It may feel like we're now closer to the end of summer than the beginning, but that doesn't mean the fun in the sun has to stop – and to help, here's a quick video playlist of the song of the summer across more than three decades.
Assembled by Brendan Jay Sullivan (aka DJ Vh1, aka Lady Gaga's former DJ, aka the author of "Rivington Was Ours: Lady Gaga, the Lower East Side and the Prime of Our Lives"), the clip quickly runs through the song of the summer – as determined by Billboard – from 1982 (Survivor's essential workout anthem "Eye of the Tiger") to Drake's "One Dance" just last year.
There's a lot of predictable picks in there – of course, there's "Call Me Maybe" and "Hot In Herre" and "California Gurls" and "Baby Got Back" and the Macarena – but it might surprise you how slow a lot of these summer songs are, especially during the '80s and early '90s. People in 1983 were celebrating the summer with The Police's "Every Breathe You Take"? A great hit, no doubt – but a fun summer jam? Really, 1983? And the rock ballad "Right Here Waiting" by Richard Marx in 1989? Man, the '80s summer beach parties must've been a bummer.
Also: Hey, remember when Nelly Furtado? And LMFAO? And when we accidentally made Robin Thicke a thing for a few months? Woof, that was a mistake.
And speaking of mistakes, Sullivan admitted in the Facebook comments that there's actually a mistake with one of the song selections. Can you pick out which one it is?
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Congratulations if you picked 2001 and Eve's "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" featuring Gwen Stefani, which should actually be Usher's "U Remind Me" (but Billboard has the wrong Spotify link above the year in its article). Sorry Usher; you'll just have to cope with having just one song of the summer: "Confessions Part II" in 2004.
Even so, it's a good mix of tunes (the full list is below) and 2017 is looking to add another one to the list. It's gotta be "Despacito," right?
1982: Survivor, "Eye of the Tiger"
1983: The Police, "Every Breathe You Take"
1984: Prince, "When Doves Cry"
1985: Tears for Fears, "Shout"
1986: Madonna, "Papa Don't Preach"
1987: Heart, "Alone"
1988: Steve Winwood, "Roll With It"
1989: Richard Marx, "Right Here Waiting"
1990: Mariah Carey, "Vision Of Love"
1991: Bryan Adams, "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You"
1992: Sir Mix-A-Lot, "Baby Got Back"
1993: UB40, "Can't Help Falling In Love"
1994: All-4-One, "I Swear"
1995: TLC, "Waterfalls"
1996: Los Del Rio, "Macarena"
1997: Puff Daddy & Faith Evans featuring 112, "I'll Be Missing You"
1998: Brandy and Monica, "The Boy Is Mine"
1999: Christina Aguilera, "Genie In A Bottle"
2000: Matchbox Twenty, "Bent"
2001: Eve featuring Gwen Stefani, "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" (but really: Usher, "U Remind Me")
2002: Nelly, "Hot in Herre"
2003: Beyonce featuring Jay-Z, "Crazy In Love"
2004: Usher, "Confessions Part II"
2005: Mariah Carey, "We Belong Together"
2006: Nelly Furtado featuring Timbaland, "Promiscuous"
2007: Rihanna featuring Jay-Z, "Umbrella"
2008: Katy Perry, "I Kissed A Girl"
2009: Black Eyed Peas, "I Gotta Feeling"
2010: Katy Perry, "California Gurls"
2011: LMFAO featuring Lauren Bennett and GoonRock, "Party Rock Anthem"
2012: Carly Rae Jepsen, "Call Me Maybe"
2013: Robin Thicke featuring T.I. and Pharrell, "Blurred Lines"
2014: Iggy Azalea featuring Charli XCX, "Fancy"
2015: OMI, "Cheerleader"
2016: Drake featuring WizKid and Kyla, "One Dance"
As much as it is a gigantic cliché to say that one has always had a passion for film, Matt Mueller has always had a passion for film. Whether it was bringing in the latest movie reviews for his first grade show-and-tell or writing film reviews for the St. Norbert College Times as a high school student, Matt is way too obsessed with movies for his own good.
When he's not writing about the latest blockbuster or talking much too glowingly about "Piranha 3D," Matt can probably be found watching literally any sport (minus cricket) or working at - get this - a local movie theater. Or watching a movie. Yeah, he's probably watching a movie.