It reached a cool 91 degrees Fahrenheit in Tucson today, which means that summer is only a month and a half away! I can’t wait for summer, because I have lots of awesome things planned, like … um. Well, I’m going to visit the Salton Sea during the high summer. And I’m definitely going to work on my back tan. Gotta get my back skin that nice and lived-in look. Also I might get my bike fixed. MIGHT.

So my girl Layla and I have worked up a mighty fine collaboration mix to get you in the summertime mood. Whether you’re a reader in Chicago, where it’s just starting to crack that summery 60 degree mark, or one of my many readers in the South Pacific island of Chu’uk (Kote puan afani to you all!), where it is just about to turn into winter, there’s plenty to get you into the summerin’ spirit. Surf music, pop, punkins, doo-wop, hippity-hops—we got it all!

Read on for track list and link …

SIDE A
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01. Beach Baby — First Class It’s Tony Burrows, the voice of summer! You may recognize his voice from such other sunny-day gems as Edison Lighthouse’s “Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)” and “My Baby Loves Lovin’” by the White Plains (who were originally called the Flower Pot Men … their hit “Let’s Go To San Francisco” was parodied in Spinal Tap). –L

02. “Run-Around Lover” — Sharon Marie This song bears the producing talents of one Brian Wilson, credentials enough to make it summer gold. -J

03. “(I Won’t Be) Too Young” — Malibooz Yep, that’s ol’ Lindsey Buckingham sharing vocals with the Malibooz, the sly dog! –J

04. “His Last Summer” — The Barracudas After pouring out a 40 for his fallen British surfer comrade, drummer Nick Turner went on to play in the Lords of the New Church with Stiv Bators. –L

05. “He’s a Mover” — Nikki & the Corvettes Listening to this song puts me right back in my gold 1980 Toyota Tercel at the Sonic drive-thru in Tucson, AZ ordering up a cherry limeade. –L

06. “Salt Lake City” — The Dwarves Nothing says summer like the Dwarves! –J

07. “Caroline” — Harlem After my band played at Burger Records HQ in Anaheim a few weeks ago, we were cruising around Disneyland blasting Harlem’s album. Also I like to represent my OG Tucson homies, like Coomies. –L

08. “Hey Rocky” — Hunx & His Punx Tucson magic by Seffy Boges and Justin Champlin. –L

09. “Ice Cream Man” — The Tornados Oh the twinkling chime of the ice cream man’s truck. Nothing said summer in Chicago more to me than trying desperately to sleep in on weekends to no avail because an ice cream van had parked itself outside my apartment and with it had attracted dozens of noisy neighborhood kids. -J

10. “Don’t Worry Baby” — The Beach Boys I done lost my job, my house got repo-ed by Emilio Estevez and I lost my car in a drag race … but I don’t worry none cause my baby loves me true. –L

11. “This Could Be the Night” — Modern Folk Quartet A magical tune co-written by Phil Spector and Harry Nilsson. I always picture my girl Heathy Lee listening to this song on a balmy Los Angeles evening during her high school years, frantically adjusting the antenna her her clock radio so that she could tune into Rodney on the Roq. –L

12. “Bop A Hula” — Jimmy C. Newman Part of the soundtrack of a road trip around the Big Island of Hawai’i for my 27th birthday. I awoke on the Kona side and went for an early-morning snorkel with some honu, drove through Paniolo country and the waterfalls of the Hilo side; several plate lunches later I dreamt sulfury dreams atop a volcano. –L

13. “Holiday Road” — Lindsey Buckingham Could you even handle a romantic European road trip with a man as handsome as Lindsey? –L

14. “On the Road Again” — Roy Wood Roy’s cheesier songs seem custom-built for summer fun. And who’s dat on drums? John Bonham. No scheiß! –J

15. “Baby Baby It’s You” — The Yellow Balloon Featuring Don Grady of My Three Sons fame, who also play drums with the Palace Guard for a short time. Swinging Tucsonans Alex Valdez and Paul Canella were also members of the Balloon! –L

16. “Barbie” — Kenny & The Cadets Another Brian Wilson production. All this old-timey teen music was pretty much made to be heard during the summer. –J

17. “Mysterious Teenager” — The Vels Another song I listened to on my birthday Big Island road trip. Actually, it gets double road trip points ‘cuz I bought this cd in New Orleans during my awesome road trip through the South with Sir Jessie in 2007. –L

SIDE B
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18. “On A Sunday Afternoon” — A Lighter Shade Of Brown Starts out like its gonna be “I Wanna Sex You Up” by Color Me Badd but nah, it’s a far better jam from my preteen years. Awesomely samples “Crystal Blue Persuasion” and “Groovin’.” –L

19. “Shake your Rump” — Beastie Boys She got a gold tooth, you know she’s hard-core. –L

20. Queen — “You’re My Best Friend” Summer is the time for friendz! –J

21. “Weekend” — The Dictators You know, it’s like the week before school’s out for the summer and you just gotta cut class to get a Big Mac and smoke a doob in the grass with your buddies. –L

22. “Careless” — The Replacements Reminds me of the summer I moved out of my parents house. You can imagine me blasting this song, peeling out on South 5th Avenue in Tucson, flinging all my newfound bills out the car window … but actually I think I paid them all in full and on time. –L

23. “Annette’s Got the Hits” — Redd Kross Pre-pube punk rockers at the beach! –L

24. “Here Comes the Summer” — The Undertones Violent times in Northern Ireland weren’t stopping Feargal Sharkey and crew from getting some color on their pasty legs. –L

25. “Nick Gilder” — Runaways in the Night On sultry summer nights, Nick likes to jump in his convertible, put the top down, crank the tunes and feel the wind in his flaxen locks. It really helps him release the stresses of life in the entertainment industry. –L

26. “Let’s Go” — Bay City Rollers When I saw the Rollers at the Derby in LA in 2004, they not only wouldn’t play this song, but they also were going “wireless” with their guitars and did an extended jam on “Keep on Rockin’ in the Free World.” No shit. –L

27. “The Lines You Amend” — Sloan Conjures images of skippin’ stones on a shady pond with little froggies jumping from log to log, but actually these Nova Scotians are getting kind of dark with these lyrics. That’s a lotta hand claps for a song about offing yourself. –L

28. “Baby’s Coming Back” — Jellyfish Laugh if you will, but I’ve had a soft spot for Andy Sturmer the singing drummer and this song since seeing the video late at night on MTV during the magical summer of 1992 (also the summer of rocking such golden greats as “Nevermind,” “Ten,” and “Blood Sugar Sex Majik”). –L

29. “Lonely Girl” — Sagittarius A sweet Sandy Salisbury tune, from the Present Tense CD reish on Sundazed. –L

30. “Bluebird” — Paul McCartney & Wings You know you have a psychic love connection with someone when you’ve been dying to hear this song since the Wings tape in your car died and then they magically pump this jam on a coastal drive up the 101. –L

31. “Pacific Ocean Blues” — Dennis Wilson “Wonder how she feels, mother seal.” Lyrical gold right there. –L

32. “Oogum Boogum” — Brenton Wood You know that first really hot day of the year when girls start appearing at the park in their hot pants and platform sandals? Brenton Wood was lurkin’ behind a tree, taking in an eyefull and penning the lyrics to this song on a napkin from Wimpy’s Burgers in Compton. –L

33. “Hey Ma” — Cam’ron Oh this one takes me back to a time of less worries and responsibilities. Seriously. Ya’ll remember what I’m talking about. –J

34. Ignition (Remix) — R. Kelly From what I recall, there wasn’t a carload of hipsters driving around the University of Missouri campus without this track available on CD-R back in summer ‘03. Either this or Master of Puppets. –J