Welcome to My Weekly Mixtape, a podcast that
takes the classic mixtape approach to building
a modern playlist. I'm your host, Brian Colburn.
Joining me once again from Space Castle is the
one and only DT Carroll. DT, welcome back to
the show, man. What's up, dude? I'm always, always,
always happy to be here. And I am so happy to
have you back. And this time we're going to do
a different type of episode. We're creating a
playlist that I think might confuse some people
by the name alone. And that name is Summer Vibes.
Now, when I say Summer Vibes, most people automatically
go to Jimmy Buffett or country music or beach
music or oldies music. And kind of all of that
is correct. But I wanted to create a playlist
that's more than just. A mix to listen to while
you're at the beach, although that's part of
summer. Summer to me is more than the beach.
It's road trips. It's barbecues and cookouts.
It's a party or reunion with friends. And tonight
you and I are kind of tasked with creating a
soundtrack to more than one of those scenarios
and having it work musically. Yeah, man. I mean,
you grew up on the East Coast. You grew up going
to the beach and doing that whole scene. I grew
up in Arizona in the desert, so there was no
beach for me to go to. So my summer experience
was very, very different. And as such, I have
a very different interpretation of what summer
means to me. So when you and I started conceptualizing
this episode, I was really excited because we're
getting the opportunity to conceptualize and
put together a playlist for not just people who
live in California or Florida or whatever. But
for kids like me who grew up in like landlocked
states and like what that vibe and what those
summers meant to them as well. So I'm super psyched
to be here. I think this is going to be awesome.
I think a lot of people are really going to love
and appreciate what we're doing here. I hope
so, because to me, summer vibes is a wide open,
all encompassing, nothing's off the table topic.
So here's an example for me. A few years ago,
we were down in Wildwood, New Jersey for our
summer vacation. And each morning. before the
kids would get up and the day would get started,
I would just grab my headphones and go for a
walk on the boardwalk, run into the people that
were doing their walk of shame coming in the
other direction. You have the sun rising. You
have people grabbing their coffee. You got some
runners. You got some people on their bikes.
This walk to me was just something I love to
do every day when I'm down there. And one of
the songs that happened to be on my playlist
that summer was State Champs Criminal from their
2018 album Living Proof. The lyrics of which
are, so what's it mean when every dream I have
is about you now? I can't believe you get to
me the way you do somehow. It's criminal. Nothing
summary about that song at all. Yet any time
I hear that opening line to that track. I am
immediately back on the boardwalk. The breeze
is in my hair. I could smell the ocean. The people
are doing their walk of shame with their head
down, carrying their eye. Like it all just, I'm
instantly taken back there. So that song always
makes my summer playlists, but it has nothing
to do with summer. Yeah, absolutely. I've got
a couple of songs like that on my list as well,
where it's just more about. what I was listening
to during the summers when I was coming up, especially
when I was a teenager. There's some tracks on
my list that literally have nothing to do with
summer, but they are so quintessential to my
summer experience as being a kid, going to pool
parties, going to warp tour, going to concerts,
and all those experiences that aren't... Well,
they were for me growing up being traditional
summer experiences, but not traditional summer
experiences as you would think of them in a general
sense. So I love that. I can't wait to see what
you've got. I can't wait to show you what I've
got. I think this is just going to rule. Well,
let's get down to business. Tonight, as I mentioned
at the top of the show, DT and I will be curating
the ultimate summer vibes mixtape, and we'll
use the old cassette deck approach. DT, as my
special guest, will begin side A with his first
song choice, and then I'll add a song that I
feel best follows up that choice. We'll then
flip -flop choosing songs until we've mapped
out 10 songs for side A. We'll then give our
mixtape a proverbial flip and we'll map outside,
be only this time I'll kick things off with DT
choosing second. Our overall goal for the episode
is to craft the best summer vibes mixtape possible
through only 20 songs. And at the end of the
show, you can take our conversation to the next
level by visiting the episode page at myweeklymixtape
.com to give our final mixtape a listen. via
the embedded playlist. And if you like what you're
hearing on this show, you can help me out by
either telling a friend, leaving the show a five
-star review wherever you're tuning in, or becoming
a Patreon mixtaper at patreon .com forward slash
myweeklymixtape. There you can enjoy ad -free
episodes of the show, become a future guest,
and so much more. And several of the Patreon
mixtapers chimed in with songs they would use
to kick off our Summer Vibes mixtape, and I want
to give a few shout -outs. Yeah. Seeker chimed
in with Summer Nights by Van Halen, saying it's
truly a great summer, beach, and party track,
and Eddie is on fire as usual. So I guess fire,
summer, heat, it all goes together. Chad LaMassa
tried to cool things down, though, with the summer
vibe, and he stuck with Van Halen, only he went
with Ice Cream Man. Excellent pick. David Lee
Smith said, well, you want summer songs, right?
So he chimed in with Joe Satriani's summer song.
So bravo, A+. He knew the assignment. He knew
the assignment. He nailed it. Tom Hutchinson
chimed in with Magic by the Cars, saying that
summer is mentioned a bunch throughout the song.
Plus, it was the first car song he remembers,
as well as its use in the opening credits of
Click, which he saw on his summer vacation. So
all sorts of summery things going on for Tom
there. Jen Fink chimed in with Vacation by Thomas
Rhett. And Philip Bergman chimed in saying that
there are so many great oldies songs about summer
that it could be its own episode. But summer
truly begins. When school's out. So for him,
it's going to be Alice Cooper kicking the festivities
off. Yeah. Yeah. And with that, I'm actually
going to make myself a little note and I'm going
to put a pin in the ultimate summer golden oldies
and do what playlist for 2025. So Philip, I hope
you clear your calendar next spring. We're going
to make that happen. So spoiler alert, that song
is not on my list. But if we were doing runner
ups, that was actually on my list at one point
and it got bumped, unfortunately. But if we were
doing runner ups, Alice Cooper, that track would
have been on my list for sure. Like that's just
one of the quintessential summertime songs growing
up. And I'm just going to applaud Philip because
I didn't even have that one on my radar. So bravo.
I absolutely love the pick. Yeah. And just as
a reminder, if you want to chime in for future
My Weekly Mixtape episodes, you can join the
Mixtaper family at patreon .com forward slash
myweeklymixtape. So DT, Summer's here. The sun's
out. The top's down on our proverbial convertible
we're riding in right now, which means we need
some tunes. So I'm officially pressing the record
button on our mixtape, and the floor is yours.
What song are you kicking off our Summer Vibes
playlist with? All right. First of all, shout
out to my boy Tom for that pick, Magic by The
Cars. Because my pick to kick off this entire
shipping is Good Times Roll by The Cars. The
debut track off their debut album, which ironically
has also become like their greatest hits album
because it's just one of the most perfect albums
ever written. It's just so great. It was released
in June of 1978. It was released as a single
from that album. They're self -titled. It was
written and sung by Rick Okasik. Rest in peace.
He died a few years back. And it is just a tone
setter for, I think, this entire playlist. It's
a slow jam. It's perfectly written for cruising,
like you said, with a top down on the convertible.
I know my parents cruised around to it in the
80s, driving around Metro Center, the mall where
golf and stuff and all that type of stuff was.
What I love about the song is that it's entirely
ironic. And it's not about letting the good times
roll at all. It's about like... How the good
times actually kind of suck when you're rock
and rolling. And like, it's actually kind of
a downer. And like, you're just kind of getting
your ass kicked as a kid. But the song is just
such a jam. It's such a pleasure. It's wonderful.
The entire album, like I said, is just one of
the, not only one of the best debut albums ever
conceived, but one of the just the best, most
well -rounded albums ever. I just adore it. It
is the Cars' Good Times Roll off their self -titled
album. Once again, shout out to Patreon mixtaper
Tom Hutchinson, as him and I both had magic on
our playlists. But Good Times Roll, that is truly
the perfect summer road trip song. And it's from
my favorite album of all time. So I can't argue
the pick, but dude, scooping me with the cars
on track one. We don't have to worry about the
summer heat for this playlist because apparently
you're just kicking things off in ice cold fashion
here. Bringing the heat. Yeah. You got to get
up pretty early in the morning to get one up
on me when you let me pick first. Kidding aside,
the song reached number 41 on the Billboard US
Hot 100. To me, I'm shocked it wasn't a top 40
hit, but the Cars would go on to have many of
them. So if you're a fan of the band. I highly
suggest going back and checking out episode 39,
the ultimate cars playlist for a real deep dive
into their incredible legacy. And I should probably
point out that Buddy, the mascot for my weekly
mixtape, my puppy is downstairs currently playing
with my kids right now. So if you hear that barking
in the background, I apologize. It's Buddy just
making himself known. But. cover songs power
man 5000 1999 tonight the stars revolt they covered
the song on that album and with that i've talked
about the car's self -titled album on several
podcasts most recently the ridiculous rock records
review podcast i've talked about it on the if
and love this record podcast i've talked about
it on pick a disc podcast i'm kind of like the
Oh, we're going to do an album episode about
the Cars self -titled. Let's give Brian a go.
And I'll talk about it 500 times. I love this
album so much. But since you scooped it and you
scooped my favorite album. I'm going to kick
me off the podcast and ban me forever. Yes. Yes.
Now I got to go find somebody to finish the rest
of this episode. No, what I am going to do is
get my favorite artist out of the way. So you
don't scoop that as well. So we're going to bring
Mr. Petty into the pick here and we're going
to stick with the good times roll theme. And
when you think about a Tom Petty road trip, Hmm.
Let me think. Good times roll ends and the opening
guitar riff from Mike Campbell. counts you down
or walks you down into running down a dream from
1989 full moon fever reached number 23 on the
billboard us hot 100 and topped the billboard
album rock tracks chart running down a dream
is a quintessential road trip song yeah and let's
just be honest when you take a road trip in the
winter and it's cold And you're like all bundled.
I don't know if in Arizona, I mean, cold for
you might be like 80. That's Christmas weather
right there, actually. Yeah, exactly. Literally,
yeah. So in New Jersey, when it's like 10 degrees
with a wind chill factor of hovering around like
two or three, and you're driving up to New Hampshire
where that's like the high and the low is like
negative 20, and you're bundled up and you're
going on a road trip. And every time you get
out of the car, you got to throw your jacket
on. It's summertime and you're in a t -shirt
and shorts with your sunglasses on. You roll
the windows down. You turn the music up. That's
a road trip. And Running Down a Dream, when I
hear that song, I see a sunny, beautiful summer
day. And Tom Petty is the one who's narrating
it for me. It's a reason why every country artist
ever name checks Tom Petty in their song. Tom
Petty on the radio, I bet you nine times out
of ten, it's Running Down a Dream. Yeah. What's
also interesting is Tom Petty name checks. It's
Del Shannon, isn't it? Yeah. Runaway. Yeah. Runaway.
Yeah. Me and Del were singing Little Runaway.
I love the pic. I love the album. I freaking
love Tom Petty. That was what? It was a single
off of his first solo album, like Post Heartbreakers.
And he just knocks it out of the frickin park.
Like the song is just wonderful. The song is
actually co -written by Jeff Flynn from Electric
Orchestra and would also be his bandmate in the
Tribal Wilburys, which is one of my favorite
bands of all time. Yeah, Jeff produced both Full
Moon Fever and Into the Great Wide Open. And
when you think about the work he did with. George
Harrison's Cloud Nine, because you've got that
Traveling Wilburys connection. Roy Orbison's
album around that time. You had the Traveling
Wilburys. Jeff Lynne had this kind of like super
group that kind of spun off. It was like a Marvel
universe of albums coming from the Traveling
Wilburys. And Full Moon Fever was one of them.
Yeah, dude. Jeff Lynne is just one of the all
-time musical geniuses. Just fantastic. Everything
around this song is genius. The production, obviously
the guitar riff. Tom Petty just firing on all
cylinders. The music video is one of the best
music videos of all time. It's all black and
white animated in the style of the old Adventures
of Little Nemo comic strips from way back in
the day. The dude who's in the car driving around
with Tom Petty looks like Flip from that old
series. It's just super psychedelic. Tom Petty
had the best music videos in the late 80s and
early 90s too. The song is just wonderful. I
agree. It's one of the quintessential road trip
songs and thus one of the quintessential summertime
songs too. Love the pick. It's perfect. All right.
We got the cars. We got Tom Petty. So right now
we're kind of sitting in this classic rock road
trip vibe. Where do we go from here? We're going
to keep on with the road trip and we're going
to Detroit Rock City back in 1976 by Kiss. Yeah.
So the track kicks in with one of the most killer
bass and guitar riff combos ever. It's just iconic.
It's insane. The song is, again, kind of ironic
because it's about sort of the self -destructiveness
of being a rock and roller and like drinking
and driving and being a motorhead and like cutting
in and out of traffic and going to shows and
being an ass and like driving home recklessly.
And ironically enough, it's actually written
about somebody who died in a car crash outside
of a Kiss show in Charlotte in the 70s. And that's
what kind of sort of inspired the whole theme
for the track. But it's also... like an anthem
for like partying and rock and rolling and just
living like, you know, recklessly and just doing
what you want and having a good time despite
the sort of consequences. It's very nihilistic,
but you can't escape the fact that it's one of
the all -time great summer songs. It's a great
cruising song. It's one of the greatest rock
and roll anthems of all time. Detroit Rock City
by Kiss from back in 1976. It's got to be on
the list. It has to be. I mean, they named the
movie after it about the kids trying to get to
the, like that to me, speaks volumes and an interesting
fact the only place detroit rock city ever charted
was in canada where hit 99 on the canada top
singles chart what canada knows how to party
man they get down i guess they're losing their
minds in detroit rock city but that said it served
as the opening to many many many kiss concerts
including all of the stops on their quote unquote
final tour because who knows i don't know where
this avatar thing is gonna land but i'm certain
there'll probably be some avatarian performances
of detroit rock city to look forward to in kiss's
future I don't think Kiss is done. How many times
have they said they're done and they come back
like two or three years later? Gene Simmons,
for as much of a musical genius as he is, he
is a greedy SOB and that man loves money. They're
going to be back on tour soon enough. I guarantee
it. I think they should just do like a residency
in Vegas. I think that'd be wonderful for them.
And honestly, I'd be fine with them just saying,
look, guys, we retired the costumes. Go back
to the late 80s, early 90s vibe and just go out
there and play your instruments and play the
songs for the people. Paul Stanley is like 75
years old. He doesn't need to be ziplining over
the crowd anymore. Gene Simmons doesn't need
to be trying to hold a bunch of flammable liquid
in his mouth and spit fire. They could bring
it down and just do a chill show. I'd be down
to see that, honestly. But I also bet you there'd
be Kiss fans right now that are screaming and
throwing their... podcast listening devices across
the room and i understand that because the theatrics
of kiss are such a huge piece of that puzzle
but in my mind if they were to go back and say
look let's revisit the unplugged era that we
did with mtv and go out and do a tour with no
makeup i'd be open for that kind of strip the
songs back a little bit but anyway cover versions
from the 1994 kiss my ass classic kiss regrooved
album mighty mighty boss tones did a really cool
punked up rendition of that track yeah it's dope
yeah all right so i guess then we're gonna stay
kind of in this road trippy vibe we got going
here but i'm gonna bring it a little out of the
heavier side of the rock and bring it a little
bit more to the pop rock side of things but well
One of the songwriters, Jim Valance, wrote on
the Song Facts message board that when this song's
demo was recorded, towards the end of the song,
the singer sang a naughty little part. I know
what you're talking about. Me and my baby in
a 69. He had a laugh at the time. And then Brian,
who is Brian Adams, decided to keep it when he
did the final recording a month or two later
from 1984's Reckless. Brian Adams, Summer of
69, going completely on the nose with the whole
summer thing. But Brian Adams himself has said
the song is actually not about the summer of
1969, but about having sex in the summertime.
Yeah. And Jim Valance, the co -writer, has gone
back and said, no, no, no, no. It's about 1969,
the year I promise. So but look, regardless of
it's the year. Or the act. I guess it fits in
summer vibes in some kind of facet for somebody
out there. And look, the lyrics, when you think
about the storytelling in this song, it gives
you that almost nostalgic feeling of times past.
And I guess. Summer does come with a lot of nostalgia.
I know this is not a nostalgia playlist episode.
Actually, we've got that coming up with our good
friends at the nostalgia test later this summer,
a whole episode about nostalgia. However, there
are a lot of summer songs that feed into nostalgia
because there are so many happy memories that
revolve around summer. Yeah. I think there's
a lot of melancholy memories that center around
summer too. People think of summer as like this
carefree time, but it's also sort of like a reset
where you're also like thinking about what you're
going to be doing next. Like whether you're a
kid who's like going to prepare for the next
year of school, you're a young adult who's about
to prepare to go to college, or you've just graduated
college and you got to think about getting a
job and starting a career, or you meet somebody
at school and you're thinking about, and very
much with this song, Summer of 69. Are you going
to settle down and start a family and get married?
Or are you going to take your first six string
and go be a rock star and try and live that lifestyle?
So yeah, it's very much like that sort of clean
slate. But that clean slate also brings with
it a lot of anxiety and fear, just as much as
it does excitement and that freedom. Yeah, completely.
And just to add my cover song touch to this one
as well, Bowling for Soup, 2000s, Let's Do It
for Johnny, great version of Summer of 69, if
you want to check that one out. Yeah. Thank you
for not including Boys of Summer. I mean, we're
not done yet. Please don't include. So when you
and I started conceptualizing this episode, you're
like, I think I'm going to add Brian Adams. It's
like, cool. Yeah, just no Don Henley. Do not
do Don Henley. I can't stand. I know this is
like an uplifting, like positive podcast. And
I don't ever want to say anything bad about anybody.
But Don Henley is kind of a dick. So I think
it's fair game. I hate Don Henley. I hate the
Boys of Summer. I'm giving you Brian Adams is
like a sacrificial lamb to just to keep you from
putting Don Henley on your list. Can we make
a blood pact right now? I'll give you this. I
don't have Don Henley in my list. And I'm going
to do it. I'm going to do a spoiler alert, though.
I have the Atari's cover of it in my bank right
now. So that is still possible depending on where
we go. That is a great cover by a great band.
OK, I'm on board. I dig it. All right. Well,
following up Summer of 69, whichever direction
you want to take that song, where do we go from
here? We're going to keep it discreetly sexy.
We're going to go a little more poppy. My next
pick is the May 1985 single from the April 1985
album by Prince and the Revolution, Around the
World. The track is Raspberry Beret. Nice. I
love this song. This song is just a deceptively
simple, fun, bouncy bop about... working in a
dime store and this girl walks into the wrong
door and she's wearing a weird hat that catches
your eye and you just want to you can become
infatuated with her and you want to talk to her
and ends up turning into like a summer romance
type thing it's just a fun breezy song that to
me just encompasses that sort of carefree summer
day feeling it's one of those just throw on the
vinyl, get some house cleaning done during the
summertime. The whole album was like that. It's
very light and fun and just joyful. And that
was Prince in a nutshell. Again, rest in peace.
What a happy human being. Well, he wasn't that
happy, but he worked to spread happiness and
joy to everybody he knew, especially through
his music. And this is one of his more happy
and joyous and just wonderful, just fun poppy
songs. So to me, it encompasses the feeling of
summer. I think it definitely demands being on
the list. Amongst many other Prince songs, but
this is the one I'm sticking to. Reach number
two on the Billboard US Hot 100, which is interesting
because when you think about the names that kind
of ruled the charts in the 80s, the Madonnas,
the Bruce Springsteens. Prince is in that mix.
I always assumed Raspberry Beret was a number
one hit. I was actually surprised to see it only
hit number two. Only two. Only two. I mean, to
him, that probably was like a massive failure
because he was so just hit, hit, hit. Like, it
was, yeah. But regardless, the song's amazing.
The album's amazing. Pace Magazine ranked the
song number eight on their list of 50 greatest
Prince songs. And American Songwriter ranked
it at number four on their 10 greatest Prince
songs. It's like I said, it's deceptively simple.
It's actually very well written with a lot of
strings and a lot of orchestration happening.
And it's a very simple story with just an incredible
arrangement behind it. Like that was Prince.
Like he would write like the most like bomb fucking,
excuse my language, pop song. And then you'd
be like, this is dope. I'm going to dance to
this. I need to listen to the lyrics. It's like,
holy crap, Prince. Like you're a freaking genius.
Like even like the silliest, most irreverent
songs he wrote were still like incredibly deep.
And like there was a lot going on. And the man
was just a bona fide genius. Just insane. And
other artists recognized it. Just like, again,
sticking with my cover songs where I can kind
of motif here. In 1990, Warren Zevon's Hindu
Love Gods covered the song in that rock facet.
And I'm not going to lie. This is the kind of
cover you listen to Prince's version. And then
you listen to Hindu love God's version. And if
you play them back to back, you might not realize
you're listening to the same song twice. Yeah.
And I think Warren brought this Neil Young meets
indie rock REM kind of flair to the track and
kind of strips away the dance elements, but makes
it powerful through the lyrics and the storytelling
that Prince did in the original. So again, a
strong song can be translated many different
ways. And I think that's a perfect example of
taking the genius that is Prince and kind of
adding your own stamp to it. And I love both
versions. Yeah. And I love the fact that it's
not just like a straight cover. It's a different
interpretation. That's one of the things I love
about really good cover songs. And Warren Zevon
is just a genius in his own right too. Like that's
somebody I could talk for another hour about,
but I will tie you up. We'll move on to your
next pick, Brian. Yeah. I'm going to lean into
the poppier side of. raspberry beret all right
and i'm gonna go with a song that's an album
cut meaning it wasn't officially released as
a single for this artist and it charted in malaysia
ireland new zealand australia the uk and canada
and then it reached number 29 on the billboard
us hot 100 after the song had a viral resurgence
when clips From Taylor Swift's Eros tour started
going viral. And I'm going to go with from 2019's
lover, Cruel Summer from Taylor Swift. Now, I
know people are screaming and I know the Taylor
Swift haters out there are angry. But hear me
out. I am a rock guy, but I love all kinds of
music. And I have two girls that adore Taylor
Swift. And hearing them sing these songs. All
last summer because of that Eris movie and those
viral clips. It's so special to me. When I hear
Taylor's version, I'm always going to hear my
children in their childhood voices. singing that
song we're already a year removed and my oldest
voice has changed it's gotten older a little
more mature my youngest is starting her voice
is starting to grow up a little bit out of the
child voice and i feel like to me it's one of
those songs that's always going to be a reminder
and i'm going to look back at cruel summer years
from now and remember the summer of 2023 when
the girls Did nothing but sing this song. So
it's a very special song to me and cover versions.
I'm going to embed this one on this episode page
at my weekly mixtape .com because I've been singing
this guy's praises since I first discovered him
at the beginning of the year. And had I known
that this album was out when you and I recorded
our songs of 2023, Teddy swims would have made
the list in a heartbeat, but his cover. of cruel
summer by taylor swift from the bbc live lounge
needs to be heard so i'm going to embed that
because swifty or not i love what teddy swims
is bringing to the table musically and it's a
great cover so yeah i know the taylor swift haters
are not going to be happy but the swifties who
are listening are yeah okay first of all even
if you're not a taylor swift fan you can't sleep
on this track I mean, if you think you don't
like Taylor Swift and you're more than welcome
to your opinion, I'm not the hugest fan, but
Cruel Summer off the album Lover is actually
a really great track. It was actually co -written
by Annie Clark from St. Vincent. So it's different
from the rest of Taylor Swift's discography in
that it's more richly composed. It's very warm
and synth -based. You can totally hear the St.
Vincent influences on it. And yeah, it's kind
of a weird one because, like you said, the album
came out in 2019. But it kind of went viral and
kind of like became like a chart topper in its
own right. And then people were like, why wasn't
this released as a single? Like, what was the
deal, Tay -Tay? Yeah. And she's like, okay, fine,
let's release it as a single in like 2023, like
four years later. And then it became a chart
topper again. And it's actually, like I said,
it is a solid, solid pop song. And it's not as
poppy as you think it would be. A little bit
darker, a little bit warmer, a little more rich
than the song she's famous for. And I will never
sleep on synth pop. I love me some synth pop.
So I don't think this song needs to be justified
through the lens of your children enjoying it
because I think it's a legitimate pick and I
think it belongs on this list. I think it's great.
Also, it has summer in the title, so whatever.
There you go. Well, what are you going to come
out of Tay -Tay with then? Okay, if we are going
pop goddesses, we're doing... Well, Cruel Summer
is not really a dance song, but I feel like dancing,
Brian. You feel like dancing? It's Memorial Day.
As of recording this episode, I've had a couple
of beers. I've had a great time talking with
one of my good friends about music. I'm in a
poppy, dancey mood. I'm going to keep that pop
vibe going. It's Dua Lipa, Break My Heart. It
was technically a 2020 release as a single from
the album Future Nostalgia, but the song caught
on that summer, and it actually was nominated
as Song of the Summer by MTV Video Music Awards
that summer. It dominated the airwaves and TV
and everything everywhere. It's just an awesome
song. It's got a killer hook. And I'll talk about
that hook in just a second because a little bit
of controversy about that hook. But the first
time I heard the song, the first time I fell
in love with Dua Lipa, I was actually visiting
Colorado in 2020 during the summertime. And I
was out visiting some friends and some relatives.
It was like towards the sort of like... We're
kind of cooling off after COVID type of thing.
And I just needed to get out of where I was.
So I came out, spent some time with friends,
did the whole safe social distancing thing, drank
a lot of beers outside. But this song, every
time we turned on the radio or got in the car,
this song was playing. And I was like... hooked.
By the time I was done with The Long Weekend
Visit, I knew all the words. And then I came
back and I listened to Future Nostalgia and I
fell in love with the entire album. The album
is fantastic. And then I saw Dua Lipa and I fell
in love all over again because my God, that is
one of those beautiful women I've ever seen.
And one of the most talented. The song is just
a full -on dance anthem. It is just killer. The
bop is there. The attitude is there. I love it.
But there is that small caveat I talked about
in that Michael Hutchins and Andrew Ferris from
In Excess have actually retroactively been added
as songwriters for the song due to the fact that
the main riff is very, very close to Need You
Tonight by In Excess. So it's like interpolation,
I guess, would be the term for it. If you go
back and listen to both songs, it's very close.
I don't think it was intentional, but it's one
of those riffs that's just undeniable. So Dua
Lipa had to pay her dues and issue the apology
and do a little bit kickback to In Excess because...
Nietzsche Tonight is a fucking incredible song,
too. But yeah, my next pick is Dua Lipa, Break
My Heart, Off of Future Nostalgia. I think she
just owned the summer of 2020, quite frankly.
Reached number 13 on the US Billboard Hot 100
and topped the mainstream top 40. I'm going to
be honest with you, DT. It was that syncopated
riff that drew me to the song in the first place.
When you think about that from a songwriting
situation, I kind of understand where Andrew
Farris and Michael Hutchins obviously came from.
But if you remove that from the song, I think
you kind of remove the heart and soul of the
song. And there's something about it that Dua
Lipa is not aimed at my age demographic. Or mine,
honestly. Yeah, exactly. pays off dividends because
we then become fans of the respect that the newer
artists are showing stuff we enjoy. Another example
of that being Ava Max, whose music I absolutely
love, like her song, My Head and My Heart, interpolates
ATC's 2000 dance track, Around the World, La
La La La La, and it worked there as well because
people that remember the original Kind of like
the fact that it's kind of coming back. And you
can even throw in Katy Perry's Con Calma because
that called back to Snow's Informer. It's definitely
done intentionally to keep our age demographics
still invested in what's new and hip. And it
works. And I respect it because it was done well.
But you have to pay your dues. Exactly. Yeah.
You're going to do it. Just just be honest about
it. Like include them as songwriters on the track.
She did it. She was honest about it. It was clean.
All that said, this song is a frickin bop and
I love it. And it defined the summer of 2020
for me. And it is defined summer since because
I go back to it all the time. It's a pool party
song. It's a dance hall song. It's a karaoke
song. If you're brave enough. And I am. All right.
All right. Yeah, I just I love the pic. So, yeah.
And speaking about karaoke, we got an episode
coming later this summer on the ultimate. karaoke
101 playlist so be on the lookout for that later
this summer a lot of journey on that playlist
maybe maybe not we'll have to see but i'm gonna
keep this dance vibe going and we're in summer
so it could get hot in the summer so i'm gonna
play into that literally i'm gonna go on the
nose literal brian here and i'm gonna go off
a 1979 Bad Girls album, and we're going to bring
in one of the queens of disco, Donna Summer,
Hot Stuff, number one hit, U .S. Billboard Hot
100, ranked 104 on Rolling Stone's list of the
500 greatest songs of all time. And you think
about the guitar solo from Jeff Skunk Baxter.
Yes. Yes. Patreon mixtaper Philip Bergman chimed
in for an older episode, episode 70, the ultimate
guitar solo episode with Jesse Dayton. And he
had said that the solo on Hot Stuff is just as
searing as any arena rock song that came out
around that same time. And he's absolutely right.
This is a rock. disco song and right now i am
coming off of a major major major concert high
because last night as we're recording this i
am one day removed i'm not even 24 hours removed
from seeing the rolling stones for the first
time live and it was just a truly transcendent
experience however before the band came on stage
when they're trying to get the crowd hyped up
what are they playing Hot stuff from Donna Summer.
And it freaking worked. So it's a rock disco
anthem. And then if you want to tie it into 2020,
just like Dua Lipa, that year, Norwegian DJ Kygo,
I think is the way it's pronounced, released
a kind of fun and vibrant mix of the song that
does strip away the rock element of it, but brings
in more of that modern dance. Dua Lipa sound
using the original vocals from Donna Summer.
So I almost thought about going with that one,
but because of the rock music we have at the
beginning of the side, I felt like the original
kind of ties the story we've been telling together
a little better. Yeah, dude, I love the pick.
I adore it. That whole album, Bad Girls, is incredible.
That was like Donna Summer sort of breaking away
from the straight disco sound of going more rock
in general. Guess what, guys? Donna Summer's
freaking amazing and incredibly versatile, and
she pulled it off. She went from disco to rock,
and it was like, yeah, it's just Donna Summer.
It just works. It's amazing. Like you said, that
guitar solo from Jeff Baxter, who was in the
Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan, face melted her
in the middle of what most people would have
thought was just going to be another disco song.
It took everybody by surprise, blew everybody
away, topped the charts, reinvigorated Donna
Summer's, and just reinvented her. And like you
said, it absolutely defines like dancing in the
summertime. Like it's just a killer track from
an amazing all time artist. I love it. Definitely
belongs on the list. No question. Perfect. All
right. We went from a rocking road trip to a
kind of a dance party. Where do we go from? Where
do we go from here? So we've hit rock. We've
hit pop. We've hit a little bit of disco. Why
don't we throw a little hip hop in there? Because
I think hip hop is very important to the summer
as well. All right. I'm on board with that. This
is May 1992 single from the February 1992 album
Mac Daddy by Sir Mix -A -Lot. This track is called
Baby Got Back. And I don't honestly even need
to talk about the track anymore because everybody's
already playing it in their head. They know exactly
what it's all about, but I'm going to keep talking
about it anyway. It topped the Billboard Hot
100. It spent five weeks at the top. It was the
second best -selling of 1992. It just set the
world on fire. It was inescapable. It is still
largely inescapable. It is one of the greatest
hip -hop songs of all time. It is awesome. People
were angry when this song came out because they
thought it objectified women. It was too overtly
sexual. I disagree with that. And Mix -A -Lot
disagrees with that. I think it's empowering
to women of all body types. I think it's nothing
but body positivity. I think the song has a fun,
awesome, sexy, empowering message. I can't get
enough of that song. I can't get enough of Sir
Mix -A -Lot. And that album is one of the greatest
hip hop albums of all time. It really sort of
set the tone for a different sort of structure
of hip hop in the 90s. And it was like... It
was okay to have like pop hip hop and like have
like chart topping hip hop songs at the time.
I think it's revolutionary. I think the song
is perfect. And it absolutely just destroyed
in May of 1991. It set the tone for hip hop in
1991. It still sets the tone for summers to this
day. It's always in my rotation whenever I'm
doing playlists for like pool parties or something
or just going out and partying in the summertime.
Sir Mix -A -Lot, Baby Got Back. That's it. Here
we go. Mac Daddy is such an incredible album.
I think people think that every song on it is
just like another rendition of Baby Got Back.
But One Time's Got No Case, which is the opening
track on that album, is an absolute banger of
a hip hop track. Sir Mix -a -Lot is incredible.
And I've watched him do interviews where he said,
you know, look, at the end of the day, people
ask me if I'm ashamed of Baby Got Back. He goes,
I've never had to work a day in my life from
that one song. Why would you be ashamed of such
a great song, though? Who doesn't like big asses?
Everybody loves big asses. Come on. And everybody
loves the song. And there's a reason I say that
statement. There are so many covers of this song.
In 2001, Throwdown covered it for the two legit
for the pit Hardcore Takes the Rap album. A year
later, Richard Cheese and the Lounge Against
the Machine covered it in that comedic lounge
style. In 2007, The Grand Scheme, that's S -K
-E -E -M, covered the song for kind of a punk
rock. variety almost kind of scott -esque it's
really hard to describe the chorus it's one of
those songs that you want to kind of like dance
like it's 1929 like doing the charleston to a
song about big asses yeah yes yes you definitely
do with the charleston during the chorus of their
version it's awesome and then in 2008 vanilla
ice covered the song but he didn't use that rock
sound he had been bringing to albums in the late
90s early 2000s instead He did it as a straight
color by numbers rendition. So it's almost jarring
because he's covered his own songs in new metal
form. If you look up his hard to swallow album,
there's a track on it called too cold. And too
cold is basically the new metal version of ice
ice baby. So I was kind of surprised he didn't
bring that flair to baby got back. But regardless,
I love, love, love that pick. And to close outside
a here. I'm going to lean into that hip hop and
I'm going to stay right around the same summer
because I remember that summer. Well, that was
the summer of my freshman year in high school
and baby got back was all over the radio along
with this song. Sometimes neck and neck fighting
it out. This song only reached number four on
the billboard us hot 100, but was this duo's
highest charting single and topped the us R and
B hip hop songs and hot rap songs charts. And
it won a Grammy Award for the best rap performance
by a duo or group. That would be DJ Jazzy Jeff
and the Fresh Prince's Summertime from 1991's
Homebase. The song samples exactly as Will Smith
states. This is the Fresh Prince's new definition
of summer madness. Summer madness originally
recorded by Kool and the Gang. There's something
about this song that immediately puts my mind
at ease. Now, I didn't grow up in Philadelphia,
but it doesn't really matter where you grew up.
Think of the summers of the past. Adjust the
bass and let the alpine blast. Pop in my CD and
let it run a rhyme and put your car on cruise
and lay back because this is summertime. That
screamed my 90s childhood. Then you throw in
kind of the. Rest of the lyrics of the song that
talk about hanging out at the park, barbecues,
hanging with your friend. It's all there. And
I need to kind of make a note to myself here
because I mentioned that nostalgia episode of
my weekly mixtape that's coming up with our friends
at the nostalgia test. I think I found a dead
ringer for that song bank as well. Nice. I love
the pick. I love that album. The song is. By
their own admission and by very definition, a
sort of setback from all the other dance tracks
that were coming out at the time. And I really
dig the vibe. Yeah, like you said, Will Smith,
he got the sample from the producers. Like, this
is going to be your next big track. Smith sat
down and he wrote the song in like one sitting
in like an afternoon. The lyrics just came to
him. Like you said, it's all about just growing
up in Philly and going to barbecues and chilling
and just the overall summer vibe. What's also
really cool is the fact that he wrapped the song
in a lower register than he usually did, which
has added to the smoothness and the different
feel of it from even the rest of the album. Because
I think he was out partying pretty hard last
night and he wore his voice out. So he just couldn't
hit that sort of highest, sort of almost nasally
register that you know the Fresh Prince for.
And it's actually sort of like a precursor to
his rap career as he got older, like when he
was doing like movie soundtracks and whatnot,
because it's got that lower register, that sort
of smoothness to it. And less of that sort of
like high energy, like, you know, almost like
trying to get you riled up and almost kind of
be obnoxious sort of childish attitude. Not to
say it was childish, but the vibe is there. But
I love the track. It's summertime, man. It's
the Fresh Prince and DJ Jazzy Jeff. Like it belongs
on the list without question. Just a great track.
Great album. Awesome pick. Drums, please. And
that, mixtapers, concludes side A of our Summer
Vibes mixtape, which kicked off with The Cars,
Good Times Roll, Tom Petty's Running Down a Dream,
Kiss, Detroit Rock City, Bryan Adams, Summer
of 69, Prince, Raspberry Beret, Taylor Swift,
Cruel Summer, Dua Lipa's Break My Heart. Donna
Summer's Hot Stuff, Sir Mix -A -Lot's Baby Got
Back, and DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince,
Summertime. Head over to myweeklymixtape .com
to hear all the songs we've discussed in this
mix through the playlist embedded on the episode
page. And now we will start side B of our ultimate
summer vibes mixtape, and I get to kick things
off this time. And we talked about... How some
oldies could factor into the playlist. And there
was no place for us to fit any of that vibe on
side A. But hey, new side, new vibe. So kicking
off side B, I'm going to go all the way back
to 1964. This song reached number four on the
U .S. Billboard Hot 100 and topped the cash box
R &B charts. In 2010, it ranked number 487 on
Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest songs
of all time, which is way, way, way too low.
If you ask me, I am going with the drifters under
the boardwalk. Quintessential. I love it. Please
continue. This song leans into what I love about
summer. With lyrics like, from the park you hear
the happy sound of the carousel. You can almost
taste the hot dogs and french fries they sell.
When I do karaoke, I love singing this song.
I love delivering that line. But that's the Jersey
Shore to me. And I know the Jersey Shore is a
different animal than other beaches up and down
the coast. But to me, I could close my eyes and
picture what they're singing about. And look,
I could be on any beach anywhere and be perfectly
happy. But the Jersey Shore just hits different
because of my childhood. This song has been covered
over 150 times. But since as we're recording
this right now, like I mentioned earlier, I'm
still on a high from seeing the Rolling Stones
last night. I'm going to point to their 1964
version, same year as the Drifters, that appeared
on their 12 by 5 album. perfect summer track
as far as i'm concerned under the boardwalk it's
wonderful man uh the song is wildly influential
and way ahead of its time too like if you listen
to it today like It doesn't sound like it should
be from 1964. I mean, the chorus goes from major
chords to minor chords and then back again. It's
like, who did that in 1964? Yeah. Yeah. The single
was released in 1964. It's wonderful. It's actually
got a weird story. If I can kind of like bring
the vibe down a little bit, if you don't mind.
Sure. Just a little bit of music history. The
lead singer, Rudy Lewis. actually passed away
the night before they were scheduled to record
this song and the band got together and they
were grieving and they were like what do we do
like do we've got the studio time we've got this
song do we just cancel it and just move on or
do we just use the studio time to record it like
almost in his honor uh they ended up recording
the song with their other vocalist johnny moore
and it became one of like the most famous songs
of all time So it's got sort of a melancholy
feel to it because you know it's like this happy,
joyful song about two people in love who go on
a tryst in like a seaside town and like, you
know, they're enjoying each other's company and
having all this romance and sort of like a little
bit of a tragedy as far as the history of the
writing of the song. So it's interesting to me.
I don't want to bring the vibe down. I know we're
all about the good time summer vibes, but it's
a historic song and the history behind the song
is so fascinating too. I love the pick. I think
it's quintessential. 100 % belongs on this list.
I love it. So what do we follow it up with, sir?
Let's move forward in time just two years. And
it's going to be the Kinks' Sunny Afternoon.
It's just, for me, it's one of those summer vibe
songs. Now, a little bit of weirdness again.
This is weird how the songs are tying together
where there's a little bit of like a sort of
a melancholy sad back sort of the song. Frontman
Ray Davies for the Kinks, I'm a huge Kinks fan,
actually suffered a nervous breakdown prior to
writing and recording his album, which resulted
in a massive shift in their sound. It used to
be sort of like heavy guitar riffs and almost
like precursor to punk rock. Very much in the
vein of like The Who and whatnot of the time,
where they were very crunchy and heavy guitar
riffs and just rock and roll. And this whole
album, face to face, is much slower. It's taking
its time. It's very ponderous. And it's actually
almost sort of considered to be the first concept
album, if you can believe that, where the songs
don't necessarily tell a story, but they all
have the same concept of sort of reflection and
sort of social observation and whatnot. So the
song is just a vibe. Like I said, the song is
about a man who is kind of a piece of crap, obviously
comes from old money, and he's just wandering
around his very lavish estate, and he's drinking
and just vibing, despite the fact that the IRS
has taken away all his money. His girlfriend
just left him and took the car the night before
and he just doesn't care. He's just lazing on
this sunny afternoon and he's just drinking,
walking around his house. And it's a weird melancholy
song, but if you listen to it, it's also weirdly,
strangely melancholy upbeat. And for me, it's
just one of those like get in your car and drive
type of songs. It's just got that vibe to it.
It's just got that steady, awesome, cool, almost
lackadaisical sort of feel to it. And I adore
it. So the kinks sunny afternoon from their 1966
album face to face. I love the fact that you
leaned into the melancholy in it, because to
me, Ray Davies is such a genius songwriter because
lyrically it is very melancholy. But musically,
if you were to say to me, Brian, describe this
song musically in three words, I would describe
it as bluesy, bouncy and breezy. Yeah. But the
lyrics counterdict that entire vibe and it creates
this tension that makes a really happy song kind
of pull on your emotions as well because you're
trying to figure out how to feel. And that's
strong songwriting right there. So totally shines.
Reach number 14 on the Billboard US Hot 100 and
number 200 on Pitchfork Media's list of. the
200 greatest songs of the 1960s. I think that
one should be a little bit higher, but that's
just me coming out of that. I feel like we've
gotten to a point now where we're talking summer
vibes and we haven't really leaned into. And
I started to do it with the drifters, but I really
want to lean into what people think when they
think beach and that side of the summer vibe.
And there are so many artists you can go with
here. And I want to cheat because I want to get
so many artists in. I'm going to do just that.
And I'm going to bring in a little bit of country
and I'm going to make the parrot heads happy
at the same time. Okay. Okay. All right. I think
I know where you're going with this. It could
be a number of songs actually, but yes, he's,
he has Jimmy Buffett has teamed up with a lot
of different country artists. However, I, I,
Didn't want to go down the road of Margaritaville.
I just, as a musician who's been an acoustic
musician for many, many decades, I know people
love that song and I respect the hell out of
anyone who enjoys it. But as a musician, there
are just certain songs where when someone requests
it, you just kind of, oh, all right. And I play
it as if I'm playing any song, but inside I'm
just like, I've heard it so many times. It's
hard to kind of infuse a little bit of excitement
hearing the song for the millionth and one time.
However, that vibe is exactly where I want to
go. So I'm going to go with Zach Brown Band's
Knee Deep from 2010's You Get What You Give.
I kind of wanted to go with Zach Brown Band's
Toes because of the whole toes in the water,
ass in the sand, kind of the whole Mexican flair
that they brought to that song. I love that.
But here I get to bring in Zac Brown's style
with Jimmy Buffett and include them. I could
have went with Jimmy Buffett and Alan Jackson.
It's five o 'clock somewhere, but I don't know.
I love both songs, but Zac Brown Band to me is
just one of those groups that kind of falls a
little bit more into the rock side of things
where we have on side A, where it's not such
a huge leap into the country ville because Zac
Brown Band does rock. as well as due country,
as well as due Island. And I feel like it kind
of slides into the vibe. The song reached number
18 on the U S billboard, hot 100 easily top the
U S hot country charts. And the only worry in
the world is the tide going to reach my chair.
What would Jimmy Buffett do? Right? Yeah. Yeah.
So Zac Brown Band in and of itself is just a
vibe, man. Like almost all their albums and songs
could be classified as like a summer vibe if
you wanted to. I love the foundation. You get
like chicken fried. You get toes, like you said,
where it's about tripping down to Mexico and
looking at the pretty ladies and drinking way
too much and running out of money and just driving
back home to Georgia. It's great. Yeah. But I
mean. The thing I love about the Zac Brown band
is the fact that it's all the best parts of like
casual country rock. And they have heavier stuff,
but it's all about just the good times and like
enjoying the little things. Chicken fried, you
know, a pair of jeans that fit just right, cold
beer on a Friday night, like all that stuff.
It's just, it's rad. And I love the fact that
Jimmy Buffett and they had become such good friends
that they collaborated multiple times. Again,
rest in peace, Jimmy Buffett, man. But yeah,
no, that whole album, You Get What You Give from,
you know, where you pulled that track is, again,
it's a great album. They're just a vibe and they're
super cool and chill to listen to. And they're
versatile and fun and great. And I love the pick.
I think it perfectly encompasses summer. Once
again, you're a brilliant, sir. And two birds,
one stone, because I felt like if we did not
include Jimmy Buffett, there would have been
hate mail. And if we didn't include some kind
of country, there would have been hate mail.
So I'm super stoked to have found that loophole
and made this possible. So that way I know in
my heart country and Jimmy have been represented
on this playlist. But what's more important is
what's your next pick? OK, so I'm going to keep
on with the sort of like rock vibe, but. Unfortunately,
I'm not doing this on purpose. I swear to God,
Brian. I'm bringing down the vibe just a little
bit, unfortunately. Yeah. So this track was a
July 1996 single that was released, unfortunately,
two months after the death of its lead singer
in May of 1996. The song is What I Got, the reprise
version, not the side one track, but two version
from the album of the same name by Sublime. It's
a sad song because it's almost like a tribute
to the life of Brad Knoll at this point, but
it's also one of the quintessential summertime
songs for me growing up as a kid in Arizona.
The simplified version, again, I prefer over
the original version earlier in the album. It
just encompasses those hot summers and those
pool parties because Phoenix growing up was always
sort of like referred to as like LA Junior. Because
we always kind of got like sort of the wash over
of like the music scene and all that type of
stuff from LA as it came over. And when Sublime
carried over into Arizona, it was massive for
all of us who grew up there. So it's an album
that is in heavy rotation for me all the time.
It was in heavy rotation whenever we had pool
parties or we're just hanging out or just driving
around. And this is the one song in the album
that everybody would sing along to in sort of
a carefree fashion. It's an awesome song. It's
a jam. It's sort of like borderline acoustic.
It's just... fully encompasses the genius of
Brad Knoll. And it's bittersweet because it was
released very shortly after his death. But ironically,
it also became the band's greatest radio hit.
And it became an anthem for punk ska kids like
me who grew up in that whole scene. And to me,
that song is just summer. That whole album is
summer to me. Absolutely love this pick. Reach
number 11 on the mainstream rock charts. That's
the original track too, like you talked about.
I love the fact that you went with the reprise.
I love the live, almost free -flowing feel. It
feels a little bit more loose and a little bit
more fun. Not that the original version isn't
more fun, but the original. Version track two
is definitely more tight and more produced for
radio, where the other one felt like they were
just kind of enjoying themselves. Yeah. Performing
the track. This has been a Colburn and Company
closer for the better part of the last decade.
We do it as part of a medley that the band and
I put together, which consists of Sublime's What
I Got into Chumbawamba's Tump Thumping. Back
into Sublime's What I Got. Into Peter Gabriel's
Sledgehammer. Back into Sublime's What I've Got.
Into Fly by Sugar Ray. Into Mbop by Hanson. And
then back into What I've Got to jam out the night.
Thank everybody for coming and close out the
night. The Hanson is to make sure people are
paying attention and they're always paying attention.
Michael Franti and Spearhead covered this song
on the 2005 Sublime Tribute. Look at all the
love we found. And I love that version so much,
especially where he plays with the cursing a
little bit. And he says, and I could play that
guitar like a mother. Shut your mouth. Really
great cover. If you haven't heard that one. And
I love that you brought a little reggae into
this because now I could dig a little deeper.
Oh, and I'm going to dig a little deeper. Do
it. Go back to a song that we originally talked
about. I'm going to spoiler alert. Episode 28,
the ultimate ska punk playlist with Scott Kloppenstein
of Real Big Fish and the Littlest Man Band. But
here's a refresher. The song came out in 2014
on the album The New International Sound of Hedonism,
and I'm going to go with Jaya the Cat's Here
Come the Drums. They're a Dutch -American reggae
ska punk rock band that started in Boston, Massachusetts,
but they are now based out of Amsterdam. They
have a very unique ska punk sound, and even though
the song is a decade old, it's pretty much been
on my summer vibes playlist ever since because
it mixes a lot of emotions into one song from
a musical and lyrical perspective the song just
has such a groove to it it keeps your head bopping
it's breezy but it's powerful and emotional it's
perfect coming out of sublime too it's absolutely
perfect it's a ska punk reggae chef's kiss yeah
just a killer album Again, one of those bands
that just has an immaculate vibe. They're just
super cool, super chill. I've heard they are
incredible live, actually. And people don't realize
it. They've been around forever. They've been
around since the mid -90s or something. Right
around the same wave as Sublime, even. I love
the pick. I will take the ska, reggae vibe all
day, every day. Like I said before, that largely
encompasses a lot of the feeling of summer for
me. So if you got more of those picks, throw
them at me. That's it. That's a high point. It's
an awesome pick to round it off, for sure. So
what are you going to follow up this pair of
ska reggae songs with? I think I'm keeping with
the vibe. I'm going a little left field, but
I don't think it's too far off. It's going to
be the B -52's Love Shack. I think it's one of
those. Yeah, it's off the album Cosmic Thing.
For a lot of reasons, the song is really special,
not least of which is the fact that it was sort
of a resurgence and it kind of brought the B
-52s back to life. They kind of went quiet in
the 80s for a number of reasons, some personal
and some just changing trends of music. But yeah,
it was like a massive hit for them. It was their
biggest hit ever. It was their first certified
million copy seller ever. So it just brought
them back into the spotlight in a big way. And
it's just a fun, like literal dance song. It's
fun and bopping. It's silly and it's campy and
it's goofy. And it's based on an actual club
out of what's like Athens, Georgia, I think.
And it was a club that looked like an old rundown
shack. And then when you go inside, they just
had always like amazing live bands playing all
the time. And it was people from all ethnicities,
all walks of life, all just getting together
to dance and sing and play music and enjoy life.
And I think that's what it should all be about,
all being encompassing. And the place did have
the actual love shack. It wasn't called a love
shack, but the place that the song is based on.
actually also does have an old tin rusted roof.
So that's where the lyric comes from as well.
But just a great song. The B -52s are so wonderful
and so campy and so genuine and sweet and fun.
And Love Shack for me is just one of those songs
that took off in, it was like June of 1989 and
it's just never stopped being a summer anthem
for me. All right, you're a karaoke. Let me hear
your best tin roof rusted. Your what? Tin! roof
rusted not bad bravo all right yeah got me a
chrysler it's as big as a whale and it's about
to set sail that album is so much fun the title
track is actually in my bank which was not a
hit but cosmic thing there's something so Fun
about that song. I was thinking about it in that
spot that I ended up using Donna summer's hot
stuff with. So I'm glad the B 52 is actually
got included tonight. Reach number three, not
a number one hit that actually surprised me,
but it did get named. one of the 365 songs of
the century by the RIAA, and it made Rolling
Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.
I have personal memories of this song because
it was one of the big hits of my wedding reception,
even though that was 2005. This song went over
as if it was like the bop of the summer for some
reason. Yeah, man. It's a great song. But I'm
going to lean into this. Little bit of an 80s
vibe, but I'm going to dive a little bit deeper
into the 80s. But keep this dance vibe going.
This was originally released as a single in 1983
and then was released on this band's 1984 self
-titled album. But it wasn't until a little film
that us 80s and 90s kids grew up with. The Karate
Kid that elevated this song to number nine. On
the Billboard US Hot 100. You know where I'm
going with this. Yeah, of course. Yeah. Bananarama,
Cruel Summer. 100%. I mean, this is the second
time I'm pulling out a Cruel Summer for this
playlist. We got Tay -Tay on side A. We got Bananarama
on side B. So the full spectrum. It's a summary
of Cruel Summer. We've got from Tay -Tay to Bananarama.
In 1998, Ace of Base covered this song. And their
version also was a top 40 hit. Only hit number
10, which was one step behind. It missed topping
Bananarama by one spot. I personally prefer Bananarama's
version. I think it's timeless. There's an energy
that still sounds fresh and original now. Point
being. The Ghostbusters Frozen Empire trailer,
the use of this song in that felt like we were
listening to new music, but it's still a throwback
to people our age. And it felt like it worked
in 2024 in that trailer. Yeah. I think the song
is timeless. I think you're absolutely right.
I think it's one of those songs that you just
immediately know from the intro that it's wonderful.
And it's become such a huge part of pop culture
because it was so closely tied to the Karate
Kid, which is just a massive part of the pop
culture lexicon at this point. Weirdly enough,
they allowed the song to be included in the movie,
but Bananarama did not allow the track to be
included on the officially released soundtrack.
Yeah. But it didn't matter because the song still
became a cultural phenomenon and did exactly
what it needed to do for them. It became a massive
hit. It's awesome. I also love the song because
it's almost an anti -summer song. It's not about
good times in the summer and hanging out. It's
like sweltering heat and the loneliness that
sometimes come with summertime because you're
off on your own. You don't have your friends
around. People are on vacation. School is out.
You're on your own. And sometimes summer can
drag on forever and feel cruel and terrible.
And I mean, that lent itself as well to what
Daniel -san was going through in The Karate Kid,
where he moved across the country. He was lonely.
He was being bullied. He just felt like shit.
He liked a girl who kind of thought he was a
dipshit at first. But yeah, I love the song.
And it's such an important part of pop culture.
And it deserves to be on this list. It deserves
to be on a lot of lists because it's wonderful.
And the yin and yang again. Poppy, breezy song,
just like the kinks earlier with these darker
lyrics. If you want to really feel those darker
lyrics, look up. And I'll embed this over at
the episode page at myweeklymixtape .com as well.
Evanescence. Amy Lee did a piano only cover for
the target edition of their last album, bitter
pill. And the piano version that she does is
so hauntingly beautiful. You could really pay
attention to the lyrics and it gives you an entirely
new perspective on the track. I've never heard
that. And I'm going to go listen to it as soon
as we're done recording here. Cause that sounds
amazing. I just imagine Amy Lee's vocals just
being like, stellar and like melancholy and sad
and just like holy crap i can't wait to listen
to that it's i might stop it right now and just
go listen to that like give me five minutes i'm
kidding and you're gonna thank me when you do
you're gonna i promise you you will text me saying
dude that evanescence song thank you for bringing
that to my life it's the first time i heard of
them like this is everything i love about effinescence
and this is everything i love about cover songs
yeah and even on top of the cover songs like
banana rama recorded like three or four different
versions of the song just by themselves. So like
you're going to almost go make like an entire
afternoon of listening to different interpretations
of Cruel Summer, even like multiple interpretations
by the band who wrote it. So just a song that
everybody loves and gravitates to. And it's just
so rife for reinterpretating and rewriting and
coming up with songs or cover songs and whatnot.
It's just, it's just such a versatile track.
It's just, it's just great. So what are we going
to follow it up with then? So this is funny.
We're going back to hip hop. But we're staying
with the upbeat, but also like the melancholy,
like, wait, what is this song actually about
type of lyrics? So an outright cultural phenomenon
that was the lead single to the release of a
double album by Outkast in August of 2003, actually.
It was Speakerbox and Love Below. It was the
lead release for the Love Below, which was Andre
3000's half of that dual release. It is Hey Ya.
And holy crap, did that song take over the goddamn
world when it was released. You couldn't get
away from it. And thank goodness it was a great
song because it was inescapable. It was everywhere.
It's become a dance anthem. It is a karaoke favorite.
It takes over weddings, like we said before about
previous tracks. And what's wild to me is the
song is like so upbeat and such a dance bop and
such a jam, but it's all about like... relationships
being doomed from the start and like people of
my generation having no idea how to keep a relationship
together like our parents did and it's like what
are we doing here but at the same time you just
want to get up and sing along a dance it's so
genius in its dichotomy of delivery versus message
and i love outcast in general but this song is
just great and here's a weird thing here's a
really weird thing The song, because of the line,
shake it like a Polaroid picture, it actually
revitalized the Polaroid company who had filed
for bankruptcy in 2001. They actually ended up
refiling for bankruptcy in 2008, but they had
a five -year stretch where they were selling
cameras and their film like hotcakes because
the song was so popular. So to say the song was
a cultural phenomenon and a global massive hit
is an understatement. It literally affected the
economy in different ways besides just selling
records. It's insane, but it's an awesome track
that I think deserves to be on there. Not because
it's directly associated with summertime itself,
but just because it owned that summer in 2003
and it just continues to be a huge part of pop
culture in general. Hey Ya is one of those songs
that I liken to timeless wedding reception songs.
A song that you know like September by Earth,
Wind & Fire. When you hear that, you know it's
pretty much going to be played at every wedding
ever. You've got Hey Ya by OutKast. You've got
Uptown Funk. You've got Happy by Pharrell. This
fits in that group of songs. And people recognize
it. There are a lot of covers. I mentioned Richard
Cheese earlier in the night and Lounge Against
the Machine on his 2004 album I'd Like a Virgin
with the cover being a spoof of Madonna's Like
a Virgin. He does a cover on that. Super Suckers
did a cover on Devil's Food, a collection of
rare treats and evil sweets that came out, I
want to say, in 2005. And Panic at the Disco,
this kind of sucks because it's only a Spotify
single, did a cover of it in 2018 for the Spotify
singles. Yeah. Definitely an upbeat, put a smile
on your face, feel good song. Yeah. As soon as
I hear one, two, three, like I got a drink in
my hand and I'm going off to the dance floor.
Like, here we go. It's time for DT to embarrass
himself. Well, hopefully I don't embarrass myself
with my last pick of the night, but I'm going
to stick with this fun vibe we've got going here
towards the end. And I'm going to go back to
1986. And lyrically, could you speak to me as
a human being more personally than a line like
summer nights and my radio? From 5150, I am going
with Van Halen's Summer Nights, the first song
recorded by the Van Hagar lineup of Van Halen,
but sadly never released as a single. Once again,
shout out to Seeker who chimed in with this one.
I think he hit the nail on the head with his
comments because it is really a perfect summer
beach and party track. And he's right. Eddie's
playing. There's no weather in Arizona that's
as hot as Eddie Van Halen on guitar. I'm sorry.
I know it gets hot over there, but Eddie definitely
overcooks that. And no spoilers here, because
I like to try not to spoil when possible. Sometimes
I do. Sometimes I don't. But there's a mammoth
-sized My Weekly Mixtape Van Halen episode, which
is episode 46 that features Eric Senech of the
Van Halen News Desk. and Patreon mixtape or Cactus
Pete. I'm not going to spoil if Summer Nights
made the cut, but if this pick got your attention
tonight, check out that episode for some kind
of like Van Halen goodness. Yeah, this is a quintessential
pick. This is a wonderful pick. 5150 had a lot
to prove because David Lee Roth was no longer
in the picture. They brought Sammy Hagar on and
a lot of people were like, is this going to even
work? And guess what? It freaking did. And this
song, like you said, should have been a single
off this album because it's just perfect. It's
one of the best summertime jam songs of all time.
And this album became one of the band's biggest
hits. I think it even topped like 1984, which
is one of my favorite Van Halen albums of all
time. Yeah, I mean, it's a great album all around.
Why Can't This Be Love? That's probably my favorite
pick off that album. But in terms of like summer
jams, like you can't beat Summer Nights with
just, like you said, Eddie just going berserk.
And Hagar filling that role beautifully. That
was big shoes to fill, but he pulled it off.
And like they wrote one of the quintessential
summer anthems of all time while they were at
it. Like, come on, like Van Halen freaking geniuses.
Well, sir, you have the pleasure or horror of
closing out our ultimate summer vibes mixtape.
It's a pleasurable horror every time. It's pressure.
People in Amsterdam and Germany pay good money
for this type of discomfort. But okay, so we
talked at the very beginning of the episode about
how the whole summer experience is very different
for me than it was for a lot of people, yourself
included, who grew up near bodies of water and
like boating and rafting and going to the beach
and all that type of thing was just never part
of my summer experience growing up in the Arizona
desert. But what was, was going to Warped Tour.
It was massive for me and my friends every summer,
despite the fact that it was like 4 ,000 degrees
out and like bottles of water cost eight bucks
to get up early in the morning and drive across
town and spend like nine, 10, 12 hours in the
sweltering heat watching like 50 bands in rapid
succession. And one of the bands that encompassed
one of my favorite Warped Tour experiences, and
I'll get that in just a minute because it's a
cool one. is a band called My Chemical Romance,
and they released their biggest hit of an album,
Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, in June of 2004.
The single came out a little while afterwards
in the fall, but they didn't even need to release
it as a single because they instantly became
one of the biggest bands in the world, one of
the biggest draws to Warped Tour for years to
come, and they just exploded into massive popularity.
They became one of the foremost groups in both
the emo and alternative and punk scenes. And
the song is I'm Not Okay, which is the biggest
hit off that album. The song is certified platinum.
It reached that almost instantly. The band just
launched into superstardom almost immediately.
And it was a very important song for me because
I was in my late teens at the time. I was going
to work tour, going to concerts. I was really
sort of discovering myself and who I was going
to be as a young adult because I grew up with
social anxiety. I grew up with just awkwardness
and shyness. Those years, the late 1990s and
early 2000s were those years where I started
going to shows and meeting musicians and talking
to people and realizing that all the people I
looked up to were nerds like me and it was okay
to be nerds. And I actually ended up meeting
My Chemical Romance and hanging out on their
tour bus, that Warped Tour. And they were the
sweetest guys ever. And they were sitting there
playing with Star Wars action figures while we're
chatting and hanging out. They were super cool.
Like Gerard Way and Ray Toro were just the biggest
sweethearts ever. The entire band signed autographs
for this girl that I liked in high school who
happened to be at Warped Tour as well. And she
flipped out over that. And they just were the
kindest, coolest dudes you can imagine. But on
top of that, I'm Not Okay is an absolute banger.
Just this killer alternative rock track with
Ray Toro just shredding on guitar. It's super
catchy. The music video is done up in the style
of almost like... like the trailer of like a
1980s John Hughes movie sort of thing. The schoolboy
suits, everything just encompassed this full
on sort of like coming of age feel. And that
song just owned the radio and owned MTV and owned
Warped Tour of that summer. It's been called
multiple times as one of the greatest summer
jams ever, both ironically and unironically.
It's been voted as such. And the band kind of
took that as sort of a gag and ran with it. And
they still call it one of the best summer jams
ever. It was sort of like a pseudo ego thing
just to like get the crowd riled up. But it's
a track that's just important to me because it
just encompassed an entire summer. You couldn't
get away from another radio. So we just fully
embraced it. And it was always on the radio.
We're cruising around. They're incredible live,
too. They were one of the best bands I saw that
day at Warped Tour. Yeah, it's just a band that
just absolutely owned the summer of 2004. And
I think they've written what is honestly, without
any irony, one of the best summer jams ever.
So I'm rounding out the playlist with I Am Not
Okay, in parentheses, I Promise. by My Chemical
Romance off of 2004's Three Cheers for Sweet
Revenge. Making New Jersey proud. You know, people
don't realize there is a great punk scene in
New Jersey. Oh, yeah. My Chemical Romance, you're
welcome, world. The Gaslight Anthem, you're welcome.
The Bouncing Souls, you're welcome. The Misfits
going way back, you're welcome. Like there was
some great music coming out of New Jersey. And
My Chemical Romance was out cutting their teeth
in a lot of the bars and clubs that my bands
would play all the time. So I would see them
in the Aquarian and EC Rocker. And then I started
seeing them getting spots on different shows.
And it's like, oh, they're starting to get bigger
and bigger and bigger. And then they exploded.
And you love to see that because these are bands
that played on the same stage as you did. So
as another band at the time, it gives. other
local bands hope, because if you can find what
connects with people, New Jersey is a hotbed
for great music. And they proved it with this
song reached number 86 on the billboard, us hot
100. It was a hot 100 punk hit. Yeah. And that's
crazy. It's right. And an awesome way to close
out because it kind of goes back to the rock
side of Side A. But we closed out, I think, our
Summer Vibes playlist in fashion as Side B kicked
off with The Drifters, Under the Boardwalk, The
Kinks, Sunny Afternoon. Zach Brown Band with
Jimmy Buffett, Knee Deep, Two Birds, One Stone.
That part is me, not the song title. Sublime's
What I Got, the reprise version. Jaya the Cat's
Here Come the Drums. The B -52's Love Shack.
Banana Ram is Cruel Summer. Outkast's Hey Ya.
Van Halen's Summer Nights. And My Chemical Romance,
I'm Not Okay. Head over to myweeklymixtape .com
to hear all the songs we've discussed in this
mix. through the playlist embedded on the episode
page. So DT, you've been on this show many a
times, but why don't you remind people a little
bit about Space Castle and where they can connect
with you? Sure, yeah. You can find me on YouTube
at Space Castle Show, or you can just look me
up at spacecastle .net. I'm doing YouTube videos
that explore all kinds of nerdy subject matter
on a regular basis. I've been doing them every
other week. I'm going to start breaking. into
weekly videos and doing short form videos on
top of the more story driven videos. But it combines
my love of graphic design, my love of film production.
I went to film school with my love of all things
nerdy. I have a blast doing it. The reception
to it has been amazing. I'd love it if everybody
listening today would want to jump on board and
hang out with me and talk nerdy stuff. Well,
I always have a blast having you on the show,
man. Thank you so much for joining me again on
my weekly mixtape. Look forward to having you
back very soon. i can't wait dude i love doing
this this is awesome And remember, Mixtapers,
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You can also head to MyWeeklyMixtape .com to
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for this week. Thanks again for listening. And
until next time, enjoy the tunes.