From 2005-2013 and 2014-2020, I punctuated each year with an ever increasingly complex Best of List. In 2021, I returned to weekly missives with FTCH. I’m humbled by my faithful readers who have stuck with me week after week. The previous two weeks I have made lists of my favorite movies and television shows. The final summary of my 2025 experience is much like me – all over the proverbial board. This was a year that started out by the book. By April, it was clear that we would be moving, and by June we were packed for Massachusetts. The economy has had me living here in Texas the past six months among my stuff in boxes. The Best of the Rest is reflective of that chaos. These are all the things I measured that just don’t fit in the previous categories. Grab a snack, get comfortable, because this is a long one.
BEST OF THE REST 2025
2025 BY THE NUMBERS
- 4,817,766 steps taken this year (99,875 more than 2024, 112,407 more than 2023) My goal was not to let working from home make me more sedentary, so this was a conscious effort to walk more this past year. Next goal is to get back to five million steps.
- 365 days walking over 5 miles per day in 2025. The streak is back up to 635 days, headed towards my second 1,000 streak if I am lucky enough.
- 8 days not walking over 5 miles per day since 1/1/15.
- 62 days with over 7 hours of sleep (10 days more than 2023). This is is an area I improved on this year, but it still needs some work.
- 101 beers drank that were new to me this year. Thank you multiple trips out-of-state and brewery-friendly friends.
- 26 books read. (10th year in a row of meeting my 25 book/year goal) (9,792 pages read in the completed books – 5,000 pages less than last year)
- 365 movies watched in 2025
- 65 films released in 1975 watched in 2025
- 54 tabs open in my Chrome Browser currently. (Looking at lots of book reviews and articles on movies)
- $10 in physical cash spent in 2025 (thank you, cash-only parking lot in Detroit)
- 0 times with the hiccups
- 0 times using a highlighter
- 1 concert attended. Better than last year, but still needs to be adjusted.
- 2 Professional Sporting Events attended – 1 Mavericks, 1 Rangers.
- 1 Fantasy Football Championship. First time in over a decade.
- 6 states visited (no new Capitol buildings) (no long road trips or family weddings in 2025)
- 22 Fast Food restaurants for my 2025 Project.
- 1 Bourbon Street Steak from Applebee’s.
- 40,851 minutes listened to Spotify (470 more minutes than 2024)
- 361 albums released in 1975 listened to in 2025
- 24 combined films watched in my Director Projects (Kurosawa started in 2024 / Eastwood started in 2022 / Ford started in 2021)
- 40 movies seen in theaters (tied for my best number since 1993)
- 13 movie theaters visited to watch those 40 movies in 2025.
BEST BOOKS I READ IN 2025
After almost a decade of not reaching my yearly goal of 25 books per year – I’m on a run of eight straight years of beating the goal. This year’s 26 books read was a step back from 40 books of previous years, mostly due to the disruption in my patterns for the second half of the year. I read fewer graphic novels this year. I leaned on the genres of mysteries, science fiction, and horror. Picking a list of favorites is hard only because of comparing apples to oranges.
2023 Best Book I Read – Stephen King – Holly (2023)
2024 Best Book I Read – Stephen King – You Like It Darker (2024)
1. Brian Keene / Christopher Golden – It’s the End of the World As We Know It: New Tales of Stephen King’s The Stand (2025): Nearly as long as The Stand (1978/1990), these 34 new stories expand the universe of the book with other contemporary events happening during, immediately after, and far distanced into the future of the book setting. I have loved this story since reading it in my early teens. I’ve made it through the book three times, and I found these stories really fascinating takes on my thoughts about the world of the book. As a percentage, there are rarely 100% perfect short-story collections, but this one hits at a higher rate than even the most recent King collections. Another reread of this and the source material is coming soon.
Buy It’s the End of the World As We Know It: New Tales of Stephen King’s The Stand
2. John D. MacDonald – The Dreadful Lemon Sky (1975): I’ve been immersed in Hammett and Chandler in recent years. I’ve had a parallel reading of Elmore Leonard and his thematic successor, Carl Hiaasen. I’ve wondered where the link was between these two, and I think I’ve finally found one of them. My first John D. MacDonald book is the 16th Travis McGee novel, but I can see the links clearly. McGee has elements of Philip Marlowe in his attitude and technique. The Florida setting and characters hint at the work that Leonard and Hiaasen would do in future decades. I love the writing style and plan to read more. The remaining writer I’m curious about is Robert B. Parker.
3. Raymond Chandler – Farewell, My Lovely (1940): I dove into the first three Philip Marlowe novels this year. I found this second entry to be my favorite. The plots are all relatively convoluted with lots of similar characters. I love the attention to scene setting as Chandler takes pages sometimes to describe each new building or room that a character enters. This book convinced me to finish all of the Marlowe titles.
4. Stephen King – Never Flinch (2025): It’s either Holly Gibney’s fourth or seventh story depending on how you classify the Bill Hodges’ trilogy. This is probably the easiest one to read if you aren’t deep into the history of the character. There’s a dual story that, of course, connects in the final moments, and it’s fun to play along with how you think they will intersect. I treasure all of the works we get from the man as he ages, and this is well worth the read for anyone who doesn’t think they can stomach some of his more hardcore horror pieces.
5. Elmore Leonard – Get Shorty (1990): A late-year reread came about to just try to meet my book goals of the year with one that I had read previously that would go quickly. I have gone slightly out of order with my Elmore Leonard Project, but this was a refreshing read in terms of the John D. MacDonald book that I had just finished. Leonard is an important link in the chain of mystery thrillers. This one is less a mystery and more of a genre buster. Characters like Bo Catlett and the Bear will show up in similar books by other authors through until today.
6. Stephen King – ‘Salems Lot (1975): My record keeping in my younger years was not nearly what it has been the past decade. I believe this is my fourth reading of the book. I can still be surprised at some of the twists and turns. I hold this out as a great entry point for people who aren’t sure where to start with King’s books. This definitely prepares one to go through the Dark Tower series. It also illustrates one thing that King will stick with most of his career – don’t be afraid to make any character disposable.
7. Robert Heinlein – Time Enough for Love (1973): This isn’t my first Heinlein novel, but it’s my first of his published in the ’70s. The story of Lazarus Long, a man over 2000 years old, is more of a series of longer novellas connected together by his narration. Heinlein is interested in long philosophical explorations throughout the novel, and it reads about a hundred pages longer than needed. I was in the mood to indulge his thought experiments, but I can see where this could make one weary to read under other circumstances.
8. Agatha Christie – Curtain: Poirot’s Last Case (1975): Christie wrote this 44th Poirot story during World War Two in case she didn’t survive the bombings. It would wait to be published in 1975, and it’s where I started my more serious journey into the detective. It generally goes against my procedures to start at the end of a cycle, but this was available and had been one I remember in bookstores when I was little. It is a fascinating mystery solved by Poirot who is generally absent from the scenes. I may get back to it when the number comes up again in my read through his stories.
9. Raymond Chandler – The Big Sleep (1939): The first Philip Marlowe novel gets complex very early. The plot was so convoluted that I quickly lost the thread of who was who and just stuck with the beauty of the language. Chandler can turn a phrase unlike many others writing in the genre or otherwise. If future novels weren’t slightly easier to follow, I may have quickly given up on his books, but they do appear to get a little clearer. This book makes Top Ten lists of Hard Boiled Detective novels, and I can see why it is important.
10. Vincent Bugliosi – Helter Skelter (1974): This account of the Manson murders doesn’t play out in a chronological order in terms of the crimes. This is about the building of the case and the difficulty of the prosecution and trial. The story starts with the fact of the murders and the crime scene. What follows is a long account that fills in details as witnesses come forward and evidence is discovered. I don’t read as much non-fiction as I would like, but this encourages me to seek out more. I was fascinated with this story that I knew but didn’t know enough.
WORST PROJECT PROGRESS OF 2025
I start a new set of projects every year, but I rarely technically end a project. For every project that you see play out on Instagram or Facebook, there are at least a couple that either die on the vine or just don’t get off the ground. Some are abandoned for good and others are waiting in the wings to really get their due. Some are just waiting for the right moment to pick back up again. Here are a few of the ones that I’m not willing to bury just yet.
2024 Worst Progress: Punk Project
1. PUNK PROJECT: Started in 2021, this is a project that I love and yet it always seems to get pushed aside for other listening projects. I started the year determined to improve upon the 2024 progress. I more than doubled the progress and finished 11 entries. Unfortunately, that only meant that I finished October, November and the start of December 1978. I’m making another commitment to put some more progress under my belt. I love all the learning this project has brought to me.
2. THE SCOOBY-DOO PROJECT: The six-year-old project of watching all of the Scooby projects (television, streaming and movies) has officially stalled. I had thought I’d pick up again with my discs this year. I’m stalled at the start of Season Two of What’s New Scooby-Doo? (2003) and my discs are packed. This is one that I might start up again when I’m finally moved.
Buy What’s New Scooby-Doo?: Season Two3. THE BOOKSTORE PROJECT: I haven’t determined how I want to put my arms around this project. I started logging my favorite bookstores in 2024. I visited a pretty incredible store, John K. King Used and Rare Books in Detroit this past year. But along with another bookstore in Chicago, those were my only stops. Once again, the life changes interfered with most of my travel and bookstore-browsing time. Once relocated, I have grand plans to expand this project.
4. THE TACO JOINTS PROJECT: Started in 2020 and abandoned during the Pandemic, I documented some new joints in 2024. I didn’t make enough of an effort to get to new places in 2025 and ended up with no new logs in the project. I worry about my ability to find new joints once I move, so that might need to be addressed early in 2026.
5. THE CLASSIC MARVEL PROJECT: At some point in late 2018 or early 2019, I started reading early Silver Age Marvel comic collections. I resolved to try to read a majority of the major characters stories from the ’60s. I don’t have a continuity issue with the Universe, only with each character. Much of my reading has been determined by the library and/or the cheap availability of collections. I started with 1963 and I’m stuck somewhere around 1967 or 1968 with stories from Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Iron Man, Thor, Spider-Man, X-Men, Captain America and Doctor Strange. I read some great S.H.I.E.L.D. and Fantastic Four stories this past year, but ultimately I didn’t advance any particular characters very far.
Buy Fantastic Four Epic Collection: The Coming Of GalactusBEST FAST FOOD JOINTS OF 2025
This year I chose a food-related project that would also fulfill an interest in history and research. I accomplished more of the last two than the actual sampling I had planned on doing. I have watched hours of documentaries on the fast-food industry and the founding of some of the most iconic stores. I’ve done less visiting than I had planned, once again mostly due to the complexity of living here alone with my mother-in-law for a large part of the year. Like some other projects (including my movie theater project), I got off to a great start, but when more travel was required to hit new joints, the project stalled and about ended. It was still fun and I’ll continue to fill in the holes over the next few years.
1. McDONALD’S (Est. 1955): Is this an emotional ranking? Yes, of course. For the first two decades of my life, this was the golden standard of fast food for me. If I had a choice, it was typically a Big Mac or Filet o’ Fish on my list. Does it still hold up? Kinda and sorta. They aren’t nearly as popular or at the forefront of innovations any longer. Do I still crave some fries and the best soft drink in the business? Yes and see my car on a long road trip for proof.
2. CHICK-FIL-A (Est. 1946): I liked them more when they wanted you to “Eat Mor Chickin” than I do with the heartfelt “we love our customers” ads. I can’t deny that this is the most consistent fast food around. The chicken sandwich, waffle fries, and shakes all add up to a great combination. Each separately may have a better option somewhere else, but not as a whole. The service is second to none. I’ve yet to have a wrong item at the drive thru or not get a correct order when I need something specialized.
3. IN-N-OUT BURGER (Est. 1948): Simple menu, good food. It’s really that easy to be one of the best in the industry. If I want a burger, this is one of the first places that comes to mind. If I’ve made the choice for fast food, I don’t need 25 choices on toppings or variations. Sometimes I just want a burger and this place fits the bill. The fries stop them from being #1 or #2, but there’s always room for improvement.
4. CULVERS (Est. 1984): This ranking is more on reputation than experience. I reserve the right to move them up or down as I get more chances to experience their menu. My visit this year was my first and I was impressed on all levels. The food was good, probably the best value for my dollar, and the service was tremendous. I had the basic butter burger and I’d like to give some of the specialties a try to really give them a proper ranking.
5. WENDY’S (Est. 1969): This ranking is based upon historical data and experiences. My recent Wendy’s visits have found it to be a little more sketchy in terms of service and quality. I appreciate some of their innovations and they win an extra spot just for the Frosty. Their burgers, especially the Baconator, are more filling and fresh tasting than most. I miss the old design of their restaurants. I still have moments of craving a single w/cheese, chili, fries, and a Frosty.
6. WHATABURGER (Est. 1950): As a current Texan, I’m supposed to automatically rank this as the #1 restaurant in the state. It’s not that simple. The burger is a little larger than other chains and the extra elements like green chilis can be very good. I don’t love their fries or shakes and that’s a problem. I like the place but there’s just something missing to put them in the Top Five.
7. JERSEY MIKE’S SUB (Est. 1956): This might be the other surprise on the list other than Culvers from what would have been my rankings a year ago. I didn’t seek out Jersey Mike’s for a quick sandwich because I had no opinion of them positive or negative. I found their sandwich to have just the right balance of meat, toppings, and a tasty bread. Once again, maybe not the best in a single category, but as a whole experience, this is a joint that I will seek out on road trips.
8. TACO BELL (Est. 1962): It used to be the best deal for filling up. I don’t know that current prices qualify for that any longer. They win the award for understanding their customers the best. They have a great rotation of different names and combinations of essentially six ingredients. They have cultivated a fandom by making those available for short periods of time and then bringing them back for themed weeks or months. The food isn’t great to eat on the road, nor is it the best taco meat but there’s something fun about ordering something like a “cheeserrito”. They have a history of ads that appeal to that “cutting edge” culture. Like their tacos, those are good ads but never the best.
9. RAISING CANES (Est. 1996): Relative newcomers in the scheme of things for the fast food business. They follow the formula of “do one thing and do it well” that works for me. They are “the chicken finger” people. Their chicken isn’t my favorite, even though it’s always decent, but I love the extras like the sauce and bread that goes with the meal. I debated this one over some of the other local chicken joints, and I decided that I’d choose to go here tonight if I wanted some chicken.
10. SONIC DRIVE-IN (Est. 1953): Their menu is all over the board, including breakfast all-day. They make the list for their Cherry Limeade with the crushed ice pellets. They have a great shake and mix-in sundaes. They were first on the market with multiple tater-tot dishes. I don’t go very often any longer, but there’s something here for every craving.
My sampling was meant to be double of what it ended up being. There are places that I haven’t been yet that I think would have made a run for the Top Ten including Shake Shack, Five Guys, and White Castle.
BEST SNACKS OF 2025
I have always loved snacks. They have served as influence on my different projects. I love beverages, candy, cookies, and other salty goodies. These have become a fixture in my weekly FTCH blog. The more you snack, the more you go down the rabbit hole of snack culture. A few of the memorable ones this year.
2022 Snack of the Year: Oreo Brookie-O.
2023 Snack of the Year: Little Debbie Cherry Cordials Ice Cream
2024 Snack of the Year: Utz Mike’s Hot Honey Potato Chips
1. KROGER CHIPS: PIGS IN A BLANKET: The 2025 landscape was ripe for Chips (not just Nvidia) this year. It was odd because the summer was rather devoid of new releases, but the fall had the most I can remember since I started keeping track of these things. I could fill the whole Top Ten with chips, but these stuck out as the best of the bunch. They made great football-watching snacking with a flavor that most resembled the title. I craved additional bags of these more than any other. We are living in a world where the best chips came from a grocery-store brand. That’s a testament to the Snack Golden Age we are in the middle of.
2. OREO SELENA GOMEZ: Oreo had a stellar 2024 and followed it up with a very good 2025. These chocolate and cinnamon cookies are the best of a solid year of offerings. The Oreo is very flexible design for different combinations of biscuits and flavors. They went in a number of directions this year, not all of them decadent. This cookie was my favorite for just that reason. It’s not crazy to combine cinnamon and chocolate, it’s all about the correct ratios. They found that sweet spot with this release.
3. DORITOS: TWISTED QUESO: Doritos have a quandary every year. How do we market cheese and chips in a different way this year? This year it was a slight twist on cheddar queso and jalapenos. I was doubtful that this flavor would present anything interesting. I was wrong again. These were distinctly different than nacho cheese, and I loved them. These were perfect summer chips to go along with almost every lunch. Doritos attempts their fair share of flavors in a year and rarely make this list. I want to give them credit when credit is due that this is a flavor to seek out if it shows up again on your grocery shelves.
4. MTN DEW: BAJA CABO CITRUS: There’s been a slight change in the marketing efforts for Mountain Dew. In 2024, they went all out with new flavors and re-releases of popular flavors. In 2025, they stuck to a more traditional quarterly release and they leaned on web-only releases that had such limited availability that normal consumers like me never had a chance to sample them. This release was a variation on a great Casey’s exclusive. It’s tropical citrus punch and it was just what I want from the brand, a refreshing summer flavor to go with a sandwich and potato chips. I worry about the future of flavors from this brand after they abandoned a holiday release for the first time in years.
5. 100 GRAND ICE CREAM BARS: It was a decent but not remarkable year for ice cream. There were some good flavors, but mostly just slight variations on classic flavors. There aren’t ones that I would get out of the couch hole today to run to the store to get a second container. There was an expansion of multiple brands into ice cream sandwiches. Most of them, like Pop Tarts and Eggo, fell a little flat for me. This one hit the spot by emulating one of my favorite candy bars with just a little ice cream. They were price prohibitive to stock too many in my freezer, but once we hit baseball season again, I’ll want some more.
6. PEPPERIDGE FARM: MILANO CARAMEL CAFE AU LAIT: To make the list, you don’t have to come out with some outrageous flavors or unique tie-ins. Sometimes the best thing is taking a good cookie and just adding a simple dipping flavor. These are the classiest cookies and with a little caramel, they were one of my favorites of the year.
MOST MISSED OF 2025
1A. ROB REINER (1947-2025): The tragedy of his death makes the missing that much more difficult and front of mind right now. I knew him as Meathead and then as the director of a couple of the best Stephen King adaptations like Stand by Me (1986).
Buy Stand by Me1B. DAVID LYNCH (1946-2025): We started the year with the death of a director and ended the year with the death of a director. Both meant something to me, in different ways. Lynch wasn’t just a director I liked, he was an artist that inspired me. I fell in love with his films and television shows, but that just led me to appreciate the man as artist. I can argue that Blue Velvet (1986) laid the groundwork for that director-driven independent film that would rule the early- to mid-’90s. I can also make a solid claim that Twin Peaks (1990) was the Big Bang of Golden Age of Television that we are just coming out of today.
2. ROBERT REDFORD (1936-2025): Did they come any bigger in his day? We talk about the end of the “movie star” era and you have to put Paul Newman and Robert Redford in that category. His choices always felt like his own. He didn’t do films like Jeremiah Johnson (1972) to get big box office. His support of independent films in his later life brought stories to my attention I never would have heard of.
3. RYNE SANDBERG (1959-2025): George Brett was the first baseball player I actively loved but he was on a team I didn’t like. Ryne Sandberg was the first baseball player that I loved on a team that I loved that I watched season in and season out for almost all of his career. It was great to have a hero that didn’t let you down. I was lucky enough to see him while he was coaching minor league ball for the Cubs at a tribute for him at a Cubs game at Wrigley Field.
4. GENE HACKMAN (1930-2025): He didn’t have the cultural impact of Robert Redford, but he was in some of the best films of each decade where he acted. I’ve watched him the most in The French Connection (1971). He got that perfect non-actor actor face, and delivers some very quotable lines.
5. OZZY OSBOURNE (1948-2025): I was reluctant to get into metal in my youth because I just didn’t have the entry-level artists at first. Once MTV came along, I was able to move from Led Zeppelin to Black Sabbath and then Blizzard of Oz came out and played for months at the back of the school bus on cassette. I’ve been a fan ever since. Who knew that the man would go on to be so beloved by younger generations.
6. SLY STONE (1943-2025): One of the most important musicians to my fandom. I became a huge Prince fan in my youth. That led me to Sly and the Family Stone. After watching the Hulu documentary, I spent much of the year rediscovering some of the deeper cuts. Those early albums are amazing when compared against the other artists of the day.
7. BRIAN WILSON (1942-2025): I didn’t appreciate this man enough growing up. I always enjoyed the Beach Boys music, but it was later in life that I was able to understand a little of the complexity of his writing and production. His influence on other musicians is why he’s one of my most missed of the year.
8. CARL CARLTON (1953-2025): The Detroit native hit it big with an excellent mix of funk and disco. His influence on early hip hop is huge. He went Gospel in later life that didn’t catch on. These early tunes still live on in almost every funky mix that I make.
9. GEORGE FOREMAN (1949-2025): He formed one of the best boxing trios of all-time with Ali and Frazier. Their fights are still some of the best heavyweight fights of my lifetime. I never would have predicted his late-life boxing comeback and that he would become a beloved advertising figure.
10. HULK HOGAN (1953-2025): It’s impossible to deny his influence on my love of wrestling in the mid-’80s. He was everything that being a superhero in that genre was all about. I had followed wrestling but never appreciated it until this legend came along.
HONORABLE MENTION: Not all of the missed of 2025 are of the human variety. We said goodbye to Stranger Things, Poker Face, Tivo, the Chevy Malibu, On the Border, Cheetos Popcorn, and Joann Fabrics.
I’ve been disappointed with the Oscars’ version of “most missed” over the past few years. TCM has far surpassed them with selection and presentation. This is made by people who understand why we love movies. This will serve to cover so many that I didn’t get a chance to list. The folks at TCM know how to pick a meaningful song for each year and this choice of Dave Simonett and the Sunrise, “In the Western Wind and the Sunrise” is an absolute winner again.
THINGS FROM 2025 THAT DIDN’T MAKE ANY OTHER LISTS
1. GOODBYE, TEXAS / HELLO, MASSACHUSETTS: A year ago we had no idea of the disruption that would happen in our lives in 2025. My wife’s job ended and in a short time, she was recruited for a wonderful opportunity in Beverly, MA. If things had worked out, we’d both be there now. Instead, I’m still here in Texas trying to sell a home in a challenging real-estate market. By the time I write this up next year, I should be viewing these sunrises over the Atlantic.
2. PEPPER / RIGBY (#1 in 2023, 2024): As life got more complicated, it also got simpler. There was chaos of packing up the house, changing schedules, and family in and out of the house. In the end, my coworkers learned some new routines and became even better at taking care of Dad. These two are waiting for breakfast and walks at 5:00am, dinner at 5:00pm, and midnight snackies at 9:00pm as we tuck in for the night.
3. PHYSICAL MEDIA (#5 in 2024): I have definitely condensed my collection in regards to CDs, DVDs, and Blu-rays. At the same time, I’m curating better collections finally. I entered the 4K world in 2025, so that adds to the options in my collections. As films ping pong around different streamers, I’m much more likely to pick up some of my favorites. I’ll be on the lookout for more 4K options in 2026.
4. REBIRTH OF ANIME (AGAIN): I can’t keep track if this is the third or fourth resurrection of anime. The interesting twist is that this wasn’t happening on a Toonami or CrunchyRoll streamer. This year, anime made a big push in theaters. The huge success of K-Pop Demon Hunter on Netflix translated to record-breaking numbers in theaters. Almost weekly since the summer, there has been an anime release popping into the Top Ten. I’m all about it, and I contributed by watching Neon Genesis Evangelion again and catching some Miyazaki films in theaters and on disc at home.
5. ARSENAL FOOTBALL (#6 in 2024): It was an impressive end to the season in Spring 2025, but no hardware to show for it. The 2025-2026 season has started even better thanks to the addition of some great pieces to the puzzle. Currently, they are in first place in the Premier League, undefeated in the Champions League, and into the semifinals of the League Cup. It’s fun to share this run with Christian who has also followed the team with me for over a decade.
6. TEXAS RANGERS (#4 in 2024): This isn’t my championship team any longer. Most of the pieces of that team have moved on in just two years. I probably watched some or all of 140 games in 2024. This past year it was closer to 100 because of everything that was happening. There were many letdowns and frustrations. In the end, it’s still a team that helps me pass some summer evenings. I’m actively considering a secondary cheering for the Red Sox in the upcoming season because it’s important to root for at least one local team.
7. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: Probably hard to talk about anything that happened in 2025 that wasn’t influenced in some way by AI. It’s not a simple application to describe since it is infiltrating every aspect of our lives. I decry some of the use in movies, television, and books since it tries to replace creative people. I have a healthy fear that a smart-enough computer could replace my job in 5-6 years. It’s an area that will dominate my news reading in the years to come (even if those articles about AI are written by AI).
8. WEATHER/NON-WEATHER (#8 in 2024): Usually, it is actual weather that catches my interest. There are typically hurricanes, blizzards, or tornadoes that dominate the weather landscape. This year is was the disasters that stemmed from the changes in climate that dominated my news feeds. It was horrific flooding in South Texas, fires in Los Angeles, and something called “atmospheric rivers” dumping water all over the West Coast. When I’m not listening to music during my work days, I have on weather and this year was tragic.
9. CANDLES/SCENTS (#9 in 2024): The disruptions of the year hit this part of my life just as hard. I didn’t want to move pounds of glass candles, so I worked my way through my collection instead of purchasing lots of new scents. My burner burned out early in the year and I haven’t replaced it yet until we move. I still keep up with the new releases, and I did take advantage of the Peanuts releases from Goose Creek as an excuse to stock up for the holidays.
10. FIND THE KILLER: What a crazy development in our society. But it seems like we couldn’t go a couple of months without a high profile murder or mass shooting without having to spend days with lots of Twitter sleuths tracking down the evidence. The latest Brown shooting, solved on Reddit, doesn’t feel like we’ve put this trend to bed yet. That doesn’t even include the short-time suspense of the death of couples like Gene Hackman and wife and Rob Reiner and wife.
MOST PLAYED SONGS FROM SPOTIFY IN 2025
Music is ever present in my life. It’s on when I’m working, when I’m walking, and often when I’m reading. It’s always interesting to look back at the top songs from the year. This year more than ever is reflective of how my actual listening is spread out with every Top Ten Most Played being from the ’70s, with six being from 1975. Thankfully, Spotify keeps track of my listens so I don’t have to.
2022 Most Played Song – Prince – “1999” (1982)
2023 Most Played Song – Traffic – “Medicated Goo” (1968)
2024 Most Played Song – Rick Wakeman – “Journey to the Center of the Earth” (1974)
1. The Doobie Brothers – “I Cheat the Hangman” (1975): A single influenced by “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.” These vocal harmonies aren’t featured enough on their early albums. This album was an active player in my 1975 Project, and I sort of discovered this song myself this year and fell in love with it.
Buy The Doobie Brothers – Stampede2. Procol Harum – “Grand Hotel (Live)” (1975): The original was from 1973 and this live version comes from a live track added to the Procol’s Ninth album. It’s one of their best tunes and I obviously repeated this live version a fair share of times this past year.
3. Ian Hunter – “Boy” (1975): I am a fan of this Mott the Hoople guitarist. His first solo album has some great tunes with Mark Ronson. I’m surprised that my most played is this tune and not “Once Bitten, Twice Shy,” but both songs show off some great guitar work. This has the bonus of sounding like it could be a Bowie outtake.
4. Hot Chocolate – “You Sexy Thing” (1975): This British band found a funky, almost disco, sound that would light up the dance floors of 1975. It’s hard not to jam this one in the car and it played for me on many a trip to pick up Friday-night takeout.
5. David Bowie – Station to Station” (1976): As I finished up 1975 albums and looked towards 1976, I had this album on serious rotation the past couple of months. If I had tried to guess, I would have thought one of the songs on this album would have been #1 or #2. Deep in the grips of cocaine addiction, this song in particular reflects upon the artistic and philosophical influences for Bowie. It’s an amazing, albeit long, piece of music history.
6. Siouxsie and the Banshees – “Helter Skelter” (1978): I am not listing all of the songs on this album that made my list. This album was a major part of my spring-into-summer listening. There isn’t a bad song on the album, but this cover topped out just ahead of the others on repeat. It is the best cover of this Beatles’ song that I have ever heard. It interprets the song in a perfect way for the post-Manson era.
7. America – “Woman Tonight” (1975): Once again, the actual amount of plays of a song gets them on this list and this is another surprise by the title, not the group. I don’t have anything negative to say about this decent America song other than they have at least ten others I swear I listened to more in 1975.
8. Journey – “You’re on Your Own” (1976): This is off of a Journey album that I played quite a bit at the end of this past year. I was intrigued that this song wasn’t a hit at all. There are songs that play well in 2025 that just didn’t have any traction in 1976.
9. Bob Dylan – “Black Diamond Bay” (1976): Dylan has some of the most amazing seven- to ten-minute-long songs. They can just ramble on, lose their thread, and eventually get back to where they started, but you’re not sure if there was a story in there or not. I love this song, but it seriously just introduces a few characters and doesn’t really get around to doing much else.
10. Elton John – “Pinball Wizard” (1975): I spent quite a bit of time listening to the Tommy soundtrack this past year. I enjoy it way more than the film. It was not a question that one of the songs would appear on here, just which one. I think this is such a strong version of the song that is equally one of the worst parts of the film.
BEST ALBUMS OF 1975
The year of 1975 was a fulcrum in music for the decade. There were a number of releases by famous band and artists that are considered the best of their careers. There was a continuing evolution and divergence of genres. Prog rock and folk were slowly merging into other genres. Disco, punk, and hip hop are clearly on the horizon as funk, soul, and reggae make some big breakthroughs. Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, and Alice Cooper (starting his tour in Kalamazoo, MI) are on the road. Double-album live sets became the norm, the Sex Pistols play their first concert, and Bernard Herrmann passes away. After a generally mediocre 1974, the year of 1975 is definitely the best of the decade so far, and I can’t imagine there will be another one with so many important releases. The Best Albums category is not necessarily how they were viewed in 1975 but how they sound to me today.
Best Album of 1973 – Stevie Wonder – Innervisions
Best Album of 1974 – Linda Ronstadt – Heart Like A Wheel
1. Bob Dylan – Blood on the Tracks (January): Bob’s wife crushed his heart, and we all benefited from it. This album is full of heartbreak and emotion. For the first time, Dylan became very relatable to more of a mass audience. I’m not going out on any limb to choose this album as my favorite of the year. It’s on Best of the Decade and Best of All-Time lists often. I think what amazed me was how fresh it still sounded in 2025. Start with “If You See Her, Say Hello”.
Buy Bob Dylan – Blood on the Tracks2. Bruce Springsteen – Born to Run (September): I don’t think I would necessarily have put this in my 1975 Top Ten before this year. By the time I got to September listening of the year, this album hit me like a ton of bricks. Bruce is honest and vulnerable in a way that only Bob Dylan allowed himself to be in this year. I found songs that I had previously ignored that really grabbed me. Start with “Thunder Road.”
3. Patti Smith – Horses (November): Patti took the best parts of the Velvet Underground and incorporated it smoothly into her own proto-punk sound. The result on this album was nothing short of perfection. Any album that starts “Jesus died for somebody’s sins, but not mine,” you know you are in good hands. This album must have sounded like nothing else in 1975. Start with “Free Money.”
4. Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here (September): It’s always interesting how bands adapt to huge success. For Pink Floyd, coming off Dark Side of the Moon (1973), they became more introspective; missed their bandmate, Syd; and became disenchanted with the music business. All of that went to make one of their most interesting albums from a lyrical point of view. The music matched the darkness of their thoughts. Start with “Welcome to the Machine.”
5. Led Zeppelin – Physical Graffiti (February): Zeppelin was touring big so they had to release an album to support that was just as big. It was a double album of Zeppelin leaning into being Zeppelin. It rocks in a way that people think their earlier albums did, but those had more blues influences. I was amazed listening to it this year how hard it comes off compared to earlier releases. This is best played extra loud. Start with “Kashmir.”
6. David Bowie – Young Americans (March): What a year when this is only the sixth best album of the year, and I’m sure I’m giving this some extra boost because it was one of my earliest exposures to Bowie. He was trying to find his way in a music world that was moving away from his earlier sound. He adapted by keeping his artistic sensibility and finding a way to incorporate current sounds like with “Fame.” It turned out great. Start with “Young Americans.”
7. Guy Clark – Old Number 1 (November): This might not have been appreciated in its day, but this album is, top to bottom, the playbook for anyone doing country storytelling after this point. It’s still exerting influence on the country albums that I care to listen to today. Start with “Desperados Waiting for a Train.”
8. Parliament – Chocolate City / Mothership Connection (March / December) & Funkadelic – Let’s Take It to the Stage (April): George Clinton had uncovered the correct formula with the addition of Bootsy Collins and Bernie Worrell. He put the petal to the funk with two albums in 1975, both full of classics that would help launch hip hop to new heights in the coming decade and concert classics that he would perform to this day. At the same time, here George was with Funkadelic in his back pocket putting out some of the best funk rock that the decade had to offer. The man was heading up a funk machine like we’ve yet to see duplicated. Start with “Chocolate City,” “Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker)” and “Good to Your Earhole.”
9. Elton John – Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy (May): Elton never took a break after a successful album. He released two albums in 1975 alone. This became his first album to debut at #1 on the Billboard charts. The next time this would be accomplished would be later in the year with his next album. It’s a very personal album about his early years. Star with “Someone Saved My Life Tonight.”
10. Paul McCartney & Wings – Venus and Mars (May): This album basically sounds like Paul wrote songs specifically to perform on their tour that year. That’s not a bad thing. Start with “Rock Show.”
This list might omit some of your (and my) favorites. I was amazed at the breadth of talent releasing albums in 1975. I acknowledge that this list leaves off some important albums by Neil Young (two albums), Joni Mitchell and Willie Nelson.
BEST POP CULTURE YEARS
I’ve had enough of a sample to decide on the best pop-culture years on the years that I’ve done deep dives. I started in 2018 with my 1988 project with a goal of eventually watching 200 movies from each year, sampling the television shows that debut and listening to at least 350 album releases. I’ve currently worked through 1970-1975, 1988, 1989. Here are my current power rankings based upon all of the categories together.
1. 1973*
2. 1972*
3. 1971*
4. 1970
5. 1974^
*Over halfway through movie goal.
^Music goal finished.
“But me, I’m still on the road
A-heading for another joint
We always did feel the same
We just saw it from a different point
Of view” – Bob Dylan
Stay hard.
