4 Songs That High Schoolers in 1978 Knew Every Word To

The year 1978 was full of dance and disco goodness. Even today, there are still songs from this year that make us want to slip on our dancing shoes. Here are a few songs that teenagers were definitely boogieing down to back in the day.

“You’re The One That I Want” by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John

In 1978, Grease was huge. The film’s success helped the songs “Hopelessly Devoted To You” and “You’re The One That I Want” gain international notoriety, with the latter even reaching No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100. I suspect that teens of the day were all over this, especially since Grease is set in high school, where Danny, the bad boy, falls for Sandy, the Australian beauty.

“Night Fever” by Bee Gees

As it turns out, the late 70s were all about hit songs and hit movies. In addition to Grease, Saturday Night Fever hit theaters and dominated charts, in part thanks to the magic of The Bee Gees. “Night Fever” technically came out first in 1977 with the release of the rest of the movie soundtrack, but then the song came out as a single in January of 1978. “Night Fever” also wasn’t the only song from the movie to get a good response from listeners. In fact, the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack would eventually win Album Of The Year at the Grammys in 1978.

“Shadow Dancing” by Andy Gibb

When Gibb released “Shadow Dancing”, the youngest Gibb brother was already on a roll, and so were his siblings. In 1978, while the Bee Gees dominated the charts with hits from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, Gibb had the year’s biggest song with “Shadow Dancing”. It’s really no wonder, either. All four brothers wrote the song in Los Angeles.

“Baker Street” by Gerry Rafferty

Even if you don’t think you know “Baker Street”, you definitely do. That saxophone riff is unmistakable. Although this song was kept away from the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 by Gibb’s “Shadow Dancing”, it was able to reach the Top 3 in the US, the UK, and other countries.

Photo by: Ed Perlstein/Redferns/Getty Images

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