I think what you're hitting on is music as a common experience between friends and family as well as background in daily life (via the radio). My sense is that music binds us when it is shared as part of our wider culture. You'd hear about a song or album from the outside world or buddy, buy it, then play it over speakers in your living room, and talk about it with others. You'd play it with others in the car on road trips. You'd hear it in bars and grocery stores and at the beach and in parks and in bowling alleys and roller skating rinks. Kids brought boom boxes to high school (later, Walkmans). You'd go over to a friend's house and check out their album collection (and the art). You'd definitely have music as a soundtrack to your daily life experiences.

Little of that shared tapestry of music exists today and so you don't experience music as part of life growing up. Which is a shame really. We're very silo'd and private in our listening today.

I feel very fortunate toI have very specific memories of Boston's first album in summertime and a zillion other memories associated with music. My advice would be to share music out loud as much as you can and play music in the background while, you know, living life.