Aural August Arrangments

The Post Apocalyptic Bohemian & the future Husband, summer of 1980. The song of that summer: Blondie's Call Me

August is my favorite month, with no holidays; I feel imposed on by holidays & I just don’t go for most of them. August has a full 31 days (I have a mortgage, it makes a difference). Late summer: sunflowers, 80 degrees days, cool nights, no humidity, the garden at its apex (we have a real summer garden), busy mornings & lazy afternoons, cocktails by candlelight in the garden at night. August is the monthly equivalent of good sex (July is HOT sex, December is cuddle sex).


Even if I haven't taken a vacation in years, even if I use the old surfboard as a coffee table, even if my tan owes more to the glow of my laptop than the heat of the sun, even if I am forced by circumstances to stay home, the hot month before Labor Day can still bewitch me with the whiff of an escape. My memories of late summer are hard to shake, & music only makes the memories more vivid. listen to Every Breath You Take or Rock the Boat & I associate the song with the golden season that produced it.

Summer songs are not like fall or spring songs. The greatest summer tunes tend to be romantic- Under The Boardwalk & rowdy- Born to Be Wild, revolutionary- The Message or silly -My Sharona. These songs peaked during August (ruling out Good Vibrations, a classic that hit in the dead of winter). For me they capture the breezy, lazy quintessence of summer. Here are10 songs on my summer mix:


Martha & the Vandellas
Heat Wave
August of 1963
I danced to this song on stage in The Boys In The Band in 1972. One of the earliest smashes from Motown's legendary Holland/Dozier/Holland songwriting team, this song's central metaphor was driven home by music as riveting as Martha Reeves' scorching vocal delivery. With the Vandellas urging her on (''Go ahead, girl!''), the singer seemed to be courting heatstroke as she worked herself up into an impassioned frenzy.




The Drifters
Under the Boardwalk
August of 1964
It is now impossible to experience of the romantic scenario dreamily laid out by the Drifters, under the boardwalk, at Coney Island.The formerly cavernous space under the decaying planks has been filled in with sand. Should this ballad work as a period piece? I think this make-out place is a safe place we can always retreat to in the shade of memory.


Madonna
Borderline
August of 1984
The airwaves gave into that poignant opening keyboard lick, burbling disco melody, & masochist lyrics. If infatuation is an essential summer experience, then so is romantic frustration. Pleading while standing up for herself, Madonna scored her first top 10 hit & made romantic disappointment uplifting.


Sly & the Family Stone
Hot Fun in the Summertime
August of 1969
One of Sly's most sophisticated productions, this remarkable record blended piano, strings, brass, & post-doo-wop harmonies into an enduring hymn to the effects of free time & hot weather. Has there ever been a more meaning-packed non sequitur than ''Bop-bop-a-bop-bop when I want to'' for bringing bliss both wholesome & wicked? Blith, bouncy, breezy, bright & bawdy.

The Hues Corporation
Rock the Boat
August of 1974
The epitome of summer trifles, from an L.A. trio who never went top 10 again, this bit of disco bubblegum had a rollicking rhythm that matched its title, not to mention lyrics great for boating season: “Our love is like a ship on the ocean. We’ve been sailing with a cargo full with love and devotion''. Depending on your politics, it was also a great way to celebrate Richard Nixon's resignation.


Grand Master Flash & the Furious Five
The Message
August of 1982
Like a mirage on a hot day, 'The Message' floated right off the steaming asphalt of the NYC streets. 7 stark & sweltering minutes about life in the ghetto. DJ Flash served up the shimmery synthesizers & quaking beats.The Message gave me my 1st taste of socially conscious hip-hop.


The Police
Every Breath You Take
August of 1983
STALKING never sounded as sweet as it did during the summer of 1983, when Sting's tune about spying on a lost love smothered the airwaves like Bain de Soleil. Although it seems like wistfully romantic ballad, Every Breath You Take is a mean little song, dangerous & actually nails down the acquisitive spirit of the 1980s ''Oh, can't you see?'' Sting's lament warned. ''You belong to me.''


Donovan
Sunshine Superman
August of 1966
This giddily effervescent trifle (possibly the first #1 pop song to contain an explicit drug reference) went down easy no matter what kind of sunshine you thought he was talking about.


Prince
Little Red Corvette
August of 1982
The prefect great car song. Still makes me horny.




Marvin Gaye
Let's Get It On
August 1973
The music was as suave as the title was blunt on this peerless seduction anthem.


I am interested in your August Songs. Leave a comment & I will send you a custom mix... because I care.