Top 100 Songs of Summer #5 “School’s Out for Summer” by Alice Cooper

We know, it’s Labor Day Weekend in the Hamptons, so with all due apologies to the students out there who are lamenting the final days of vacation, we kick off the Top 5 on our Top 100 Songs of Summer Countdown with the unofficial anthem to the start of the season. May it rekindle, at least for a moment, happy memories of this and other summers just begun.

Hamptons 100 Songs of Summer #5

“School’s Out” by Alice Cooper

Time and generations of kids running for that final bell of the year have added FOR SUMMER to the end of this song’s original title, and who are we to argue that it’s an improvement. Legend has it that Cooper was inspired to write this song in reply to being asked what were the greatest three minutes of his life, and as it rose to #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1972, it also elevated Cooper in stature for his musical talents. As a pop cultural touchstone, it has appeared everywhere from The Simpsons to a Staples commercial, but nowhere does it remain as potent as when you hear teachers singing it in parking lots on late June days not just on the East End, but around the globe. Don’t worry, only 180 or so more school days until you can start singing again.