Here are six pieces of musical nostalgia for your summer playlist, and a list of activities to accompany them – because life should have a soundtrack. As I am a fan of all things vintage they are oldies but goodies, dating from the 50’s to the 70’s. A millennial told me recently that he wished he had been born in 1960 because we had better music, and we did, but I would welcome any newer suggestions.
Old Cape Cod – I love all those old classics from the 50’s and this song paints a picture of a part of the world I would love to visit, being a big fan of Elin Hilderbrand’s Nantucket novels and Susan Branch’s Martha’s Vineyard books. It was first recorded in 1957 by Patti Page, but I like Bette Midler’s 1972 version as well. Best served with a lobster stew in a restaurant with an ocean view.
You have to be crazy to try this…
Those Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer. Originally recorded in 1963 by Nat King Cole, this happy summer song is best served with soda, pretzels and beer while reading a book on the beach and wishing summer would always be here.
Indian Lake
Indian Lake – another tune from the sixties – 1968 The Cowsills. I remember listening to this (now politically incorrect) song when I was a kid and we would go up to the Grove-on the-Lake to swim on summer Sundays after church. Best served with a snack at the Grove diner after renting a canoe or while camping.
Hot Fun in the Summertime – recorded in 1969 by Sly and the Family Stone shortly after their performance at Woodstock. Best served out in the country sun with a picnic basket or at any outdoor music concert.
In the Summertime – Mungo Jerry – a British rock band debuted this hit in 1970 which became the carefree summer song of the baby boomer generation. Best served with a milkshake or smoothie while driving a jeep along the lake. (Don’t drink and drive!)
photo from poolsuppliescanada.ca
Sunny Afternoon – recorded by The Kinks in 1967 as a protest to the British taxes paid by rich rock stars. Best served while lazing in a swimming pool with an ice cold beer in hand while dreaming of winning the lottery.
Postscript: I suppose I could have called this six summertime hits from the sixties. Notice I said we had better music, not hairstyles or clothing!
What is your favorite summertime song?
A Month in Italy, because it’s my dream someday. If you can’t go yourself you can enjoy reading about someone else’s adventures and avoid the jet lag and lost luggage, and in the case of Italy, the weight gain. Speaking of good food, there always seems to be a profusion of cookbooks at book sales, as well as diet fads from years past. The children’s books always go quickly I am happy to see. It’s nice to see parents starting a library, and the book-on-every-bed Christmas project is such a good idea to inspire early readers. 
I remember wearing a stylish dark cotton plaid dress the first day of grade eight when I was just starting to be fashion savvy, and thinking it was the grooviest thing ever. High school meant a whole week of dress up days before we were regulated into ugly navy-blue nun-like uniforms with white shirts (which my mother had to iron every morning) and no pants either, although the boys could wear ripped jeans and t-shirts with bad sayings…..you would not get away with that kind of discrimination today. How I would have welcomed a nice plaid kilt like other Catholic schools had. Dress up days were also held the first Friday of the month and were a cutthroat competition as to who could look the most like a Seventeen model. I remember wearing a short plum skirt with a gold blouse and a plum vest with a gold plaid pattern on the front, and thinking it was the epitome of style…. kind of like a cheerleader’s outfit. Although I was never the type, I envied them their uniforms. Skirts were short, (looking back, really short), as it was the early seventies, and the nuns would go around measuring with a ruler if they were in a particularly mean mood. One winter when I was sixteen I bought a wool plaid winter coat at Saks where we hardly ever shopped because it was too expensive, simply because the sales lady talked me into it by telling me I looked like the cover of Mademoiselle, a magazine I was not familiar with at the time as it was for college students. I think I only wore it one year as the next year it was out of style, and the plaid was way too loud and garish. University meant jeans and plain polyester shirts with the occasional sweater – we were poor students with no money and high rent living in a big city where there was lovely shopping but who could afford it. We window-shopped instead. In first year, my roommate and I so coveted Viyella plaid housecoats that we used to stop by the nightwear department at the Eaton’s store and visit them when we were downtown. I finally bought a knockoff version because you had to have something to put on in the girls dorm, because horrors what if you ran into some guy in the washroom. 
thehomeplaceweb 