5 Hits From 1977 That Only The Boldest Boomers Dare To Sing At Karaoke

Who knew 1977 was such a solid year for karaoke songs with a high degree of technical difficulty? The hit songs from this rich 12-month span offer a diverse line-up of fun and exciting tunes to test the mettle of the strongest boomer-aged singers in your crew. Boomers picking out their favorite hits from 1977 could be in for a rough time, no matter how much they've belted along in their car or sung in the shower as the decades passed. Some of these karaoke picks rock hard, some groove mightily, and some soar to the heights, but every one is a certified expert-level banger.

We've chosen songs that charted in 1977 and pose a challenge either in pitch and range, vocal power, lyrical delivery, or a combination. It's a total grab bag filled with hard-to-cover treats that take your vocal cords into dangerous territory, following high bars set by pros like Ann Wilson, Freddie Mercury, and Steven Tyler. Only those with some technical know-how will rise to the occasion, and those who don't may be nursing a sore throat before the night is through. Best of luck to the boomers who dare attempt these five challenging hit songs that make 1977 a bit of a sing-along nightmare; only the strong will make it all the way through. If you're bold enough to give one of them a go, you might want to warm up a bit before you take the mic.

Any boomer brave enough to attempt "Barracuda" by Heart has some big, hard-rocking shoes to fill. Powerhouse vocalist Ann Wilson doesn't hold back, covering the whole expanse of her vocal range as the song rolls out. It's a sure-fire energy builder as soon as the chug-chugga-chug guitar riff tears the song open, but the vocals are so potentially overwhelming, you could trip over your own tongue before you even get rolling. Thankfully, the mid-range resolve of "Ooooo — barracuda!" gives you a chance to recalibrate you throat muscles, but not for long. You've got an "Oh-oh-oh yeah" following close behind.

The bridge after the second chorus is a whole lot smoother, letting an ambitious boomer show off their crooning skills while singing supremely spacey lyrics like "'Sell me, sell you' the porpoise said / Dive down deep now, deeper than you." It works best if you know them ahead of time so you don't get thrown off when they appear on-screen. And don't try to make sense of them; just go with the oceanic theme and sing for your supper — or your drinks and bar bites — before the next chorus kicks in. Conquer this one, and your boss-level karaoke skills could earn you the crown. It would take someone nailing every note of "I Will Always Love You" (Whitney Houston's popular cover of the '70s song, not the more staid Dolly Parton original) to dethrone you.

Give props to Steven Tyler's fast-tongued delivery during the verses of the karaoke-killer "Walk This Way." The Aerosmith singer rattles off lyrics with such agility, it almost sounds like he's rapping, years before hip-hop would make rap a cultural behemoth and a mainstream musical genre. There's just enough melody to ensure karaoke challengers can sing their way through, if they can keep up with the endless stream of syllables that leaves little room to take a breath. The lyrics are so tongue-twisting, it's better if someone who knows the routine makes the selection; best of luck to a boomer noob to the sing-along scene who tries to keep up with what Tyler laid down so long ago. 

If a boomer feels like cheating a little, they can opt for the 1986 remake that teamed Aerosmith with Run DMC to highlight the rap element and produce a historic hip-hip-slash-rock top-five mashup. It's crisper than the original version, which was released in 1975 but hit the top 10 in 1977, and still includes the unending stream of wordplay that takes a mighty set of lungs to get through. But the diehards will stick with the original to prove that the 1977 charts gave their cohort a spirited karaoke selection that shows how much moxie the Me Generation can muster with a microphone in their hands and a monitor feeding them the lyrics.

The ticky-tocky synth bass that propels Donna Summer's "I Feel Love" is a certified crowd-pleasing intro, custom-made to warm up the audience before a boomer with enough guts gives it a go. The good news is there are relatively few lyrics to keep track of. The bad news? They're all sung in such a high-pitched voice, you may need a shot of helium to go with your bourbon to make it through the whole thing. A boomer with a great sense of humor — also known as a good-humored boomer — might think they're ready for a glass-breaker of a melody like the one Summer sweeps through on the original. The supremely high-pitched disco classic that rocketed the singer to stardom requires a fairy-tale voice that defies logic, starting off at the highest end of the vocal spectrum and improbably ascending from there.

Handling the vocal gymnastics here is akin to singing the national anthem without realizing how challenging "And the rocket's red glare" actually is. Anyone who knows the rigor here and goes for it anyway, especially when there's a second dose coming at the end of the song, is a special kind of karaoke fan. Buy them an extra round for taking up the gauntlet and giving it their best shot.

Boomers know there will never be another band like Queen, and the gospel-tinged pop-rock sweetness of "Somebody to Love" is a great karaoke choice to understand the standard they created. The energy is absolutely infectious and likely to inspire a sing-along of epic proportions. But recreating Freddie Mercury's swooping original performance is like entering a gymnastics competition without stretching. The song swoops and leaps and dips in such a frenzy, there's a good chance an unprepared boomer will blow their own wig off if they're not strong enough to handle the melody.

There's an opportunity to impress the crowd early in the song, courtesy of verses that start in a sensible register. Only a few rises in the center take your voice up to a place where the real thrills start to show. But soon enough, the booming-voice boomer will find themselves at the precipice of "Can anybody find me somebody to love?" Mercury pulls out some real Broadway-musical vocal prowess, not the kind of ability one comes by accidentally. Without a little limbering up (or lubricating with enough liquor), a voice box could find itself at its uppermost range while still working toward the apex. So if a boomer in the room picks out this boisterous number as their tune of choice, be sure to give them their props.

Boomers have been preparing for hitting "Stayin' Alive" for decades, doing their best Tony Manero dance moves while squealing this Bee Gees hit from the chart-topping "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack. But boogieing in your house and shrieking at the top of your windpipe isn't the same as belting it out in your best Barry Gibb falsetto in front of a roomful of fellow karaoke killers. A boomer who steps into the ring for this fearsome performance has to be a champion of rare stamina. You can try all you like, but unless you have a naturally high voice or a well-trained set of pipes, you probably won't nail the high notes here ... and they're all high notes.

Anyone who's faked their way through the difficult-to-discern lyrics might be surprised by what comes up on the screen. Just try to keep up as you tax your throat in the upper range that only comes naturally to birds, hyenas, and the Gibb brothers. And if you choose to take it down an octave to make it easier on yourself? Well, that's just cheating. A well-seasoned karaoke-singing boomer should be willing to give it their all in the form in which the song originated: high, tight, and a potential source of laryngitis for all who attempt it.