The inexorable (danceable!) rhythms of time

15 songs and videos that will render you unable to ignore the advent of summer

Who are we kidding? It’s the Friday before a holiday weekend. You don’t want to read a few hundred words combining personal memoir and cultural criticism from a middle-aged white guy - you wanna DANCE! Or, you know, sit around watching YouTube videos that you would dance to if you weren’t sitting around watching YouTube videos. 

I’ve put together a Summer Kickoff Playlist for you all - nothing but insanely upbeat songs from the ‘80s to today that can put you in the mood to start the season right. As a courtesy, I’m also including an individual link to each of the videos below with a line or two of context, in case you prefer to take your awesomeness a la carte. 

I’ll warn you, things aren’t always gonna be as they seem in these videos, because my sense of Summer Fun might not exactly match yours; results may vary. 

1. Sacatela - La Femme 
   Nothing screams summer like the French Riviera. For a few years I had to travel to Cannes for work every June, and this video sums up the feeling perfectly - it’s all exciting and glamorous and until it suddenly, horrifyingly, is not. 

2. We’ve Got to Try - Chemical Brothers 
   This is one of the all-time greatest dog-themed music videos. 

3. You Can Do It - Caribou
   This is one of the other all-time greatest dog-themed music videos. (We won’t discuss the third.) 

4. Waking Up Down - Yaeji
   Not only does this song provide an excellent checklist for staying healthy and happy this summer (Item #3: Make a checklist), but Yaeji herself designed all the characters!

5. Lorraine’s Car - Cake Like
   I had no idea until recently that Kerri Kenney of the erstwhile sketch comedy group The State had a band in the ‘90s that was signed by John Zorn and produced by Ric Ocasek. Apparently they were originally called Cake and had to change their name because of the other Cake. All of that is incredibly ‘90s!

6. Just Buggin’ - Whistle
   If all you get down to this weekend is buggin’ around the city where Pee-Wee’s Playhouse was built in a fur-covered Volkswagen with your BFFs, then it will be a very good weekend.

7. Revillos - She’s Fallen in Love with the Monster Man
   More claymation capers, this time courtesy of Scottish punks the Revillos who used to be the Rezillos. I should have saved this one for Halloween, but I couldn’t wait.

8. Meltdown at Madame Tussaud’s - Steve Taylor
   From clay to wax! Another one that could’ve held out for Halloween, but it’s summer, so melting is on the rise. Be sure not to miss the major ‘80s celebrity cameo at the top before things get kind of gross!

9. Heart - group_inou
   I shared another group_inou video in the Jeff Stream a few months ago. I find their demented brand of dance-rap (and accompanying animated videos) weirdly infectious, and the fact that I have no idea what they’re saying at any given moment only makes it better.

10. Dr. Beat - Gloria Estefan 
    Okay, now back to something a little bit more familiar and comfortable for everyone. Gloria Estefan is completely normal, right? Of course she wouldn’t make a completely unhinged and disturbing music video that’s still somehow perfect for a summer playlist, right?

11. Crazy - The Boys
    Okay, this is actually just good wholesome fun, no joke! It’s the entirety of the early ‘90s condensed into four small children. 

12. Sexy Train - Northern Boys
    And this is the opposite end of the “boys” spectrum - three elderly men from the U.K. who are not remotely wholesome. Perhaps aging really is an adventure if it can be like this.

13. Tokyo Calling - ATARASHII GAKKO!
    This Japanese girl group also goes surprisingly hard. This video shows the exact moment when they each embrace the potential of the future - with any luck, they can grow up to be the Northern Boys.

14. Body Movin’ - Beastie Boys
    The greatest spy film ever made. No notes.

15. Je Danse le Mia - IAM
    This is an iconic favorite in our home - a ‘90s French rap epic directed by the great Michel Gondry before he made it big in Hollywood. This is the sound of summer, accept no substitutes.

Anything in here you already knew and loved? Already knew and hated? Didn’t know and now love? Didn’t know and now hate? And what would YOU add to the list? I demand to know!!!