August kept up the momentum of July and we are fast approaching the end of summer, in intent if not in fact.

1977: Glen Campbell, “Sunflower”

“Sunflower” is a joyful, fun, catchy tune which I have no memory of having heard before. It is also the kind of song which an adult would have ill-advisedly sung to a tired or sulky child in order to break a bad mood, but which would instead have only made things worse.

1982: Marshall Crenshaw, “Someday, Someway”

I have heard this one before, but the muscle-memory of my mind is feeling more nineties than eighties, so I probably heard it on a TV show or as part of a movie soundtrack. “Someday, Someway” is fun and bouncy and feels like a throwback to the sixties. Which, considering that it was recorded as a take on Gene Vincent‘s “Lotta Lovin’” which was released in 1957, I guess that makes sense.

1987: Smokey Robinson, “One Heartbeat”

That combination of keyboard and saxophone is unmistakable. I would have been winding down my first summer at the godawful pickle factory and looking forward to my first break in seven years from milking cows on Sunday mornings. So I would have been emotionally receptive to the beautiful grooves of Smokey Robinson.

1992: U2, “Even Better Than the Real Thing”

This whole album was so damn big that I don’t remember when I first heard any one of the songs therefrom. Probably on MTV, considering MTV was still playing music videos back in 1992. Or while cleaning up the kitchen at Jose Babushka’s at the end of a shift.

1997: Mr. President, “Coco Jamboo”

Lessee…1997 I was still working at the bookstore, playing a lot of Vampire: The Masquerade and Dungeons and Dragons, and practicing martial arts for about 15 hours a week. So where would I have heard this song? Probably in my car, on the way to a Renaissance Faire. Or maybe on MTV, if I was lucky enough to be watching TV during one of the increasingly rare blocks in 1997 which had music videos. It’s a catchy tune and Judith “T-Seven” Hinkelmann has a helluva voice.