Dan Reed, host of Highs in the Seventies - monthly on the first Saturday of each month, and Afternoons on XPN, is Operations Manager and Music Director for WXPN. We asked Dan ten, very important questions. Here's what Dan has to say.
Let's Start with music and the first record you purchased. I'm not 100% sure about this one, was probably a Monkees album with my Christmas money one year... I do recall buying Lou Reed's Sally Can't Dance album at a Rink's department store in my hometown of Hamilton, Ohio when I was in 7th grade – I had saved my grass cutting money.
Who did you see at your First Concert? I saw The Banana Splits live at Coney Island in Cincinnati when I was 7 or 8, but my first "real" concert experience was Gary Wright, Manfred Mann's Earth Band & Robert Palmer at Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati, circa 1976.
What bands have you played in? I've been the singer in a few you've never heard of...
WXPN: Well, rumor has it that Dan played in a band in Cincinnati, The Dock Ellis Band, so we did a little digging and came up with this link to his MySpace page, with a great shot of Dan in the 80s. We are putting together more, including some vintage photos. In the meantime, check out this unbelievable YouTube video of Dan Reed in The Dock Ellis Band.
Musician you were was most excited to meet.
I'd have to say the aforementioned Lou Reed... I got to meet him just a year ago or so after one of his Berlin concerts in Brooklyn. He was rather surly and uncommunicative, just as I had hoped he would be.
Favorite Local Bands
I really like Man Man... they're always very interesting. Dr. Dog have got it goin' on. Ben Arnold is a great songwriter.
How You Got into Radio
My high school had a vocational radio program, and it was all downhill from there. I always wanted to be a disc jockey, so I feel very fortunate that I've been able to end up doing what I wanted to do as a little kid. Except for a five year hiatus in the late 80's when I was in the concert business, I've managed to make a living in radio ever since I graduated from college.
Weirdest Boss
I work in radio... all my bosses have been weird!
All Time Favorite Bands/Artists The Replacements, Nick Drake, Patti Smith, My Bloody Valentine, Chuck Berry, Lou Reed / The Velvets, James Brown, The Stones, Iggy & The Stooges, John Coltrane, Nirvana, Joni Mitchell, P-Funk, Merle Haggard, The Clash, Peter Tosh, Pretenders, Black Sabbath, My Morning Jacket, tons more...
Favorite Movie
For years now, when people ask me this question, I've always said Midnight Cowboy, so I'll stick to that one - even though Fargo is right up there, as is Godfather II, Office Space, Strangers On A Train, Pulp Fiction, High Noon and Dr. Strangelove.
Favorite People
I've got the greatest family in the world, so it's gotta be Ann, Cale, Cara, Aprile & Max!
Bonus Questions – Dan, where do you hail from?
Hamilton, Ohio, U.S.A.
Previous gigs, other than the infamous Dock Ellis Band. WFPK / Public Radio Partnership – Louisville (prounounced Looville), Ky.
WNCW – Spindale, N.C.
WNKU – Highland Heights, Ky.
WOXY – Oxford, Ohio
College
B.A. / Communications, School of Radio/Television from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio - 1984
