A SWIK Summer Dance Mix

As the summer solstice and the longest day of the year draw to a close, I’m thinking about songs of the season. What is it about summer music that seems to stay with us forever? Even if you’re not a passionate music geek like me, there are songs that whenever you hear them they bring you back to a particular moment and feeling. Of course, music can bring you back to any significant moment in life. But the songs of summer, they’re different. They capture a spirit and a feeling. For me, an overall sense of freedom and joy that came with summer and being out of school. Somehow it seemed that there was just a little less supervision. Once we leave school, it becomes more difficult to capture these warm weather sentiments. Summer vacation is only a week or two, if we’re lucky. So with the equinox and the official start of summer, here are a few songs for a SWIK Summer Dance Mix. Because summer, of course, includes a lot of dancing.

I expect some of these will become this summer’s anthems and you won't be able to walk two steps without hearing them. Perfect pop tunes for riding with the top down on the convertible, sitting by the pool or the beach, or the hosting the occasional dance party. I also included a few tunes that you aren’t as likely to hear on the radio but that capture the spirit of summer for me.

“Jai Ho! (Your Are My Destiny)” feat. Nicole Scherzinger & the Pussycat Dolls. We all loved this song and the final dance scene of Slumdog Millionare, I expect this remix and the related dance moves will continue to be with us all summer.


“Sandcastle Disco” by Solange, Beyoncé’s younger sister. Hey, what’s summer without sandcastles? You can’t go wrong with this bouncy tune. I’m sure we’ll all be tired of it by the time September rolls around. For now, it's catchy and entertaining. This is another one from the dance class (see Trina post).

Last summer Estelle had a hit with Kanye West called "American Boy" from her album Shine. The title track from this album may capture us this summer. She's raps, but it's her smooth vocals and the free-spirit chorus on "Shine" that will make this song last beyond the next few months.

“Goodbye” from Kristinia Debarge, the 19 year old daughter of James DeBarge of the band with the same name. DeBarge had a classic summer hit with “Rhythm of the Night”. I expect Kristinia will as well with “Goodbye,” because, really, what is summer without someone signing “na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye”.


Lady Gaga has been writing songs for Britney Spears and other pop starlets for several years. In 2008 she put out her own album and it's still churning out hits. While “Just Dance” was the single last summer, and one of my personal favorites, I expect “The Fame” will be the summer song for ’09. All of her music has an ’80’s influence, but this song samples “Owner of a Lonely Heart”. You remember the band Yes? No?

What's summer without Madonna? For this year’s mix, I chose “Incredible” from her last album Hard Candy. Not sure that it will take off on the pop charts, but I like the song. It captures what we want from summer, “Just one of those things when everything goes incredible and all is beautiful”. When things are so good you can't get your head around it. Granted, it’s Madonna so by the end of the song she’s singing about incredible sex.

I’m sticking to female artists here, but I’ll give the Black Eyed Peas a pass and include “Boom Boom Pow”. Although the boys are the backbone of this band, Fergie has been their frontwoman for the past few albums. She's done well on her own too. Like most of their tunes "Boom Boom Pow", from their new album, The E.N.D., is catchy, danceable, hip-hop. Yep, I first heard this one in the dance class as well.

[caption id="attachment_398" align="alignright" width="100" caption="Imelda May"][/caption]For something different, I’m adding one of my new favorite artists, Imelda May. Discovered by the man, who I will now call my “music pusher” (like a drug pusher) because he keeps introducing me to great music and feeding my addiction. (This is the same guy who creates the mixes where I discovered Little Boots and Lykke Li). “Johny Got A Boom Boom” has a great bass line and will get you moving. I’ll be writing more about this Irish rockabilly chanteuse in the future.


Cassandra Wilson evokes summer for me. So I'm adding "Lover Come Back to Me" from her last album, Loverly. A good friend introduced me to her many years ago. He will always be a far bigger and more knowledgeable fan. Every summer we went to see her perform somewhere around NYC. Whether it was Central Park, Battery Park, the Blue Note, or a small bookstore, she epitomized the summer concert. Expect an entire post on her sometime in the near future. She's a SWIK icon.

I first heard “Valerie” when I was in London last fall, but I'm hoping its gets some more airplay over the summer. I LOVE this song. Mark Ronson’s big band sound and the Amy Winehouse vocals make a perfect mix. Whatever you think of Amy’s lifestyle choices (drugs, alcohol, etc.) the woman can belt it out. This catchy tune will get your feet tapping and you’ll want to grab your partner and swing dance, which is an appropriate summer dance genre.

Finally, every summer mix needs a song about the end of summer. Pink’s “Please Don’t Leave Me” seems to fit the bill for saying goodbye to friends or romance. It's the second single from last year's album, Funhouse. The first was an aggressive, but catchy tune called "So What". She's always had a bit of an edge compared to the standard pop star and this song seems to round out a 2009 Summer Dance Mix nicely.

See and Hear Songs in this Blog
I attempted to create a mix on this new site called Grooveshark. Unfortunately, you can’t download from there as far as I can tell. So you’ll have to locate the songs elsewhere if you want to listen to them somewhere other than your computer. Wait a moment for it to load, you may not even have to login. SWIK Summer Dance Mix 2009. Let me know if it works for you.

Summer Classics
Summer wouldn’t be summer without these classic songs that are actually about summer. They need no background, they capture the full range of summer sentiments.

Summertime, Summertime The Jamies
Summertime Billy Stewart
Let's Twist Again (Like We Did Last Summer) Chubby Checker
Summertime Blues Eddie Cochran
Summer in the City The Lovin' Spoonful
Summer Nights From the movie Grease
Vacation The Go-Go's
Cruel Summer Bananarama
Pulling Mussels(From the Shell) Squeeze
Summer of ’69 Bryan Adams
Boys of Summer Don Henley
Summertime Will Smith
Picnic in the Summertime Dee-Lite
Summertime Rolls Jane's Addiction
School's Out Alice Cooper