Summer No. 27

Oh how her arms would hold me When we kissed, she never told me I’d be the lamb for her slaughter She's my preacher's daughter --The Refreshments, "Preacher's Daughter" Special bonus lesson: Don't try to hook up with a preacher's daughter. Them girls is crazy and they'll drive you nuts.* Anyway, it's getting to that point in Chicagoland where it's possible to go outside without getting hypothermia. I've developed a summer tradition of making a driving CD and calling it the summer mix right about the first time I can drive around with the windows open. Now, I might be driving a 2004 Chevy Cavalier these days, but I've got a pair of Cerwin-Vega 6x9s in the back, C-V 5x7s in the front (which are definitely not in the car's design) and a sweet little Clarion head unit to power everything. Music is important and whether it's my car system or my nice JBL Northridge E50s at home, I like good music well reproduced. Most of the summer music is about good, open window cruising stuff. Some of it is old, some of it is new, but it's all about fun. So here's my list for 2008: 1. Gin Blossoms, "Learning the Hard Way" 2. Local H "halcion daze" (this is the alternate rarity version, which I prefer to "Halcyon Days" off of P.J. Soles.) 3. The Refreshments, "Banditos" (it's a contractually required song) 4. The Alternate Routes, "Time is a Runaway" 5. The Fratellis, "For the Girl" 6. The Hush Sound, "Don't Wake Me Up" 7. RCPM, "Andale" 8. Our Lady Peace, "World on a String" 9. Letters to Cleo, "Here and Now" 10. Katie Todd, "Innocent" 11. Flogging Molly f/Victoria Williams, "Factory Girls" 12. Over the Rhine, "I'm on a Roll" 13. The Saw Doctors, "The Green and Red of Mayo" 14. Pearl Jam, "Even Flow" 15. Better than Ezra, "A Southern Thing" 16. Garbage, "Hammerin' in My Head" 17. Idlewild, "Ghost in the Arcade" 18. RCPM, "Counterclockwise" 19. The Waterboys, "The New Life" Summer's comin', the White Sox are in first, and all is right with the world. It's time to trade the scotch for tequila, raise a glass and say, "Salud!" *Results may vary, but you couldn't prove that by me...