25 All-Time Greatest Summer Songs

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 25, 2000)
• Original Release Date: July 25, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Varese Sarabande
• ASIN: B00004U16P
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #44,056 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #78 in Music > Rock > Oldies & Retro > Surf Rock

Track Listings

1. Summer in the City

2. A Summer Song

3. Summertime, Summertime

4. Vacation

5. Wipe Out [Instrumental]

6. Summer Means Fun

7. Dancing in the Street

8. Sunny Afternoon

9. In the Summertime

10. Happy Summer Days

11. Sealed With a Kiss

12. The Theme from "A Summer Place" [Instrumental]

13. On the Beach (In the Summertime)

14. Summer Wine

15. Summer Sand

16. Here Comes Summer

17. School Is Out

18. Palisades Park

19. Let's Go Trippin' [Instrumental]

20. Beach Party

See all 25 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

No Description Available.
Genre: Popular Music
Media Format: Compact Disk
Rating:
Release Date: 25-JUL-2000

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars All the songs are originals., April 5, 2007

By 

Tom Brody (Berkeley, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: 25 All-Time Greatest Summer Songs (Audio CD)

This rock'n'roll compilation contains 25 rock'n'roll songs from the 1960s. All of the recordings are the originals. Any person interested in buying this compilation will likely own some of the songs on other albums. For example, I already had discs with SUMMER IN THE CITY, WIPE OUT, DANCING IN THE STREET, and PALISADES PARK. But for some reason, I wanted to listen to the rarity, SUMMERTIME, SUMMERTIME by The Jamies. The following are a few notes.

SUMMER IN THE CITY. This is by The Lovin' Spoonful, one of the most popular groups from the 1960s. The Lovin' Spoonful occupied the same lofty realm as the Mamas and The Papas, The Byrds, The Kinks, and Simon & Garfunkel.

SUMMERTIME, SUMMERTIME. This song is a 1-hit wonder from The Jamies. The song closest to this in the entire rock'n'roll genre, is Martian Hop. Martian Hop is by the Ran-Dels. Both songs feature a small vocal ensemble that recites a string of nonsense syllables. In Summertime, this is, "Summertime, summertime, sum-, sum-, summertime." In Martian Hop, this is, "Buh-buh me-me-me, buh-buh me-me-me."

WIPE OUT. WIPE OUT was an original by The Surfaris, and that is the recording you find here. However, The Surfaris are not very skilled on their instruments. Therefore, I would urge all customers interested in surf music to seek out a version of WIPE OUT by The Ventures.

SUNNY AFTERNOON. This attractive song is from one of early albums by The Kinks. The song is distinguished by the motif of a descending bass line.

PALISADES PARK. PALISADES PARK is one of the all-time great moldy-oldies from the early 1960s. No collection of pre-Beatles moldy-oldies can be complete without PALISADES PARK. Of course, if you are interested in moldy-oldies, your collection should also include songs by Bobby Vinton, Little Anthony and the Imperials, and Everly Brothers.

BEACH PARTY. This song, from 1963, is by Annette Funicello. Annette was the most important of the children on a Walt Disney television program (THE MICKEY MOUSE CLUB), which featured a group of kids called, The Mouseketeers. Annette was America's sweetheart in an era before Meg Ryan and Reese Witherspoon. Annette's singing is fine. The song, BEACH PARTY is fine too. But during the 1960s, and certainly after that period, Annette's songs rarely made the airwaves on top 40 radio.

CRITICISM. This compilation is also distinguished by some noteable omissions. This compilation should have also contained The Zombies' excellent version of SUMMERTIME (the Gershwin composition). Also missing is Sly and the Family Stone's, HOT FUN IN THE SUMMERTIME. Another glaring omission is the classic, SUMMERTIME BLUES by Eddie Cochrane. And then, a very unfortunate oversight is the lack of Robin Ward's anthemic, WONDERFUL SUMMER. However, it will be easy for interested customers to find these other fabulous summer songs on other compilations.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Hottest Hits of Summer, October 11, 2000

By 

Steve Vrana (Aurora, NE) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: 25 All-Time Greatest Summer Songs (Audio CD)

With the frost on the grass and the north wind blowing across the Nebraska Plains, this disc will quickly trasnform you back to the days of summer.

This disc rounds up the usual suspects (the Spoonful's "Summer in the City," the Vandellas' "Dancing in the Street" and Mungo Jerry's loopy "In the Summertime"), but it then goes beyond these obvious choices to also include Annette Funicello's "Beach Party," Gary "U.S." Bonds' "Schools Out" and Bruce and Terry's "Summer Means Fun." And this collection is just that--FUN!

Some of these were big hits ("Sealed with a Kiss," "Summer Wine," "Theme from 'A Summer Place'"), some weren't ("Summertime, Summertime" by the Jamies, "Let's Go Trippin'" by Dick Dale, "On the Beach (In the Summertime)" by the 5th Dimension). But they all evoke the feeling of joy and excitement that is summer. The only glaring omission is the absence of anything by the Beach Boys, but that is most likely due to licensing difficulties. However, at 25 tracks, the sheer enormity of music on this single-disc collection more than makes up for it. So if you're looking for the perfect soundtrack for your next beach party or you're simply looking to recapture the summer, this is the ideal collection. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional Value, February 22, 2007

By 

Gene L. Briles (Johnstown, CO United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: 25 All-Time Greatest Summer Songs (Audio CD)

I normally don't rate CDs, but this one is an exceptional value for those who like 50s & 60s pop music. Eight of these are on my permanent list for my MP3 player (approx 200 from this genre) and I have 14 of them rated as 4 or 5 stars on my computer favorites.