4 Songs High Schoolers in 1976 Knew Every Word To

If you went to high school in 1976, there’s a chance you’re familiar with some of these classic songs. Whether they were heard at a school dance or via vinyl, these are the hits that were the soundtrack to teen life.

“Hotel California” by The Eagles

It’s ominous, it’s mysterious, it’s “Hotel California”. The Eagles were huge in the 70s, during which they saw the success of hits like “Take It Easy”, “Best Of My Love”, and “Witchy Woman”. “Hotel California”, however, is the one that truly withstands the test of time.

“Dancing Queen” by ABBA

“You are the dancing queen / Young and sweet, only seventeen.”

I mean, honestly, what 17-year-old girl doesn’t hear those words and want to dance? “Dancing Queen” is still one of ABBA’s most timeless songs. From the get-go, it seemed clear that it would be. One of the group members, Agnetha Fältskog, once remarked that it can be hard to know which songs are going to be hits. However, “Dancing Queen” was a sure thing. “…The exception was ‘Dancing Queen’. We all knew it was going to be massive,” she said.

“The Boys Are Back In Town” by Thin Lizzy

This song was a bit of an unexpected hit for Thin Lizzy. They hadn’t selected “The Boys Are Back In Town” for their album Jailbreak, so when a manager told them it was the one climbing the charts, they were surprised. The song became the group’s signature hit.

Scott Gorham, the group’s guitarist, told Classic Rock, per Songfacts: “We were playing in some club in the US when our manager came in and said, ‘Well, looks like we’ve got a hit.’ We were like, ‘Which song?’ Seriously, we didn’t have any idea at all which song it was that had taken off for us.”

“Play That Funky Music” by Wild Cherry

Wild Cherry had their big career hit with “Play That Funky Music” in 1976. This one came from pure necessity. Wild Cherry was actually a hard rock cover band, which wasn’t necessarily the popular thing to be during the brief but bright disco era. In the middle of one of their shows, somebody said, “Are you going to play some funky music, white boys?” and that’s where the title came from.

Photo by: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images