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A masterpiece coupling track. Recommended popular songs.

There are countless hidden gems among single coupling tracks and the B-sides of EP records.

Some of them even became more popular than the title track and were later released as singles, and many are still loved to this day.

Here, we’ve gathered a generous selection of popular and underrated coupling songs to introduce them in depth.

You might be surprised how many big hits actually started out as coupling songs.

Be sure to listen to these masterpieces—some hidden, some not so hidden.

And don’t forget to share them with the people around you!

Masterpiece coupling tracks. Recommended popular songs (41–50)

What a nice hot bath (Viva Non Rock)The Drifters

A song that probably every Japanese person knows.

The song “Ii Yu da na” itself was sung by Duke Aces before the Drifters ever performed it.

When the Drifters released it under the title “Ii Yu da na (Viva Non Rock)” as the B-side of the single “Zukkoke-chan,” the B-side became the more famous track.

It was released in 1989.

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Yagiri no Watashi (Yagiri Ferry)chiaki naomi

This is a song by Naomi Chiaki that was included on the B-side of the 1976 single “Sakabagawa,” and, due to its popularity, was released as an A-side single in 1982.

The following year, it was covered by famous singers such as Takashi Hosokawa, Eiko Segawa, and Kiyoshi Nakajo, but many kayōkyoku fans still rave that “Naomi Chiaki’s version is the best!” The song portrays the feelings of a man and a woman heading to an unfamiliar place as if fleeing from something.

Indeed, Naomi Chiaki’s sultry, heartrending voice fits the image perfectly, doesn’t it?

yuri
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Harbor Yoko, Yokohama, YokosukaDaun Taun Bugiugi Bando

When it was first released in 1975, “Minato no Yoko Yokohama Yokosuka” was the B-side paired with the A-side track “Kakko Man Boogie.” Featuring mostly spoken lyrics by Ryudo Uzaki—quite innovative for the time—the song became a major hit.

Soon after its release, due to the B-side’s success, it was reissued with this track promoted to the A-side.

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Beautiful SundayTanaka Seiji

Beautiful Sunday - Seiji Tanaka (1976)
Beautiful SundayTanaka Seiji

Beautiful Sunday, released in 1976 by Seiji Tanaka—the first “Uta no Onii-san” on NHK’s popular children’s program Okaasan to Issho—was actually the B-side to a song called Oh Marianna.

Did you know that? The original version, sung by British artist Daniel Boone, became a worldwide hit in 1972.

Four years later, Tanaka covered it, and the song went on to be included in Japanese elementary and junior high school music textbooks, cementing its status as a classic.

Its poppy sound and bright vocals never fail to make you feel happy and optimistic, do they?

yuri
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Picking up the futureaiko

2016 10 01 aiko To Pick Up the Future
Picking up the futureaiko

It was released in 2015 as the coupling track to aiko’s 33rd single, “Yumemiru Sukima.” Used as the song for Hoyu’s “Beautylabo Whip Hair Color” commercial, it carries the message of encouraging listeners to stay positive without despairing about the future.

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Ms. Jennifer YamadaRADWIMPS