Dave's Side One

Some records entertain us while we go about our day. Others ask us to stop, sit down and give them our full attention. In this Sunday Slow Down episode of Dave’s Side One, Dave reflects on Dan Fogelberg’s Nether Lands and how an unhurried album can change not only the atmosphere of a room, but the pace of the listener. It is a reminder that there is a difference between having music on and truly l...

Some albums become classics. Others become companions. For Dave, one of those companions is Joe Walsh’s So What. It may not be the rarest or most valuable record on his shelf, but it is one he continues returning to because it has become part of his life’s soundtrack. In today’s Dave’s Side One, Dave explores why the albums we play most often are not necessarily the ones with the highest rankings....

Every record collection has a turning point. For me, it was Sweet's Desolation Boulevard (U.S. version). I'd heard it at a friend's house and loved it, but I knew my parents probably wouldn't approve. For a while, I kept walking past it in the record store. When I finally brought it home, I mostly listened through headphones. Looking back, it wasn't just another album. It was one of the first reco...

The first truly great concert stays with you forever. In today's Dave's Side One, Dave reflects on seeing Kansas for the first time at the Salt Palace on January 5, 1978, and why Two for the Show became much more than a live album—it became a doorway back to that unforgettable night. 🎵 Tonight's Side One Spin: Pull out your favorite live album and listen all the way through. Let the applause, the...

Sometimes the best way to rediscover an album is to stop listening to the part you've always focused on. In today's Dave's Side One, Dave shares a listening habit that transformed familiar records into fresh experiences: following just one instrument from beginning to end. 🎵 Tonight's Side One Spin: Put on a favorite album and choose one instrument to follow for an entire song. You may hear detai...

Some songs patiently wait for us. In today's Dave's Side One, Dave shares how he skipped "Little One" on Chicago XI for years, only to discover its beauty after becoming a father. It's a reminder that great music often finds us again when we're finally ready to hear it. 🎵 Tonight's Side One Spin: Play one song you've skipped for years. Listen without distractions and ask yourself: Has the song ch...

Albums are stories, and every story deserves its ending. In today's Dave's Side One, Dave shares how the closing track on Bread's Lost Without Your Love quietly became his favorite song on the album—and why the last track is often where artists leave us with their deepest message. 🎵 Tonight's Side One Spin: Pull out a favorite album and listen only to the final track. You might discover you've be...

Some songs stay with us for decades before we truly understand them. In today's Dave's Side One, Dave reflects on Billy Joel's Summer, Highland Falls and why some of our favorite music seems to grow alongside us. 🎵 Tonight's Side One Spin: Revisit a song you've known for years but haven't listened to closely in a long time. Put on a pair of headphones and ask yourself: What do I hear today that I...

Collectors often ask about the most valuable record on the shelf. But what if the best record in your collection isn't the rarest one? In today's Dave's Side One, Dave reflects on the difference between market value and personal value, and why the records with the best stories are often the ones we'd save first. 🎵 Tonight's Side One Spin: Pull out the record that means the most to you—not because...

🎧 Spotify Description Sometimes the best albums enter our lives because of one unforgettable song. In today's Dave's Side One, Dave shares the story of buying ELO's A New World Record after falling in love with "Livin' Thing," and why taking that chance introduced him to an album that's remained one of his favorites for decades. 🎵 Tonight's Side One Spin: Find an album you originally bought beca...

Sometimes the greatest souvenir from a concert isn't the ticket stub—it's the way you hear the music afterward. In today's Dave's Side One, Dave reflects on how live performances reshape our connection to familiar songs and why some records become even more meaningful after seeing them on stage. 🎵 Tonight's Side One Spin: Choose a song you've heard live and play the original studio version. Notic...

Every record has a story beyond the music. In today's Dave's Side One, Dave shares the story of losing a favorite album while he was away for two years, searching for it over the decades, and finally bringing Heart's Greatest Hits/Live back into his collection nearly forty years later. 🎵 Tonight's Side One Spin: Pull out the record that took you the longest to find—or the one you thought you'd ne...

Some records become favorites before we even own them. In today's Dave's Side One, Dave reflects on the anticipation of saving up for an album and why finally bringing that record home made the music even more meaningful. 🎵 Tonight's Side One Spin: Pull out the album you worked hardest to own. As you listen, remember not just the songs—but the journey that brought that record into your collection...

Sometimes the records that leave us cold the first time become the ones we cherish years later. Today, Dave reflects on how changing life experiences can completely change the way we hear an album—and why it's worth giving old favorites, and old disappointments, another chance. 🎵 Tonight's Side One Spin: Pull an album off the shelf that you haven't played in years—especially one you remember not...

Some songs ask you to turn them up. Others ask you to slow down. Today, Dave reflects on Led Zeppelin's The Rain Song and why it has become one of his favorite pieces of music for quiet Sunday afternoons. It's a reminder that sometimes the most powerful songs are the ones that simply create space. 🎵 Tonight's Side One Spin: Put on a pair of headphones, press play on The Rain Song, and give it sev...

Music makes almost every activity better—but sometimes a great album deserves to be the activity. Today, Dave reflects on the joy of sitting down with a record and giving it your complete attention, just as artists intended. 🎵 Tonight's Side One Spin: Choose one favorite album, put your phone away, and listen from beginning to end without a single distraction.

Some guitar solos impress you with speed. Others stay with you because they make you feel something. In today's Dave's Side One, Dave reflects on the first time he heard Boston's "Hitch a Ride" and why that solo still gives him goosebumps decades later. It's not about technique—it's about storytelling, emotion, and the rare moment when every note feels exactly right. 🎵 Tonight's Side One Spin: Pu...

Concerts become milestones in our lives. In today's episode, Dave explores why live music changes the way we hear albums forever—and shares a personal concert memory that still stands out decades later.

Dave shares how one Three Dog Night album taught him an important lesson: sometimes the song that makes you buy a record isn't the one that makes you love it. Great albums reward listeners who keep listening.

Today's episode celebrates one of the forgotten joys of vinyl: opening a gatefold album, reading the lyrics, studying the artwork, and experiencing music before the first note ever plays.

Many fans put Rumours at the top of the classic rock mountain. Dave makes the case for Hotel California and explains why one overlooked song transformed the way he listens to this iconic album.

If there were a soundtrack for a peaceful Sunday afternoon, Take It Easy would have to be near the top of the list.

From the opening notes of Hotel California to the closing moments of The Last Resort, the album feels like a journey through the dreams and disappointments of California in the 1970s.

The best record I ever received as a gift was Jump on It by Montrose. Released in 1976, this was the band's fourth and final studio album. By then, Sammy Hagar had moved on and the group was in a different phase of its history.

My first record was We Can Fly by The Cowsills, a birthday gift that introduced me to the world of albums and record collecting. But my second record? That one was all me. The second album I ever owned was Equinox by Styx.