Ms. Abbott is an engaging Spanish teacher at BHS, appreciated for both her candor in the classroom and her creative teaching style. She was 16 in 1983-1984. Here is what she was listening to.

“Mockingbird” – James Taylor and Carly Simon

 We’d sing this at night in the quad while we were waiting to get back into our dorms during a fire drill (I went to a boarding school).

 Thriller – Michael Jackson 

The whole album was great, but the real standout was the video.  It was practically on a continuous loop on MTV, back when they used to play music videos.

” Relax” – Frankie goes to Hollywood 

“Let’s Go Crazy” – Prince 

“Like a Virgin” – Madonna 

 “Born in the USA” – Bruce Springsteen

 I remember listening to this over and over again in the ceramic studio working on my homework

 “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” – Band Aid

They raised a ton of money to combat famine in Ethiopia.  This was the start of a number of international concerts aimed at raising money/awareness of this problem, which eventually led to me running a 10k in London with 300,000 other people as a fundraiser for the same cause.

“Sunday Bloody Sunday” – U2 

Simon and Garfunkel – the whole concert in Central Park

 “Hungry Like the Wolf” – Duran Duran 

“Should I Stay or Should I Go” – The Clash 

“Changes” – David Bowie

 “Burning Down the House”  – Talking Heads 

The Talking Heads concert movie, Stop Making Sense, was a big favorite, as was the cassette I had of the soundtrack.  It’s still something that I listen to a lot, and have replaced many times (cassette-cd-mp3).

“Another Brick in the Wall “- Pink Floyd 

 “Down on the Corner” – Creedence Clearwater Revival 

 Here is what Ms. Carey, an enthusiastic teacher and a member of the stellar BHS History Department, has to say about what she was listening to when she was sixteen. 

When I turned 16, I was a junior in high school.  It was 1986 and I had a bad perm.  We bought cassettes and had blank tapes so we could tape songs off the radio from our boom boxes.  It is hard as my 43 year old self  to reconcile my tastes when I was 16.  Although there are still some songs I have on my iPod and use in heavy rotation when I work out, most of the other stuff is pretty embarrassing.  Music-wise I was decidedly uncool, until there was a party at a friend’s house where they played (on a RECORD PLAYER) Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.”  There aren’t many songs that I can point to and say – that was a turning point for me and music, but truly listening to “Bohemian Rhapsody” was.   After they played it we all wanted to hear it again, and I remember my friend Doug saying – “No, it only can be played once.”

I would like to say my tastes are better now – thanks in part to my husband who expanded my Springsteen base from “Dancing in the Dark.” This is what I was listening to at sixteen.

Ms. Carey was sixteen when musicians first started getting creative in developing their music videos, and when MTV actually played them. Here are a couple of videos that made it fun to wait all day for the MTV VJ to play your favorite song.

Dire Straits: “Walk of Life” – featuring Larry Bird and some amazing 80’s dancing

A-ha: “Take on Me” – considered a groundbreaking video at the time

Here is what Dr. Nassiff, Head of the Science Department and advisor to the amazing BHS Chess Club, was listening to when he was sixteen:

 1.    “I Can’t Help Falling in Love With You”–Elvis Presley  

As a young teenager who just broke up with his girlfriend, this one tore at my heartstrings!  Wise men say, “Only fools rush in!”  I recommended this for my son’s wedding.

 2. “Duke of Earl”–Gene Chandler  

 I loved the bass man.  A good bass man was essential to Rock-n-Roll in my era, and this is the best. My friends and I used to try and imitate him. Bom de de Bon…

 3.”To the Aisle” -The Five Satins

Romantic and what teenagers of my era dreamed about. Where I grew up, not many went on to college; many married right after high school.                                            

 4.”Play Those Oldies, Mr. DJ” –Anthony and the Sophomores

This one has snippets from popular Rock-n-Roll songs that were often our requests.

 5. “Chances Are” –Johnny Mathis

Romantic and fun to dance to at the sock hop.  As one sage said, “Dancing is 90 degrees away from sin!”  Johnny Mathis was very popular for his slow-dancing tunes.

 6. “When We Get Married”–The Dreamlovers

Fantasize on what a wonderful life is circa the 1950’s.  See #3.

 7. “Blueberry Hill”–Fats Domino

Classic early Rock-n-Roll.  The Fatman could really croon.  Note the lack of instrumentation.

 8. “Great Balls of Fire” –Jerry Lee  Lewis

Jerry Lee really put on a show with his pounding of the piano.  Really got us going.

 9. “Hound Dog” and “Don’t Be Cruel” (B-side) –Elvis Presley

 The first 45 I owned. I was fairly poor so a 45 record was a big deal.  I recall it cost a buck.  A buck is what I earned per hour in a summer job. The reason both songs are together is that both were on the same 45 and both were #1 hits.

 10. “Rama Lama Ding Dong”–The Edsels  

So what is an Edsel?  Look it up. This says a lot about the song. I love the rhyming nonsense lyrics. Also mentioned in #4.

 11. “Up on the Roof”–The Drifters  

As a teenager, I had problems with rejection and this is one group’s answers to how to deal with it.

 12. “Those Oldies but Goodies Remind me of You”–Little Caesar and The Romans

Little Caesar (Carl Burnett) was one of the best lead singers of the era.  You needed a strong tenor voice with a good backup.

13. “Johnny B Goode”–Chuck Berry

Loved this song.  Berry was famous for his duck walk and is mentioned (sort of) in the movie “Back to the Future” when Berry’s cousin’s band played at the Enchantment Under the Sea sock hop. I saw him live when I was in grad school. He was quite an entertainer. Berry was one of my favorites and had many hits

 14.”Summertime Blues”–Eddie Cochran  

This was my theme song as I tried my hardest to find a summertime job in Sioux City to help pay for my college tuition.

 15 “Peggy Sue”–Buddy Holly

Buddy Holly and Eddie Cochran died in the same airplane crash.  But that is too bad because I really loved “Peggy Sue.”  As A teenager I would sometimes sing this with my latest crush’s name.

 16.”Bye Bye Love”–Everly Brothers  

Don and Phil had a bunch of hits but I liked this one the best.  Summed up our teenage emotions when a couple broke up.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

“Little Darlin’”–The Diamonds  

Who can forget the clanging cowbell at the start, and the ay-yay-ay-yay. It is etched in my memory.

 “Earth Angel”—Penguins

One of the earliest Rock-n-Roll songs, but I still like it

 “Get a Job”—Silhouettes

Dip-Dip-Dip-Dip, Boom-Boom-Boom- Boom Get a Job

“Lonely Teardrops”–Jacky Wilson

Late Rock-n-Roll, but I loved Wilson and the song.

 “Poison Ivy” and “Charlie Brown”–The Coasters

A very popular group.  Fe Fe Fi Fi Fo Fo Fum Who’s that  smoking in the auditorium?  Charlie Brown!

 “Transfusion”–Nervous Norvus

The words are a gas. See what happens when you drive fast?

THIS IS WHAT DR. NASSIFF IS LISTENING TO NOW:

My wife and I have season subscriptions to the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the Handel and Hayden Society.  I also love opera. I went to the Met Opera last year, and almost always go to the HD presentations in theaters.  I always loved classical music but never had a chance to listen to it seriously until I got to college, and then married a cultured lady. So there you have it.  This is how we spend our entertainment dollars.  Classical music and opera.

In an effort to grow our music community here at BHS, we reached out to the faculty and staff. We wanted to know what they were listening to when they were sixteen, and to learn about what music meant to them at that age. The responses were pretty amazing. Here is the first playlist in a recurring TDP series called “The Sweet Sixteen”; this list features sixteen songs Mr. Whitten was listening to when he was sixteen-years-old. Mr. Whitten is the Head of the History Department at BHS, and a truly inspiring teacher.

*NOTE: The fourteenth song on Mr. Whitten’s list is a cover version. Led Zeppelin has chosen not to release their music on sharing sites. You can, however, check out the song performed live by clicking HERE. The sixteenth song on Mr. Whitten’s list would be anything by The Beatles, but due to copyright laws we also can’t include Beatles songs on our playlists. Sorry, Devils.

Here’s what Mr. Whitten has to say about his playlist:

At 16 I was listening to lots of pop, but on the more fringes of pop.  I had lots of folk in my life from my parents (represented by the Kingston Trio covering a Bob Dylan song), and Rap had just gotten started with Run DMC and Beastie Boys making a pretty strong impression on me and my basketball teammates.  Led Zeppelin was my introduction to actual Rock earlier in my life, and that spilled over into GnR, and some hair metal as well, hence the Def Leppard. I liked songs that were longer, hence Genesis, Floyd and the Grateful Dead.  My tastes ran all over the place, and listening to this playlist tells me that I had a broad palate for music then, but thankfully it has refined itself over the years!

Look for more Sweet Sixteen playlists in the days and weeks to come.