Hotel California (The Eagles). 40 Songs for 40 years, 1982

As all hipsters know, liking the Eagles is irredeemably lame, and in 1982, I was not cool in any way. I did, however, think that the idea of a band led by a drummer was pretty neat.

Oddly enough, the thing I remember most about this album is that I got it for Christmas on cassette tape along with my trusty Sony Walkman TCS 310. I remember listening to Hotel California in my new Walkman, crammed into the back of my dad’s sports car as we drove to Christmas dinner with my granny.

Sony Walkman TCS 310

Dollar for dollar, that Walkman was the best audio equipment purchase ever. It was built like a tank (admittedly a mixed virtue in portable electronics), but it proved to be nearly indestructible, and the integrated microphone came in handy for a budding musician. I recorded hundreds of hours of performances and practice sessions on that thing and listened to thousands of hours of music. It finally succumbed midway through college.