Songs from an Australian summer

Summary

The website content reflects on the essence of Australian summer through the lens of music, highlighting iconic songs that have become synonymous with the season.

Abstract

The article paints a vivid picture of Australian summer nostalgia, intertwined with the soundtrack of the era. It reminisces about the sweltering heat, the laid-back lifestyle, and the integral role of music during summer gatherings. The author shares personal memories tied to songs like 'Summer Love' by Sherbet, which epitomized the feeling of summer romance. Australian Crawl, with their beach culture anthems and surf music, is also fondly remembered, with particular emphasis on the contributions of Guy McDonough. The Hoodoo Gurus contribute to this sonic summer tapestry with their rendition of 'Stomp The Tumbarumba', a song that captures the spirit of summer and surfing despite its namesake town's inland location.

Opinions

'Summer Love' by Sherbet is deemed an iconic summer hit that remains deeply ingrained in the author's memory.
The importance of music to summer experiences is underscored, with songs becoming inseparable from the season's memories.
Australian Crawl's music, including the late Guy McDonough's work, is highly regarded as quintessential summer listening.
The beach culture and surf rock scene are seen as central to the Australian summer experience, with bands like Australian Crawl and songs like 'Stomp The Tumbarumba' serving as cultural touchstones.

Summer love is like no other love

Growing up in Australia meant very hot summers, and I mean HOT! Often the subject of many jokes in modern times, you know it’s summer in Australia when:

your shoe gets stuck in the melting asphalt

the seat belt buckle becomes a branding iron

you tire of the weatherman saying “It’s a scorcher”

the tiled floor in the kitchen is cooler and more comfortable than bed

shops keep the chocolate bars in the refrigerator

you go to the cinema specifically for the air conditioning

people say “f*ck it’s hot” ten times a day

Zooper Doopers!

Summer life meant backyard barbecues, beer on ice, the smell of sunscreen and mosquito repellant, and trying to stay cool in whatever shade was available. And the radio would be on! A backyard get together was incomplete without music.

A whole lotta songs leapt into my head when I read about The Riff Summer Challenge (thanks Jessica Lee McMillan!). I’ll briefly describe three for you.

The first, and most obvious one for me, is the song ‘Summer Love’ by the band Sherbet, one of the biggest acts in Australian music in the 1970s. Sherbet scored a massive number one hit with the song in 1975. It was played so much on radio that it became imprinted in my brain. Even today, if you said to me “Summer love … ”, I would complete the phrase with “ … is like no other love”. Of course back then, as a six year old, the lyrics were kind of lost on me, but it was still a great song!

‘Summer Love’ — Sherbet

Australia has always had a huge beach culture and a surf rock scene to go with it. (In fact, there’s enough material for a substantial story, but that’s for another time!)

The band Australian Crawl (named after the swimming stroke) went hand in hand with surf music. They even sponsored a surfing competition. Their third album was called ‘Sons Of Beaches’! Their songs were summer!!

Aussie Crawl were a key part of my Australian music upbringing, alongside the likes of Midnight Oil, Cold Chisel, AC/DC, and Skyhooks. Although James Reyne handled the majority of lead vocal duties, I’ve always loved the late Guy McDonough’s contributions to the band’s output. My favourite songs of his appear on the album ‘Sirocco’, including the song ‘Errol’, a song about Australian-born actor Errol Flynn; Sirocco was the name of Flynn’s yacht. The video for the song was filmed on Queensland’s Gold Coast. Forever summer!

‘Errol’ — Australian Crawl

I’ll leave you with one of my favourite Australian bands, Hoodoo Gurus, and another key reminder of summer and surfing, a live version of ‘Stomp The Tumbarumba’. The song was written by Johnny Devlin who had a big hit with it in 1963 (Devlin was responsible for much popular surf music that year; again, another story!). The stomp dance craze often had associated locations in the song titles; the connection between surfing and the tiny town of Tumbarumba, some 200 kilometres from the coast, remains a mystery.

‘Stomp The Tumbarumba’ — Hoodoo Gurus