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Oh the heady days of summer, chock-full of tangerine dreams, and the purple haze of indigo skies adding a luminescent hue to bountiful gardens. Whether you have a penchant for a patio, augmented by the river of sounds provided by city streets, or maybe you prefer the more sublime setting that an isolated beach can provide.
 
For every personal preference, there is a sound, a song that sticks in your head like peanut butter on whole wheat bread. Here’s where we come in, CKUA has already cast a net out to our staff and we’ve come back with a number of quintessential songs that means summer to us, but now it’s your turn.

We are listener supported radio after all, and you are integral to everything we do, so why not share a little bit of sunshine from wherever you listen…it’s as simple as submitting a song request - and preferably a little story to go along with your pick - to web@ckua.com.

Each and every Friday through this, the fairest season of all in the Northern Hemisphere, Tony King will share some of your stories and picks, all peppered into Alberta Morning.

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Absolute must for summer (or any time you need a pick-me-up for that matter) The Sound of SunShine by Michael Franti @ Spearhead.  Song plays and I challenge you to not smile - impossible! :)

Terry R

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Those Summer Songs you played made me smile.   This one, though ... "Those Lazy Crazy Hazy Days of Summer" evokes memories of August. Growing up in Vancouver the haze of late summer, the treats of Soda Pop, pretzels (we were allowed to eat a lot of those) and beer for the grownups. And Nat King Cole on the Transistor radio in the back yard where everyone sprawled in lawn chairs or on the grass (the kids of course)  too hot to move in the sultry summer heat of the afternoon. Those last weeks of summer,  the sense that the end was near and yet,  there was still a surprise or two in store.

 

Like the cousin who showed up from Iceland one year and absolutely loved watching Canadian TV so everyone took a turn keeping him company in the non-air conditioned, hotter than an oven living room! Mom had the oldies station on in the Kitchen and Nat King Cole sang about lazy, hazy and crazy ... all of which I felt, sitting in the stifling heat of living room watching  the Icelandic cousin watching TV!  We talked on the commercials. Yes, Nat "King" Cole's voice evokes summer, and even "Ramblin' Rose" makes me think wistfully of my mother holding me in her arms when I was little and dancing with me to the song, wearing her sleeveless summer shirt and shorts and teaching me the words to the song she was dancing to.

 

So, Tony, can you please play "Those Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer?" and maybe a little later,  closer to September,  "Ramiblin' Rose"?

Joannie T

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My husband and I got talking about summer music and I found I had way too many songs that sprung into my brain. Each song that came to mind had a memory attached to it and put me in a place and time, often outdoor concerts and/or driving vacations.

 

There is one song, however, that kept coming to mind that was without specifics, just a good summery feeling. That song, for some unknown reason, is "Long Cool Woman" by the Hollies. I’ve been unable to hear much of your morning shows lately between the dog walk and rushing out the door but maybe if you play this one I’ll get to enjoy it with you!

Elaine in Calgary

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This song reminds me of a summer night in Paris. It's magical and dreamy, just like summer nights in that city should be:

La Vie En Rose – Louis Armstrong

Cheers, Carolyn

The second is by one of my favourite UK artists, Chris Rea. It’s called “On The Beach”; I am sure you are familiar with it. It always reminds me of happy childhood holidays in the South of France, and how these places are refuges in the memory...we can always go back there when we have the “blues.” I don’t play these songs in the winter, so they really are my summer songs!

All the best to you and all at the best radio station family in the universe!

- David

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Just thought I heard you say you were taking requests for music that reminds you of summer. I heard Ramblin Man by Greg and Duane Allman.
Blue Sky reminds me of the summer by the Allman Brothers,
Mungo Jerry’s In The Summertime is a great summertime tune.
Can’t forget Summertime by Sublime.
 
Adios amigo, via con dios,
 
Andrew in Calgary

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hey tony how about the monkeys another pleasant valley sunday

 

 

"(Sittin on) The Dock of the Bay"...great summer song and brings back wonderful memories of honeymooning in Hawaii, where my wife convinced me (after a few beverages as I recall), to overcome my fear of singing in public and sing it on a Karaoke stage.
 
Vince in Edmonton

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Sweet City Woman by the Stampeders (Alberta Band!!!) is right up there among my all time favourite summer songs. I absolutely love the groove of that song and the banjo makes it really uplifting. You can’t possibly feel sad when it’s playing. “She feeds me love and tenderness and macaroons” Oh ya!

-Sheila H, Edmonton

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Growing up in Calgary, summertime meant one thing – Stampede! And one song that will always remind me of The Calgary Stampede is ’She’s a Beauty’ by The Tubes. I don’t know exactly why, but when I hear those first few notes I’m 15 standing smack dab in the middle of the fairgrounds surrounded by rides, games, fiddlesticks and mini doughnuts, oh I can taste them!

I admit that I had to actually YouTube the song to find out who sang it and was thrilled to find the video itself is a sort of carnival. Coincidence, maybe? All I know is the minute that song comes on it has me smiling and I think to myself do you want to go faster?

Melanie M – Calgary   

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Hi Tony!

My husband and I were talking about your Summer Playlist and came up with numerous favourites! We’d like to throw these 2 into the hat:

Craig’s – Summertime Blues by Blue Cheer if you can find it (no explanation for this one, hmmm!)

Mine – Crimson & Clover (I think of first waltzes at a high school dance)

If we missed these being played already, oh well! We try to be always listening to your program!

Gale

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Not sure if this song has been chosen yet but to me the song that means summer to me is:

Afternoon Delight – Starland Vocal Band.

I believe it was 1976 that it came out.  I was in high school and had my first job with the Legal Aid Society of Alberta in Edmonton that summer.  It was a “work experience” program that earned me 5 credits towards my high school diploma.  When summer was over I was able to continue with the Legal Aid Society on a part time basis while finishing school.  It was such a positive experience for me and when I hear that song I get all of those wonderful feelings back!

 

Anne

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I'd like to nominate Very Happy Now by The Grand Slambovians (aka Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams).  It's perky, but subversive, and reminds me of the great afternoon I spent watching the band outdoors at the Mariposa Folk Festival, enjoying a beer, the sun, and the high 30s temperature.  Winter comes too soon, but I forget that when I hear this song.

Terry

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For years, my summers revolved around the Edmonton Folk Music Festival.  My wife and I started attending in 1986 and never missed one until we moved out here to the Sunshine Coast in 2007 (we have travelled back to Edmonton to catch the festival only once since we moved).  Our kids were born into and raised on EFMF.  We have all spent hundreds of hours enjoying our volunteer experiences there as well.

I still remember, though, walking into that first festival on a dark Friday night, sitting on the hill and listening to Eric Bogle. That night began a decades-long love of folk, roots and blues music that has formed the soundtrack of my family’s life.  Anything by Eric Bogle would be wonderful to listen to.  It is his distinctive voice and sensibilities that stand out for me more than any one song.

Rod Perrault
(now of) Powell River BC
Still listening to CKUA, though...

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So many tunes bring back memories of summers gone by it is hard to choose…

Driving to Radium Hot Springs on family vacation and Dad playing Belafonte at Carnegie Hall and singing along to “Matilda”…

Rocking out on camping trips after high school to “Paradise by the Dashboard Light”…

Vacationing in Jamaica in the early eighties and really hearing reggae for the first time, such a great laid back summertime feel.

Anything by Bob Marley and the Wailers, but “No Woman No Cry” and “Three Little Birds” jump to mind.

Have a great summer!

Vince

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One of my favorite summer songs is Eric Burdon's "Spill the Wine". It brings me back to my youth and hot sizzling humid summer days in Montreal...I had 2 older brothers and 1older sister who were all the coolest hippies in our suburb of Rosemere.  We used to play albums and/or CHUM FM a few hours each day and whenever Mom wasn't home... those summer days turned me into the music junkie that I am today.

 

Cheers, Rosie

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Dancing & singing to Coconut Man – Taj Mahal and the Hula Blues Band

You have a number of excellent summer songs on your list but I don't yet see "Summertime Blues".  I had a look on Google to see which performer I probably remember doing it and have to conclude that it was probably The Who, but it has been recorded so many times that it might have been someone else.  I was surprised that it was originally written and recorded in the late '50's.
 
I remember it from the late '60's or possibly early '70's, hearing it on AM radio in the Edmonton area while doing many summertime activities from work to relaxation.

George in Calgary

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I would have to say that "Kokomo" by the Beach Boys spells out summer for me! You can almost feel the sand between your toes when you listen to it! :)

Melanie from Edson

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Well the ultimate summer song, would have to be Hot Fun in the Summer Time, by Sly and the Family Stone.

If I think about a summer song event, for me, it would be from the Festival Express in Calgary. I was 19 (no don't start doing the math!). On the Sunday, during the afternoon, it was screaming hot and Delaney and Bonnie and Friends were heating things up. After songs he'd get people to "Woo!". He eventually hit the crowd with their version of Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti"...that was a summer song!

Bob K

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Hi Tony! Great show! I had to send in my summer musical 'flashback'.  The Allman Brothers doing 'Ramblin Man'. Creston B.C. and Porthill Idaho. A '51 Fargo half-ton. An 8 track tapedeck. I'm there!

Peter in Lethbridge

 

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Kinks “Holiday” from Muswell Hillbillies.

 

Saw them perform it in Queen Elizabeth theatre back in the early 70’s on a warm summer evening.  The lyrics are very droll…   

 

Lying on the beach, my back burned rare
Salt gets in my blisters, sand gets in my hair
The sea’s an open sewer but I really couldn’t care
I’m breathing through my mouth so I don’t half to sniff the air

 

Collin in Edson

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I had a cassette tape one time that had something like 6 or 8 slightly different versions of She Sells Sanctuary on it. It was an official release tape, there was like a radio version, a studio version, there was a European version, there was one called the killercult version....they were all very similar!
 
My friends and I went to a lake in Montana for a couple weeks in the summer of '99 to boat and water-ski. We all had lots of CDs but the only tape we had was, of course, the Cult tape with the endless versions of Sanctuary on it...and, of course, the boat only had a tape deck.
For days all we listened to was She Sells Sanctuary on an endless loop.

Every time I hear the opening riff of that song it gives me chills of summer anticipation and excitment, and also a heavy dose of nostalgia! Id have to say She Sells Sanctuary by The Cult is my favorite summer song.

Number two best summer song - Queen's Fat Bottom Girls. No big story with this one.....it's just a damn fine song!!

 

Matt

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I love Amy Bishop’s “I Just Wanna Drive”! 

“Put my favourite CD in the car;
Kick the pedal to the floor;
My arm is hangin’ out the window,
slappin’ the rhythm on the door…”  

If I put that song on when driving to work on a summer’s day, I just might never get there!!

Cat

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Stay Human - stereo steambath remix - Michael Franti & spearhead from the 6 Degrees '100' compilation.

 

This song traveled with me in my van from Toronto, to Edmonton, Vancouver, burning man, San Francisco, Tucson, New Orleans and back in an epic 1.5 year long summer tour I did some years back. I was hanging out with artists, hippies, and activists actively imagining a better future, so I felt like the song was speaking directly to me:)

 

Dylan

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I had a musical awakening in the summer of 1973. I can still remember almost every song on the hit parade at that time. A hot, dry summer in Vancouver, stuck in traffic on the 99, my mother stressed, me and  my 3 siblings in the back seat listening to CKLG …

 

The first few notes of this song  almost knocks  me off my feet with an overwhelming recollection of a time and place of growing up. The song was Seals and Croft “Diamond Girl”.  (The more obvious choice may be “Summerbreeze”; however, Diamond Girl has more of a summer memory for me for some reason).

Here’s to summer,

Ken - Calgary

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“All Summer Long” – The Beachboys – this was the closing soundtrack song from “American Graffiti” which came out in the spring/summer of 1973. My wife and I were newlyweds at the time and went to see the show with friends at the old Varscona theatre at the corner of 109th Street and Whyte Avenue. It was one of those rare perfect summer nights when the show let out and we walked out into this beautiful warm twilight evening with “All Summer Long” playing in the background.
 
“Brown Eyed Girl” – Van Morrison – this song was released in the summer of 1967, after Morrison had left Them and was into his solo career. I have no specific personal memory attached to it, only that it always reminds me of summer and the freedom of a high school kid on summer holidays with their whole life ahead of them.
 
Cheers – Bruce

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Summer songs – it’s hard to pick just one or two, but I will try.
 
From my very young days – Lazy Crazy Days of Summer – Nat King Cole.  My mother loved Nat King Cole and she played this song a lot. I also loved the harmonies of the Beach Boys.  The sand, surf and California themes are very summery – Little Deuce Coupe or Surfin USA...
 
Connie

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My essential song of summer is Weezer's Island of Sun.

 

For me it is the epitemy of what summer should be: light, fun, and all about the sun! I used to drive back and forth between Camrose and Fort McMurray. Whenever I heard the song on the radio, I happened to be just driving into Camrose, relieved that the 6-hour drive was over. I'd roll down the windows and crank it! The warm evening breeze would settle over me as I pulled into home for a relaxing weekend.

Cheers, Susanna

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I offer "Reelin' in the Years" by Steely Dan. It was the summer of 1972 and it was my first summer job. I was employed as a car washer at an auto dealership in Pointe Claire, Quebec, west of Montreal. I was the only Anglo working with three Quebecois - a relationship that had its moments but we all managed to get along. The introduction of FM rock radio in Montreal (the legendary CHOM-FM) was still a year or two away, so the four of us were limited to local AM Top 40 radio, blaring away in our garage all day long on a cheap radio.

I heard many songs that summer but the one that stayed with me was "Reelin' in the Years." It was different from everything else on the radio that sumer - little did I know that it was the first offering from one of the truly great "bands" of all-time. To this day, "Reeling' in the Years" still stands up as a great rock song, and sounds just as fresh now (40 years later) as it did in the summer of '72.

Thanks. Andy

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In 1973, after I graduated from the U of A, I went down to Florida to visit my grandparents.  I remember buying an Alice Cooper 8-track
while I was down there.  "School's Out" would be highly appropriate!  Love your show.     Jim, Calgary

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Well, I just danced and sang around the kitchen w/ the Fleetwood Mac song.. soooo, that one, the Sister Golden Hair goes over well w/ me as well.
 
Murray McLaughlin – not sure of the name  - dusty old farmer out working the fields… straw hat and old dirty hanky….you know the one.  Also - "in the summer time when the weather is fine, you can shush right up and touch the sky… LA Woman/Doors
 
Those and a few more :)
 
Thanks!  Kathleen