(Ray Brandes ushers in the season with a call for signature songs.)
“In summer, the song sings itself.”
— William Carlos Williams
“School’s out for summer!”
— Alice Cooper
Some of the greatest songs in the rock-‘n’-roll era were released in June, July and August. A great summer song doesn’t necessarily have to be about summer itself, but rather capture the quintessence of the season: that feeling of long, lazy sunburned days and humid nights spent making love to the sounds of crickets.
The summer of 1965 alone gave us the Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction,” the Beatles’ “Help,” Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone,” James Brown’s “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag,” and Martha and the Vandellas’ “Dancing in the Street,” songs that are quite different in theme but are bursting with the exuberance of the sunny season.
Read moreRemember Walking in the Sand?
Sunscreen, lemonade and summer radio