Top Ten Summer Songs

With the summer upon us, it's time to revisit all the best grooves of the season.
 

1. “Jammin'” – Bob Marley
One hit of this song and you're in Kingston Town drinking out of a coconut.


2. “Doin' Time” - Sublime
In 1997, Sublime did several remixes of the classic George and Ira Gershwin tune "Summertime," with slightly less wholesome lyrics.


3. "All Summer Long" - The Beach Boys
Famous for playing over the closing credits of "American Graffiti," and contains that most profound of reflections on the end of the summer; "Remember when you spilled Coke all over your blouse?"
 
4. “Boys of Summer” - Don Henley
With its haunting, synthesized bird-calls, this 1984 epic Henley song managed to not only commemorate the end of the summer, but the ending of an era.


5. “Summertime Blues” – The Who
Eddie Cochran wrote this blues standard of teenage alienation way back in 1958; The Who made it immortal in 1970.
 

6. “Summer in the City” - The Lovin' Spoonful
"All around, people looking half-dead..." Even in 1966, when this song reached #1, New Yorkers could relate to this.


7. "Summer Means Fun" - Bruce & Terry
Another early-60's surf song recorded by a band that didn't actually exist; Bruce Johnston and Terry Melcher were a couple of L.A. session musicians who released records under various names. But at least the sentiment was real.


8. "In the Summertime" - Mungo Jerry
Somehow, in the summer, the fact that this 1970 #1 hit has offensive lyrics that don't make any sense doesn't seem to matter as much.
 

9. "See You In September" - The Happenings
This hit from 1966 is good for bringing back painful memories of losing your high school girlfriend to that hot lifeguard at the beach.


10. "Summer Girls" - LFO
Because in the summer of 1999, this boy band had it all - a top 10 single and girls who wore Abercrombie & Fitch. Then they were never heard from again.