We’ve had our new record player for a little over a month now, and I am smitten. Yes, the record player does technically belong to RollerReggie (it was his birthday present after all) but what can I say - records are fun.

I’m now on the hunt to find new seventies (and eighties) gems to add to our collection. So far I have hunted for records at Georgetown Records, Value Village, and the Goodwill.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Sundown by Gordon Lightfoot (1974)

Rainbow by Neil Diamond (1973)

Come on Over by Olivia Newton-John (1976)

It’s Impossible by Perry Como (1970)

Today is the 67th birthday of one of my favorite seventies pop stars - Neil Diamond. In fact, Neil Diamond’s illustrious career spans over four decades, but he really had it going on in the seventies. Good times.

So, to celebrate the occasion, I christened today Diamond Day - a holiday that I’m certain will soon become a beloved tradition known the world over.

Celebrating Diamond Day is easy. All you need to do is listen to Neil Diamond music all day long. See? Simple.

As luck would have it, I only own one Neil Diamond album, His 12 Greatest Hits (1974). So I put the album on repeat and listened to it for 9 solid hours - (that’s 12 times in a row, in case you were wondering). And the day’s not over yet. (Right now I’m singing along with “Shilo”).

I really do like Neil Diamond. But I think I overdid it today. When I open my mouth lyrics from Neil Diamond songs come out. I can’t help it.

Nowadays, I’m lost between two shores. I’m not a man who likes to swear, but I got an emptiness deep inside and I’ve tried, but it won’t let me go. Sadly, me and you are subject to the blues now and then. So I sing it out, and sing it strong. A song sung blue.

And, what do you know? Good times never seemed so good. Today I built me a castle with dragons and kings. Then I packed up the babies and grabbed the old ladies and had me a time with a poor man’s lady. Call the sun in the dead of the night, I say. Because you are the sun, I am the moon, you are the words, I am the tune. Lordy, child. Play me, sweet Caroline.

Perhaps I’d better refrain from making Diamond Day a yearly tradition.

Tags seventies . 1970s . 70s . Neil Diamond . Diamond Day . Shilo . Sweet Caroline . Song Sung Blue

Today I did not listen to the new Wilco album, sky blue sky, which I am so in love with right now that I am compelled to listen to it at least twice a day. I did not listen to the Arcade Fire, the Meat Purveyors, of Montreal, or any of the other usual suspects rounding out my current favorite list of bands. Instead, I hurriedly grabbed some CDs on my way to work this morning from our collection which I knew to be from the seventies. These albums turned out to be Physical Graffiti by Led Zeppelin, Electric Warrior by T-Rex, and the Neil Diamond Album His 12 Greatest Hits.

All throughout the day I let the music wash over me as I worked away at my desk, basking in a warm seventies glow as I composed clever emails and discussed important issues with my colleagues over instant messenger. I began the day listening to Neil Diamond as he gently crooned “Song Sung Blue,” “Shilo” and my personal Neil Diamond favorite “Sweet Caroline.” After lunch I endeavored to stay awake during the 11-minute long Led Zeppelin epic “In My Time of Dying”, and then shouted for more cowbell during “Houses of the Holy”.

As I drove home this afternoon I had to physically restrain myself from turning on the radio to the NPR Program All Things Considered. During a typical drive home, the soothing voices of my beloved drivetime friends, Melissa Block, Michele Norris, and Robert Siegel keep my mind off of the dreadful hour-long commute and in turns bemused, intellectually stimulated, and thoughtfully concerned about world events. But no NPR for me today. Instead I popped the Electric Warrior CD into my car’s CD player, turned the volume up to “11″, and discovered that rocking out to “Mambo Sun,” “Jeepster,” and “Bang a Gong” keeps my mind distracted from road rage almost as well as listening to NPR does.

But it’s not quite the same. I wonder if there are NPR podcasts from the seventies that I can listen to…

Tags: Led Zeppelin . T-Rex . Neil Diamond . Wilco . Sky Blue Sky . Of Montreal . The Meat Purveyors . Arcade Fire . NPR . All Things Considered