When rocker Eddie Cochran released “Summertime Blues” in August 1958, the concept of “the song of summer” was born.
It had a catchy melody with a chugging beat and lyrics that anyone whose summer wasn’t going to plan could appreciate.
The vibe fit any summer that followed, whether in Cochran’s original or the many cover versions by artists as varied as the Who, Blue Cheer, the Flying Lizards, Buck Owens and Rush.
It was both a hit, cracking the Top 10 as the dog days of summer slipped into fall, and a mood that captured the essence of a season.
Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta’s “Summer Nights,” 1978. (Image courtesy of the record label) Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso,” 2024. (Image courtesy of the record label) The Beach Boys’ “Surfin’ Safari,” 1963. (Image courtesy of the record label) Jimmy Buffet’s “Margaritaville,” 1977. (Image courtesy of the record label) Cardi B, Bad Bunny and J Balvin’s “I Like It,” 2018. (Image courtesy of the record label) The Go-Go’s “Vacation,” 1982. (Image courtesy of the record label) Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out,” 1972. (Image courtesy of the record label) DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince’s “Summertime,” 1991. (Image courtesy of the record label) Eddie Cochran’s “Summertime Blues,” 1958. (Image courtesy of the record label) Calvin Harris’s “Summer,” 2014. (Image courtesy of the record label) The Surfaris’ “Wipe Out,” 1963. (Image courtesy of the record label) War’s “Summer,” 1976. (Image courtesy of the record label) Sly and the Family Stone’s “Hot Fun in the Summertime,” 1969. (Image courtesy of the record label) The Lovin’ Spoonful’s “Summer in the City,” 1966. (Image courtesy of the record label) Harry Styles’ “Watermelon Sugar,” 2020. (Image courtesy of the record label) Christopher Cross’s “Sailing,” 1980. (Image courtesy of the record label) Banarama’s “Cruel Summer,” 1983-84. (Image courtesy of the record label) Bryan Adams’ “Summer of ’69,” 1985. (Image courtesy of the record label) Eric Burdon and War’s “Spill the Wine,” 1970. (Image courtesy of the record label) Katy Perry’s “California Gurls,” 2010. (Image courtesy of the record label) Since Eddie Cochran released “Summertime Blues” in 1958, songs that capture the essence of summer have frequently become hits during the warm months of surf and sand, romances new and old, and the feeling that it’s time to have a party now that summer is here. Seen here are some of the bigger hits with that summertime vibe over time. (Images courtesy of the record labels) Show Caption1 of 21Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta’s “Summer Nights,” 1978. (Image courtesy of the record label) ExpandWhile there ain’t no cure for the summertime blues, there is, in fact, a formula for determining the songs of the summer, according to Billboard magazine, which has calculated the Top 10 songs of the summer going back to 1958 when the Billboard Hot 100 chart debuted.
The calculations are complicated, but suffice to say, they weigh factors such as sales, airplay, streaming, and chart placement between Memorial Day and Labor Day each summer.
But that formula resulted in Billboard declaring the 1958 song of the summer to be “Nel blu, dipinto di blu” by the Italian singer Domenico Modugno, which might make you wonder how much Billboard had to drink that summer.
You actually probably do know that song – it’s better known simply as the oft-covered standard, “Volare” – but does it make you think summery sentiments in the same way that “Summertime Blues” does? Of course not!
So we’ll reject the calculations of the Billboard bean counters and go for the vibes of a summer song, looking for tunes that were in the air in summers past and that focus more on the feeling of the season.
The Decade: 1960-1969
In 1960, surf music arrived with the new decade and the Ventures’ instrumental “Walk, Don’t Run,” which was soon followed by the Beach Boys‘ “Surfin’ U.S.A.” and Jan and Dean‘s “Surf City” in 1963.
More songs that captured the feeling of season – hanging out at the beach, driving around with your friends, the chance of romance – also charted during summer in the early ’60s including Jan and Dean’s “Little Old Lady (From Pasadena),” the Beach Boys’ “I Get Around,” and the Surfaris “Wipe Out.” And Chubby Checker’s “Let’s Twist Again,” of course, opens with a shoutout to summer – “Come on let’s twist again like we did last summer,” he sang in 1961.
The emergence of Motown and the British Invasion provided new soundtracks to summer love. You could dance to the Supremes’ “Where Did Our Love Go,” a summer hit in 1964, and while it’s not summer-specific, the Rolling Stones “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” laid its irresistible riff beneath the same frustrated youthful feelings that “Summertime Blues” described.
By the latter half of the decade, rock reigned o’er the summer season. The Lovin’ Spoonful’s “Summer In the City” has a pleading, catchy summer-centric energy. The Troggs’ “Wild Thing” proves that, as with “Satisfaction,” all you need is a huge riff and a universal summer sentiment: “I think I love you!”
In 1967, the Doors’ massive hit “Light My Fire” – alas, not about a beach bonfire – combined with singer Jim Morrison’s incendiary charisma to set fans alight. The Summer of Love centered in the Bay Area arrived with Scott McKenzie’s “San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers),” while the long, hot summer of civic unrest in other parts of the country found its summer song in Aretha Franklin’s “Respect.”
This year, musical icons Sly Stone and Brian Wilson died within days of each other on the eve of summer. Both created some of the greatest summer songs of the ’60s.
Sly and the Family Stone’s “Hot Fun in the Summertime,” which arrived in August 1969, might be the summer single of the decade, while summer album honors go to Wilson and the Beach Boys for their May 1966 release “Pet Sounds,” which featured singles such as “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” “God Only Knows,” and “Good Vibrations.”
The Decade: 1970-1979
The ’70s introduced a pair of summer classics, with Mungo Jerry’s rollicking rhythms on the 1970 single “In The Summertime” accompanying a timeless narrative. “In the summertime, when the weather is high, you can stretch right up and touch the sky,” the song begins.
“Spill the Wine,” by Eric Burdon and War, mined a similar if more psychedelic groove that same year. The narrator, “out strolling one very hot summer’s day,” lies down to nap in a field of grass. “I lay there in the sun and felt it caressing my face as I fell asleep and dreamed,” Burdon sings to the single’s sensuous groove.
Two years later, 1972 arrived packed with summer songs. Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out” crystallized the feeling of freedom that came with the final school bell of the year. Seals and Crofts’ “Summer Breeze” made us feel fine, blowing through the jasmine in our minds. And Chicago’s “Saturday in the Park” – think it was the Fourth of July? – perfectly encapsulated a summer’s day in the park.
Not every year had the same obvious riches. Paul Simon’s 1973 hit “Kodachrome” works as a summer song because the film of the title “give(s) us those nice bright colors, give(s) us the green of summer, makes you think all the world’s a sunny day, oh yeah.”
And sometimes, as the ’70s showed, a classic song is simply a perfect soundtrack to a party in the backyard or at the beach: In 1975 and 1976, songs from KC and the Sunshine Band, such as “Get Down Tonight” and “(Shake Shake Shake) Shake Your Booty,” got the summer fun started.
War returned sans Eric Burdon for a second helping of summer in 1976 with “Summer,” a slow jam with a chorus that declares “summer time is the best time any place, ’cause it’s summer, summer time is here … my time of year.”
The movie musical “Grease” provided the soundtrack to many a summer soiree in 1978, with the John Travolta-Olivia Newton-John duet “Summer Nights” a timeless summer song. “Summer lovin’, had me a blast,” Travolta’s Danny sings. “Summer lovin’, happened so fast,” Newton-John’s Sandy sings back. Summer romance, man, there’s nothing like it.
As for the summer song of the decade, there are worthy contenders above, but ultimately who wouldn’t vote for Jimmy Buffett’s “Margaritaville,” a sing-along classic from 1977 that taught us all not to worry if you blow out your flip-flop or step on a pop-up – ask your grandparents, kids – as long as “there’s booze in the blender, and soon it will render, that frozen concoction that helps me hang on.”
The Decade: 1980-1989
Songs of summer shifted in the ’80s from literal themes of surf, sun and sand to the summer event. And by the middle of the decade, the biggest events were the summer blockbuster movies with their instantly ubiquitous theme songs.
Sure, we started off the decade with a few hits that harkened back to summer’s past. In the summer of 1980, Christopher Cross’s “Sailing” took listeners away on cotton candy clouds of the softest of soft rock on a quest for peace and freedom in a sailboat on the sea.
A summer later, Rick Springfield gave voice to a more desperate kind of summer lovin’ in the hit “Jessie’s Girl,” while the summer of ’82 found the Go-Go’s singing wistful melodies and memories with “Vacation.”
Then the movies took over, and your summer music became inextricably bound to the popcorn-scented memories of the big hits of the season.
Prince’s “When Doves Cry” from the movie “Purple Rain” and Ray Parker Jr.’s “Ghostbusters” from the film of the same name dominated the airwaves in 1984.
Even Bananarama’s “Cruel Summer,” which was released a year earlier, finally reached the Top 10 on the Billboard 100 thanks to its inclusion in the 1984 movie “The Karate Kid,” though weirdly it was left off the soundtrack album.
Bryan Adams’ “Summer of ’69” made a splash in the summer of ’85, as did the summery sounds of Katrina and the Waves’ “Walking on Sunshine,” neither of them with help from a movie soundtrack. But the next year, “Top Gun” turned August and September 1986 into the summer of “Take My Breath Away,” thanks to the inclusion of the Berlin song on its soundtrack.
The latter part of the decade turned toward rising superstars whose music pumped through the open car windows of young people, and older folks too, as they cruised to the beach for a day and road trips out of town.
Whitney Houston scored the biggest hit of her then-young career with “I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me),” as did U2 with “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” – both of those in the summer of ’87.
A year later, Guns N’ Roses unleashed its signature song on the world with the 1988 hit “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” which you surely would have heard echoing from cars on the Sunset Strip that summer.
The decade closed out with a hint of the rising clout of hip-hop in the ’90s, thanks to Spike Lee’s movie “Do The Right Thing” – a film set on a long, hot summer day in Brooklyn – for which the rap group Public Enemy provided a musical theme in “Fight The Power.” Released on July 4, 1988, it was surely the sidewalk boombox anthem of the decade.
The Decade: 1990-1999
The first big summer song of the ’90s arrived in 1991 when Will Smith was still the Fresh Prince and DJ Jazzy Jeff was – one sec, checking – ah, still DJ Jazzy Jeff.
“Guys out huntin’ and girls doin’ likewise, honkin’ at the honey in front of you with the light eyes,” Smith rapped in the duo’s hit “Summertime.” “And with a pen and pad I compose this rhyme, to hip you and to get you equipped for the summertime.”
Rap and R&B were ascendant in the early ’90s, though boy bands and pop divas had their say during the decade, too, as summer party season scooped up a wide range of hit singles.
Sir Mix-A-Lot could not and would not lie in 1992’s “Baby Got Back,” a song that takes place during that favorite summer activity of just driving around admiring all the good-looking people. Tag Team got countless summer parties started with 1993’s “Whoomp! (There It Is).” Coolio’s “Fantastic Voyage” was the summer of ’94’s ode to cruising the main drag looking for fun or trouble or both.
That same year, John Mellencamp and Meshell Ndegeocello updated Van Morrison’s “Wild Night” and its call to get out in the warmth of a summer night.
Jamaican-American reggae singer Shaggy did summer proud in 1995 with his Caribbean reggae-rap version of Mungo Jerry’s “In the Summertime,” a song so summery he got hired to perform it on an episode of “Baywatch.”
In 1996, well, 1996, you were a bit of a disappointment what with the biggest hit of your summer being the “Macarena” by Los Del Rio. You’ll remember this as the summer when every backyard barbecue, pool party or birthday party at some point included that silly dance.
Where Eddie Cochran complained in “Summertime Blues” about not having any money at all, the Notorious B.I.G. had an entirely different problem in summer 1997 in “Mo Money Mo Problems.”
Another future backyard party anthem arrived in 1999 with the Smash Mouth hit “All Star,” after which anyone who heard the words, “Hey now, you’re an all star,” instantly knew to reply, “Get your game on, go play.”
Not the greatest decade for enduring songs of summer, but maybe the 2000s will be better.
The Decade: 2000-2009
Or maybe it won’t be better. The first decade of the new millennium unfolded with plenty of hitmakers making hits, but did they make them about summer? Not so much, we’re sad to say.
Train had a big summertime hit in 2001 with “Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me),” and it included drops of summer in the lyrics: “Now, that she’s back in the atmosphere, with drops of Jupiter in her hair, she acts like summer and walks like rain.”
Maybe that’s just a singular drop of summer.
A year later, Nelly had a massive hit, also during the summer months, with “Hot In Herre.” He’s from St. Louis, and we lived there for a few summers, and it’s brutal without air-conditioning, which the lyrics suggest he is lacking: “It’s gettin’ hot in here (So hot) / So take off all your clothes (Ayy).”
Definitely one way to deal with the heat indoors.
Summer pop hits also continued to celebrate the emotions of L-O-V-E. Beyoncé a huge hit with “Crazy In Love” in 2003. Two years later, Mariah Carey dominated the summer charts in 2005 in much the same way with “We Belong Together.”
The summer of 2006 we recall because everywhere you went you heard Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy.” Shakira’s “Hips Don’t Lie” and Justin Timberlake’s “SexyBack” soundtracked many a party that summer, too.
This is how dire the dearth of true summer songs got by 2007. Instead of celebrating fun in the sun, Rihanna had the No. 1 song on Billboard’s Summer Song chart that year with “Umbrella.”
By the end of the decade, the best we could hope for was a good party mix from the fresh hits on the charts. The Black Eyed Peas tried to provide that with two big summer-months hits in “I Gotta Feeling” and “Boom Boom Pow.”
Miley Cyrus gave us all an anthem for any Fourth of July gathering with “Party in the U.S.A.,” though it didn’t actually get released until August 2009.
The Decade: 2010-2019
Thank you, Katy Perry for reviving the summer song in 2010 with help from Snoop Dogg on “California Gurls,” an actual honest-to-Coppertone summer song.
“California girls, we’re unforgettable, Daisy Dukes, bikinis on top,” she sings in a song that includes just a tiny nod toward the Beach Boys’ “California Girls” in one of Snoop’s lines. “Sun-kissed skin so hot, we’ll melt your popsicle.”
That put us in such a mood that we don’t even mind telling you that the summer song of 2011, at least according to the Billboard charts, was “Party Rock Anthem” by LMFAO. Good, dumb fun in a summer shared with Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep.”
There’s catchy stuff in the next few years, none of it particularly summery other than the months in which it flooded your ears day in, day out. In 2012, it included Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” and Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know.” Lana Del Rey did her moody thing with “Summertime Sadness,” which is a legit thing to feel in the summer, right?
DJ and producer Calvin Harris joined Katy Perry with a true summer song in 2014. How do we know what it is? The name of the song is “Summer,” duh. “When I met you in the summer to my heartbeat’s sound, we fell in love,” Harris sings, and while the song doesn’t really go anywhere – it’s a dance club banger after all – we’ll take it.
Taylor Swift and the Weeknd both had summer-bummer hits in 2016, Swift with “Bad Blood” and the Weeknd with “I Can’t Feel My Face.” Not really seasonal, but big, catchy hits that were everywhere.
The decade wrapped up with a run of summers dominated by one or two massive hits. “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber ruled the summer of 2017. A year later, “I Like It,” by Cardi B, Bad Bunny and J Balvin, took a chunk of Pete Rodriguez’s 1967 boogaloo classic “I Like It Like That,” and rode those Latin rhythms to the top of the summer charts.
The decade ended with the summer of “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, which again, wasn’t so much about summer as it had that summer vibe.
The Decade: 2020-2025
Welcome to the current decade, where we’re still not sure what to make of its summer songs or lack thereof.
Harry Styles showed he knows his way around a summer song. His 2020 summer hit “Watermelon Sugar” savors the lazy, warm days of the season.
“Tastes like strawberries on a summer evenin’ and it sounds just like a song,” he sings in the opening verse of the song. “I want more berries and that summer feelin’, it’s so wonderful and warm.”
A year later, the produce section returned to the summer charts with “Peaches” by Justin Bieber with Daniel Caesar and Giveon. “I got my peaches out in Georgia,” he sings – so far so good. “I get my weed from California” – hmm, maybe his summer plans are different than Harry’s.
BTS, though, rights the summer ship with its 2021 hit “Butter,” its members singing, “Smooth like (Butter), cool shade (Stunner), and you know we don’t stop, hot like (Summer), ain’t no (Bummer).”
Leaving the grocery store, we get to 2023 where country singer Luke Combs had a long-running hit with his cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car,” a song about a road trip though it’s definitely not a summer vacation.
To some degree, the verdict remains out on the summer songs of 2024 and 2025. Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” was one of the biggest hits of summer 2024, but it lacks any kind of summer vibe unless being mean to Drake counts as a summer vibe to you.
Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” and “Please Please Please” both were hits that same summer, and there’s a natural sunniness to her music. She’s back this year with “Manchild,” so perhaps she’ll end up the queen of this decade’s summers in time.
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