Listen, my friends! Playlist: Summer 2025

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In the words of Moby Grape… listen, my friends!

Yes, it’s back! It’s the occasional playlist presented by George’s Journal just for you good people.

There may be one or two classics to be found here dotted in among different tunes you’re unfamiliar with or have never heard before – or, of course, you may’ve heard them all before. All the same, why not sit back, listen away and enjoy…

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CLICK on the song titles to hear them

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Tony Bennett ~ Stranger In Paradise (1953)¹

Julie London ~ Theme From A Summer Place (1965) 

The Sandpipers ~ Guantanamera (1966)

Love ~ Bummer in the Summer (1967)

Michel Legrand ~ Thème de La Piscine (1969)²

Quincy Jones ~ Summer In The City (1973)

John Williams ~ Main Theme from Jaws (1975)³

Donna Summer ~ I Feel Love (1977)⁴

Kiri Te Kanawa ~ Chants d’Auvergne: Baïlèro (1983)

Queen ~ Radio Ga Ga (1985)⁵

Soul II Soul ~ Back To Life (1989)

Oasis ~ Cum On Feel The Noize (1996)⁶

Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem ~ Mr Blue Sky (2021)

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¹ This irresistible Tony Bennett version may have ensured Robert Wright and George Forrest’s tune became an American standard, but it originated as a love duet from the 1953 Arabian folk tale-themed musical Kismet, the music and songs of which were themselves lifted from the works of Russian classical composer Alexander Borodin – in Stranger In Paradise’s case, the Gliding Dance Of The Maidens melody from the 1890 opera Prince Igor

² The main theme from the score of Jacques Deray’s scintillating Côte d’Azur-set psychological drama La Piscine (1969), forever recalled for the iconoclasm of its scantily-clad stars Alain Delon, Romy Schneider and Jane Birkin

³ The utterly iconic main theme from Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, courtesy of movie musical maestro extraordinaire John Williams (at first, when the latter pitched a minimalist arrangement of such few notes as the theme, the former thought he was joking; in fact, the theme is heavily influenced by the opening to the finale of Dvořák’s New World Symphony); Jaws, which for two short years until the release of Star Wars (1977) was the global box-office champ, single-handedly introduced the concept of the Hollywood summer blockbuster following its US opening 50 years ago on June 20th

⁴ Featuring a performance of dance troupe Legs & Co. from an end-of-year review episode of Top Of The Pops, broadcast on Boxing Day 1977; the proto-dance music mega-hit that’s I Feel Love had taken the UK charts by storm the previous summer

⁵  Queen’s performance of this 1984 hit, an ode to radio in the face of the onslaught of TV, was, of course, the opening salvo of their Live Aid set, considered by many to be the greatest live performance in the history of popular music (you only need watch it to understand why); Live Aid celebrated its 40th anniversary on July 13th 

⁶ The B-side to Oasis’s glorious 1996 hit Don’t Look Back In Anger, this track sees them pay rightful tribute to Wolverhampton and glam rock’s finest, the one and only Slade; this summer not only sees Oasis reunite for the first time since they split-up in the Noughties but also marks 30 years since their zenith and that of the mid-’90s UK music phenomenon that was Britpop. 

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