Oh, I knew it! I knew my generation was not the first to prate material, yet I've never heard mention of that about other generations.
Wayne, thanks for mentioning that "specialized tapes were made that only had the tracks on them that you liked." That is the first I've heard of something like that being around before Walmart and Apple began selling individual songs rather than the whole album.
Gofar99, I always thought tapes sounded terrible, but I played my favorites into the ground, so that could be why.
Thank you both for responding! I've used some your key terms to fall down the google rabbit hole these past few days.