The "first side" of a vinyl record.
It's hard for those of us brought up with vinyl records to imagine there only being one side to a recording, in the same way that recent generations probably struggle with the concept of music being bought on flimsy bits of fragile plastic that had sides. Nonetheless, there it is, the full and more interesting history is available at B-Side. The A-side is usually (at least in the case of a single, the music that i likely to be most popular and likely to be purchased. As an example, Norman Greenbaum's single Spirit In The Sky had a B-Side with the song Milk Cow (which while excellent in its own right, would not have sold many copies. Look it up on YouTube).
In short, the A side was the prime artistic material most likely to sell and make money for the record label. This was less the case with albums. Whilst they did have two sides, one did not usually buy the record to play only the first side (although I admit that often happened for me a few times, but because the first side was just so good I felt no need to the other side and it stayed on the turntable without being flipped.).
Oh boy, I do miss my vinyl collection, sadly sacrificed, left behind in the UK in my rush to come to the US after Christine's cancer diagnosis.
For Side Quest 2024
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