In a few weeks Kim is heading off for her 50th high school reunion in Wabash, Indiana, her home town and where she spent the first 20 years of her life. Kim is not only connected to Wabash for family reasons…though she has very little family left there now, but also because it’s where her musical roots began. Over the years that Kim and I have been together, she went back to Wabash twice to put on musical theater productions written about the town’s rich history (one about the Erie Canal and one about the first electrically lighted town in America). She also went back to put on several cabaret shows. She has stayed close to her old music teacher from Wabash from years ago and we count her and her family among our close family friends. This all culminated in 2017 with Kim being inducted into the Wabash Hall of Distinction of Wabash High School, where she was one of honorees during the annual homecoming parade….riding on a float, waiving to the crowd, and all. The grand piano at the Wabash High School is a gift from Kim to her Alma Mater.
Many in Kim’s class have stayed in the Wabash area, but many, like Kim, have also made their lives elsewhere. Since I just did a 50th Reunion gathering for my business school and a 55th anniversary high school reunion Zoom call, the whole reunion topic is fresh in my mind. Both Kim and I are part of our classes who are happy to participate in our reunions. As we all know, there are always a part of these classes that stay away from reunions for reasons that are most often not elaborated. The reasons most certainly range from indifference to strong aversion to invoking the memories of adolescent years that may have been unpleasant or even painful. Neither Kim nor I have anything but positive high school memories…not so much because life was always a bowl of cherries, but because we take the good and leave the bad behind, like we all should.
Based on Kim’s attitude and her musical theater chops (by now well-known in Wabash), it’s not surprising that Mitsy (yes, that’s the name of Kim’s high school class of ‘76 organizer and gal-about-town) asked Kim to coordinate and put on the entertainment for the big Ho-Ha night. Naturally, the gala is being held at the Market Street Grill in Wabash (it seems that the VFW Hall and the Elks Lodge were otherwise booked already) with the morning after brunch being held at Modoc’s Market. Both of those fine establishments are catty-corner to the Charley Creek Inn, where Kim will be staying for her visit, right in downtown Wabash. I have put in my time in Wabash over the years and am actually sorry to miss this event, but between my granddaughters visiting and Kim needing her high school space, I will just have to hear the stories.
Kim’s mandate is to create a one hour show (the gathering is scheduled for four hours) in the middle of the evening. Her assigned crew includes six other classmates, one who plays piano, one who plays guitar and two who sing, and, I guess, two who will make witty banter. The Wabash High Class of ‘76 had about 220 members, of which 75-80 are expected to attend. Kim figures 25-30 of her classmates have shucked off their mortal coils, meaning a survival rate of about 86-89%, which compares to the national estimated survival rate of 50th reunioning high schoolers of 85-90%…or spot on. That means that if 80 show and 30 expired, 50% of the class will be voluntarily absent for some of those indifference to aversion reasons. Mitsy polled the class about their favorite teachers, memories and songs and tasked Kim & Co. to build those preferences into the entertainment program. Besides the usual testimonials (for the dearly departed) and awards, the program consists of eight numbers, chosen by Kim, with one of them being a big medley number arranged and reworked with parody lyrics by Kim and to be sung by Kim. The six songs used for the medley composition are all 1970’s feel-good songs.
So why are feel-good songs so popular with the reunion crowd? Well, there’s mood regulation since music is one of the most reliable tools humans have for actively changing how they feel, and upbeat songs are the most direct lever. Research on music and emotion consistently shows that tempo, major keys, and rhythmic predictability trigger dopamine release similarly to other rewarding stimuli. People reach for feel-good music specifically because it works, fast and reliably. And there’s social bonding… many feel-good songs are built for shared experiences like dancing, singing along, and communal energy. Music with a strong beat and singable hooks synchronizes people physiologically, which is part of why it became the soundtrack for parties, weddings, and road trips. It’s built for group consumption, not solitary listening, which multiplies its reach. Nostalgia and safety also play into it since once a song becomes anchored to good memories, hearing it again reactivates that emotional association, a well-documented phenomenon sometimes called the “reminiscence bump,” where music from one’s teens/twenties gets emotionally privileged for life. That’s part of why 70s feel-good tracks specifically keep circulating decades later.
The songs in the medley are: Hooked on a Feeling, Silly Love Songs, Life is a Rock But the Radio Rolled Me, Me and Mrs. Jones, Dream On, and The Way We Were. And its all about getting hooked on a feeling and being high on believing…Ooga-Chaka, Ooga-Ooga, Ooga-Chaka.