Very good article about one of the best songs of all time.

[www.nytimes.com]

I'll always remember this song at the Beginning of Die Hard with a Vengeance.

I remember it in August of '66, the way you'd heard music everywhere then. Our family took a vacation to Atlantic City and it was hot, and nasty and it was Summer in the City. One of those songs, especially if it is summer, that makes you stop and stand hypnotized until it's done.

This song, along with Do You Believe in Magic and Daydream were imbedded in my brain at such a young age that they're basically threads in the fabric of my life.
I can hear the cars honking and traffic congestion as I type this.

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Rip this joint, gonna save your soul, round and round and round we go......

The Lovin Spoonful were a fantastic band. Their greatest hits on Buddha is well worth having in any collection. Hot town....

Definitely became the soundtrack for every city as the title of the thread states, but this is a pure NYC song in my mind. Classic.

Nah...this is the greatest summer song ever....

Mungo Jerry In The Summertime

Thank you so much for posting this article.

As a longtime Spoonful fan, I really appreciated the tone of the whole thing. I liked the end where Sebastian says about the 60's Village music scene, "It's all gone. But so are the crooners. Everybody has their turn."


I recommend two very good books on the Spoonful: Do You Believe In Magic? by Simon Wordsworth and his follow-up, a collection of vintage articles and memorabilia:

[www.amazon.com]

Reading those, you get a better sense of how important Zally was to the group, both as a guitar player (Clapton was a fan) and public personality.

John's younger brother Mark, who was the inspiration and credited co-writer of "Summer In the City" was at a taping of a TV special that I attended in 1985 for a program called Deja View. It featured John and Felix Cavalierie with NRBQ performing excellent versions of Spoonful and Rascals hits. During a break, John introduced his brother to the audience, and the spontaneous, enthusiastic ovation that Mark received that night in appreciation for his contribution to that classic song was truly heartwarming.