The “teenager.”

These unusual beings have existed for as long as humans have walked the earth, but it took thousands and thousands of years before anyone referred to them as anything other than scamps, scallywags, or whippersnappers — you know…..kids. However, in the late 1950’s and early 60’s there were more of these beings than at any time in history (the 1940’s — Oops! All babies), and this age group now had something their forebears did not: money, honey! Keen-eyed advertisers took notice, dubbing these in-betweeners “teens,” and then directed a barrage of commercials at them, a new and untapped market to whom they now tried to appeal.

Songwriters noticed, too. But songwriters didn’t know much about these strange humans except that for 9 months of the year the whole age group spent their days in school. At no time in musical history have so many songs been written about going to school, wanting to be done with school, being true to your school, and finally graduating from your school, than in the years between 1956 and 1963. Here’s how one of those songs came about:

In 1958, Tommy Facenda left his gig as a member of Gene Vincent’s Blue Caps in order to go solo. After his first single failed to set the world on fire, Facenda was approached by the owner of a barely-known indie label who asked him to sing a rock & roll song titled “High School U.S.A.,” which featured some teen-centric lyrics followed by a list of a whole lot of Virginia high schools (the state where Tommy grew up).

Atlantic grabbed the single for national distribution and came up with a novel marketing strategy. Along with recording a more pop-friendly backing track, they asked Facenda to make 27 more versions for states and regions all over the country, as well as a national version which listed cities rather than high schools (Tommy recorded the verses once, because those didn’t change, and then spent hours and hours listing hundreds of schools to be edited in later). The guys in marketing figured kids would buy the record just to hear their high school mentioned.

The guys in marketing were right.

Released as a nationwide single in the fall of 1959, “High School U.S.A.” matriculated into the Top 30 — a moderate hit, but a hit nonetheless. Adults didn’t buy the record, but at one time every teen in America (at least in the 27 biggest markets) wanted a Tommy Facenda record. Here he is singing about how Cleveland rocks: