Song of the Summer

Every summer there is a song that gets constantly remixed, played in dj sets, covered all over the place by other bands, earns the top spot on "Top 25 Most Played" playlist on your iPod, and just downright seeps into your brain.

There has been some talk that this year's song was "Kids" by MGMT, but if you ask me, that song didn't get hot until the end of summer/beginning of fall. For me, 2008's song of summer was definitely "Cold Dust Girl" by Hey Champ. They're local, so this one didn’t dominate across the country, but in my world, it was huge. First of all, they're my friends, so I was going to all their shows anyway, but then they filmed a video for "Cold Dust Girl" starring a bunch of friends (yours truly making an appearance) and it started popping up in DJ sets around town and all over local blogs. And now they're signed to a label and touring with Lupe Fiasco. On top of all the hooplah, the song is incredibly catchy and fun to listen to. The perfect summer soundtrack. What was your song of summer?


Past year's “songs of summer":

2007: "Young Folks" - Peter, Bjorn & John
2006: "Crazy" - Gnarls Barkley
2005: "Mr. Brightside" - The Killers
2004: "Toxic" - Britney Spears (ok, guilty pleasure, but I was guiltlessly into pop.)
2003: "SexyBack" "Rock Your Body" - (alright, another guilty pleasure*, but this song rocked my summer on the boat at Party Cove.)

Geez, I had great taste in music for a while there...



*When I bought this cd I actually put it under another cd so no one would see I was buying it--yeah, thats back when we still bought cds, so instead of being on an iPod playlist, the cd was probably in the little holder on the visor in my car.

**I can’t believe I just blogged about Britney Spears…

Last night I watched the MTV Music Video Awards and I realized that I have no idea what is going on in the world of popular music. I say that I love music, but I had no idea who most of the artists nominated were, or just wondered how those could be the acts chosen over others I know. (I was excited to see The Ting Tings play though, even if it was just into a commercial break.)

MTV certainly does not have the cutting edge that it had in the 80’s when it was breaking barriers and setting new standards. It has become like a corporate monster machine that churns out teen idols like the Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus. Even the much-talked-about Britney-Madonna kiss was so staged, it had no real edge. Breaking the rules became the scripted thing to do for MTV without any real innovation or progress. What happened to the days of Rage Against the Machine climbing the stage scaffolding in protest? Or Snoop Dogg being arrested right after performing on the show?


And for the record, there must be some sort of deal with Britney Spears to resurge her career, because everyone knows this girl’s cred is in some serious need of assistance after the last year… Apparently last night was her first time winning a Moonman, and she won three. While I don’t know her new material, there is no way it could be as good as her days of red plastic jumpsuits and snake dancing. (I have to admit… I was a big fan of Brit-brit during her heyday because I was a dancer and she was a spot-on performer.)