June Mix - 15. UB40 - Red, Red Wine

The finale to our summer mix is UB40's classic "Red Red Wine." If this doesn't remind you of family vacations from back in the day, I don't know what will. Interestingly, I just found out that this song was originally written by Neil Diamond and was covered by both Tony Tribe and UB40 (thanks wiki!) I guess this song sort of makes for the lack of any kind of reggae on the summer mix, but not really. It was a toss up between this song or "Don't Worry Be Happy" by Bobby McFerrin, but this song was a specific request (and it's also a tapemix friendly three and a half minutes.) Mixes will be available for download sometime tonight and available upon request on tape or CD. Here's the music video for the last song:

June Mix - 14. The Go! Team - Panther Dash

I'm playing a little catchup on the June mix by bleeding into the beginning of July. The second to last song for the summer mix comes by way of London's The Go! Team. "Panther Dash" is the opening track to their debut record and it's a peppy jam with an extremely catchy harmonica melody. This whole album goes really well with being outside in the warm weather, and I thought that this song was a good showcase of all the elements that make The Go! Team awesome. Next time they come through town, I'll be sure to check them out.

June Mix - 13. The Allman Brothers Band - Blue Sky

This song has been part of my consciousness since I can remember. Everything from the guitar tone, to the key it's in, to Dickey Betts' down on the farm vocals makes this song perfect for driving around in nice weather with the windows open. The song comes off of The Allmans' Eat A Peach LP and was the first song that Betts ever sang lead on. A cool FYI about the bridge solo in the song is that Betts and Duane Allman both play it. If you listen closely you can hear the switch about halfway through the solo @ the 2:30 mark of the song. The two guitarists sync up on a riff - signaling the trade-off. Here's a video of the ABB doing it live in 1981, except without Duane unfortunately. Check out that dude in the red pants playing tambourine!

June Mix - 12. Bananarama - Cruel Summer

This song is perfect for the mix for a slew of reasons. First off, it provides a nice contrast to the happy-go-lucky summer tunes like The Barracudas' "Summer Fun" and Blink's "Rock Show." Secondly, (and more importantly) this song is featured in one of my favorite films, The Karate Kid. It's played during the scene that Daniel is riding his bike to the first day of school. This 1983 release was a breakout song for Bananarama in native Britain, but didn't become a U.S. hit until the Karate Kid inclusion. It's a good track to set us off on the homestretch for the June mix. Here's the crappy Dukes of Hazard influenced music video for "Cruel Summer":

June Mix - 11. Bryan Adams - Summer of '69

No summer mix is complete without a touch of some classic summer cheese. For me, it was a toss up between this song or Don Henley's "Boys of Summer" but this one won out due to Lottes' and Whitney's persuasion. More proof that Canadiens know what's up: In 2006, they voted "Summer of '69" as the #1 song to drive to - 22 years after it was released. It's also a song that has spawned some great covers. I can remember playing the MxPx cover over and over in high school. For a good laugh, check out the music video:

June Mix - 10. The Barracudas - Summer Fun

The next song on the mix comes by way of the 1980 classic "Summer Fun" by UK band The Barracudas. This song is about as cliche as a "summer song" can get, but this is where the song draws its charm from. The Barracudas were a throwback band - playing upbeat 60s revival with their jangly sound - and this was their breakthrough hit. I like this song in our mix because it brings some needed overt summerness - and it's a ton of fun to rock out to. Thanks go to Johnbeck for this one. Here's the "music video" for the song from Top of the Pops shot in 1981. Check out those dance moves!

June Mix - 9. Blink 182 - Rock Show

If I believed in guilty pleasures, I would say Blink 182 might go down as my all-time top guilty pleasure. But I won't apologize for being in love with their brand of smart pop and their lack of pretense. Their entire catalog reminds me of the summertime, from early Warped Tours, to Blossom Music Center concerts. This song especially reminds me of summers past- for the obvious lyrical nod and the overall theme of being young and stupid and going to shows. It was the first single off of Take Off Your Pants, which was probably my least favorite of all their releases, but I think it's the song that best represents this band for our theme. We used to say that we had to grow up when Blink broke up, and then they did. Damn! Check out the video for it:

June Mix - 8. Presidents of the U.S.A. - Peaches

Released in the summer of 1995, Presidents of the Unites States of America's self-titled debut confused me. "Are these guys supposed to be a joke? Why are they singing about fruit?" - my 5th grade mind asked. But turned out, rock music can indeed be silly and fun, and fun these guys are. "Peaches" is clearly the standout track (at least of the three that I can remember.) The pretty opening melody line and slide guitar work their way into a flannel shirt swaying chorus and the underlying fruit theme make this song a perfect opener to Side B. I can remember humming this song to myself while riding my bike en route to a rousing game of mush ball. Thanks to Katy for the reminder. Check out the video for it complete with Kung Fu fight sequence:

June Mix - 7. Ween - Bananas and Blow

This song comes from Ween's seventh full length album, White Pepper. Bananas and Blow will always have a place in my heart - maybe because it was a staple at our college parties, or maybe it was because I saw it live under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs and thought I was transported to a Caribbean paradise where all Ween fans apparently moved their arms wildly, yet expertly, in the air at the EXACT same time and tempo. This happened during the "Whoaaaa-ohhh" part - obviously. Either way, this song is a great vacation tune. Even with its tongue-in-cheek genre parody(?), the pair pull it off masterfully - and besides the inane lyrics - this song is really skilled and spot on. But from what I've gathered from this duo, that goes for pretty much everything they do. Thanks Colin for suggesting this one - this should wrap up Side A quite nicely. Check out this live vid of it. This was the best one I could find - the audio doesn't match up with the video in true YouTube form, but it sounds okay. I did find a lot of banana blowjob clips as well if you're into that.

June Mix - 6. The Decemberists - July, July

When selecting this theme for the month of June, there were two ways of going about song selection. Either pick songs that came out and were popular in the summer, or pick songs that lyrically dealt with summer or the themes therein. Although mixing criteria may make for a sloppier themed mix, this song comes from the latter thought process (and so did the last song, I guess.) I could go for the obvious and joke about how ironic it is that a band called The Decemberists made the summer mix, but I'll spare all three of you. I had totally forgot about this song, (and almost totally forgot about this band) until Zach reminded me of how great it is. I saw these guys live last fall right after the release of The Crane Wife and wasn't really impressed (and subconsciously filed them away with the likes of Death Cab.) But "July, July" is a song that reminds me of why I liked this band in the first place. The song is upbeat, with their patented quirky lyrics and anthemic chorus as well as the obvious nod to the best of the summer months. This song is a great addition to this part of the mix because it's a modern song with a retro throwback, whereas the last song was a retro song that was ahead of its time. Here's a short, kind of crappy clip (but the sound is good) of them performing "July, July" on their previous tour. I love those China Balls.

June Mix - 5. The Beach Boys - Good Vibrations

For the fifth song of June, I figured we could use some more "traditional" summer flavor. So who better to bring the quintessential summer sounds than The Beach Boys? I picked this track because it's one of my favorite Beach Boy songs, but it was also brought to mind while reading a recent feature on the theremin. "Good Vibrations" comes from 1967'sSmiley Smile, the follow-up to what a lot of people consider the best record of all time - Pet Sounds. The mostly disappointing album Smiley Smile was recorded after the original follow-up, Smile collapsed in production. "Good Vibrations" was one of the bright spots on this record, and provided The Beach Boys with something that came rare in their career, experimentation that came with commercial success. The single went on to sell over a million copies and has a featured theremin (thus upping the irony of the song's theme by featuring an instrument that isn't even touched.) Check out this promo video that was filmed for the song - it's either really trippy or really goofy, I can't tell - but that goes for most of the material these guys ever put out.

June Mix - 4. The Alkaline Trio - 5-3-10-4

Chicago's The Alkaline Trio will always remain one of those summer bands that I group into the Blink 182/Green Day outdoor arena tours that would come around every year of my high school existence. This particular song is my personal favorite from their second full length release, Maybe I'll Catch Fire. When Whitney suggested I put an Alk3 song on the summer mix, I wanted to use something from the Vagrant Records debut, From Here to Infirmary - but this one from their earlier career is a great one to blast out the car speakers. I've read that the song is about doing drugs (aren't all of them?) and the song title was some sort of code that singer/songwriter Matt Skiba used. With the Warped Tour so closely linked to summertime (at least in my memory), be assured that this isn't the only pop-punk anthem you'll find on the June Mix.

June Mix - 3. Notorious B.I.G. - Mo' Money Mo' Problems

Keeping our mix in the summer of 1997, Notorious B.I.G.'s "Mo' Money, Mo' Problems" is a perfect fit for the third spot. This single was released in June or July of '97 and I can remember it being the jam for the rest of that summer and then into the fall. I used to know every single word to this song, and I'm sure most of you did too. This song was the coming out party for a then-unknown Ma$e, who as we all know went on to a long and illustrious rap career. (Does anyone know what Ma$e is up to now?... Last I heard he was born again, but that was years ago.) Biggie's rap on this song is one of my all-time favorites and at the time this song came out the retro sampling wasn't as played out as it is today. Check the video, it's sort of dated with the Fuzzy Zoeller reference, but the Riddick Bowe cameo is pretty sweet.

June Mix - 2. Radiohead - Paranoid Android

This is not just one of my favorite songs that remind me of summer, it's one of my favorite songs of all time. This single was released in June of 1997 and was very different than anything else out on the radio at the time. My summer memories of this song go hand in hand with the video - which probably has something to do with sitting around watching MTV and VH1 all day instead of having to go to school. I can remember taking great pride in knowing that the men sitting around the table in the bar scene were actually the band. This is a good fit for the two slot.

June Mix - 1. Kanye West - Jesus Walks

Nothing says summer like Kanye's smash hit, "Jesus Walks." The first time I heard this song was my first day at work for the summer of 2004 just having moved home from school. Yes, I know this CD was out months before that, but I hesitated to jump on the Kanye bandwagon. This wasn't technically the first single off the record, but I feel this was the song that put Kanye on the map. Anywhere you turned that summer, you could hear this song on the radio, blasting out of cars, at the swimming pool, or anywhere else that pumped out the jam. The tempo and urgency of the song I feel will set a nice tone for the rest of the mix.

June 2007: Summer Anthems

In honor of it being June, the month that summer really kicks off for all you highschoolers and people still on quarters, this month's theme is going to be Summer Anthems. I'm going to try to keep it sort of broad - songs that may not have necessarily been released in the summer months, but got a lot of play during June, July, or August are all fair game. This is going to be a mix full of "that one song" that everytime you hear, it takes you back to those months when homework and long pants weren't an issue. Every song needs to be one you'd blast out your car stereo with the windows down.

May mixes can be downloaded at Rapidshare in .zip format, or you can request a hard copy via email.