Have you ever sat around with your friends and reminisced about the days growing up and even the first person you kissed? It’s funny when I think back and wonder how the smell from a grill could spark up nostalgia. I long for the days of watching old folks dancing at the family reunion while the DJ spins a tune and the boys mess around with the little girls playing double-dutch.
It is the end of spring and here she comes back. Those summer days. Hot fun in the summertime is what everyone is ready for. Maybe you’re going to head down to the five-and-dime to get your first real six-string and play it ‘til your fingers bleed. It doesn’t matter if it is the summer of ’69 or ’21, there is a song for every occasion possible during the summer months that takes one back in time.
Every year a song comes out that is declared the ‘song of the summer.’ “Jessie’s Girl,” “Waterfalls,” Hot in Herre,” and “Old Town Road” are all songs that ruled the airwaves as the temperatures raised. It is easier for a song to make you travel back in time when school was out for the summer. To this day, every time I hear D.J. Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince’s “Summertime,” I am taken back to the summer of 1991 when I had just earned my drivers license and I am driving the 1982 Ford Fairmont my parents handed down to me with the windows down headed to pick up a girl from school that I was crushing on that had no idea I was interested.
A song can only keep the memory around for so long. For most of us there are full-length albums that spark a nostalgia that only the smell of fresh cut grass or a sizzling grill full of hamburgers and hot dogs can. Before the days of listening to music on our phones we had to carry around large books of CDs or carry cases of cassettes to listen to various albums. I oddly miss those days sometimes. If you are of a certain age, then you know that there are obvious albums that have you feeling like you are with Doc Brown ready to go back in time. The Beastie Boys Licensed to Ill, Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life and Madonna’s Like a Virgin are all examples of great summertime albums.
I have compiled a list of what I feel are some of the most important albums that keep you from experiencing summertime sadness. It’s like the song says, “It’s like the summer is a natural aphrodisiac” or most importantly, “Drums please!”
40. Born to Do It Craig David
“7 Days” was a song that sucked everyone in during the summer of 2000. 21 years later and a weeklong rendezvous sounds exhausting.
39. Closer Better Than Ezra
Eight years after the release of their best selling album, the New Orleans alternative band produced some of the catchiest songs to date. Lead singer Kevin Griffin’s songwriting is at its strongest on this record.
38. Under the Table and Dreaming Dave Matthews Band
You could not be a college student in the ‘90s without being a fan of Dave Matthews. It was just not allowed.
37. Synkronized Jamiroquai
“Supersonic” is easily the best song on the album but you cannot hear “Canned Heat” and not think of Napoleon Dynamite.
36. Stunt Barenaked Ladies
Is there a song that drops more names than “One Week”? I still to this day do not know what Birchmount Stadium is or who Robbie is.
35. The Blueprint Jay-Z
It would be illegal not to add “Izzo(H.O.V.A.)” to a barbeque playlist.
34. Kick INXS
Despite being released in October of 1987 Kick ruled the airwaves and video channels all summer long in 1988.
33. Faith George Michael
Released at the same time as Kick, Faith stayed in the top 10 on the Billboard 200 for 51 consecutive weeks while producing four number one singles.
32. Future Sex Love Sounds Justin Timberlake
This album was the soundtrack to the summer of 2006.
31. True Blue Madonna
True Blue was the world’s top-selling album for 1986 and still stands as one of Madonna’s most critically acclaimed albums.
30. Tom Tom Club Tom Tom Club
One of the greatest dance albums of all time. Without this album or “Genius of Love” we would not have the Mariah Carey classic “Fantasy.”
29. It’s a Shame About Ray The Lemonheads
The bonus track cover of the Simon & Garfunkel hit “Mrs. Robinson” is still one of the greatest covers to this day.
28. Nasty Gal Betty Davis
This is dirty, sweaty album by an artist who quit music far too early. Nasty Gal may be the funkiest summer album of all-time.
27. Fashion Nugget Cake
If you tell me you do not roll the windows down and speed down the highway every time “The Distance” comes on then I’m going to call you “a gotdamn lie.”
26. Beat Street (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) Various Artists
Beat Street stirs up memories of popping a fire hydrant open to cool off on a hot summer day spent trying to breakdance with friends.
25. Ultraviolence Lana Del Ray
It may be more of a dark themed album than others on this list but Lana Del Ray’s third album takes me back to days spent wondering the streets of the East Village at dusk.
24. Sketches of Spain Miles Davis
Every list no matter the topic should have Miles Davis on it.
23. The Fat of the Land The Prodigy
“Firestarter” was blared through every speaker at every pool party every day in 1997.
22. The Score Fugees
“Killing Me Softly” was everywhere in the summer of ’96. Thankfully, Wyclef was there to add his “one time” line so we knew it wasn’t a Lauryn Hill track.
21. 3 Years, 5 Months, and 2 Days In The Life Of…. Arrested Development
Nearly 30 years later, I still turn to this album to put a smile on my face.
20. Dirty Mind Prince
Dirty Mind only clocks in at 30 minutes, but when it is played, it is 30 minutes you spend entirely on the dance floor.
19. good kid, m.a.a.d. city Kendrick Lamar
“Swimming Pools” is not the most uplifting summer song of all-time, but is still perfect for the summer playlist.
18. Exile in Guyville Liz Phair
This is probably the most in your face of summer albums. Exile screams female independence and if that is not a summer mood, then I do not know what is.
17. People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm A Tribe Called Quest
This not only a great summer album, but also one of the greatest debut albums in hip-hop history.
16. 3 Feet High and Rising De La Soul
A year before A.T.C.Q. debuted De La Soul set the stage for what was to come.
15. Can’t Hardly Wait (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) Various Artists
This movie is easily in my Mount Rushmore of teen films and the compilation that makes up the soundtrack is great for a summer road trip.
14. Spice Spice Girls
Spicemania took the world by storm in the summer of ’96. Yo, I’ll tell you what I want, what I really, really want and that’s more of Baby, Scary, Posh, Sporty and Ginger Spice.
13. Let’s Dance David Bowie
There are better Bowie albums for sure, but thanks to Nile Rodgers’ work on Let’s Dance, it is hard to find a more summer Bowie record.
12. The Doors The Doors
I really discovered The Doors as my high school days were coming to an end and their self-titled album stayed in my car cassette player for months.
11. Alright, Still Lily Allen
Disagree if you want but Alright, Still is a perfect pop record. If you give me a pool, a float and blast “Smile” I will be a happy boy.
10. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band The Beatles
Simply put, the Summer of Love does not exist without this album.
9. Sex Packets Digital Underground
What would the world be like if G.S.R.A.’s (Genetic Suppression Relief Antidotes) was real and you could truly “Doowutchyalike” with out hurting anyone?
8. Songs in the Key of Life Stevie Wonder
I dare you to have a best of summer music list and not include this classic.
7. Dewdrops in the Garden Deee-Lite
I could write all day about how much I love this album. Deee-Lite was so much more than just “Groove is in the Heart.”
6. Raising Hell Run-DMC
Many Saturdays of my youth were spent at a roller skating rink and “You Be Illin’”, “My Adidas” and “Peter Piper” always rang through the rink.
5. The Chronic Dr. Dre
Arguably the most important hip-hop album of the ‘90s. It would be difficult to find a song that fits a summer mood more than “Nuthin’ but a G Thang.”
4. Purple Rain Prince and the Revolution
Only five albums held the number one spot in 1984 and Purple Rain spent 24 straight weeks at the top of the Billboard 200. It is Prince at his best. There is nothing else you could need.
3. Appetite for Destruction Guns N’ Roses
It is the highest selling debut album of all-time selling over 18 million copies and one of the rare albums where I do not skip a song.
2. Future Nostalgia Dua Lipa
My favorite album of 2020 went on to hit number one in 15 different countries and up on countless year-end lists. Future Nostalgia is comprised of 11 unskippable songs. No lies detected.
1. Paul’s Boutique Beastie Boys
This is the album that showed the New York trio was capable of making music for more than just frat boys. Along with the Dust Brothers at the helm, the Beastie’s made the perfect summer album.
Steven McCash is the Music Columnist for SoBros Network, and host of the ‘Drinking With…’ podcast. He is the pioneer of New Music Friday, highlighting each week’s new releases in the world of music, in addition to the occasional live show review. Follow on Twitter: @MC_Cash75
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