A perfect theme for analog lovers! Back in the days of vinyl records, artists used to release their hit singles on 7-inch 45 rpm records. This caused a boom in the pop music scene as they made music more accessible to the average person.
Each 7-inch vinyl single had two sides, an A-side and a B-side. The A-side was for the song the artist or record label was hoping would be a hit, and artists poured all their efforts into this song. B-sides were often considered bonus tracks or deep cuts, and musicians were less concerned about their commercial prospects. This did not mean no effort was made; rather, musicians saw these tracks as an opportunity for more artistic freedom. Sometimes they would experiment with new styles of music or use different instruments; other times they would cover songs that really inspired them. There were times when this paid off so well that the B-side became more of a hit than the A-side, or developed a cult following years after its initial release. It is now quite common for long-running musicians to not only release a collection of their A-side hits, more commonly known as “Greatest Hits”, but to also release these B-side songs exclusively on albums commonly titled “B-Sides & Rarities”.
It has now been 15 years since TRAVELER’S notebook was first released. In those 15 years, we have explored all sorts of different new ways to enjoy TRAVELER’S notebook and some styles we ultimately chose not to adopt as permanent products. Sometimes this was because they diverged from the general purpose of a notebook, and other times it was because they had only limited uses. When we put all of them together, we have an exciting compilation of new ways to enjoy your TRAVELER’S notebook. So just as musicians release albums of their B-sides and rarities, we’ve re-released a range of refills that are a little out of the ordinary. Maybe some of them will be B-sides that become a bigger hit than the A-side.