And speaking of summers, a few years ago I had talked about the summer of 1966 as the first that I listened to the radio religiously, and keeping up to date on the hits. Well, the following summer had its share as well. It has been commonly referred to as the "Summer of Love". That term had a lot to do with the peach/hippie movement originating in San Francisco with all the "love-ins" and "be-ins". And perhaps fittingly enough, one of the big hits that summer was Scott MacKenzie's "San Francisco (Wear Flowers in Your Hair)". The psychedelia that was the Beatles' "Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band" was first and foremost, especially "Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds". Music pretty much changed during that summer. We saw the last of the Garage Rock bands, the beginning of the acid rock era and more socially aware songs.
Two things wrong, however, with the "Summer of Love" motif. While they were preaching peace, love and understanding out west, two cities in New Jersey, just a few towns from me there were race riots, in Newark and Plainfield. With the current climate of the racism issue, those two events pretty much get accentuated. The other thing? I was only 10 years old, so there really wasn't much love of anything...except summer vacation.
I was pretty busy during the Summer of Love. The first two weeks of July, my folks sent me to summer camp...of the sleepover variety. After going to day camp for four years, it was time to pack the sleeping bags, and large black chests and head up to Frost Valley YMCA, near Liberty NY. It was indeed an experience. I was in Cabin #10 and there were eight campers bunking there, plus a counselor (Doug Smith). We were part of "Forest Village", encompassing five cabins, with boys roughly my age. So, all forty of us campers did hang out together. We woke up to a scratched "Reveille" record, gathered for flag raising and lowering, as well as for meals and activities. Music? Well, as it turned out, Doug had WABC on all the time, so in a sense I was able to catch up on all the music. "Groovin" by the Young Rascals, "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" by Frankie Valli, "Little Bit O Soul" by The Music Explosion, "Come On Down to My Boat" by Every Mother's Son, "Respect" by Aretha Franklin, and "Sunday Will Never Be the Same" by Spanky & Our Gang. And then there's "Windy" by the Association....one of the campers would yell out "everyone knows it's Windy!!!". At the end of the two weeks, I heard another song, by The Doors, "Light My Fire" which would hold sway the rest of the summer.
Summer stay-away camp was a unique experience, and I would go back the following two summers, at which time the music would continue to play a party. The rest of the summer was no slouch either. A few days after I returned from camp, we were sent off to my great-Aunt and Uncle's house up in Rye Beach, NH. It would be the first time I was in the Granite State, even though it was along that state's shore coastline. Then, finally in August, it was the annual trek down to the Jersey Shore, to Manasquan. And again, songs like the aforementioned "Light My Fire", The Beatles' "All You Need is Love", The Monkees "Pleasant Valley Sunday", The Grass Roots "Let's Live For Today" and Stevie Wonder's "I Was Made to Love Her" blared the airwaves. That year was special since it was the only year we got a beachfront bungalow with a view of the ocean (despite the fact that during the whole last week, it was pretty stormy.
So, in a sense, it was a summer of love for me.
BACK TO CURRENT: Ed Sheeran's "Thinking Out Loud" has a second week at the top, followed by The Decemberists and Florence + the Machine, with "Cavalry Captain" and "Ship to Wreak", respectively. Kevin Parker appears twice in the upper echelon; as the featured vocalist on "Daffodils" by Mark Ronson, and his band Tame Impala's "Let It Happen" which jumps into the SNS top 20 this week, its second. With the recent layoff in listening to music, I do feel a little bit detached to what is actually popular. Assuming I do my next blog right after this one, I will try to catch up both on the pop and alternative side.
NO LOSER HERE: Beck had been on the radar of many earlier this year when his album Morning Phase won a Grammy for Album of the Year, much to Kanye West's displeasure. It put some focus back on an artist who has attempted many styles over the years, but in recent releases had taken a back seat to more current artists. Yet, many seemed to champion Beck's artistry in the wake of West's suggestion that he should "respect artistry", referring to Beyoncé. Many posts alluding to all the instruments Beck played on his most recent album went viral, and if anything brought back awareness in his music.
"Blue Moon", the first single from that album, reached my Top 20 and landed in my year-end Top 100. At the time, I vowed I would add another single from that set. That would have been "Heart Is A Drum", but, with a backlog of songs I had to add, it was put on the backburner as I was interested in newer music.
Well, it just so happens, that we have a brand-new Beck song, "Dreams", which right now is a stand-alone single but to be included in a forthcoming album later this year. Any doubt about this guy's artistry can end right here. Unlike his last album, a concept of sorts, this one basically is uptempo and rocks, yet displays his usual melding of styles. He said he composed this song to have something upbeat to play at concerts. Alternative radio is surely taking to it, as the song sits at #6 on the Alternative chart ("Blue Moon" by comparison only reached #31 on that chart). This is danceable all the way until the last portion which slows it down oh so slightly, but allows his artistry to take over. "Dreams" is another work of art and another top 20 position seems very likely.
Other entries include the fourth Maroon 5 single from V, "This Summer's Gonna Hurt", which could be to 2015 what Calvin Harris' "Summer" was last year and Paul Czekaj's "At the Beach" two years ago; Catfish & the Bottleman's follow-up to "Cathleen", "Cocoon", hoping to follow the former into my top 20, Hozier's "Work Song" which follows two top 10's; and Twin Shadow's "When The Lights Turn Out".
Scenes ‘n’ Soundwaves 100
June 14 & 21,
2015
| This Week | Last Week | ARTIST-Title | Weeks on List |
| 1 | 1 | NUMBER ONE:
"Thinking Out
Loud"
Album: x
(2 weeks at #1)
|
16 |
| 2 | 4 | The Decemberists - Calvary Captain | 11 |
| 3 | 5 | Florence + the Machine - Ship to Wreck | 7 |
| 4 | 3 | Calvin Harris f. Ellie Goulding - Outside | 8 |
| 5 | 2 | Alabama Shakes - Gimme All Your Love | 9 |
| 6 | 7 | St. Paul and the Broken Bones - Like a Mighty River | 8 |
| 7 | 8 | Grace Potter - Alive Tonight | 5 |
| 8 | 9 | Mumford & Sons - Believe | 10 |
| 9 | 11 | Elle King - Ex's and Oh's | 6 |
| 10 | 12 | MS MR - Painted | 6 |
| 11 | 6 | Omnia Hegazy - Dust | 14 |
| 12 | 10 | My Morning Jacket - Big Decisions | 10 |
| 13 | 15 | Awolnation - Hollow Moon | 11 |
| 14 | 18 | George Ezra - Budapest | 18 |
| 15 | 20 | Meg Myers - Sorry | 9 |
| 16 | 25 | TOP 20 IMPACT OF THE WEEK:
"Let It
Happen"
Album: Currents
|
11 |
| 17 | 30 | Walk the Moon - Shut Up & Dance | 13 |
| 18 | 14 | Mark Ronson f. Kevin Parker - Daffodils | 12 |
| 19 | 13 | Tennis - I'm Callin' | 12 |
| 20 | 19 | Zella Day - Hypnotic | 14 |
Tremors:
| 101 | ---- | Only Real - Yesterdays |
| 102 | 106 | Fidler - 40 oz on Repeat |
| 103 | ---- | ZZ Ward - Love 3X |
|
|
Songs
with the greatest increase in favorite points over the prior week.
● Songs
with 25 or more plays on my iPod.
▲ Songs with 50 or more plays on my iPod.
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