Concocting a music collection from scratch

Twin hard-drive and iPod mishaps meant ROUTE 1 has had to rebuild its computer-based music collection (i.e., load hundreds of CDs onto a computer).
Where to start?
Here is where this week's FRIDAY QUESTION might come in handy.
"If you had to rebuild your music collection from scratch, where would you begin?"
RICK T. -- That's a hard question. I just gave over half of my 45s and albums to my son. But if I had to start over, I'd add more 50s songs to it. Love the 50s slow love songs. I'd most definitely build a better 50s-60s country collection.
MIKE M. -- Considering that serendipity is the new paradigm of information retrieval, I would begin by casually browsing the extensive archives of route1.
MARY N.-P. -- Bob Marley's "Legend" and Buffy Saint-Marie's "It's My Way." And "The Fugs' First Album."
BEKAH P. -- Always, always, always with the Beatles...
JOHN S. -- Motown baby, Motown!
BRIAN M. -- I'd start with my Genesis albums on I-Tunes and then probably buy the vinyl versions just for the cover art.
ROSEANNE H. -- With you!
KERI M. -- With ABBA.
STEVE M. -- With my latest fave -- Tinariwen. Tuareg musicians from the southern Sahara who formed in Gadafi's rebel camps. They are on tour now. Playing D.C. in late June. Check them out on Pandora.
KERSTIN H. -- The Beatles, then whatever I am listening to at the time.
ERIK H. -- When I grabbed a clutch of old blues CDs and began loading them onto the computer the other day, someone in the crowd asked why. "Because you have to start somewhere." Elemental and timeless, and having influenced almost every other subsequent form of popular music, the blues of the 1920s and 30s seemed like the perfect place to start.