What song(s) mean "summer" to you?

[Worf101]

What songs, no matter when you hear them, mean warm sunshine and cool evening breezes to you? Is it a song you heard many moons ago? Or some tune that just brings that glorious time to mind? Mine are, in no particular order:

1. "Dancing in the Streets" - Martha Reeves and the Vanedellas, "Calling out around the world are you ready for a brand new beat?" Masterful....

2. "Stone Soul Picnic" - 5th Dimension, Laura Nyro's masterpiece of summer soul.

3. "Hot fun in the Summertime" - Sly and the Family Stone. Classic

4. "Wouldn't it be nice?" - The Beach Boys - Doesn't get any better.

5. "My Girl"- The Temptations - "I got Sunshine on a cloudy day...." Poetry courtesy of William Smokey Robinson.

6. " All Day Music" - War. Warm california soul.

7. "I do love you." - Billy Stewart, sung by the cats on the bench below my project window on warm summer nights.

8. "Grazing in the Grass - Hugh Masekela. What a summer instrumental.

9. "Ohh Ohh Child" - 5 Stairsteps. My first summer ever in sleep away camp.

10. "In the summertime" - Mungo Jerry. Sorry man, it just works for me.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

Da Worfster

[Swish]

I have to throw in "Reeling in the Years" from Steely Dan but only because I remember driving around in the summertime and listening to that song over and over. I'm not much of a fan of SD these days, but I still think that's a great song.

Swish, ready to hit the road in my 1980 TR8 on a sunny, hot and beautiful Saturday.

[Slosh]

Bob Marley and the Wailers - Legend

I'm not usually a fan of greatest hits albums but you can't fault this one. Gets lots of spins on summer nights and in fact, I just played it last night.

Another one I play often in the summer, but not much the rest of the year, is Sublime's s/t.
The same can be said for The Violent Femmes' debut.

And for some reason I always associated Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl" as a summer song but I really don't know why.

[newtrix1]

...when I read the post, it surely qualifies. Contains a pretty good cover of In the Summertime as well.

[jasn]

Summer music to me means southern boogie-rock, like The Bros, Skynyrd, The Mule, and a bunch o' one hit wonders, like Wet Willie. (Keep on Smilin' )

But I also have to say that Worf, you nailed a bunch of grat ones, including Ohh Ohh Child.

[dld]

Sunshine Superman, Donovan
Summer In The City, Lovin Spoonful
Let The Sunshine In, Cast Of Hair or 5th Dimension
Come On Down To My Boat Baby, EMS
Groovin, Rascals

[cam]

#1 for me is Joe Walsh's, Life's Been Good. It doesn't matter what car I'm driving at that time but when he sings "my masserati does 185" I always press on the gas just a little more, must just be a reflex, but then he sings "I lost my liscence, now I don't drive" then I remember, oh ya, slow down. What a great tune. Other ones for me in no particular order are: ZZ Top - Gimme All Your Lovin', Kim Mitchell - I Am A Wild Party, Foreigner - Feels Like The First Time, Loverboy - Notorious, Tom Cochrane - Boy Inside The Man.

[MindGoneHaywire]

A great number of Ramones & Beach Boys songs.

[Worf101]

Sunshine Superman, Donovan
Summer In The City, Lovin Spoonful
Let The Sunshine In, Cast Of Hair or 5th Dimension
Come On Down To My Boat Baby, EMS
Groovin, Rascals

Wonder how I missed "Groovin" by the Rascals. Perfect summer song. Always brings me back. Outstainding pick up.

[Smokey]

Songs from Doobie Brothers or Stevie Wonder always remind me of summer

[Mr MidFi]

I did a compilation of about 20 of them once. Does anyone here have a copy of Summer Turns to High handy? I can't remember the track list, but these are a few:

Soak Up the Sun - Sheryl Crow
Twisting By the Pool - Dire Straits
Me & Julio... - Paul Simon
Santa Monica - Everclear
Good Luck Charm - Elvis
Pressure Drop - Toots & the Maytals
I Can See Clearly Now - (I forget)
4th of July, Asbury Park - Springsteen
Rudy Can't Fail - The Clash
Summer Turns to High - REM
Sweet Hitchiker - CCR

[mad rhetorik]

Husker Du: "Celebrated Summer"
Ramones: "Rockaway Beach," "Surfin' Bird," "California Sun"
Pixies: Oh man...where do I start..."Wave Of Mutilation," "Mr. Grieves," "Here Comes Your Man," "La La Love You," most of Bossanova...
Jimi Hendrix: "Long Hot Summer Night," "Spanish Castle Magic," most of Are You Experienced
Bad Brains: I Against I in its entirety
Neil Young: "On The Beach," "Cinnamon Girl," "Cowgirl In The Sand,"
Queens Of The Stone Age: "Leg Of Lamb," "Autopilot," "Feel Good Hit Of The Summer," "No One Knows," "Go With The Flow," "First It Giveth" "The Sky Is Fallin'"
My Bloody Valentine: Loveless, the whole thing
The Breeders: "Cannonball," "Divine Hammer," "Roi," "New Year"
Jane's Addiction: "Summertime Rolls," "Ocean Size," "Jane Says" (gotta love that steel percussion...)
Various Red Hot Chili Peppers songs
Various Frank Black songs
Various Beatles songs
Various Kyuss songs
Various Meat Puppets songs
Various Beach Boys songs
Various Dick Dale songs
Various Weezer songs (mostly from Blue)

[Toady]

My Bloody Valentine: Loveless, the whole thing

i agree... but doesn't this album scream out every season/weather?

the top of my list would be any song by Hum and most of At the Drive-In's catalog.

[-Jar-]

i agree... but doesn't this album scream out every season/weather?

the top of my list would be any song by Hum and most of At the Drive-In's catalog.

Hum is pretty good summer music. I guess I don't get that feeling with most shoegazer music though.. very wintry to me most of the time.

Reggae is so summer for me. I have several cd comps I've made of just reggae and dub that get regular spins in the summer, but they mostly sit idle in the winter.

Most 80's music for me works for the summer. Especially the more rockin' jangly stuff like Replacements, REM, Meat Puppets, Minutemen.. and punk like the Clash, the Misfits, Black Flag and the Sex Pistols. LONDON CALLING is a fantastic outside album. It's great to hear it echo off the buildings and other houses

To me, Mercury Rev and Nick Cave are very tied to the winter.

I can deal with the Flaming Lips though just about any time of the year.

-jar

[PPG]

Sail On Sailor - Beach Boys

Summer Breeze - Seals & Crofts

Summer (The First Time) - Bobby Goldsboro

[-Jar-]

Summer Breeze - Seals & Crofts

I keep thinking that chickie in the tv commercial is going to get down to the last shirt, but she never does.

damn.

[RGA]

Hmmm

Cruel Summer - Bananarama

[Dusty Chalk]

"It's Too Darn Hot" -- no, not the Ella version, I'm actually more familiar with a female crooner type that my dad was fond of -- Vicki Carr? Don't remember her name, but I remember her version.

[ToddB]

Husker Du - "Celebrated Summer"
Pavement - "Summer Babe"
The Jesus And Mary Chain - Stoned And Dethroned
Almost anything from Superchunk, but especially "Martinis On The Roof"
Lots of Belle And Sebastian
Lots of Tobin Sprout
Fruit Bats - Mouthfuls
Much of The Wrens - The Meadowlands
The Breeders - Last Splash
Most of Idle Wilds stuff
Also gotta go with the Pixies here

Never would have thought of Hum as a summer band. Maybe a really humid summer band.

[Ex Lion Tamer]

Seven Seas - Echo & the Bunnymen
Jamaica Nice - Yellowman (and lots of other reggae)
Watching the Detectives - Elvis Costello
White Man in Hammersmith Palais - The Clash
Blister in the Sun - Violent Femmes
Spanish Town - Garland Jeffreys
Catapult - REM
Kiko & the Lavender Moon - Los Lobos

[Stone]

For the past few years, it's been Fountain of Wayne's debut (self-titled) album, especially "Radiation Vibe." It's what I like to listen to in the car when I'm heading to the beach or somewhere "summer" related. I've already listened to it once this year.

Traditionally, I've liked early Beach Boys and Jan and Dean, Ramones, Femmes, B-52s, etc. Like Jar, I tend to break out the punk (mostly straightforward stuff) in the summer more too.

Stuff like Replacements, Husker Du and Soul Asylum get more rotation in the summer too for me.

Hmmm, you'd think that Jar and I were the same age or something...

[Dave_G]

Well, letseee.

Billy Idol's "Rebel Yell".

Aerosmith "Walk this Way".

Foreigner "Hot Blooded".

Mainly old school classic rock FM songs do it for me.

Dave

[elances]

"It's Too Darn Hot" -- no, not the Ella version, I'm actually more familiar with a female crooner type that my dad was fond of -- Vicki Carr? Don't remember her name, but I remember her version.

I love Vikki Carr (she is phenomenal in concert, very dynamic with a great stage presence), but I don't think she ever recorded that song. Perhaps you are thinking of Eydie Gorme's version? She is from the same generation of singers, and definitely qualifies as a crooner.

Regards,
Erick

[Dusty Chalk]

No, definitely not Eydie Gorme...but I appreciate the input.