5 Songs of Summer From the 1990s

As pop stars race to capture the much-coveted “Song of the Summer” title, it is worth remembering a few summer hits from the 1990s. It wasn’t all doom-and-gloom grunge and Gen X angst. The TV show Friends, for example, was much more popular than Reality Bites, as pointed out by Chuck Klosterman in his book, The Nineties. But a song doesn’t have to be released during the warm season to elicit summery feelings. And if you really want to do this right, crank these jams on CD.

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“All I Wanna Do” by Sheryl Crow

Sheryl Crow had been writing songs with a group of musicians in Pasadena. They gathered on Tuesdays, which gave Crow the title of her debut album, Tuesday Night Music Club. The story in “All I Wanna Do” came from Wyn Cooper’s poem “Fun”. The album introduced Crow’s country rock, and the lazy day-drinking vibe of “All I Wanna Do” still sounds as carefree as it did in 1993.

“California Love” by 2Pac and Dr. Dre

There isn’t a situation where a group of friends isn’t set off into some kind of questionable dancing when “California Love” gets dialed up. But it doesn’t matter whether or not rhythm escapes you, when Dr. Dre drops a rap about Sasson jeans over EPMD’s “Knick Knack Patty Wack” sample, you better get moving. Tupac Shakur’s banger also features Roger Troutman’s cosmic-funk talk box, and makes everywhere feel like California.

“Beautiful Stranger” by Madonna

Picking one musical period as Madonna’s best isn’t easy. However, Madge’s techno-pop era with producer William Orbit might just be her artistic peak. If you want to hear what a perfect Madonna record sounds like, look no further than Ray Of Light. “Beautiful Stranger” is brighter than the dark electronica of Ray Of Light. But it continued Madonna’s collaboration with Orbit and appears in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. Yeah, baby!

“Fly” by Sugar Ray

Sugar Ray’s rap metal wasn’t selling, and the band was desperate for a hit. Then the Newport Beach group wrote “Fly”, a pop-reggae, summer-jam tune that made singer Mark McGrath a household name. “Fly” appeared on Sugar Ray’s follow-up, Floored, an album also littered with angsty rap metal. Fans who bought a Sugar Ray record in the 90s were probably surprised not to hear a track listing full of songs like “Fly” and “Every Morning”.

“Smooth” by Santana and Rob Thomas

This Santana hit featuring Rob Thomas from Matchbox Twenty arrived in the summer of 1999. The Latin rock groove and Carlos Santana’s suave guitar licks were inescapable, and the track became the summer song as it spent a whopping 12 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100. Thomas had continued his run of radio hits that softened the edges of alternative rock, and “Smooth”—aptly named—introduced Santana to a new generation of listeners.

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