Slideshow: theGrio's favorite songs of the summer

“Heatwave” by Martha and the Vandellas (1963)

The primary purveyors of the Motown girl-group sound (along with the Supremes), Martha and the Vandellas had a top five hit with this ode to being so overcome with desire that it’s like being caught in a “burning, burning” summer scorcher. The song is considered an American classic due in no small part to the group’s galvanizing vocals and the Holland-Dozier-Holland sound.

“Grazing in the Grass” by Hugh Masekela (1968)

South African jazz great Masekela, a renowned master of the trumpet and flugelhorn with an immense international following, topped the Billboard charts with this all-instrumental affair. Marked by a constantly ringing cowbell and brass play, the warm season presented here sounds like a breezy respite from the hustle of more frigid times.

“Hot Fun in the Summertime” by Sly and the Family Stone (1969)

Released as a non-album track, “Hot Fun” has the trailblazing Sylvester Stewart and his multi-racial, male and female band personifying summer as a returning feminine force that signals lots of fun: no school, country sun and cool people, even amidst the heat. The chorus, which is nothing but the title sung four times, is a joyous chant that’s a call to abandon oneself to the season’s pleasures.

“Rock the Boat” by the Hues Corporation (1974)

This two-man, one-woman trio went to No. 2 on the soul charts and hit the top of the pop charts with this sunny ode that uses ship and sailing metaphors to describe a stable, magnificent love. Yet the sweetie in question wants to stir up some trouble—hence, the title. Even with impending gravitas, the track is a testament to the feel-good, smile for me vibe that marked much of ‘70s soul/pop.

“Summer Breeze” by the Isley Brothers (1974)

The Isleys during the ‘70s were a swinging funk and soul band who provided full-body, multi-layered instrumental immersions into the groove. Their remake of Seals & Crofts’ “Summer Breeze,” actually released at the beginning of Spring ’74, followed their trademark sound, with Ronald Isley singing of “jasmines in my mind” and an evening with his carefree boo.

“Best of My Love” by the Emotions (1977)

The sisters Wanda, Sheila and Jeannette Hutchinson, also known as the Emotions, evoked their gospel upbringing on secular material with their soaring vocals. Produced by Maurice White of Earth, Wind & Fire, the track glides calmly along and then gives way to exhilaration, thanks to the trio’s bursting synchronized sound and an assortment of instruments that jump in at the right time.

“Good Times” by Chic (1979)

With that recognizable bass line, “Good Times” hit No. 1 on both the soul and pop charts during the summer of the still-discoing ’79 with its chant of a chorus. A jam with a long, smooth instrumental bridge, it’s still played at many a dance, barbecue and beach outing, as are several other Chic tunes.

“Master Blaster (Jammin’)” by Stevie Wonder (1980)

Off the Hotter Than July album—whose packaging features a braided and beaded Wonder in shades, mouth agape, sweat pouring down—this jaunty, bouncy reggae jam topped the soul charts and references the title track in its opening verse. The stylistically versatile Wonder asks listeners to let the world’s issues fall from our back and dance until dawn to celebrate what’s going right.

“Summertime” by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince (1991)

Ahh, remember when it was OK for rap to have lots of carefree moments? Philly duo Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, aka Will Smith, epitomized this notion with their early career, and this seasonal jam continued to take it easy. Sampling Kool and the Gang’s 1974 track “Summer Madness,” the duo went platinum with a well-rhymed track that regales us with hot weather scenes:pretty girls, basketball and cookouts.

“Sweet Thing” by Mary J. Blige (1992)

A classic love ditty presented by the hip-hop/soul monarch from her debut What’s the 411? released in July. Originally a No. 1 R&B track by Rufus and Chaka Khan, “Sweet Thing” helped to reveal Blige’s versatility as a performer and her desire to embrace beauty and tenderness as an artist. “Sweet” is timeless, meant for sitting and swaying.

“Crazy in Love” by Beyoncé and Jay-Z (2003)

Horns, a massive bass line and future-husband Jay-Z immediately trumpet the first solo single from the former Destiny’s Child frontwoman, a booty-bumper influenced by Washington, D.C.’s go-go scene. The drums under the verses call on you to move along and then go “crazy” by the chorus, which builds and builds and builds to a repeated climax. Its presence and thump is still felt on club dance floors today.

“Hey Ya” by Outkast (2003)

“Shake it like a Polaroid picture!” became the call to shimmy for a legion of music listeners over Summer ’03. “Hey Ya” was positioned as the lead single off the hip-hop duo’s Speakerboxxx/The Love Below double album. And what a single it was: an electro-snark melody with a jangly guitar, a whiny, purposely off-kilter singer, and a video in vivid color where Dre played all the members of an eight-piece band.

“Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley (2006)

Summer takes an introspective, somber and genre-melding mood with an existential track that has elements of hip-hop, ‘60s pop and Spaghetti Westerns. Producer Danger Mouse and singer/songwriter/rapper Cee-Lo Green topped the U.K. charts through the strength of the track’s digital downloads, making it the first record to do so. The haze of psychedelia found a major modern outlet.

“Good Life” by Kanye West, with T-Pain (2007)

This Grammy-Award winning cut was the third single off of West’s album Graduation and features an interpolation of the chipmunk voice from Michael Jackson’s “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)” and a video that celebrates visual art. West and T-Pain rhyme of exploring life’s luxuries, which in this case consists of travel to major cities, earning a good amount of cash and digging the ladies with large derrieres.