🎉 The Opening Act: “Born on the B-Side”
Celebrating One Year of Going Against the Grain
Welcome to December — the month this blog turns one.
A year of digging beneath the polished surface.
A year of chasing the hidden gems.
A year of celebrating the misfits, deep cuts, lost tracks, and the raw, unfiltered soul of rock.
And honestly?
Do we ever need a reason to celebrate the B-side?
Nope.
But we’ve got one anyway — so crank the volume.
🔥 Born on the B-Side: The Origin Story
Every rock fan has their moment — that flash when music stops being background noise and starts becoming oxygen.
For me, that moment didn’t come from a chart-topping single, a stadium anthem, or a track plastered across every radio station.
It came from the flip side.
The forgotten side.
The side most people never bothered to play.
Somewhere between the cracked vinyl, the slightly-off-center pressings, the hiss, the imperfections… something hit me.
The B-side was where the real band lived.
Where they experimented, rebelled, whispered secrets, or tore loose with ideas too weird, too wild, or too raw for the “A” crowd.
This blog was born from that spirit:
the refusal to bow to the obvious.
the curiosity to turn the record over.
the thrill of discovering brilliance hiding in plain sight.
A year later, that fire hasn’t dimmed.
In fact, it’s burning louder.
🎸 Why the Underground Path?
Some go left.
Some go right.
B-side lovers go down. Into the basement. Into the bootlegs. Into the shadows of the discography.
Why take the underground path?
Because the mainstream already has enough cheerleaders.
Because the history of rock is written in the margins.
Because some of the best artistic breakthroughs — the riffs that redefined a band, the lyrics that cracked open their souls, the experiments that shaped future albums — all lived on the obscure or overlooked tracks.
And because someone has to champion the underdog.
And that someone is all of us who live on the B-side.
You included.
Because if you’re reading this, you’re not here by accident.
💥 The Fuse: B-Sides That Lit the Fire
Here are a few of the tracks that set this blog in motion — the ones that made me lean in, rewind, rethink, and say:
“This is where the magic really is.”
🎵 Queen – “See What a Fool I've Been” (1974)
A Freddie Mercury masterclass in blues swagger — strange, slinky, unpredictable, and loaded with character. A reminder that the genius of Queen didn’t just live in the epics; it lived in the weird corners too.
🎵 The Rolling Stones – “Child of the Moon” (1968)
Psych-rock Stones. Cinematic, swirling, haunting — the kind of track that makes you realise the band had an entire secret world behind their hits. A B-side that feels like stumbling into a hidden room.
🎵 The Clash – “Long Time Jerk” (1982)
Groove-driven chaos. Weird. Funky. Pissed off. And completely irresistible. A reminder that punk was never meant to play it safe.
🎵 Nirvana – “Aneurysm” (1991)
Technically a B-side, spiritually an explosion. The track that showed Nirvana were far more than angst and noise — they were precision, energy, and unpredictability wrapped in distortion.
🎵 Suzi Quatro – “Ain’t Ya Something Honey” (1974)
Pure swagger. Feral energy. Undeniable proof that Suzi could out-rock the boys while making it look effortless.
Each of these tracks was a spark.
Each one helped shape the voice of this blog.
Each one reminded me that the stories worth telling often hide where fewer people look.
🎉 It’s Been One Hell of a Year — But We’re Just Getting Started
December isn’t just a birthday month.
It’s the beginning of a full-blown, no-apologies, party-hard tribute to everything the A-side ignored.
This month, we’ll celebrate:
the deep cuts
the misfits
the experiments
the tracks the radio forgot
the artists who lived on the fringe
the riffs that deserved more
and the absolute riot that is rock’s hidden history
The A-side gets the spotlight.
The B-side gets the legend.
Thanks for turning the record over with me this year.
Now let’s make year two even louder.
Let the party begin.
Remember to follow me on socials for our "Come as you are" 31 B-sides December party. One track featured daily. See you on the flipside.
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