My Summer Playlist "Update"

...and by "update" I mean, here's the whole damn list from my iTunes library. Instead of repeating links to the prior posts and their bits and pieces, I decided to just copy and paste it all here. This means a number of songs I put on the list in the last year or so haven't been mentioned before.

I guess I'll repeat all my disclaimers as well: the songs on my list fall into at least one of the following categories (other than the obvious, that they're in my iTunes and I like them):

• To at least some extent they're about summer or the sun or warmth or heat
• They were released during/became hits during the summer
• I either discovered/fell in love with them during the summer or associate them with summer for some reason or they just felt to me like they had a summery sound or vibe -- so this part is very subjective and your mileage may vary

Feel free to go back to my old posts and see some of the things I wrote about the songs when I first posted the list, and in some cases listen to them via YouTube links. And so, after the jump...174 songs of my summers, past and present:

Northern Liberties 2nd St. Festival

Last month, on yet another hot summer afternoon, I strolled along 2nd Street for the Northern Liberties 2nd Street Festival. Stuff for sale, food and drink (lots of beer), and performances, including one by the house band of the School of Rock. And yes, I took photos. Here's a sampling:

Why do you suppose I took this picture? ;-)

Little Baby's was just a mobile cart operation but now they have their own
store. Very unusual flavors that I'll have to check out sometime.

Six More Summer Songs

Here's the most recent post. I have six more to add, thanks mostly to the item in last week's Entertainment Weekly, a flashback to the Billboard top 10 for the same week in 1984...

Eyes Without A Face - Billy Idol

Time After Time - Cyndi Lauper

Let's Hear It For The Boy - Deniece Williams

The Reflex - Duran Duran

Jump (For My Love) - The Pointer Sisters

Glory of Love (Theme from "The Karate Kid, Pt. II") - Peter Cetera

We're up to 159 songs now.

Another Summer Playlist Update

I don't know if I should just re-post my entire summer playlist in one new post, but until I get to that point, you'll just have to click on this link, which leads to the most recent update, and then keep following links until you get back to the original posts. At any rate, thanks to this recent article, which provided a list of hits from June through August each year going back to the 1960s, I decided on a number of additions to my list that are already in my iTunes library. Also, Amazon has had two mp3 sales recently -- one was for a summer playlist of their own, 25 songs for a quarter each -- yes, $0.25 -- and just in the last 24 hours, recent hit albums for $0.99, and these sales provided some more tracks for the list.

The entire list is now up to 153 songs, although I'm kind of wavering on a few that originally were on the list. I'm leaving them, at least for now. Anyway, briefly, my criteria are: hits during the summer, song titles/lyrics  about summer, sunshine, heat, etc., and a few songs that either made an impression on me personally during summer or just have a summery feel to them, so the list is (as many lists are) a bit subjective. Here are the additions:


Wild Ones (Feat. Sia) - Flo Rida
Call Me Maybe - Carly Rae Jepsen
Nothin' On You [Feat. Bruno Mars] - B.o.B
Hot In Herre - Nelly
In The Summertime -Mungo Jerry
Sunshine - Matisyahu
Everybody Loves The Sunshine - Roy Ayers Ubiquity
Blister In The Sun - Violent Femmes
Dynamite - Taio Cruz
Viva La Vida - Coldplay
It's Gonna Be Me - 'N Sync
We Like To Party - Vengaboys
MmmBop - Hanson (if I recall, I kept this off the list originally)
Kiss From A Rose - Seal
Whoomp! (There It Is) - Tag Team
Can't Help Falling In Love - UB40
End Of The Road - Boyz II Men
Alone - Heart
With Or Without You - U2
Funkytown - Lipps Inc.
Bette Davis Eyes - Kim Carnes
Dreams - Fleetwood Mac
Love Will Keep Us Together - Captain & Tennille
Touch Me In The Morning - Diana Ross
Lean On Me - Bill Withers
Lovely Day - Bill Withers
It's Too Late - Carole King
The Love You Save - The Jackson 5
War - Edwin Starr
Get Back - The Beatles
Honky Tonk Women - The Rolling Stones
Respect - Aretha Franklin
Help! - The Beatles
(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - The Rolling Stones
California Gurls (Feat. Snoop Dogg) - Katy Perry
Firework - Katy Perry
Chasing The Sun - The Wanted

Summer's Over, Summer Playlist Forever

This is another of those delayed-by-travel posts. Since my last update I've added more songs to My Big Fat Summer Playlist. A few are from this actual summer, the rest are from summers past or otherwise fit the concept...

Beautiful People - Chris Brown (feat. Benny Benassi) (I feel a little bit guilty about liking a song sung by the woman-beater. It helps that I didn't actually pay for this one.)
I Wanna Go - Britney Spears
California Gurls - Katy Perry feat. Snoop Dogg
Who Do You Love - Bernard Wright
High On Sunshine - The Commodores
Party Rock Anthem - LMFAO (ft. Lauren Bennett & Goon Rock) (Yes, I succumbed to the madness.)
Summer Breeze - Seals & Crofts
Stare Into The Sun - Graffiti 6 (I saw this on one of the Logo music video shows, NewNowNext or its PopLab spinoff)
Summer Madness - Kool & the Gang
School's Out - Alice Cooper
Caribbean Queen (No More Love On The Run) - Billy Ocean
Moves Like Jagger - Maroon 5 feat. Christina Aguilera

This brings me to 117 songs. As always, I'm looking for more. But probably not until next summer, unless I hear some old song that begs to be added.

Summer Playlist Update

For reference, here's a link with links to the other posts on the topic. I've made a few more additions to my big ol' summer playlist, including "I Wish" by Skee-Lo that I previously mentioned. In addition I added James Brown's "Living In America," which is really more of a July 4th song. (Which reminds me, I'm overdue for a post with some pics I took on the 4th during my ice cream dream day.) And I suddenly remembered Erasure's version of Cole Porter's "Too Darn Hot" from the "Red Hot + Blue" Porter tribute, so that's on the list.

Finally, it seems that a Kelly Rowland song is becoming a tradition. Instead of David Guetta, this year she collaborated with another DJ/producer, Alex Gaudino, for "What a Feeling" (not the "Flashdance" song), which was released in the spring but I somehow neglected to hear until recently...



We're up to 105 songs total, and I still want to add more. Suggestions welcome, particularly for 2011 music. And do I add Lady Gaga's "The Edge of Glory" or some other song from her album?

New/Old Summer Playlist Addition?

Feels like a summer song, and Wikipedia says it was big in the summer...going back to 1995, here's "I Wish" by Skee-Lo:


Skee-Lo - I Wish by christ88

Still looking for more songs to add. I have a couple in mind, one from the 1980s and one from this year sometime. I'd love to hear your input. Check out this post, which has links to my previous summer playlist posts.

My Summer Playlist Needs 2011 Additions

Welcome to summer, even if it's actually going down to the low 50s tonight (after we just had a heat wave end). That means it's time to start listening to my playlist of summer music. You may remember from my posts last year that I have some rules, and each song has to adhere to at least one of them. First and foremost, they include only songs that are in my iTunes library. In addition, they either had to be released during the summer, be popular during the summer, have a title and/or lyrics referring to summer, sun, heat, etc., just sound summery, or I identify them with summer in my mind for some reason.

To refresh your memory, here are my original posts: Part 1 and Part 2 are the original list, and here's my followup that gave me an even 100. Sometime after that, I actually added a 101st song: a track from the "Despicable Me" soundtrack called "Fun, Fun, Fun" by Pharrell Williams.

With a new summer upon us, I'd love to add more songs. Suggestions for songs from the past that aren't on my list are welcome. (I thought I had some comments on those posts that gave me some possible additions, but nothing's there.) I also have to decide what 2011 releases can go on the list. The last two years featured collaborations by Kelly Rowland and David Guetta ("When Love Takes Over" and "Commander") so perhaps I need to find out what Kelly and/or David have got for me for this year. There are certainly some tracks from the new Lady Gaga album that will go on, although I'm not sure which ones just yet.

This is your chance to sell me on some artists and/or songs that you think would be ideal for my summer playlist. I thank you in advance. (That's Mark Salling of "Glee" in the photo above, by the way. A nice summery photo, don't you think?)

Return Of My Summer Playlist!

I stumbled upon a link to Billboard.com's compilation of their top 10 songs of summer (using a point system based on heir chart methodology) for every year from 1985 through 2009. Looking through their listings, I decided some additions to my summer playlist (Part 1 here, Part 2 here) are required. (I also am adding others to the list of songs I need to own.)

The following, however, are already in my iTunes library. Some I overlooked the first time around and others I've changed my mind about. I'm sure you will find some of them quite cheesy, but it could've been worse: I still left "MMMBop" off the list. Adding these songs and "Commander" (my song of summer 2010) to my original list, I now have exactly 100 summer songs.

Oh, and here's some pretty summer scenery: Hugh Jackman at the beach...


A View To A Kill - Duran Duran (1985)
Sussudio - Phil Collins (1985)
If You Love Somebody Set Them Free - Sting (1985)
Raspberry Beret - Prince and the Revolution (1985) - I can sing the hell out of this at karaoke.
Papa Don't Preach - Madonna (1986)
Invisible Touch - Genesis (1986)
On My Own - Patti LaBelle & Michael McDonald (1986)
Higher Love - Steve Winwood (1986) - Also a killer karaoke song for me.
Venus - Bananarama (1986)

My Summer 2010 Song (So Far)

Last year it was "When Love Takes Over." Now Kelly Rowland and David Guetta may have provided me with my song of the summer for the second year in a row, with "Commander." Right now I command you to...DANCE!



It's been added to my summer playlist on my iPod already.

My Summer Listening (And Maybe Yours) Part 2

Mmmmmm...deep-fried Oreos: another great idea for summer!

And now, the dramatic conclusion of "Joe's Big-Ass Crazy Summer Playlist!" (Here's Part 1, in case you've forgotten...)

Who's That Girl - Madonna (1987) There are lots of Madonna songs that would feel right for this list, but this was actually a hit during the summer, it has that pop candy feel, and July 11, 1987 was the first time I saw Madonna in concert, as the "Who's That Girl" tour hit the Vet. What vexed me, though, is that when the tour was announced I had read that Bronski Beat was going to be her opening act, but was replaced by Level 42, since the singer who took over when Jimmy Somerville left Bronski Beat took a powder as well.


My Arms Keep Missing You - Rick Astley  (1987) This is a stretch in that it wasn't released in the U.S. or during the summer, and has no summer-type lyrics. It was the B-side of "When I Fall In Love" (cover of the Nat King Cole song), which was released at the end of 1987 in the UK and was trying to be the "Christmas No. 1" -- it's really a big thing over there. The B-side became a dance hit in Europe, and eventually got radio airplay here the following year. The thing that ties it to summer for me is the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul (which actually didn't begin until September 17). I had this little portable hand-held TV and I would watch the late-night coverage while in bed -- thanks to the time difference a lot of late-night stuff was live -- and listen to music (either a radio or a cassette with my then-favorites, taped from the radio or from my 45s or 12-inch remix singles). This was one that I loved at that time, and eventually bought the 12-inch import (for $7.49 -- I think U.S. 12-inch singles were $2.99 or $3.99 at the time).  Here's a link to listen -- and no, this is not an attempt at RickRolling.

My Summer Listening Pleasure (And Maybe Yours) Part 1

I love disclaimers. In the case of the big 58-song summer playlist I've created, there are a few of them. These songs fall into at least one of these categories, sometimes more, sometimes all: they were released during the summer, they were popular during the summer, the song title and/or lyrics refer to summer, sun, heat, etc. If they don't fit these categories -- and this is a pretty big disclaimer -- to me they either sound like a summer-type song or I identify them with summer in my mind for some reason, which will be explained.

Also, the list only includes songs that are in my iTunes library. There may be other songs that are truly summer songs, but if I don't own them I didn't include them. (It's also possible that some songs not on the list but should be are in my iTunes but I somehow neglected to find it.) I am open to any and all suggestions to add to the list, but if it's not obvious from the song title why it should be included I hope you'll enlighten me as to why it's a summer song.

I'm listing them in order of the year of release (according to Wikipedia or whatever other sources I could find). Using the versions I have (a couple of extended mixes included) it's over 4 hours, 15 minutes of music, and Part One begins after the jump:

We Interrupt Your Twitter Fail...

While we wait for Twitter to straighten itself out -- even if the Fail Whale doesn't pop up, the service is sporadic at best right now and the "retweet" button seems to have disappeared -- let's listen to a fantastic jam from 1988, "Ooo La La La" by Teena Marie. I've put this on the little summer playlist I'm working on, even though it peaked at #1 in April 1988. To me, it just feels like an extra-great song to hear when out walking or just sitting outside relaxing during a warm day.

As I mentioned previously, the songs I'm including don't have to necessarily mention heat or summer, or even have been released or (in the case of songs that crawl up the charts slowly) peaked during the summer months. If you have any suggestions for songs, let me know. Even if I don't have it in my iTunes I can always include it if I like it enough.

My iTunes Shuffle Baker's Dozen 6-3-10

I've mentioned before that I get a bit annoyed when iTunes shuffles in the same artist or album track too often. I've got nearly 9500 songs. It can't be too difficult to avoid duplication, can it? So, besides the two Will Young songs in the baker's dozen below, the next two songs immediately after these 13 were Eurythmics tracks. Of course, Annie Lennox lover that I am, back-to-back Eurythmics really isn't disappointing me that much...

"South Park" Theme - Primus
Madness - Will Young
Why Not Fly - Mark Weigle
You Are Not Alone (Franctified Club Mix) - Michael Jackson
Music Inferno (live) - Madonna
Give It Up (radio edit) - The Goodmen
Leave Right Now - Will Young
Turn You Inside-Out - R.E.M.
Water Baby - Sneaker Pimps
Invincible (Theme from "The Legend of Billie Jean") - Pat Benatar
Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) - The Beatles
Robert DeNiro's Waiting - Bananarama
Fire And Rain - James Taylor

I've been debating creating a summer playlist -- not just songs that reference summer in the title but some songs I love that I associate with summer because that's when the song was a hit, or at least when I became aware of it. Stay tuned...