Tuesday Tunes 313: More Summer Heat

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Steadier temperatures for most of this week – mid 20s C – but heatwave levels are forecast to return for the weekend, so I thought I’d go with just one more set of hot heat summer sunshine tunes. As this is the last, for now, I’m adding in a bonus sixth tune this week. I’ve played five of these before but one is making its debut – I don’t just copy these from old posts, you know!

Let’s get started with a rock classic:

As I expect you may well know, Cream were a British rock band formed in London in 1966. The group consisted of bassist Jack Bruce, guitarist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker. Jack was the primary songwriter and vocalist, although Eric and Ginger contributed too. Sunshine Of Your Love was a track on their second album, Disraeli Gears, which was released in November 1967 and got to #5 in the UK and #4 in the US. This was taken from it as a single the following month, and peaked at #25 in the UK and #5 in the US. The song was co-written by Jack and Eric, along with frequent collaborator Pete Brown, and the two of them share lead vocals, as you can see from the video. This has long been a favourite of mine, as were the band, who gave us four albums in a little over two years and then went off to do other things, as you probably noticed if you were around at the time.

This next one is another favourite even after all these years:

I’m sure most will know Glenn Frey’s song The Heat Is On from it being featured in the Beverley Hills Cop movie, as you can see from this video on Glenn’s VEVO page. This was released as a single in December 1984, to coincide with the movie opening in the US. It reached #2 in the US and #12 in the UK, his equal highest solo US chart placing and by a distance his most successful in the UK. I’ve always rather liked this, even if the movie does have rather too much of Eddie Murphy doing his usual OTT act for my liking – I’ve always preferred him in Trading Places, but then that movie did have the twin attractions of Jamie Lee Curtis to commend it. The song has appeared on the movie soundtrack and on compilation albums but was never on one of Glenn’s studio records. In case you are wondering, the saxophone player in the video is Beverly Dahlke-Smith, though the part was actually played by David Woodford on the record. (Yeah, me neither?)

Today’s third tune is the first-timer:

Chappell Roan released Hot To Go as single in August 2023, and it reached #15 in the US and #4 in the UK. It was her seventh single to be included on her debut, and so far only, album The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess, which came out in September 2023. The album has been a huge success, making #2 in the US and #1 in the UK, going 2x Platinum in both, and has also reached #1 in New Zealand and Ireland, #2 in The Netherlands, and #3 in Canada and Australia. The single went 4x Platinum in the US and 2x Platinum in the UK – impressive stuff! The song was acclaimed on its release for its composition and its story, which describes a woman wishing to have sex with another woman. Its accompanying dance, which you can see Chappell teaching her grandparents in the video and which consists of spelling out the song’s title using a person’s arms, went viral on social media, with videos of large festival crowds performing it.

Back to an old favourite next:

Summer In The City was released as a single by The Lovin’ Spoonful in July 1966, reaching #1 in the US and Canada, and #8 here in the UK. It was also included on the album Hums Of The Lovin’ Spoonful, which peaked at #14 in the US but didn’t chart here. As a depiction of the two sides of city life in summer heat it is perfect, in my view. I just wish I hadn’t always been so keen to get out of the city after work: it appears I may have been missing out…

And I can’t leave The Boss out of these, can I:

The imagery of the song is a wonderful evocation of how love can pass on and how little things, like seeing girls in their summer clothes, can remind us of happier times: it is a collection of vignettes from life, very typical of Bruce Springsteen’s storytelling style of songwriting. Girls In Their Summer Clothes was a track on his album Magic, released in September 2007, which peaked at #1 in both the US and the UK, as well as elsewhere. It was released on iTunes as a digital single in January 2008, and reached #98 on the Billboard chart. It is one of my favourites of his – something about it just gets to me. I think that may be because the album was released around the time my marriage was ending, and I played it a lot once I was living on my own, with plenty of time to think!

I’m closing today with the best band of all time – no discussion, they just are! This is another favourite of mine:

Good Day Sunshine was released in August 1966 as a track on The Beatles’ seventh album, Revolver. This was a good time for a new album, as England won the World Cup the previous weekend, and this kind of became the soundtrack for a joyous summer here. It has sold well over 7m copies worldwide in various forms, 5m of those in the US, and on original release reached #1 in the US, the UK, Australia, Canada, Finland, Sweden and, showing that there was no lingering resentment over that Russian linesman, in what was then still West Germany, though some of them still bang on about it now! But at least we did much better than them in the most recent World Cup, which ended on Sunday!

That’s all for today, though I leave you with my usual reminder of where I’m sharing this post. Firstly, at Esme’s Senior Salon Pit Stop, and then at Cathy’s Monday’s (On Sundays) Music Moves Me. Do pop over and take a look.

I’ll see you again soon, so until then take care 👍

53 thoughts on “Tuesday Tunes 313: More Summer Heat”

  1. Great choices as always. Sunshine of your Love my very favourite Cream song – and despite a very short career they had a few great ones – but I’ve never seen that video before. How Jack Bruce still managed to look cool with whatever it was he had perched on his head I have no idea! He had such a great voice.

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    • Thank you, I’m pleased you liked them. It’s either a hat or a cat, I’m not sure which! The video was a first time for me too – I’ve previously played an audio-only version but this is much better!

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  4. Okay, I knew five of the six today. I’m a bit surprised that you like the one I didn’t know (Chappell Roan) as it doesn’t seem to fit your usual style preferences. I didn’t love or hate it on first listen. The runaway favorite for me this week is “Hot Time in the City.” I love the intro and have always enjoyed John Sebastian’s voice.

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    • I thought that one might be an outrider! It’s not her best – if you look further up the comments you’ll see that I’ve shared her performance of ‘Pink Pony Club’ at the Grammy Awards a couple of times. It is spectacular and highlights why I like her so much.

      The Spoonful seem to be a popular choice today 😉

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      • Clive, I did a search. Here is more on the sound that was used in “Summer in the City:”

        ”Recording the Stairwell Reverb Effect:

        The Goal: The band wanted the percussion to sound like garbage cans being thrown down a steel staircase. 

        The Setup: A large speaker was placed on the ground floor of the studio’s metal fire escape stairwell, and a microphone was positioned up on the eighth floor.

        The Result: Routing the drum track playback through this setup created a harsh, echoing, and thunderous slam.

        Later Reuse: Engineer Roy Halee later used this exact same metal staircase technique to capture the iconic drum sound for Simon & Garfunkel’s 1969 hit ‘The Boxer’.”

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  6. The only Chappel Roan song I knew was Pink Pony Club so I was interested in hearing another song of hers. Well, she certainly is a show person. My favorite part of the video was seeing that vintage Sinclair gas station with the S&H Green Stamps sign. Childhood memories time! Vocals were good. I’m glad she got her grandparents involved-I wonder what they think of her. Apart from this it’s always good hearing Summer in the City and The Heat is On. Alana ramblinwitham

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    • I love Chappell Roan! She’s way outside my normal tastes but her style is fantastic and she writes a good song. I’m sure her grandparents are very proud of her. Glad you found some favourites in there too 👍

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  7. Good tunes again. I’m not overly taken by Chappel Roan but she can keep a tune and she sure puts on a hell of a show, so I can at least appreciate her appeal. Then again I’m not keeping up with a lot of the more modern acts! I’m stuck pre turn of the century musically I guess. Usually. One or two acts and the odd decent song still gets me listening.

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  9. The heat is wearing me down. I try to not complain because I hate winter more and trying to take the seasons in stride but I’m finding it difficult melting away. You picked some great oldies. Hot To Go is an introduction. I can’t believe it did so well. Oh well…great nonetheless to listen to it once. Thanks for joining the 4M party, Clive. Have boogietastic week!

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    • I’m the same, but as my life is mostly spent indoors it affects me less. Glad you liked the oldies, and you should give Chappell Roan more of a chance – I think she’s great! You have a great week too 👍

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  11. The Heat Is On is one of my favorite songs as well, glad to see it here.

    That is probably the first Chappell Roan video I’ve watched. I really know nothing about her or her music. Fun video, not sure I’d ever learn the dance that goes with it, too fast for me!

    the Springsteen song is also one of my favorites of his many great songs.

    Cream, Lovin’ Spoonful, the Beatles – bringing back some great memories of my early childhood…

    and congrats to England for its World Cup performance. I was rooting for them to make the final!

    I hope you are doing well!

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    • This is the fourth of these, and Glenn was always going to feature at some point!

      I picked up on Chappell Roan last year and have played several of her songs. I think she’s fantastic. Her biggie is ‘Pink Pony Club,’ and there are many great videos for it. This is my favourite: https://youtu.be/i79Gly1ZM5w?is=n4UQ_r1tHEPQo6iF

      Some other old favourites in there to round off this mini-series.

      Thanks for the comment on England. We rode our luck a couple of times but that game against France was an amazing way to round it off.

      I’m ok thanks, Jim, hope you’re keeping well too 👍

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      • it was a great gme. A couple of others that stood out to me:

        Belgium vs Senegal
        Argentina vs Egypt

        We watched quite a few as well. It seems like the expanded field turned out to be a good idea. However, I was not a fan of the hydration breaks…

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      • I enjoyed both of those too, and many others. In a different vein, the sheer surprise of Cabo Verde holding Spain to a 0-0 draw also stood out for me.

        There’s talk of making it a 64 team tournament next time. I thought they just about got away with 48 but that would just be too much. It seems that Infantino won’t be satisfied until the entire FIFA membership takes part!

        The advert breaks were heavily criticised here, as we saw them for what they were: the Americanisation of a game of two halves into four quarters. So many times it changed the pace and momentum of a game, which just felt wrong.

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      • I preferred it at 32, but that’s probably because I was used to it. 64 just seems too many, but given FIFA’s greed I expect them to go with it.

        I hope they do away with those breaks. They interfered with the games, and were too American for the rest of us.

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      • Honest view from our perception? You were given the 1994 World Cup in the hope that it would boost the game there, but it didn’t. Not enough support has been given to developing young players, so a country of 340m people can’t find enough good players for consistent success. And the MLS is seen here as the place fading stars go to for one big final payday – why do you think your best players leave to play over here?

        Sorry if that seems harsh, but I think it is an accurate view of the way the US is seen as a footballing country from European eyes. Calling it by its proper name would help, too 😉

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      • Your analysis seems right on target. Maybe since there are so many options these days for young athletes in the U.S. (American football, basketball, baseball, lacrosse, golf, football) the talent gets diffused a bit. Also, with colleges in the U.S. paying outrageous amounts to students playing basketball and U.S. football, the other sports may not be as appealing.

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      • You could add tennis and athletics to that list, too. I think you’re right about the options being so widespread and the sad fact that money damages everything it touches.

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