Updated December 10, 2025
Nostalgia regularly afflicts me, and as a result, I endeavor to keep it at arm’s length.
But 2025 has been such a challenge overall that I desperately need a year-end distraction, and so back into time I’m traveling — musically.
Apart from live performances, during the 1970s I experienced music via vinyl, cassettes, AM and FM radio; friends of mine owned 8-track players and even a reel-to-reel, but I never did.
My listening choices included jazz, swing and classical music; country music, not so much. But naturally, given the day and age, rock and pop comprised the daily default. Duke Ellington and Bix Beiderbecke understood my position.
The album format is the first determining characteristic of the list that follows. The albums have in common that I “owned” them, either on LP or cassette (usually taped from friends, not pre-recorded).
The list is not primarily populated with “all-time favorite” albums (except for Wish You Were Here). These are albums I liked at the time, or shortly after their release, a ......
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