Starting with “A,” it’s Sophie’s choices all the way down. For example: I promised myself I wouldn’t spend too much time thinking about this list, so AC/DC was my default. I changed it to Adam and the Ants at one point (and briefly Aerosmith, thanks to their early albums) before making the obvious right choice.

And don’t get me started on “B” where I had to choose between The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Byrds, David Bowie, and freakin’ Big Star. That one really put a fine point on how seriously I still take silly thought experiments like this.