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Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
It's a midnight sun kiss, skin under the red sky, laying on your chest like this. Hold me like the pebbles in your hand, initials in the sand. Yeah, summer isn't over yet. Skinny paper with your heart out is my favorite part. Now we ain't got to tell no one. A never ending midnight sun.
Last week, Spotify launched a search for the song of the summer 2026, and that track there, Midnight Sun by Zara Larsson, is one of the contenders, alongside Ella Langley's Losing Texas, which we've talked about on the programme before, and the new single from Drake.
The concept of having a song for the summer isn't anything new, but it's something we've heard a lot about in recent years, thanks to Brat Summer and to Jet 2's viral Jess Glynn clip, but its origins go way back. To tell us more, I'm joined by musician and 2FM broadcaster Graham Smith. Morning, Graham. Morning, David. Okay, what's your song of the summer?
What's your choice for song of the summer 2026? This year?
Well, I think that Midnight Sun song by Zara Larsson, there's a remix out with Pink Pantherous. And Zara jumped on a song to do a remix of a Pink Pantherous song last year. So they're kind of trading each other.
Ah.
but that did very well for her so I think this could possibly the single the original single has already done really well so I think the remix will push it up again and again and again and I think that will be the song of the summer so we're going to hear it everywhere and it'll it'll bring us back in years to come it'll bring us back to the fantastic summer of 2026 which we'll remember for all the reasons right
which we'll find about. But the idea of having a song of the summer, it's nothing new, is it?
No, it's not. So the history of the phrase dates back to 1910. There was an article in the New York Tribune when they were providing sheet music rather than actual songs on records. And they said, it's about this time that you look out for your summer song. Now, the first kind of song of the summer was the 1923 hit, Yes, We Have No Bananas, which sold a million records in three months.
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Chapter 2: What song is being considered as the song of summer 2026?
Journalists weren't talking about the song of the summer until the 90s. And music critic Ann Powers, she did a song of the summer bracket in the New York Times. So she listed 30 songs and they would face off against each other until you have the last one. So it was a reader poll as to what the song was. That's fun. Yeah, so every issue someone would get knocked out.
I mean, what makes a song of the summer though? What are the criteria? Yeah. Well, this is it because I think... It's not necessarily record sales.
No, like most media outlets said that in 2025 there was no Song of the Summer because everything... It's not just two forms of media anymore where you have TV and radio and you're just hit with music videos and the top 40 all the time. People have Spotify, YouTube, TikTok. They can go to whatever they want and listen to whatever they want.
So it doesn't really exist now where a song takes over the whole culture and your granny, your new baby, everyone knows this song. So I think a song of the summer, what's characteristic about it is universal awareness.
Chapter 3: What is the history behind the concept of a 'song of the summer'?
Even if you don't know the name of the song, when you hear it, you'll be like, oh God, yeah.
Okay, well, let's go. Let's have a listen to a couple. We're going to go back to the 60s for starters, and it helps to have sun in the title or summer in the title. Here's The Kinks.
help me give me two good reasons why i ought to stay because i love to live so pleasantly live this life of luxury lazing on a
Ah, Sunny Afternoon by The Kinks, 1966. And very summer vibes off that one.
It really is. You can imagine yourself on a patio with a beer, the barbecue going and everything else. So Sunny Afternoon went to number one in the UK singles chart on the 7th of July, 1966. Went number one here on the 14th of July. And it also peaked in the top 20 in the US. But with Ray Davies, the lyrics aren't always just very straightforward.
We're not just talking about hanging outside with a barbecue and a beer. It's actually about his own life. And he's imagining himself as this aristocrat who has lost all his money. But we don't want to feel sorry for him because he's not very nice to his girlfriend, et cetera, et cetera.
But probably the lines that you remember are the taxman has taken all my dough and lazing on a sunny afternoon. And that's it. And that's all you really need to know for this type of tune.
OK, the next one, I'm not sure whether this has summer vibes. It was number one in the States in August 1970. This is War by Edwin Starr.
Oh, war has shattered many young men's dreams Made him disabled, bitter and mean Life is much too short and precious It's been fighting wars each day War can't give life
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Chapter 4: What criteria define a song as the 'song of the summer'?
He didn't think it was very good. The label released it anyway. They put it on a soundtrack to a film called Go and much like Summertime by Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, every single year since I've worked in broadcasting, this is requested in the summer.
Okay, the next one comes from the soundtrack of a Danny Boyle movie. Bit of controversy there, but let's hear some of Pure Shores from All Saints. That's obviously from the movie The Beach.
Yeah, so it's not surprising that one of the biggest films of the summer produced one of the biggest tracks of the summer originally. So Pete Tong was representing All Saints at the time and he was producing the soundtrack and he said All Saints should be part of this. Danny Boyle did not want a pop group being associated with his film.
So Pete Tong said, well, William Orbit, who was kind of a cool dance producer at the time, he can produce it. And that's kind of the compromise here. So that's what happened. Shaznay from All Saints wrote the lyrics on her way over to L.A. to meet William Orbit. She lost the lyrics on the flight. So she met William Orbit and had to come up with them on the spot.
But this was a debut at number one in the UK singles chart. And it is the biggest All Saints song they've ever had.
OK, Nelly, hot in here.
We'll be right back.
Mark behind the sound desk is getting into this one now. I can see his head bopping there. Great choice.
Yeah, well, David, you were taking off your jumper before we even started this segment. So Nelly had a big impact on you. It was released in May 2002. Once again, took over the charts over the summer. It was Nelly's first number one hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 and the Canadian singles chart. It peaked at number four in the UK and was top 10 in Ireland as well.
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Chapter 5: How did 'Sunny Afternoon' by The Kinks become a summer classic?
Thank you so much for joining us.