5 High School Hits From The '70s That Will Stir Up Emotions In Every Boomer

Just like flipping through a yearbook or getting a call from an old friend, the right song can unleash a flood of memories that hit you right in the feels. Boomers who spent the 1970s making their way through high school spent wages from summer jobs on singles that captured their swelling adolescent emotions, ranging from the depths of lovelorn sadness to the heights of partying hearty.

The diverse genres that competed for airtime provided a diversity of emotionally-charged tunes, from disco hits at a school dance, one-hit wonders bopping on home stereos, or '70s hard rock classics that are long forgotten. And depending on what a listener was going through at the time, each song can take on a spectrum of significance.

There are bound to be dozens of '70s songs that spark an emotional response in Boomers whenever they show up on Spotify playlists or Pandora stations. But of all the sonic time machines that captivated the high schoolers of the decade, five songs in particular can still spark powerful feelings with just a few opening notes. By the time the chorus hits, Boomers are back in their young adult era, singing along and reliving the glory days of their youth.

It doesn't matter what year of high school you were in when you first heard Alice Cooper crooning "School's Out"; if you were a Boomer in the 70s, you were instantly in a good mood and looking forward to three months of doing nothing but lazing in the sunshine with good friends and great tunes. With a title and chorus that leave nothing to the imagination, what became Cooper's best known song served as an end-of-the-year declaration of freedom that teenagers of the era carried with him all the way through adulthood.

The single was strategically released in April 1972, just weeks before the school year ended. Cooper explained that he hoped to capture a spirit that transcended generations. "I just took it and said, 'Is it possible to capture the last three minutes of the last day of school before summer vacation?' There's no other moment as joyous as that, except for maybe Christmas morning,"(via AZ Central). The buoyant charge came through, and the song ended up being the only single released from the album of the same name.

The song was an international success, hitting No.7 in the U.S., No.3 in Canada and No.1 in the U.K. High school-aged Boomers all around the globe latched on to the rebellious emotion of the chorus, which sounds awfully close to a defiant battle cry.

It's a song that can't decide whether it wants to be a quiet reflection on loneliness or a lighter-hoisting arena shaking declaration of pain existence. Luckily, "All By Myself" by Eric Carmen doesn't have to choose; it's all things to all people, especially Boomers for whom it served as a teenage soundtrack. Perfect as a sorrowful reflection on heartbreak, this power ballad nails the quavering-to-soaring emotional track felt by every adolescent in the throes of lost love, even those pining for a love that never was.

As Carmen's first solo foray into the big time, "All By Myself" climbed all the way to No.4 on Billboard's Hot 100 in 1975. It was a mash-up of Rachmaninoff with a chorus from a song Carmen wrote for his former band, the Raspberries (via American Songwriter). Best of all, there was no hidden meaning for listeners to decipher; the song was about being sad and alone, and Carmen's mournful delivery gave it just the pathetic tang it needed.

20 years later, it would be covered by Céline Dion and return to the charts as one of her signature belters. Boomers got to recapture their high school angst while introducing a whole new generation to possibilities of just how sad a song can be. But only the original can claim the initial impact of a youngster in the mid-'70s hearing a musical meditation on the emptiness of existence and thinking, "Man ... this guy really gets it."

Heavy metal monsters KISS delivered a scorcher of a party song for '70s high-schoolers with "Rock and Roll All Nite." Good luck matching the crunchy, freewheeling spirit of this hard rock classic. For a band wearing makeup and dressed like demons from outer space, Gene Simmons and crew delivered a joyful celebration of the rock 'n' roll lifestyle, played in a major key with a sing-along chorus that never ages.

This sassy classic was the first single from the KISS's third album, "Dressed to Kill," but found a bigger and better response when it was part of the band's "Alive!" L.P. Though it became the band's signature song, the partying the lyrics referred to was meant to be tamer than expected, at least from the band's perspective. "It was, 'I wanna rock and roll all night and party every day. I wanna have a great time and make the most of life,'" Stanley said in a 2019 interview with Bernie & Sid in the Morning on WABC 77 the Radio (via Song Facts).

Whether teen Boomers took the intended message from this timeless track or gave it their own spin over the years, one thing remains true: They can't hear the song without shouting the chorus at the top of their lungs. Neither can anyone else.

Disco teens of the '70s were riding high on feathered hair and gold chains when The Bee Gees reinvigorated the genre with "Stayin' Alive" from the mega hit soundtrack of "Saturday Night Fever." There's no separating the tune from the visual of John Travolta strutting down a Brooklyn sidewalk on his way to dance like everyone was watching. The opening strains summoned every disco king and dance floor diva to square up and get ready to show off their moves — even if they weren't on a light-up dance floor with a mirrored disco ball hanging above.

How successful was this siren song to all the copycat Tony Maneros? It spent four weeks at the top of Billboard's Hot 100 chart when released in 1977, eventually spending 27 weeks overall on the charts and becoming a Grammy-winning million-selling platinum hit single. It also became one of the most iconic songs of the decade and brought Barry Gibb and his brothers to a new pinnacle of success.

This Boomer high school favorite got a new lease on life in 2008 when the American Heart Association promoted "Staying Alive" as the perfect rhythm for performing CPR chest compressions. Not only did The Bee Gees quintessential disco song create a vibe for the high school of the 1970s, it probably saved the lives of some of them as they became senior citizens too.

The softer side of the '70s music scene gave high school age Boomers a new spin on R&B with an undeniable pop sensibility. When Michael Jackson released "Rock With You" from his wildly successful album "Off the Wall," his status as an adult solo artist was solidified. As part of the deal, school dances got a sugary soft beat bouncer that let the teen set jam to a sound that felt like it was from the past and the future at the same time.

"Rock With You" ushered in the next phase of Jackson's supernova career, which would ultimately make him one of the biggest stars on the planet. But in 1979, it was enough to have a romantic dance song that invited close swaying with your sweetheart and gave rise to groovier moves from more stylish dancers. It was also perfect for bopping along in the car, a light and breezy song for every occasion.

The song went to No.1 in 1980 and helped kick off the post-disco era, a decade when punk rock, new wave, and the second British invasion would give Boomers entirely new sounds for their ears to chew on. Thanks to "Rock With You," the teens of the '70s had one last taste of sonic sunshine to close down their high school era and style. Now when it plays, it has the bittersweet flavor of youth coming to a close.