Richard Marx “Endless Summer Nights” 1988
Marx wrote this song about a summer romance that he hoped would last beyond Labor Day. He got his wish- when he wrote this song he was married to that girl, reminiscing about that summer fling.
LFO “Summer Girls” 1999
Yes, the song is cheesy as hell, the band looks like they’re a bunch of douches, and the lyrics are pretty lame- but in the summer before the millennium, you couldn’t go anywhere without hearing it playing and having it get stuck in your head.
Don Henley “The Boys of Summer” 1984
The meaning behind Henley’s lyrics? His girlfriend is a huge slut and hooks up with all of the guys who are in town for the summer. He’s got such low self-esteem that he’s willing to wait around until they’re all gone so he can have his dirty girl back. Sloppy 50ths? How romantic.
Bryan Adams “Summer of ’69” 1985
Bryan Adams’ summer of 1969 seemed so fun and memorable that I remember hoping to model my summer of ’99 after it. Turns out all I did was worked and played Goldeneye 007 that summer, but I’m pretty good at video games, so I’ve got that going for me.
Kid Rock “All Summer Long” 2008
Kid Rock did a great job of sampling from two of the best classic rock songs of all-time, “Werewolves of London” and “Sweet Home Alabama”, mashing them up, and making it all seem fresh and new.
Bananarama “Cruel Summer” 1984
Featured in one of my favorite movies, The Karate Kid, “Cruel Summer” will always bring to my mind Daniel Larusso riding his bike to his first day at his new school while wearing the very stylish camouflage pants and plaid shirt combo.
Eddie Cochran “Summertime Blues” 1958
I realize that this song is much older than most of the readers of UnderScoopFire, but it was introduced to many of us when it was featured in Caddyshack. Even today, 54 years later, it still sucks to have to work over the summer while your friends have all of the fun.
The Drifters “Under the Boardwalk” 1964
“Under the Boardwalk” refers to the old Coney Island boardwalk, which has since been filled with sand. Apparently, sometime after 1964 the people having fun under the boardwalk changed over from young lovers to old homeless drug addicts.
DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince “Summertime” 1991
What can be said about “Summertime” that Howie didn’t already perfectly cover in his post in which he over-analyzed it? Just this- did you know that when they shot the video Will Smith and Jazzy Jeff rode around on the back of a flatbed truck in front of summertime scenes?
The Lovin’ Spoonful “Summer In The City” 1966
“All around, people lookin’ half dead… But at night, it’s a different world,” We all know the difference between hot summer days and warm summer nights. If you didn’t before, you truly will after hearing “Summer In The City”.
Alice Cooper “School’s Out” 1972
Who can forget the feeling of leaving school on the last day before summer vacation? There is nothing better than the feeling of freedom as soon as you walked out of the school’s doors. This song completely encapsulates that.
Brian Morin is a fan of anything related to the 80s. His love of playing with G.I. Joe developed into an obsession that continues to this day. He hosted an 80s themed radio show while in college which justified the building of a library of over 250 80s CDs. When he isn’t collecting and obsessing he is spending time with his wife and kids in Myerstown, PA.
GREAT list of summer time songs man! I like almost every jam on here. (I couldve done without LFO lol)
I’d like to nominate a couple of my own:
– Duran Duran – Taste the Summer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjmghQ-KJcg
– The Cars – Magic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bEu9wLDjKY
– Grease – Summer Nights http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXlnMveRt-Y
That’s all I got off the top of my head. I’m sure there’s more out there that I like as well. 🙂
Great additions!