What Is The Summer Song Of 2008?
Written Aug. 20, 2008 by Sean Ross in Content with 7 Comments
Okay, we're a week away or so from the annual Ross On Radio column on the Summer Song of 2008.
So far, I'm wavering. It's either:
Katy Perry, "I Kissed A Girl" -- So inescapable in June and July that even NPR listeners thought of it as the big summer song. It never reached No. 1 on the Mainstream Top 40 chart, although with seven weeks atop the Billboard Top 40, that might hardly matter. And here in the New York area, anyway, it's started to fade a little bit in the last month.
Or...
Kid Rock, "All Summer Long" -- It's got the obvious title in its favor. It touched even more formats than Katy did. It became so big that even the stations that wouldn't normally play a Kid Rock record couldn't ignore it. It made listeners buy albums -- even this week when a knockoff cover version became available on iTunes.
So you've got a week to make the case for Kid or Katy (or somebody else) by leaving a comment below.
Reader Comments
Your 2¢, in chronological order — add your comment below.
I have to go with Katy Perry. A great song and the one that is from the summer of 2008. Let's leave it to those who have always picked the hits, those under the age of 30, not those who love the song for it's sample of "their songs"(Werewolves of London and Sweet Home Alabama).
The winner of Summer song of 2008 is, in my opinion, "All Summer Long". While "I Kissed A Girl" certainly has been competitive and compelling, Kid Rock's song, while sometimes maligned, has made its mark on the summer of 2008 like no other song has in my estimation.
"All Summer Long" won't age well, I predict, in part because of suspect lyric writing (in particular rhyming funny things with... funny things) and because of the heavy sample of Werewolves of London and Sweet Home Alabama and the difficulty of living up to those songs long-term. But, for now, it has re-established Kid Rock as a major player on the mainstream music scene.
Is this even a debate? Kid Rock! Nearly everyone in the country has heard this song. Meanwhile, with Katy, while it's been big in urban centers and pop worlds...try seeing if rural america, older adults and country fans have heard it. They haven't! Meanwhile, they all know Kid Rock and I'm seeing that song get covered all over the place. Katy's song? Haven't seen it once.
The Summer Song that could have been:
"I Kissed a Kid" (Michael Jackson)
Seriously, it has to be "All Summer Long"...its timeless imagery of youthful abandon is far more universal in its appeal than a song about sexual experimentation with a high creep factor to many listeners even as it tittilates others. The conceptualization of the mashup of two classics by Zevon & Skynyrd and its production is brilliant. Plus, it's a summer song ABOUT summer, which guarantees it a seasonal recurrent spot for years to come. Even better, while we're resting it here in the Northern Hemisphere and shivering all winter long, our friends below the equator will make it their own summer anthem and keep the royalty checks flowing! Great business plan, Kid!
Hi Sean-
Over 1600 WIOG spins later…It’s no contest.
Added the second the edit hit my inbox.
In power since Memorial Day with less than 30% percent burn even now.
Even #1 in Britain.
CD Sales still huge after 9 months.
Played at CHR/Country/Rock/Hot AC/AC.
Ed Brown’s my witness…I called it back in February.
When even W-Freaking-N-I-C is playing it, it’s official.
Show some Michigan love to the Kid, my brother…
Jerry Noble
Program Director/WIOG-FM
Citadel Saginaw/Flint
Katy Perry. #1 song, research to back it up, and massive airplay -- STILL.
Kid Rock, while a good song, doesn't have what Katy has!
Viva Sean Ross!
Excellent song. I would say that he has to have copywrite permission to use the 2 songs. Without it, the tune would have never gotten any airplay.
Excellent band...awesome drummer with some of the greatest bass drum fills I've ever heard.