Honorable Mentions

1.) Blue Cheer – Summertime Blues

The original power trio put the frustrating weight of the teenage bummer into Eddie Cochran’s fun-loving pompadoured original, and invent heavy metal in the process. Not bad for a debut single. Ain’t no cure, indeed.

2.) G Love & Special Sauce – Cold Beverage

What’s a summer’s day without a cold beverage? “Stick it in tha fridge, stick it in tha fridge, stick it in tha fridge…”

3.) Animal Collective – Summertime Clothes

Not exactly a summer classic yet, but I would be remiss without mentioning DC’s favorite experimental psych-pop pioneers, Animal Collective and their 2009 single “Summertime Clothes.” The breathless, soaring massed-voiced melodies are truly inspired, and the accompanying official video is a freaky psychedelic dance performed by Brooklyn-based collective FLEX.