The sun is out, there’s a holiday weekend on the way, and it’s time to take that road trip to your favorite swimming hole. For this year’s summer playlist, we’ve tried to look beyond the obvious hits, though go right ahead and add “Rock Lobster” and “The Tide is High” if you’re in the mood. Our choices cover a few styles of music and include some deeper tracks, since we love to roll that way.
HAIM, “Summer Girl:” We fell under these sisters’ spell at Boston Calling a few years back, mainly because of songs like this one. Written by sister Danielle during a tough personal time, this shimmering tune has few lyrics beyond “I’m your summer girl” and “Do-do-do.” But sometimes that’s all that you need.
Pitbull, “Sexy Beaches:” This 2016 hit caused some fun controversy when the official Florida tourism agency funded its video, causing a lot of hair-pulling about whether it promoted the right kind of image. You’d think a song called “Sexy Beaches’ would attract vacationers by the thousands, and it probably did. If you’re having a Northeast summer, just crank up Chloe Angelides’ sultry vocals and use your imagination.
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, “Heartbreakers Beach Party:” This is the single dumbest song in Tom Petty’s mighty catalogue, so of course we love it. (Check the version on “Live at the Fillmore,” where he expresses shock that somebody requested it). Written for a long-forgotten MTV special, the tossed-off lyrics give the necessary ingredients: “We’ll have potato salad, a lot of weenies too.” Note to all prospective songwriters: “weenies” are never not funny.
Bob Marley & the Wailers, “Sun is Shining:” A buried treasure here: This may be the most joyful song Bob Marley ever wrote, but because it comes just after a big hit on the “Kaya” album (“Is This Love”), it often gets overlooked. Catch Marley’s excitement when he sings “To the rescue, here I am!”
The Beach Boys, “Do It Again:” Of course you knew they’d be here, but we went for a less obvious choice: This 1969 hit came after they’d given up surfin’ and gotten into meditation, so it has a more grown-up tone. The mood is still celebratory, ,but it’s about holding onto the things in life that really matter — like friendship and a good wave.
Weezer, “Surf Wax America:” You could make a whole playlist out of beach-ready songs by Weezer; in fact they did a whole EP of summer songs two years ago. This much-earlier tune is a Beach Boys homage with a difference, namely its bratty punk humor. “I’m going surfing because I don’t like your face” isn’t the kind of sentiment the Beach Boys ever expressed, but maybe they should have.
Hall & Oates, Pleasure Beach:” So you thought Daryl Hall had all the good songs? The now-estranged John Oates scored with this 1977 album track, which is actually one of the weirder tracks from their heyday: Lots of layered vocals, carnival organ and wailing sax, sounding like a psychedelic version of ‘50s rock. Does sound great on the beach though.
The Rolling Stones, “Under the Boardwalk:” Since the Stones are on everybody’s mind lately, we’ll include the only beach song they ever did back in 1964, a cover of the Drifters hit from a few years earlier. We’re betting it was the song’s sexy groove they appealed to them; we can’t imagine the young Mick and Keith waxing their boards and passing the sunscreen.
The Gremies, “No Surfin’ in Dorchester Bay”: Still the greatest beach song ever to come from Boston’s punk underground, this 1980 gem laments the fact that none of our beaches have proper waves to surf on. The band (actually a one-time supergroup of local punk heroes) sounds like it’s having a blast anyway. And after all these years things haven’t changed that much: Frontman Richie Parsons is still on the scene, and you still can’t surf in Dorchester Bay.
Jimmy Buffett, “Oldest Surfer on the Beach:” As his fans knew, Jimmy Buffett wasn’t always about margaritas. One of his last albums (2014’s “Songs From St. Somewhere”) closed with this song, written for him by Mark Knopfler who adds some of that Dire Straits guitar. It’s a reflective, even philosophical tune to play as the sun goes down over the dunes.
