Weldon E Howitt High School - Hi Life Yearbook (Farmingdale, NY)

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charts show Fleetwood Mac’s “Ru- mours” Steely Dan’s “Aja and the soundtrack to the movie “Saturday Night Fever to be among the best selling albums of the year. The folk- rock sound mastered by top pop stars Linda Ronstadt, Billy Joel, James Tay- lor, and Barry Manilow proved to be successful, with radio stations basing their format on such music. The con- troversy over Randy Newman’s song Page 10 — Top Right: With the help of portable eight tracks, popular music was often heard around school. Top Left: The Force was with senior Marc Farrell when he won the best costume award on Dress Down Day Bottom: Fleetwood Mac's album Rumours”, a six- month lock on No. 1, set an all time pop-chart record and won a Grammy Award as Album of the Year. Center: The Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman meet on Guillianna Mariani's and Jamie Keat s lockers. Page 11 — Top: Donna Hernandez reads a magazine to find out Farah Fawcett-Majors' latest secret. Bottom Left: Mike Hendrickson displays his Chicago t-shirt Bottom Right: Welcome Back Kotter's John Travolta makes his film debut in Saturday Night Fever , earning him an Academy Award nominee as best actor. Media Influences Students Short People” did not stop it from becoming one of the years most pop- ular songs. Saturday night became a night to be home early, with Saturday Night Live appearing on T.V. at 11:30. The Comedy show, featuring the Not- Ready-for-Prime-Time-Players, offered viewers a unique type of humor and the opportunity to see such guest hosts as Steve Martin, O.J. Simpson, and Paul Simon. Soap” and “Three’s Company made their debut, dealing with topics wihch would not have been acceptable to viewers a few years ago. And. although few people would admit it, the addiction to “La- verne and Shirley , Happy Days and Welcome Back Kotter contin- ued. 11

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The importance of movies, music, and television to the high school student has surpassed that of mere entertain- ment. These popular media influence changes in existing styles as they create new fads, catchphrases. and trends. Saturday Night Fever , starring John Travolta, stimulated so great an inter- est in the disco scene that even the mellow sound of radio station WKTU devoted much air play to the Bee Gee’s soundtrack of the movie. Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind made science fiction and UFO’s frequent topics of conversa- tion, while the theme songs from these movies were also popular sin- gles. Other popular movie songs were You Light Up My Life, which won a Grammy for best song of the year, and Nobody Does it Better, from the James Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me’’. The popularity of Annie Hall and The Goodbye Girl showed that comedy and romance, even without a music soundtrack, is still a winning combination. Collecting records and attending con- certs of favorite musicians are still favorites among teens. The record 10

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Fast Foods and Films Provide Attraction The major department stores, hair styling boutiques, bookstores, and many smaller shops that cater to the “younger generation” are what attract students to the Sunrise Mall. Located two miles from school, it is also a convenient lunch stop for anyone with a car. Nathan’s, Friendly’s, Baskin Robbins, Sbarro’s, and Farrell’s are some of the more popular eateries. Even closer to the school are McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, and Arthur Treacher’s, a mere 20 minute walk away. A long vacation or a weekend usually includes a trip to the movies. For the most recent, the Mall has five mini- theatres. For those who don’t mind waiting to see new movies, Farm- ingdale has a 77$ theatre. Between the two there’s a wide variety of films for everyone’s taste. 12