OLD SCHOOL #51 Summer's Almost Gone

^{Is there any more depressing time of year than end of summer? I know I shouldn’t throw a loaded word like depression around. I’m not that kind of doctor. In fact I’m not a doctor at all, I profess. Hence the professor.} 

^{And I am, most completely, a summer nut. I love hot weather, I love swimming pools, I love staying up all night watching movies and listening to rock and roll and sleeping until the pools open.}

^{But the end of summer is so long and drawn out. As soon as the 4th of July is over, they start dragging out the school supplies. Is there any more phrase that drops like a thud as does the refrain “back to school.” No. It means so much. New stiff jeans, the search for the perfect backpack, the mental stress of getting ready for 9 months of classes beginning at 7:30. It does a number on you.}

^{There are a ton of songs about how wonderful summer is, but only a modest handful about the curtain coming down on the hottest season of all. They are mostly sad as hell, but also oddly comforting. There’s a promise in most of them that summer will come again, we will be back to baseball and cookouts and 90 day romances soon enough.}

^{That’s the subject of this one. It’s a mood piece, right around commuter length for most people. Put it on and think about all your favorite summers. Chances are a few of these will take you right back to so July you wished would never end.} 

^{Here is a little collection to stuff into that last pool bag of the summer. Summertime blues laments of several genres that all hit around late August or early September from better times—the late 40s into the early nineties. Almost 50 years  of saying goodbye to a handful of retrofit summers. This is Old School #51. Summer’s almost gone.} 

^Almost.

The Doors shooting the cover for Waiting for the Sun.

Summer’s Almost Gone THE DOORS (1968)

The Boys of Summer DON HENLEY (1984)

See You in September THE CHIFFONS (1963)

Summertime is Past and Gone BILL MONROE & HIS BLUEGRASS BOYS (1947)

Theme from “The Endless Summer” THE SANDALS (1966)

A Summer Song CHAD AND JEREMY (1964)

Strangers on the Shore ACKER BILK (1961)

Summer Wind FRANK SINATRA (1965)

The Shadow of Your Smile (Theme from “The Sandpiper”) TONY BENNETT (1965)

Never Dreamed You’d Leave in Summer STEVIE WONDER (1971)

Summer Rain JOHNNY RIVERS (1968)

Caroline, No BRIAN WILSON, THE BEACH BOYS (1966)

^{I hope you have enjoyed these wistful songs that say goodbye to the summer. Remember you can hear Old School on Spotify, Apple, and wherever you get your podcasts. Just recently we have been able to hold class on YouTube where you can find us at Professor Mikey’s Old School. If you haven’t subscribe there please consider. I know subscribe is a scary word, but it’s free, and it’s just a way to vote for what you like to listen to. It’s not a school board, or a PTA, or even a bake sale. But it is a way to keep the classes rocking in the Old School so thanks so much.} 

Professor Mikey’s Old School is produced for educational purposes. The music we heard resides in the public domain, or was used within the guidelines of fair use provided for in Section 107 of the copyright act of 1976, or is covered legally within agreements between podcast providers and copyright owners. 

Before we go I’d like to thank FeedSpot.com for naming Old School #6 on the Top 20 Best Memorabilia Podcasts worth listening to in 2023. Thats very cool, thanks so much!

“The past is a blast.”