4 Songs From 1977 Every 70s Kid Heard While Riding in the Family Car to School Each Morning

In 1977, the airwaves were packed with songs that would be hailed as classics in the years to come. Many kids piled into the backseat of the car to head to school every morning and, if they were lucky, their parents cranked up the local Top 40 station. Their morning commute was full of killer tunes from legendary acts like the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac.

These chart-topping songs from 1977 are guaranteed to take 70s kids back to the good old days. So, sit back, turn up the volume, and prepare for a trip down memory lane–secondhand smoke and leather seats not included.

“Hotel California” – Eagles

If “Hotel California” came on in the morning, it would be the only thing most kids heard on the way to school. With its six-minute runtime, it was longer than any other song on the radio in 1977. In fact, it was so long that the band’s label was reluctant to issue it as a single. Now it is regarded as one of the greatest rock songs of all time.

“Dreams” – Fleetwood Mac

Long before the era of the internet, most listeners in 1977 likely didn’t know that Stevie Nicks wrote this song about her ex-boyfriend and bandmate Lindsey Buckingham. Kids who heard it on the way to school likely just saw it as a mellow way to start the day.

“You Light Up My Life” – Debbie Boone

Few kids who heard this song in the morning saw the 1977 film of the same name. The original version of the song, performed by Kasey Cisyk for the movie, won an Oscar for Best Original Song. Debbie Boone released her cover of the track later that year, and it spent 10 weeks at No. 1 and won a Grammy. As a result, it was all over the radio for months.

“Blinded By The Light” –Manfred Mann’s Earth Band

Kids who were in the know already knew this song when it hit the airwaves in 1977. Bruce Springsteen wrote it and recorded it for his 1973 debut album. Then, four years later, British rockers Manfred Mann’s Earth Band took it to the top of the Hot 100. There’s a good chance that the older kids were already laughing at the song’s famously misheard lyrics. The line is “revved up like a deuce,” by the way.

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