Although the average teen is busy saying Hello and indulging in mindless Pillowtalk, music is an aspect in everyone’s lives that remains timeless. As Apple Valley High School became a well-rounded institute of learning and a unique community of individuals, music evolved from disco to rock-and-roll to modern pop. Fortieth anniversaries come once in a lifetime and to celebrate, here is a list of everlasting favorites in music starting with 1976, according to the Billboard 100 charts of each year:

1976 – “Silly Love Songs”- Wings

1977 – “Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright)”- Rod Stewart

1978 – A tie between “Shadow Dancing”- Andy Gibb and “Night Fever” – Bee Gees

1979 – “My Sharona”- The Knack (although “Le Freak” by Chic or “Y.M.C.A.” by Village People could have easily won also)

1980 – “Call Me”- Blondie

1981 – “Bette Davis Eyes”- Kim Carnes

1982 – “Physical”- Olivia Newton-John

1983 – “Every Breath You Take”- The Police

1984 – “When Doves Cry”- Prince

1985 – “Careless Whisper”- Wham feat. George Michael

1986 – “That’s What Friends are For”- Dionne and Friends (Dionne Warwick, Gladys Knight, Elton John, and Stevie Wonder)

1987 – “Walk Like An Egyptian”- The Bangles

1988 – “Faith”- George Michael

1989 – “Look Away”- Chicago

1990 – “Hold On”- Wilson Phillips

1991 – “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You”- Bryan Adams

1992 – “End of the Road”- Boyz II Men

1993 – “I Will Always Love You”- Whitney Houston

1994 – “The Sign”- Ace of Base

1995 – “Gangsta’s Paradise”- Coolio (had a close tie with “Waterfalls”- TLC but ultimately won Billboard song of the year)

1996 – “Macarena” (Bayside Boys remix)- Los del Rio

1997 – “Something About the Way You Look Tonight”- Elton John

1998 – “Too Close”- Next

1999 – “Believe”- Cher

2000 – “Breathe”- Faith Hill

2001 – “Hanging By a Moment”- Lifehouse

2002 – “How You Remind Me”- Nickelback won song of the year in 2002 (but more a memorable song for everyone is “A Thousand Miles”- Vanessa Carlton)

2003 – “In Da Club”- 50 Cent

2004 – “Yeah!”- Usher feat. Lil Jon and Ludacris

2005 – “We Belong Together”- Mariah Carey

2006 – “Bad Day”- Daniel Powter

2007 – “Irreplaceable”- Beyonce won “Song of the Year” in 2007 (although “Umbrella”- Rihanna feat. Jay Z gave the song the run for its money)

2008 – “Low”- Flo Rida feat. T-Pain

2009 – “Boom Boom Pow”- Black Eyed Peas

2010 – “Tik Tok”- Ke$ha

2011 – “Rolling in the Deep”- Adele

2012 – “Somebody That I Used to Know”- Gotye feat. Kimbra almost lost when Carly Rae Jepsen released “Call Me Maybe”, but finally won the battle for “Song of the Year” with a couple votes to spare.

2013 – “Thrift Shop”- Macklemore and Ryan Lewis feat. Wanz

2014 – “Happy”- Pharrel Williams

2015 – “Uptown Funk”- Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars

While some music remains more memorable than others, each song on the list is a memory from the years Apple Valley High School has thrived.  Like these songs, our memories of the past will live on in the present and the future at Apple Valley–both in the school and community.