Here's an excerpt from an email to a friend in which I think up and
then describe my "Ulimate late 70s CD".  The challenge was to choose
the 17 songs that best capture the feeling of the late seventies for
me personally.
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Man -- this is quite a challenge.  [comment added later: I hope I
never spend this much time on an email again -- but I know I probably
will!]  Okay let's give it a try.  It's necessarily gonna reflect my
mood at the moment.  I think I'll try to go for "the feeling of the
era", with a variety of styles, and preference to songs that don't get
much airplay today.

Brainstorming, I've created categories -- so far I've got

"light rock": 12 songs
"smooth": 16 songs
"mellow": 10 songs
"soul": 4 songs
"r&b": 2 songs
"good honest rock": 8 songs
"disco": 2 songs
"country": 3 songs
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total: 57 songs! (and nuthin' on)

Right there, that tells you something about me, the era, and my mood
;^)

Now to form my 17-song CD, to capture the feeling of the era, provide
a variety of styles, and focus on less-played treasures.

Phew!  That was tough.  Now I have 17 songs:

smooth: 5
mellow: 3
soul: 1
rock: 3
disco: 1
country: 1
light rock: 3
r&b: 0

Now to put them in order and disguise my potentially embarrassing
choice of categories.  Here it is -- my 17 song CD that defines the
era!  Boy that was hard.

Love Is Alive - Gary Wright
Get Closer - Seals & Croffts
Easy - Commodores
Smoke From A Distant Fire - Sanford Townsend Band
Right Time Of The Night - Jennifer Warnes
I Can't Tell You Why - Eagles
Jackie Blue - Ozark Mountain Daredevils
Moonlight Feels Right - Starbuck
I Just Wanna Stop - Gino Vanelli
Afternoon Delight - Starland Vocal Band
Watcha Gonna Do - Pablo Cruise
You're My Best Friend - Queen
Gonna Fly Now - Maynard Ferguson
Too Much Too Little Too Late - Denice Williams and Johnny Mathis
Lonely Boy - Andrew Gold
Magnet and Steel - Walter Egan
Everlasting Love - Andy Gibb