Thursday marks the Summer Solstice. Here’s a soundtrack for your seasonal celebrations.

Evil-E “Summertime” (George Gershwin)
This is from a coverfight that took place over at Songfight awhile back. Sometimes they had bands covering each other’s songs, sometimes everybody covered a predetermined artist.

Space feat. Tom Jones “Sunny Afternoon” (Kinks)
Tom Jones is music, baby! I just love that he’s always true to himself, regardless of the artist he’s working with. And it seems like he’ll record with just about anybody. Maybe I can learn to play the guitar and do a duet with TJ.

Derek Sherinian feat. Billy Idol “In The Summertime” (Mungo Jerry)
I don’t really hear Billy Idol in there anywhere, but that’s how the song is labeled. Stick with this one. It starts out pretty true to the original and then all hell breaks loose.

I like the big drum sound. Gives it kind of a Led Zeppelin feel. And you gotta love the wacky Peter Frampton vocal thing.

Buddy Morrow “Summer In The City” (Lovin’ Spoonful)
Because nothing says summer like lounge music.

Isley Brothers “Summer Breeze” (Seals and Crofts)
I never knew what a great guitar player Ernie Isley was until this guy I worked with in a warehouse told me to check out this song. I’m still grateful to him, wherever he is now.

My second post (way back in November) was entitled “What Were They Thinking?” Not many people read that post, so I’m recycling the idea. What we have here are particularly inept musical choices. Some by really talented musicans and singers.

Ethel Murman “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” (Irving Berlin)
Did you know that Ethel Murman recorded a disco album? Don’t you feel better now that you do?

Muddy Waters “Let’s Spend The Night Together” (Rolling Stones)
Muddy must have had a mortgage payment due when he agreed to record an album of “psychedelic” music entitled Electric Mud. The record mostly features recordings of his classic songs played by drug-addled studio musicians who wank furiously away, oblivious to Muddy’s musical gifts. Muddy, for his part, has no feel at all for this long-haired suburban mutation of his music but gamely gives it his best shot.

Strangely, this sonic train wreck has become something of a touchstone for the hip-hop crowd. It’s been rather extensively sampled, for reasons I cannot begin to comprehend.

Mrs. Miller “Up, Up, and Away” (The Fifth Dimension)
Mrs. Miller was something of a celebrity in the Sixties, even appearing on the Tonight Show. She didn’t realize at first that everybody was laughing at her. When she did she stopped recording and the world was left a little less interesting. From the album Mrs. Miller Does Her Thing. Because she’s the only one who could do that thing she did.

Balsara and his Singing Sitars “Strangers In The Night” (Frank Sinatra)
Some songs naturally lend themselves to the sitar. This one doesn’t.

Toy Dolls “Tocatta In D Minor” (Johann Sebastian Bach)
Totally Spinal Tap. Where’s my codpiece?

Hey kids, it’s June! That means it’s time for blushing brides and lavish outdoor receptions set amid swarms of cicadas. Here’s some appropriate music.

Pastel Vespa “White Wedding” (Billy Idol)
Who knew that a Billy Idol song could be so cool and sophisticated?

Detholz “Celebration” (Kool And The Gang)
Detholz is a local band that does an all-covers show every Halloween that they call the Jukebox of the Dead. Eventually they made an album out of it. Ya-hoo.

Brave Combo “The Hokey Pokey” (Traditional)
This almost makes me want to do the Hokey Pokey. Almost.

Blue Man Group “Chicken Dance” (Werner Thomas)
Aren’t you glad you dropped some ecstasy before you went to the reception?

Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson “I Got You Babe” (Sonny and Cher)
This one boggles the mind. There’s the pop-culture aspect (I was crushed when I found out about the divorce! They were so perfect for each other! So in love! So telegenic!). Not to mention the jaw-dropping tone-deafness of both of these “entertainers” (please don’t call them singers). I think they’re actually singing in different keys.

While I was poking around for songs for this post I found a version of this song by David Bowie and Marianne Faithfull, which sounds like a fantastic idea until you actually listen to it. The it sounds just like Sonny and Cher if Cher was smoking three packs of cigarettes a day.

As we honor the brave men and women who have given their lives in service to their country we must remember that war itself is not a good thing.

Joan Osborne “War” (Edwin Starr)
Edwin Starr sounded incredibly pissed off. Joan Osborne does more of a slow burn.

Betty Dylan “Masters of War” (Bob Dylan)
Yes, it’s more Betty Dylan. I really like them. Dr. Dan sent me this and it just fit so well.

Fresh Air “For What It’s Worth” (Buffalo Springfield)
I found this record when I was a college DJ. There’s very little information on the jacket. About all I can tell you is that they’re a bunch of long-haired white guys. But you already knew that.

Devo “Ohio” (Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young)
One of the very first songs I downloaded from iTunes. Weird and abrasive, like every good Devo song.

Warrior King “What’s Going On” (Marvin Gaye)
Any song can be a reggae song!

I’ve been so busy working on my next two posts that I never came up with a theme for this week. So here’s some random stuff for your dining and dancing pleasure.

REM “First We Take Manhattan” (Leonard Cohen)
Way creepier than when Jennifer Warnes did it. From the I’m Your Fan tribute compilation.

Red Star Belgrade “Highway To Hell” (AC/DC)
I went to see Red Star Belgrade based entirely on how much I liked this song. I was disappointed, but the cover charge was cheap.

Enormous Richard “Music Box Dancer” (Frank Mills)
Update: Alert Reader Shawn points out that this song was originally an instrumental recorded by Frank Mills. I don’t know why I thought ABBA did this one. Maybe I need more sleep.

I gotta admit, it’s a well-crafted little tune. And lots of fun to listen to.

Matthew Sweet “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?”
I don’t know who recorded the original cartoon theme song. If somebody does know, please enlighten me.

I think that Mr. Sweet’s Girlfriend album is one of the most perfect pop albums of all time. Every song is catchy and timeless. And he infuses this cover with the same perfect pop sensibility.

Vince Clarke “What A Wonderful World” (Louis Armstrong)
This song used to be on the Erasure web site but it seems to have vanished now. That’s his Macintosh singing. That alone makes me love it.