copies, making her the first female rapper to have a platinum-selling album.

Early life[link]

Harris was born and raised in Joliet, Illinois. Her parents were never married and Harris was subsequently raised in two different households.^[1] She lived part of the time with her mother and grandmother, and had attended a strict Pentecostal church four times a week, where she played drums and sang in the choir. She also lived with her father and his mother, where she had fewer restrictions. Harris attended Kenwood Academy from 88–89, where she ran track and played basketball, and she graduated from Academy of Scholastic Achievement in 1992.

Regarding her soon-to-be rap name, Harris told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that she got the name because she is "a spoiled only child."^[1] Harris is the younger half-sister of actress LisaRaye McCoy.^[2]

Career[link]

1992–1995: Early success[link]

In 1992, Harris got a big break when she won the grand prize in a local rap contest sponsored by Yo! MTV Raps. For the prize, she got to meet Kris Kross, and they in turn introduced her to their producer, Jermaine Dupri, who signed her to his So So Def label. Dupri cultivated Da Brat's image as a "female Snoop Doggy Dogg", and she became one of the first female "reality-based" rappers.^[1]

Da Brat's debut album Funkdafied was released in 1994 and entered the rap albums chart at Number #1. The album went platinum, which made her the first female solo rapper to sell one million units. The single also entitled "Funkdafied" reached #1 on the rap singles chart and #6 on the Billboard Hot 100. She had a follow-up hit from the same album, "Give It 2 You", which reached #26 on the Hot 100.

1996–1999: Collaborations and film projects[link]

In 1996, Da Brat released her second full-length album, Anuthatantrum, which included the single "Ghetto Love" featuring T-Boz of TLC.

During the rest of the '90s, Da Brat came to be known more for her "featured" appearances on other rappers' and R&B singers' albums rather than for her own solo work. She contributed a rhyme to the hip hop remix of Mariah Carey's hit, "Always Be My Baby". She also made her feature film debut that year in Kazaam with Shaquille O'Neal. During the summer of 1997, Da Brat appeared along with Dupri on a remix of Carey's "Honey (So So Def mix)" and recorded the hit remix of "Ladies' Night (Not Tonight)" with Lil' Kim, Left-Eye of TLC, Angie Martinez and Missy Elliott. Da Brat was also featured with Kris Kross on their track "Da Bomb" on the album Da Bomb, as well as on their third album Young, Rich and Dangerous.

In 1997, she was featured on "Sock It 2 Me", a track on Missy Elliott's debut album, Supa Dupa Fly. In 1999, she appeared, alongside Krayzie Bone, on the remix to Mariah Carey's cover of Brenda K. Starr's "I Still Believe". She also appeared as a guest artist with Elliott on Carey's remix of "Heartbreaker", and on the remix of Brandy's "U Don't Know Me (Like U Used To)". That year, she was also featured on a remix of the Destiny's Child single "Jumpin', Jumpin'".

2000–2003: Return to solo work[link]

In early 2000, Da Brat released her third full-length album Unrestricted, which produced the moderately successful singles "That's What I'm Looking For" (U.S. #56) and "What Chu Like" (U.S. #26), featuring soul singer, Tyrese. The album was not well received compared to Brat's earlier work. However, the new album and new millennium did inspire an image makeover for Da Brat. Abandoning her "gangsta" persona, she decided to follow the trend in popular music and attempted to add to her sex appeal.

In 2001, Brat continued her trend of being featured on other artist's remixes, reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip Hop Singles chart along with rapper Ludacris on the main remix of Mariah Carey's "Loverboy" and being featured artist on Destiny's Child's "Survivor" remix. Da Brat also appeared as Louise in Carey's 2001 movie Glitter. In 2003, Brat released her fourth album, titled Limelite, Luv & Niteclubz, and appeared on the 4th season of VH1's The Surreal Life.

2005–present: Current activities[link]

In 2005, she made a comeback of sorts when she was featured on the remix to the song "I Think They Like Me," by Dem Franchize Boyz, which also featured Bow Wow and Jermaine Dupri. The song peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip Hop Singles chart and #15 on the Billboard Hot 100.

In 2006, she was an onstage guest on Mariah Carey's The Adventures of Mimi Tour in Atlanta, New York City, Long Island, Washington DC, Chicago, and Los Angeles performing her rap verses on the "Heartbreaker" and "Honey" remixes. She was also featured on Kelly Rowland's "Gotsta Go", a bonus track from her 2007 album Ms. Kelly and is also featured on a bonus track from Carey's E=MC² on a track entitled "4real4real". She also co-wrote a song with Mariah Carey called "O.O.C." which appears on E=MC² and contributes backing vocals on the track.

In 2007, she participated in the fifth season of the VH1 reality series Celebrity Fit Club.

In 2011, she did a remix with Kelly Rowland called "Motivation" featuring Lil Wayne.

Legal troubles, prison sentence, and controversy[link]

In 2001, Harris pleaded guilty to misdemeanor reckless conduct after she had beaten a woman with a gun during a dispute over VIP seating in a Buckhead, Georgia, nightclub in 2000. The victim in that incident received six stitches for a head wound. Harris ended up serving a year's probation, performed 80 hours of community service and paid a $1,000 fine.^[3]

On October 31, 2007, she was involved in the altercation that ended in assault at a Halloween party at Studio 72 nightclub in Atlanta, Georgia. Harris sparred verbally with a hostess, and later, when the hostess proceeded to talk to her manager, Harris attacked her from behind, striking her in the face with a rum bottle. Harris entered a guilty plea to aggravated assault charges. She was sentenced to three years in prison, seven years of probation, and 200 hours of community service.^[3] In May 2010, she was temporarily released from prison as part of a work-release program ^[4] after serving 21 months.

On February 28, 2011, Jermaine Dupri announced that Da Brat was officially released from prison, completing her sentence.^[5]

Discography[link]

• Funkdafied (1994)
• Anuthatantrum (1996)
• Unrestricted (2000)
• Limelite, Luv & Niteclubz (2003)

Awards and nominations[link]

Grammy Awards

Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards

BET Awards

Billboard Awards

Film and television credits[link]

Film

References[link]

External links[link]

• Da Brat at Allmusic
• Da Brat at MTV
• Da Brat at the Internet Movie Database