S: Summertime, Summertime

 

Summertime, Summertime

The Jamies (named for two of its members, Tom Jamison and his sister Serena) had their one big hit with this record that first charted in 1958 and was re-released in 1962. It is known for its opening line, "It's Summertime, Summertime, Sum, Sum, Summertime." The song celebrates the end of a high-school year with all the fun to come over summer vacation.

Other artists have covered the song including this one that I'd never heard of. The song also found use in commercials, such as this one for Ken L Ration dog food, and has appeared in movies. 

It is not to be confused with this same-titled dance song from early 1987 🙂

R: Rubber Duckie

 

Rubber Duckie

One nearly everyone is familiar with. It was first heard on Sesame Street in 1970. Written by Jeff Moss and sung by Jim Henson as Ernie, the song was later released as a 45 RPM record, peaking at #16 on Billboard. 

A disco version was also made:

Little Richard appeared on Sesame Street in 1994, doing a rocking version of the song:

A Special Sunday 16

Since I am trying to limit my non-A to Z posts to Sundays, I was unsure about the Thursday 13. I figured I'd be taking the month off. But I got this idea to do a special Sunday 16. This is a mix of random things from this month so far, some related to the A to Z.

1. While trying to decide on songs to pick for the A to Z, I came across some I thought of posting, but felt they were a bit inappropriate. If you want to know what they are, click here and here. 
2. Both songs above were favorites on the syndicated radio show, Dr. Demento.  Anyone remember that? I don't recall it being played on a radio station near me, though I was familiar with the name. Here is some info on Dr. Demento (real name Barret Eugene Hansen). As noted in my entry on "Eat It," Weird Al Yankovic was inspired by listening to Dr. Demento to perform novelty songs and got his start on the show.
3. Sunshine pop is a new musical term that I learned during my research for the A to Z. It is said to be the genre that the remake of "Ding Dong! The Witch is Dead" fall under. It's called a microgenre.
4. Fifth Estate is a socio-cultural reference to groupings of outlier viewpoints in contemporary society, and is most associated with bloggers, journalists publishing in non-mainstream media outlets, and online social networks. The band The Fifth State said they got it from a magazine out at the time. 
5. A pipkin is an earthenware pot used for cooking over direct heat from coals or a wood fire. They are not held directly in the flame, as it would cause the ceramic to crack.
6. "List song" is another musical term I came upon in my search for songs. It is used to describe on of the songs I picked. This one comes up later, so I cannot say what it is yet :)
7. Some letters that have already come up and some not yet up were hard to find a song for, leading me to find new-to-me songs. It's always fun to find something new. 
8. Other letters offered more than one possible song choice, making it a little hard to choose just one.
9. Bob Dylan's song "Rainy Day Women #12 and 35" is about getting stoned, as the lyrics clearly state. Those two numbers multiplied equal 420. One of the things many people have believed to be the origin of 4/20 as the "weed holiday." 
10. It's been just a little over a year since my colonoscopy, which I was told to repeat every five years. I recalled it last year on the blog during a Sunday break post.
11. Other A to Z participants have used music-related themes, including this one, who so far has used two of the same songs as I did! Another music-themed participant is this one.
12. Several bloggers are doing random blogging for the A to Z, without a theme. I may try it that way one year, if I continue to participate in years to come. 
13. Many of the earworms I've gotten these past weeks have been from songs other than those I shared thus far! That was a bit surprising.
14. This was a bonus post I did during last year's A to Z. The first image came up again today on my Facebook memories.
15. The weather in my area has been weird the last few weeks. No rain, but a few dark, gloomy days. I'm hoping that will end soon!
16. And some humor for Easter Sunday today:

Happy Easter to those who celebrate.

Summer Reading Challenge 2025 @ Beyond the Bookends

 One I look forward to each summer. It runs from May 1 to September 1 (Labor Day this year).

1. Book Set at the Beach: The Beach House--Rachel Hanna
2. Fae Book: The Mermaid--Jan Brett 
3. Young Adult Book (May): Beautiful Creatures--Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
4. Book in Translation: Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind--Shunryu Suzuki
5. Book Set in Cornwall: It Started With a Secret--Jill Mansell
6. Book Set in the 1960s: The Berry Pickers--Amanda Peters
7. Celebrity Book Club Pick: Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books--Kirsten Miller
8. Nonlinear Narrative Book (June): Cloud Atlas--David Mitchell
9. Sci-Fi Book: Ninth House--Leigh Bardugo
10. Book About Mothers: The Wednesday Sisters--Meg Waite Clayton
11. Newbery Award Winner: New Kid--Jerry Craft
12. Book with Summer in the Title: Summer Island--Kristin Hannah
13. Disney Retelling: Cold Hearted--Serena Valentino
14. Popular Thriller Book: Mad Honey--Jodi Picoult
15. Ultimate Beach Reads 2025: The Love Haters--Katherine Center
16. Book Set on a Train: The Great Train Robbery--Michael Crichton
17. Book with Food in the Title (July): Sinister Sprinkles--Jessica Beck
18. Amnesia Book: I Found You--Lisa Jewell
19. 2025 New Release Book: Under the Same Stars--Libba Bray
20. Book by a Writer from Philly: Cursed--Karol Ruth Silverstein
21. Book Set at Camp: Starry Eyes--Jenn Bennett
22. Epistolary Novel (August): The Pull of the Moon--Elizabeth Berg
23. Book About Ballet: The Short History of a Prince--Jane Hamilton
24. Forced-Proximity Romance Book: Dream When You're Feeling Blue--Elizabeth Berg
25. Free Space: The Last Letter--Rebecca Yarros

Challenge completed on August 18

Q: Que Sera, Sera

 

Que Sera, Sera

Some might debate over whether this can be considered a novelty song. I think it comes close, and it's the best I could do for the ever-tricky letter Q. The most famous recording is that by Doris Day in 1956, and according to this site, Day perceived the song as a novelty one and said she preferred more serious songs. Day introduced the song in the Hitchcock film The Man Who Know Too Much.

The title is Spanish and French for "Whatever will be, will be." The song's lyrics were referenced in two later pop songs.  The 1977 Eddie Money hit "Baby Hold On" included the lyrics "Whatever will be, will be / the future is ours to see," which were very similar to the line "Whatever will be, will be / The future's not ours to see" from the original song. Money claimed the similarity was because his music is "a conglomeration of so many kinds of material." [link] The lyrics to "Lost in Emotion," the #1 hit by Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam from 1987, reference the title line:

 

Oh, I'm lost in emotion
Telling you things you really shouldn't know
I'm, baby, I'm lost in emotion
Am I a fool? At least my friends think so
Qué será, qué será
Baby, whatever will be
Qué será, qué será
Between you and me (oh-ho-oh)

Shorts on Youtube don't seem to allow embedding, so here is a link to a parody with a cat. It's a fun one.

And here is the song sung for kids with an animated video:

P: Pink Shoe Laces

 

Pink Shoe Laces

One of the letters that had more than one possible choice. I was not completely familiar with this one, but upon listening, I found it to be a fun one.

Some info on the song's content  from the Wikipedia link above:

The song is about a fellow named Dooley, with whom the singer is in love, who has a rather unconventional lifestyle and a decidedly off-the-beaten-pathway fashion sense; his favorite articles of dress being "tan shoes with pink shoelaces, a polka-dot vest, and a big Panama with a purple hatband."

He takes the young lady "deep sea fishing in a submarine", to "drive-in movies in a limousine" and owns a "whirly-birdy and a 12 foot yacht."

When he feels that war is afoot, he enlists in the armed forces, but gets put into the brig for "raising such a storm" when they "tried to put him in a uniform", preferring to wear his unconventional signature garb.

One day, he feels poorly and decides to write out his will, stating: "Just before the angels come to carry me, I want it down in writin' (sic) how to bury me," requesting to be buried in his preferred attire. The voice heard speaking the line was Randy Van Horne, the founder of the Randy Van Horne Singers who sang the themes from The Flintstones, The Jetsons and many others.

It was also done by the Chordettes, best known for the songs "Mr. Sandman" and "Lollipop." 

O: Oh By Jingo!

 

Oh By Jingo!

This was a tricky letter.  When looking up novelty songs beginning with O, I found many I did not know. So I decided to look each of them up and pick one. Most of the ones I found sounded fun, but I ended up choosing this one. It's always fun to find new things. 

The song was one of Tin Pan Alley's biggest hits in the post-World War I era.  According to the link above, it was sung in several movies and in an episode of I Love Lucy. I don't know how I missed this song for so long!

Here are two recordings of the song, as well as a scene from one of the movies in which the song was included. So many people have recorded the song, according to my Youtube search.