Summer Music (Photo)
Almost all of the school systems have closed for summer vacation, and folks of all ages are ready to enjoy the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer. Everyone is ready for much needed downtime, with flip flops and suntans, hanging at the beach and the pool, and some great family barbecues. Who doesn’t love summer?
Music Monday:
All of us can recall favorite memories and the songs that we accompanied them from summers past.
Last month Billboard Magazine listed their top 30 summer songs from 1958 when they launched their Billboard Hot 100 chart to the present day: “To celebrate the return of our favorite season, we’ve scoured the Billboard chart archives and updated this definitive list of the most popular songs about summer ever recorded.”
Check out the songs listed in reverse order from #30 down to #1 and see if your summer favorites are among Billboard’s most popular selections.
Here are four of my favorite summertime songs for today’s edition of Music Monday:
Coming in at #20 on the list of 30 top songs of summer:
“Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days Of Summer,” by Nat King Cole (1963):
“Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer” was released in May of 1963 on the album with the same name by Capitol Records.
Arranged and conducted by Ralph Carmichael.
Nat King Cole (born Nathaniel Adams Coles on March 17, 1919), the son of a Baptist minister, and I share a birthday.
A very heavy-smoker for many years, Nat King Cole believed his rich baritone voice was enhanced when he smoked. He was known to smoke three or four cigarettes in rapid succession before a recording session. He died from lung cancer at the young age of 45 on February 15, 1965.
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Coming in at #22: “Summer Breeze” by Seals & Crofts (1972):
Written and recorded by Seals and Crofts (Jim Seals and Dash Crofts) in August of 1972 for Warner Brothers Records on the album with the same name, this summer classic went to Number 6 on the Hot 100 List in the Fall of 1972.
Producer: Louie Shelton
Did you know that a child’s toy piano was one of the back up instruments?
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Coming in at #18: “Saturday In The Park” by Chicago (1972):
“Saturday in the Park,” written by Robert Lamm and recorded by Chicago for their Chicago V album, was released in July of 1972 by Columbia Records and hit Number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. It is played regularly at Saturday afternoon baseball games at Chicago’s Wrigley Field.
Here’s a live performance from the MTV Archives:
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Coming in at #8: “Surfin’ U.S.A.” by the Beach Boys (1963):
“Surfin’ U.S.A.” features lyrics written by Brian Wilson which were set to the music of Chuck Berry’s “Sweet Little Sixteen.” Released as a single on March 4, 1963 by Capitol Records, it reached Number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100.
A close listen will find sixteen popular surfing spots among the lyrics, including location in California, Hawaii, and Australia.
Enjoy this live performance filmed at the NBC Television Studios in Burbank, California on March 14, 1964. Footage from this concert was later released in June of 1999 as “The Lost Concert” on DVD with total running time of 22 minutes.
Hope you enjoy summer music too!!
Shoot me an email and let me know which ones you have loved best over summers past.