The Vinyl Gym: Summertime Oldies

Summer is officially here! Enjoy these “summer flavored” blasts from the past, evoking simpler times.

When it comes to summer music, nothing can beat the Beach Boys in the 60’s – their songs still scream “fun in the sun” after all these years! The Beach Boys Medley features 8 of their songs. It was released as a single in ‘81, well after their heyday, and still climbed the Billboard charts! Also making the 60’s summer music scene were plenty of “girls and cars” – GTO, Drag City, Hey Little Cobra, Surfer Girl and those California Girls, just to name a few.

Miami Vice took TV (and the viewers) by storm. It gave us a whole new perspective of “Miami” featuring hip music, fast cars and fast boats. Everything about it was laden with summer vibes (and danger). Miami Vice with the help of Crockett and Tubbs also changed the fashion industry!

Lost hits and One Hit Wonders that are seldom heard today, still deserve their “summer spotlight”:

Diesel, a rock quartet from Holland, gave us the bouncy Sausalito Summernight. Bobby Bloom gave us his infectious and only hit, Montego Bay. Sadly, Bloom died from an accidental shooting in ‘74. First Class featured some of England’s leading studio musicians and vocalists – releasing their One Hit Wonder, Beach Baby in ‘74.

Last, but not least, I have to mention Richard Monda, a Cleveland singer who recorded as Daddy Dewdrop. Who can forget that girl in the black bikini – Chick-A-Boom (Don’t Ya Jes’ Love It)! Catchy and fun – it’s a perfect summer oldies song!

So give the summer oldies below your own personal workout! Watch them on YouTube or load them into your favorite listening devices. SUMMER IS HERE. TIME FOR FUN IN THE SUN:

Soft Summer Breeze – The Diamonds ‘56

Love Letters in the Sand – Pat Boone ‘57

Sea Cruise – Frankie Ford ‘59

Theme From A Summer Place – Percy Faith ‘60

Summertime, Summertime – The Jamies (‘58 & ‘62)

Yellow Bird – Mills Brothers ‘59 & Arthur Lyman ‘61

Stranger On The Shore – Andy Williams ‘62

Drag City – Jan and Dean ‘63

Heatwave – Martha & the Vandellas ‘63

Surfer Girl – Beach Boys ‘63

Hey Little Cobra ‘64

Summer Song – Chad and Jeremy ‘64

GTO – Ronnie & the Daytonas ‘64

Under the Boardwalk – Drifters ‘64

California Sun – Rivieras ‘64

California Girls – Beach Boys ‘65

Good Vibrations – Beach Boys ‘66

Summer Wind – Frank Sinatra ‘66

Summer In The City – Loving Spoonful ‘66

Distant Shores – Chad and Jeremy ‘66

(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay – Otis Redding ‘68

Hot Fun In The Summertime – Sly and the Family Stone ‘69

In The Summertime – Mungo Jerry ‘70

Montego Bay – Bobby Bloom ‘70

Summer Sand – Dawn ‘71

Chick-A-Boom – Daddy Dew Drop ‘71

Summer Breeze – Seals & Crofts ‘72

Beach Baby – First Class ‘74

Margaritaville – Jimmy Buffet ‘77

Car Wash – Rose Royce ‘77

Summer Nights – John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John ‘78

Hot Summer Nights – Night ‘79

Escape (The Pina Colada Song) -Rupert Holmes ‘79

Cruisin’ – Smokey Robinson ‘80

Beach Boys Medley – Beach Boys ‘81

Sausalito Summernight – Diesel ‘81

Cool Night – Paul Davis ‘81

Little Red Corvette – Prince ‘83

Pink Cadillac – Bruce Springsteen ‘83

Boys of Summer – Don Henley ‘84

Summer of ‘69 – Bryan Adams ‘85

Miami Vice Theme – Jan Hammer ‘85

The Heat Is On (from the film Beverly Hills Cop)– Glenn Fry ‘85

Mercedes (Boy) – Peebles ‘87

Endless Summer Nights – Richard Marx ‘88

Kokomo – Beach Boys ‘88

All media formats which include photos, videos, music including MP3 format, etc. are the copyright of their respectful authors, owners, producers and publishers.