FIRST DAY OF SUMMER 2012: YOU HEARD THEM ON AN AM CAR RADIO-MSCC TOP FIVE SUMMERTUNES
FIRST DAY OF SUMMER 2012: YOU HEARD THEM ON AN AM CAR RADIO-MSCC TOP FIVE SUMMERTUNES
There's only one way to celebrate the first day of Summer 2012 – pick the Top 5 summer songs that were only heard on an AM car radio when they were released.
Forget about iPod, satellite radio and mega-state of the art sound...you heard these songs on a crappy, one speaker, tinny sounding AM radio that crackled every time lightning flashed within 80 miles.
That's the line in the sand so here (without prejudice) is the list...
#5: "In the Summertime" by Mungo Jerry is one of the most famous summer songs in history and it provided 15 minutes of solid fame for one hit wonders Mungo Jerry.
The British pop band had little to offer the musical world after this summer classic but who cares? They gave us a timeless summer tune with a carefree early 70-ish quasi-hippy philosophy about hot weather and even hotter women and that's all that really matters.
Mungo Jerry was a band who produced a bouncy beat anthem to all that is good about summer and we can all sing along with this choir of good times in the heat of the fairest season.
Sometimes that's all you need...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zc9wIzi96_E
#4: "Lazy,Hazy,Crazy Days of Summer" Nat King Cole-charted #6 Billboard Spring 1963.
Nat King Cole really knew how to wave the green flag for summer when he put this classic on the charts back in the spring of 1963.This is the definitive baby boomer "when we were kids " song.
This is the one that signaled closed schools, packing up the station wagon with Mom and Dad and hitting the road for that legendary vacation so we could all "roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer".
Is that not the definitive invitation to freedom when you're a ten year old kid?
Nat hit this one right out of the summer ball park - even now it puts you in a great mood because it brings back all those childhood memories of seasonally-dependent things like a trip to the beach or a trip to the drive-in, anything that underscored the fact that you were a kid with 2 months of freedom during the best season ever invented.
Who doesn't love hearing those classic lines "you'll wish that summer could always be here"?
Thank you Mr. Nat King Cole- you've given us a song that makes the best time of the year even better.
Let's just keep rolling out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lB8-gj8KRVM
# 3: "Indian Lake" by The Cowsills–Charted #10 June 1968. The Cowsills were THE 60s feel good, upbeat family singing group.
In fact they spawned the TV show fake family singing group "The Partridge Family". Whether or not you dismiss that and everything David Cassidy stands for as bubblegum-centric forget it for 3 minutes because
The Cowsills rocked the summer song world with "Indian Lake".
This bouncy little seasonal song can't help but uplift a dreary day-in any season. Your AM car radio in Summer 1968 was full of classics like the Stones "Jumpin'Jack Flash", Aretha Franklin's "Chain of Fools" or the legendary "Piece of my Heart" by Janis Joplin but Indian Lake was written with one thing in mind-summer fun.
Check out the lyrics-"Indian Lake is a scene you should make with your little one, keep it in mind if you're looking to find a place in the summer sun, you can swim in the cove have a snack in the grove or you can rent a canoe...".
Does that not define every lake in every kid's vacation? It could be a football field-sized pond or the Pacific Ocean-this summer vacation song calls out to every 11 year old who piled into an overloaded station wagon or minivan with mom and dad and excited siblings and headed to their own Indian Lake.
The time and place may change but heading to "the lake" is universal fun at the highest level.
The next time you find yourself in the middle of another dreary, endless winter do yourself a huge favor-turn on your stereo, CD player or Ipod and head to Indian Lake with The Cowsills.
But right now you're lined up for a great summer weekend so head to Indian Lake with The Cowsills.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzI5YqV89kg
#2: "A Summer Song" Chad and Jeremy charted Aug 1964 # 7. Chad and Jeremy were a British duo who were often confused with the other British duo, Peter and Gordon. This song actually captured the feel of a casual summer day-lying in a hammock, sun and a slight breeze.
One of the advantages to releasing a summer song in the summer like this song was is that you get the advantage of positive images in a positive season: "Trees swaying in the summer breeze, Showing off their silver leaves, as we walked by". It's not hard to imagine that image if you can look around and see the real thing. That gets a little harder to imagine if the tree in question is bent over in a driving blizzard.
Brilliant summer song...solid number 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_D2XD341xHo
#1: "Summer Wind" released May 1966 by Frank Sinatra. The Chairman of the Board hit many home runs in his legendary career but this cut from the album Strangers in the Night was an instant summer classic. Frank was enjoying incredible success in 1966-no mean feat given the fact that the British Invasion was beating up the colonials on most musical charts.
Except for Mr. Francis Albert Sinatra
He won the battle in early Summer 1966 with this low key classic called Summer Wind. Forget The Beach Boys that summer-when it came to defending musical turf in 66 you had to go to the old pro, the one the only Frank Sinatra.
This guy brought his game face even when the girl left him "The world was new beneath a blue-umbrella sky, Then softer than a piper man-one day it called to you, And I lost you to the summer wind".He lost the girl but he kept his cool-he didn't whine about summer crushes like a lovesick 15 year old or die in a horrible car crash in yet another vapid teen angel tragedy.
This was real world stuff in an adult song done by a legendary adult artist for an adult audience.
We needed that back in 1966-it was a nice change.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug8cBIbxDaY
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