10 Summer Songs from My Childhood

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The Science of Rock ‘N Roll exhibit at the Ontario Science Centre (running from June 11 to October 26, 2014) had me feeling a little nostalgic, especially when I had to explain what an 8-Track Tape is to my kids. Most of my summer music memories revolve around these cartridges.

The most vivid of which is waiting for the ferry. When I was between the age of about seven and twelve my family lived on Vancouver Island. Sometimes we would take the ferry over to the mainland and that meant waiting in your car between those designated lines on the dock, waiting for the ferry to arrive. My dad would have the roof off (he went through a cycle of many sports cars, some with removable glass panels you had to store in the trunk) and the music playing. Those songs from my childhood still evoke great summer feelings.

Though this may date me, these ten in no particular order have to be at the top of my list. Every time I hear one of these songs I think of summer (and I take no responsibility for any tunes that get stuck in your head):

1. Summertime. Summertime, The Jamies (1958)

2. Summer in the City

, The Loving Spoonful (1966)

3. Here Comes the Sun,

George Harrison (1969)

4. Car Wash

, Rose Royce (1976)

5. Let’s Go Trippin’

, Dike Dale & The Deltones (1960)

6. Going Up the Country

, Canned Heat (1968)

7. Summertime Blues

, Eddie Cochran (1958)

8. Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay

, Otis Redding (1967) Not an Otis Redding version but I do love the work from Play for Change

9. In the Summertime, 

Mungo Jerry (1970)

10. Hot in the City

, Billy Idol (1982)

There’s something about summer that time travels me back to my youth. Sweating in the hot sun. Eating popsicles on the front porch. Running through the sprinkler. Listening to summer songs on my dad’s car stereo as we drove around town. Just like certain smells can harken memories so can sound, especially those summer tunes that were so apart of growing up. What summer songs do you remember from being a kid? Do you remember any of these are am I that old? 🙂

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