Words & Music
January 2013
That Summer Feeling
Fix yourself a cold, tall drink then sit back and relax as Phil Kakulas presents his favourite summery songs in an eclectic playlist that’s sure to cool you down this January.
Human Fly – The Cramps
Summer = flies, right? So let’s kick this off with the first track from The Cramps’ very first EP. Recorded in 1977 this heralded the arrival of psychobilly, that twitching fusion of punk attitude and rockabilly music. ‘I got a garbage brain, it’s driving me insane’ sings Lux Interior as he takes the lead role in his own 50s B-grade horror flick.
The Water Was Red – Johnny Cymbal
Growing up alongside the shark infested waters of the Indian Ocean taught me that a beach setting is not always a pleasant one, as demonstrated by this lost gem from the early 60s by ‘Mr Bassman’ Johnny Cymbal, in which tragedy strikes a teenage couple taking a romantic, twilight swim. The water is red: first from the setting sun and then in turn from a fatal shark attack on the unfortunate girl. Finally, in the third verse, her aggrieved boyfriend kills the shark. It’s a teen tragedy of the highest order, Cymbal’s ambition so overreaching that you just want to hug him for trying.
Rocksteady – Alton Ellis
Spearheaded by Ellis’s song of the same name, Rocksteady was a short-lived musical style bridging ska and reggae that rose to popularity during a particular long and hot Jamaican summer in 1966. Wilted by the weather, local musicians dropped ska’s furious tempos in favour of a more laid-back approach dominated by vocal harmonies and sultry brass arrangements as typified by this classic track.
Cool Water – Maurice Frawley
Frawley first made a name for himself in the 80s as one of Paul Kelly’s Dots, co-writing Look So Fine (Feel So Low) with Kelly before heading out on his own. In the 90s he formed Working Class Ringos and together they worked the stages of St Kilda (and beyond) for more than a decade. Frawley’s gone now and sorely missed but he left behind a collection of songs anyone could be proud of. Cool Water typifies all that was great about his writing; it’s earthy and knowing with the parched, creaking quality of a hot summer’s day.
Tropical Hot Dog Night – Captain Beefheart
Like two flamingos in a fruit fight! This is tutti-frutti, mutant Latino music that’s hot, steamy and drunk with lust. ‘I’m playing this music so the young girls will come out to meet the monster tonight’ sings Van Vliet, coming on like a tripped out Howlin’ Wolf on the prowl at carnival time. ‘Everything’s wrong at the same time it’s right!’
Full Moon – Eden Ahbez
Proto-hippie Ahbez was living under the letter L of the Hollywood sign above Los Angeles when Nat King Cole had a massive hit with his song Nature Boy in 1948. In 1960 he combined beat poetry and ‘primitive rhythms’ to produce this definitive piece of musical exotica in which heaven and earth become his ‘great open cathedral’.
Coca-Cola – Little Red
Being partial to an icy-cold Coke, this salute to that small miracle of sugar, caffeine and bubbles by Melbourne band Little Red really hit the spot with me. Its 60s inspired beats and harmonies are just the thing to quench a summer thirst.
That Summer Feeling – Jonathan Richman
‘Do you long for her or for the way you were?
That summer feeling’s gonna haunt you one day in your life.’
This ode to innocence by The Velvet Underground’s biggest fan speaks of warm summer nights and youthful love played out in suburbs around the world. It also comes with a warning to the young: live now, in the morning of your life, because ‘if you wait until you’re older a sad resentment will smolder’. With trademark nylon string guitar, nasal vocal tone and humorous, insightful lyrics that perfectly capture ‘that summer feeling’, this is Richman at his endearing best.
Phil Kakulas is a songwriter and teacher who plays double bass in The Blackeyed Susans.
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