Alice Cooper

From today’s b, the paper

No more pencils, no more books. School is out for summer and, for some, forever, as Mr. Cooper once said. When you are in school – be it grade, middle, high and even college — all you want is to not be there. Remember that last month sitting at your desk, stuck to the chair, wondering why they can’t turn the air-conditioning on and peering out at the world where you could be swimming or riding your bike. Or in college, staying in bed and possibly making it to breakfast at the dining hall in lieu of class, because you get three unexcused absences and if you don’t use them you lose ‘em, so why not? Anything was better than being in that classroom.

And there has always been music to fuel or release those contemptuous feelings for a place that makes you show up early only to send you home with work to keep you up late. I know Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing In the Name Of” blasted out my car windows on occasion because I didn’t want to do what they told me. But there are many more songs that have been used as the soundtrack to anti-school rebellion through the years. And music like that is generally not well-received by parents — which goes hand in hand with revolting against your school and the people who stand at the front of the classroom with all the chalk on their backs, making the grades and comments on your report card that force you to forfeit your allowance.

This week, Ron Compton has compiled a list of tunes that he and his friends put on mix tapes when they were in high school during the ’70s. The tunes he listened to rebelled not only against school, but against a greater enemy. An enemy grander than the Nixon-era politics, one that threatened rock ‘n’ roll and even people’s wardrobes – I’m talking about the nemesis that was disco. There are also some pre- and post-period songs that fit right into the mix as well and will probably always show up on other mixes similar to Ron’s.

Chuck Berry “School Days”

The Beach Boys “Be True To Your School”

Paul Simon “Me and Julio Down By the School Yard”

Alice Cooper “School’s Out”

Brownsville Station “Smokin’ in the Boy’s Room”

Supertramp “School”

Cat Stevens “Old Schoolyard”

The Ramones “Rock n’ Roll High School”

Pink Floyd “Another Brick in the Wall Part 2”

Nada Surf “Popular”

Tune in with Tyler for the Thursday Night Mix Tape Tonight at 8 p.m. on 89.7 WTMD, public radio from Towson University.

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