No one likes shady beaches.  –author unknown

Summertime…it’s all fun and games…until it isn’t.  No one dreams of having a bad summer and yet they still exist.  But if summer isn’t all sunshine, thank heaven for quirky 80s songs that make the bad days bearable!  Here’s where “Cruel Summer” by English pop group, Bananarama, comes in.  Added to my summer music countdown for it’s easy chorus and spunky sound, it just screams summer…and then some.

The song actually debuted in 1983, but became a hit on the U.S. pop charts in 1984 thanks to the movie, “The Karate Kid.”  The lyrics tell the story of one stuck in a miserable, hot city AFTER a bad breakup.  Ouch!   Unlucky in love, and unsure what to do next, the singer is mired in a hopeless situation.  Shot on location in New York City during a record heat wave, the group didn’t have to do much acting.  Unaccustomed to oppressive city temps, the girls share that they simply wanted to shoot the video in NYC because they hadn’t been there before and may have bitten off more than they could chew.  Group member, Siobhan Fahey, details the misadventures of the video shoot in her book,  “I Want My MTV.”

I was nine years old when this song was all the rage.  I remember the ratty hair, big belts and overalls and did my best to emulate the look!  And of course, I remember singing this song…over and over (and over.)  Today, I sing this song in an attempt to bring back the 80s…AND to torture my kids, of course 🙂

Up Next:  SONG 10…”it wasn’t a rock….”