I know it's not summer yet, even though it's 70 degrees and sunny out right now, and the first big summer movie, Spider-Man 3, opens this weekend. But I made a "summer music" mix for my iPod the other day, and here's what was playing while I was driving around today:
"Hot Fun in the Summertime"--Sly and the Family Stone--Gotta be on any summer mix!
"Honky Tonk Women"--The Rolling Stones--This raunchy tune came out in July of 1969, the summer I turned 13, hit puberty, and discovered the joys of AM radio; I had WCOL 1230 pumping out of my little transistor radio as close to 24 hours a day as I could. The station premiered this song, with a spoken intro by Mick Jagger saying he hoped we liked their new tune, while I was selling lemonade at the end of our driveway with my little brother. I wasn't exactly sure what the term "laid a divorcee" meant, but I knew if they were laying down, it must have been naughty.
"Spinning Wheel"--Blood, Sweat & Tears--Another song from that same summer--one of the first 45s I bought that wasn't by the Beatles, the Monkees, or the Archies. The night I brought it home, I played it over and over for almost an hour.
"The Warmth of the Sun"--Beach Boys
"Hey Mister Sun"--Bobby Sherman
"Watching Xanadu"--Mull Historical Society--A one-man band and a one-hit wonder, as far as I know. I think it's about the singer's girl watching the movie Xanadu, but the video's about the singer dressed up as a big red rabbit at a dog race. Catchy pop song with a Phil Spectorish sound in the chorus. It's on a summer mix because the first time I heard it, I was teaching a summer writing class at OSU and I heard this song on the piped-in music at the donut shop before class started.
"Girl from Ipanema"--Pizzicato Five--Not the original drowsy, loungy version from the 60's, which is great, but a peppy, fragmented version from the 90's. Most of it would make for great dancing (although the stop/start jerkiness takes some getting used to), but the middle part slows way down. It's a druggy hyper dream of a song.
"Summer, Summer"--Andy Pratt--Singer known mostly for "Avenging Annie" from '73; a yearning summer song.
"Let's Never Stop Falling in Love"--Pink Martini--Everything this modern lounge/world music band does sounds summery, even their downbeat killer version of "Que Sera Sera."
"Coconut"--Nilsson
"Smoke on the Water"--Deep Purple--When this song plays, I'm always 17 and riding around the city on a hot summer afternoon with a friend in her convertible, playing air guitar and taking clandestine chugs of beer.
"Rock Lobster"--The B-52s--Duh....
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