Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I know it’s not officially summer until the solstice on June 21. But it’s June. It’s hot. I declare it . . . SUMMER.
So let’s get this party started . . . with music.
Yesterday, I heard this song . . .
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As soon as I heard those opening chords, I was immediately transported . . . right back to the summer of 1975. Laying on a beach towel on the tiny patio slab in the backyard . . . slathered in Bain de Soleil (for the St. Tropez tan) . . . listening to the radio (Denver’s KIMN) . . . absorbed in a paperback . . . killing time until swim practice . . . and then my shift at the Dairy Queen . . . missing my best friend, Kristi, who had moved to Colorado at the end of the school year . . . the endless summer laid out before me.
Music can really take you back!
So here’s the plan: Let’s put together a summer soundtrack. Let’s build a summer playlist together!
Let me know in the comments which songs scream SUMMER to you; which songs take you right back to summer memories. Share a story, too, if you’d like. I’ll build a summer playlist based on your suggestions, and then I’ll share it with you all.
Let’s build some Summer Vibes . . . beginning with music!
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JUST A REMINDER: Next Tuesday – June 6 – is the Read With Us discussion day for our current selection, Trespasses by Louise Kennedy. Bonny, Carole, and I will each be posting discussion questions on our blogs that day, and then we’ll be hosting a Zoom discussion later that evening at 7:00 Eastern Time. We’d love to have you join us! Please RSVP (in the comments or send me an email) if you want to join us on the Zoom (if you haven’t already).
Oh, I am loving this playlist idea! For me… Bananarama Cruel Summer. It was the song of the summer and I was working the penultimate summer job… waitressing at a country club. And yes… it was cruel that we all had to work those glorious summer days! Ha!!
Baker Street by Gerry Rafferty. Falling in (long lost) love in the summer, for years the opening bars made my heart skip a beat.
I love this idea so much! I actually just started a Camping 2023 playlist for Dale and I last weekend so your timing is great. The ultimate summer song for me is Montego Bay by Bobby Bloom. Is it bubblegum? For sure. But it takes me right back to my childhood summers. Other suggestions would be Going Up the Country by Canned Heat, Walking on Sunshine by Katrina & The Waves, and These Are the Days by Van Morrison.
Hot Fun In The Summertime – Sly and the Family Stone, Wildwood Days – Bobby Rydel.
My cousin Becky and I spent almost a whole summer; her at her family’s summer house and me staying across the street and my great-aunt and uncle’s house. It was so much more fun that being dumped at my grandfather’s house. He would have made me work all summer in his greenhouse. The beach was MUCH more fun. (My parent’s probably didn’t think this out fully. LOL)
Let’s begin with Here Comes the Sun, by the Beatles! Saturday in the Park, Chicago; The Boys of Summer, Don Henley; Dancing Days, Led Zeppelin; Sunny Afternoon, The Kinks; Summer in the City, The Lovin’ Spoonful; and last, but not least, Summer Breeze, Seals & Crofts!
But wait, there’s more! Practically anything by the Beach Boys! And also Frampton Comes Alive (entire album) because Kym and I listened to it a LOT while sunbathing (Kym), and sun burning (me)!
What fun! Your post reminds me of how my girlfriends and I would ditch our little brothers and walk around town with our transister radios listening to Cousin Brucie play our favorite music on 77 WABC. We thought we were cool! Here are some songs that come to mind: Sealed With a Kiss, See You in September, Summer In the City, Wipe Out, and anything by the Beach Boys!
Everything Diane said!!
PLUS… Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In, The 5th Dimension; Dizzy, Tommy Roe; a whole bunch by Tommy James & the Shondells (Sweet Cherry Wine, Crimson & Clover, I Think We’re Alone Now, Mony, Mony); Oh Girl, The Chi-Lites; Elton John, Queen, Heart, Chicago… Oh! So many great songs & artists!!
Venus by Bananarama (anything by Bananarama), Afternoon Delight (I know it is cheezy but it is so summer), the first Fleetwood Mac Album with Buckingham and Nicks, Wave that Flag by the Grateful Dead.
School’s Out – Alice Cooper, Don’t Go Breaking My Heart – EJ and KKD, and absofreakinglutely Frampton Comes Alive!
School’s Out – Alice Cooper, Don’t Go Breaking My Heart – EJ and KKD, and absofreakinglutely Frampton Comes Alive! (And yes to Tuesday.)
Black Water by the Doobie Brothers…I remember it being very hot and I am in our living with the curtains closed (no air conditioning so keeping the house cool with the drapes closed during the day)…and I am parked right between the stereo speakers because of the way it goes back and forth between the speakers!
Everything Diane said, plus Up On the Roof by James Taylor. And it doesn’t fit any playlist apt to be assembled from these suggestions, but I have to say Summertime from Porgy and Bess.
Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer. 1963. But I think they still play that one. Somewhere. Love the photograph! Chloe
June 1 is the official start of meteorological summer — just saying!
I think the songs that I think of that make me think of summer are, um, a bit more recent — like “Summertime” by the Fresh Prince and DJ Jazzy Jeff, which was always played at the Saturday-night dances at my summer camp. But I’ll add some older selections as well, like the Beach Boys’ “Kokomo” and the entire Crosby Stills & Nash debut album.
Great Idea Kym: Me and Bobby McGee by Janisi Joplin, Down on the Corner by Creedence, Sweet Baby James by James Taylor, Anticipation by Carly Simon, the entire Tapestry Album – Carole King.
What a fun idea! You’re not short on suggestions, that’s for sure 🙂
I’m bummed…because I won’t be able to join your discussion, and I REALLY wanted to! (I loved much about Trespasses. There was a particular thing I thought the author NAILED. And I was looking forward to hearing the range of thoughts/insights/responses.) However, my son has a pretty incredible concert that night (featuring Carmina Burana ~ O Fortuna. A favorite!). And so, I’ll miss you all. Again. (Funny how these worked SO much better for me in the mountain time zone. Who woulda thunk?!) So–enjoy the weekend…and the summer vibes…and the book talk!
Everything Diane and Vera said but I’ve to reemphasize Summer in the City – I grew up north of Boston so identified – and The Letter. Those two pull me right back to the early days!
Me again, Fletch says Summer Rain by johnny Rivers and summertime Blues by Quicksilver messenger
Summer of ’69 / Bryan Adams (There is a YouTube of a live performance by Taylor Swift and Bryan Adams.) Summer in the City / Lovin’ Spoonful. Summer Breeze / Seals & Crofts. Summer Wind / Frank Sinatra. A Summer Song / Chad & Jeremy. In the Summertime / Mungo Jerry. (I have a moral objection to some of the lyrics, but it is a catchy tune.)
My #1 song, no matter who covers it, is Summertime (Porgy and Bess) (with or without lyrics). Gene Harris has a fantastic live piano rendition I love so much. Janis Joplin’s is fabulous and Billy Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald both have unforgettable covers. It’s quintessential SUMMER!
I’m so sorry I can’t make the Read with Us this time. 🙁
What a great idea, Kym! I’m excited about the summer playlist – and it doesn’t happen often these days, but I feel young reading all the suggestions … and maybe like I grew up in a much different part of the country?! In any event, I’ll add Summer, Highland Falls by Billy Joel, still one of my favorite songs (and not maybe as upbeat, but it was on non-stop play one of my college summers).