Every Baby Boomer Alive Has a Core Memory to Go With These 4 Songs From 1977

The core memories we develop in our youth are invariably colored by the music of the time. That’s overwhelmingly true, whether it was music we willingly chose to listen to or the music that was inescapable on popular radio. For baby boomers, this means that many of this generation’s core memories are soundtracked by incredible 1970s cuts. That includes these four songs from 1977.

“Sir Duke” by Stevie Wonder

Some pop music is so unavoidable that you grow to hate it. Other pop music is so unavoidable because no one wants to avoid it. Stevie Wonder has no small shortage of songs like these, and his 1977 hit, “Sir Duke”, is no exception. Singing a song about singing songs can sometimes come across as cheesy and childish. But there’s nothing childlike about the nasty groove that persists through this Top 40 hit.

“Hotel California” by The Eagles

Not everyone was lucky enough to spin this record somewhere sunny in southern California. But The Eagles’ mega hit “Hotel California” made you feel almost like you were. This pervasive rock cut dominated the radio then. And as far as classic rock radio stations are concerned, it still does today. Indeed, virtually every baby boomer has some version of a Hotel California in their own mind that the song whisks them away to as Don Henley sings about the “warm smell of colitas rising up through the air.”

“Best Of My Love” by The Emotions

The Emotions released “Best Of My Love” in the early summer of 1977, and it’s been stuck in the head of every baby boomer alive to some degree ever since. Certain hooks lodge themselves in our brains and never let go, and the refrain “woah-ooh-woah, you’ve got the best of my love” is definitely one of them. Whether you were grooving on the dance floor or cycling through the car radio stations, every baby boomer was listening to “Best Of My Love” multiple times a week.

“Evergreen (Love Theme from ‘A Star Is Born’)” by Barbra Streisand

The steamy chemistry between Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson in A Star Is Born has a way of sticking with a person, and no one can be blamed for that. That’s why virtually every baby boomer will likely remember when Streisand’s love theme, “Evergreen”, was one of the top songs in the country. The star power and hair power alone were cultural phenomena in their own right.

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