Alert readers have surely noticed the theme of my last few posts. We’ve gone from Summer In The City to Summertime to The Summer Songs Dozen. Hot time, summer in the city.

The featured image is a 1930 painting by one of my favorite American modernists, Stuart Davis. He was best known for bringing the spirit of jazz to his art. One could even say that Davis unstuffed the stuffier corners of the New York art scene of his day. That makes it sound like a sofa. You say couch; I say sofa. Let’s get on with the post.

The songs are in chronological order. The list is strictly literal. All the songs have summer in the title. It’s late July, what else did you expect? It’s too hot to mess around further with this introduction.

Let’s set the Wayback Machine to 1966 and begin with a Sinatra-Riddle classic.

This song was written by the crack Motown songwriting team of Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong. It was also recorded by The Temptations, but this version is, I dare say, the pip or is it a knight? I’m Gladys I’m not required to answer that question…

Seals & Crofts were folkies whose path to mainstream success was paved by my countryman Cat Stevens. Summer Breeze is insidiously catchy, which is why this tune was a monster hit in the summer of ’72.

Let’s slow down the tempo with Joni Mitchell. I would never hiss at her. Why? She’d hiss back, that’s why.

I’d almost forgotten this lovely tune. It’s quite peaceful coming from a band named War.

Next, the opening track of XTC’s magisterial Skylarking album. It ends abruptly because it flows into the next number, Grass. No hissing: please reserve that for summer lawns.

The Other Side Of Summer is perhaps my favorite song of the dozen. What’s not to love about lyrics that mock my least favorite John Lennon song with this line: “Was it a millionaire who said Imagine no possessions?”

When this catchy Difford & Tilbrook song didn’t chart in 1995, I realized I’d lost my ability to detect a hit single. Oh well, what the hell.

The weirdest title of the Summer Songs Dozen is clearly this tune written by Patti Smith and her late husband, Fred “Sonic” Smith. It makes one ALMOST want to learn if human flesh really tastes like chicken. ALMOST.

Let’s enjoy a summerfling with KD Lang. My spell checker had a nervous breakdown over that spelling.

Bruce Springsteen. Say no more.

I dig this self-caricature album cover art by my old acquaintance, Chris Isaak.

That concludes the Summer Songs Dozen proper. You may have noticed that there aren’t any Beach Boys songs. Their best summer songs aren’t as literal as this listicle. That’s why there’s no Beach Boys lagniappe. Instead, it’s summertime, summertime, summertime with Eddie Cochran, Sly Stone, and the ultimate one-hit wonder from Mungo Jerry.

Finally, some wishful thinking from The Kinks: