The B Side Quotes

“The war also made its way into love songs, including such kitsch classics as “Your Lips Are No Man’s Land but Mine” and “If He Can Fight Like He Can Love, Good Night Germany!”
― Ben Yagoda, The B Side: The Death of Tin Pan Alley and the Rebirth of the Great American Song

“The upside potential was so high—you could get a good payday with just one thirty-two-bar hit song—and the barrier to entry so low. Anyone could offer his wares—that is, anyone who could handle the indignity of knocking on door after door and being summarily rejected time and again.”
― Ben Yagoda, The B Side: The Death of Tin Pan Alley and the Rebirth of the Great American Song

“What’s the secret to a great popular song? It must be melodically simple and harmonically attractive.”
― Ben Yagoda, The B Side: The Death of Tin Pan Alley and the Rebirth of the Great American Song

“The Copyright Act of 1909 set the term for copyright of a musical composition to twenty-eight years, renewable for an additional twenty-eight, and for the first time included under copyright “public performance for profit.” That is, anyone playing or singing a copyrighted song had to pay for the right to do so. “Had to” but often didn’t: many bandleaders—and the restaurants and nightclubs that employed them—resisted paying anything to copyright holders, sometimes offering the justification that public performances stimulated sheet music sales.”
― Ben Yagoda, The B Side: The Death of Tin Pan Alley and the Rebirth of the Great American Song

“One morning Gordy found out that Columbia Records, previous home of the Motown group the Four Tops, was going to rerelease one of the Tops’ old records. He instructed his top team at the time, Holland-Dozier-Holland, to produce a response, and by early afternoon they’d come up with “It’s the Same Old Song.” The track was recorded later the same day; the record was in stores three days later. It reached number five on the charts and became a classic. (The Columbia Four Tops release peaked at number 93.)”
― Ben Yagoda, The B Side: The Death of Tin Pan Alley and the Rebirth of the Great American Song