Summer

It's night time in the Big City
angry prostitutes fight over a street corner
a man gets drunk and shaves off his moustache
Time to open up the fire hydrants and have a party in the streets, because it's summertime

The Singers and Songs

  • Billy Stewart
    Summertime
  • Eddie Cochran
    Summertime Blues
    "A song recorded many times by many people, but I don't think that any of them did it half as good as the man who wrote it."
  • Martha & The Vandellas
    (Love Is Like A) Heat Wave
  • Sol K. Bright and His Hollywaiians
    Heat Wave
  • Bobby Hebb
    Sunny
  • Fatso Bentley
    June-teenth Jamboree
  • Astrud Gilberto and Walter Wanderley
    So Nice
    "What would summertime be without a Samba?"
  • Van Morrison
    Youth of 1000 Summers
  • Mr. Sad Head
    Hot Weather Blues
    "One of my favorite names in all of music. He could have called himself Heavy-hearted Head, Melancholy Head, Mournful Head, or Sorrow Head, Unhappy Head, Blue Head, or Dejected Head, Down Head or Dispirited head, but instead, he called himself Mr. Sad Head. It fits better on the label."
  • Lovin' Spoonful
    Summer in the City
    "Let's get it goin'"
  • Prince Buster
    Too Hot
    "He was a boxer when he was young, but gave it up to follow his musical dreams, he had great success and didn't have to take a haymaker to the jaw. This song Too Hot is not referring to the weather but to the state of Kingston in 1967, as rude boy violence raged on and police cowered under the onslaught and the government threatened to bring in the army to restore order.".
  • Mungo Jerry
    In the Summertime
  • John Brim
    Ice Cream Man
  • Dave Alvin
    Fourth of July
  • Sly & the Family Stone
    Hot Fun in the Summertime
    "The band really was a family affair, with his brother Fred on guitar, his sister Rosie on piano, and other assorted family members helping out. Sly disappeared for a bunch of years, but he recently showed up on the Grammies. Welcome back, Sly."

The Other People and Players

The Other Songs and Albums

The Guests

The Poets

  • Robert Louis Stevenson (Slightly Def Poet)
  • Emily Dickinson (Def Poetess)

The Movies and TV Shows

The Plays and Musicals

  • Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
  • Sweet Bird of Youth
  • Cats
    "I'd rather listen to Mungo Jerry"

The Places

  • Kingston, Jamaica
  • Greenwich Village
  • Bahai, Brazil
  • Honolulu
  • Texas

Record Labels

  • Motown Records

Radio Shows

  • Grand Ole Opry

"Just because the days are longer in the summer doesn't mean we can stay here longer than an hour. That means we gotta go. Some I'm gonna go out, sit on the bank by a clear river, throw my draperies off, water my lawn, tack up some mosquito netting, slice myself a watermelon, and just watch the mercury rise. They say the earth's warmin' up; be careful of that global warming, and wear your sunscreen. I'll see you all next week on Theme Time Radio Hour. Put on your shades."