SUMMER PLAYLISTICLE: Entertainment Weekly's 100 Greatest Summer Songs (1996)

Eighteen years ago next month, Entertainment Weekly published a cover story on The 100 Greatest Summer Songs.  This was their stated criteria:

They had to have been released as singles. The singles had to peak during summer months (ruling out ''Good Vibrations,'' a classic that hit in the dead of winter). More vaguely, each had to capture the breezy, loopy, head-spinning quintessence of summer.

They fudged a little by grouping more than one song at the same position (see 42, 28 and 26) so what we truly have here is the 105 Greatest Summer Songs.  (In case you're curious like HERC was, the oldest song is from 1955 and the newest two songs are from 1995 with the average year of release for the songs listed is 1972.)  Read the entire list below or scroll down to bottom of page to listen to Spotify playlist.

Which one of these three will top the list?

	title	artist	year
100	See You In September	The Happenings	1966
99	Stay (I Missed You)	Lisa Loeb	1994
98	Tennessee	Arrested Development	1992
97	We're an American Band	Grand Funk	1973
96	Summertime	Billy Stewart	1966
95	Radar Love	Golden Earring	1974
94	The Love You Save	The Jackson 5	1970
93	Handy Man	James Taylor	1977
92	Dancing In The Dark	Bruce Springsteen	1984
91	Funkytown	Lipps Inc.	1980
90	Yakety Yak	The Coasters	1958
89	Summertime, Summertime	The Jamies	1958
88	Kiss From A Rose	Seal	1995
87	Macho Man	The Village People	1978
86	My Cherie Amour	Stevie Wonder	1969
85	Summer	War	1976
84	Waterloo	ABBA	1974
83	Summertime	DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince	1991
82	The End of the Innocence	Don Henley	1989
81	San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair)	Scott McKenzie	1967
80	Under the Bridge	Red Hot Chili Peppers	1992
79	Wild Thing	The Troggs	1966
78	Hot Blooded	Foreigner	1978
77	Takin' Care of Business	Bachman-Turner Overdrive	1974
76	Rikki Don't Lose That Number	Steely Dan	1974
75	Don't You Want Me	Human League	1982
74	Tell Me Something Good	Rufus	1974
73	What's Love Got to Do with It	Tina Turner	1984
72	Unchained Melody	The Righteous Brothers	1965
71	Sunny Afternoon	The Kinks	1966
70	I'm Still in Love with You	Al Green	1972
69	A Whiter Shade of Pale	Procol Harum	1967
68	Let's Get It On	Marvin Gaye	1973
67	So Much in Love	The Tymes	1963
66	Vacation	The Go-Go's	1982
65	Little Red Corvette	Prince	1982
64	Feel Like Makin' Love	Roberta Flack	1974
63	We Are Family	Sister Sledge	1979
62	Fooled Around and Fell in Love	Elvin Bishop	1976
61	Kodachrome	Paul Simon	1973
60	Where Did Our Love Go	The Supremes	1964
59	Sea of Love	Phil Phillips with the Twilights	1959
58	The Loco-Motion	Little Eva	1962
57	This Guy's In Love with You	Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass	1968
56	Can't Take My Eyes Off You	Frankie Valli	1967
55	All You Need Is Love	The Beatles	1967
54	Brandy (You're A Fine Girl)	Looking Glass	1972
53	Sealed With A Kiss	Brian Hyland	1962
52	Philadelphia Freedom	Elton John	1975
51	The Letter	The Box Tops	1967
50	Sledgehammer	Peter Gabriel	1986
49	I'm Not In Love	10cc	1975
48	You Should Be Dancing	The Bee Gees	1976
47	Take It Easy	Eagles	1972
46	(We're Gonna) Rock Around The Clock	Bill Haley & his Comets	1955
45	Live And Let Die	Paul McCartney & Wings	1973
44	I Got You Babe	Sonny & Cher	1965
43	Buffalo Stance	Neneh Cherry	1989
42	Hound Dog	Elvis Presley	1956
42	Don't Be Cruel	Elvis Presley	1956
41	Green Onions	Booker T. & the MGs	1962
40	Sunshine Superman	Donovan	1966
39	Good Times	Chic	1979
38	Grazing In The Grass	Hugh Masakela	1968
37	Groovin'	The Rascals	1967
36	Spill The Wine	Eric Burdon & WAR	1970
35	Stand By Me	Ben E. King	1961
34	Ramblin' Man	The Allman Brothers Band	1973
33	My Sharona	The Knack	1979
32	Miss You	The Rolling Stones	1978
31	Waterfalls	TLC	1995
30	Cruel Summer	Bananarama	1984
29	All I Wanna Do	Sheryl Crow	1994
28	The Twist	Chubby Checker	1960
28	Let's Twist Again	Chubby Checker	1961
27	Born To Be Wild	Steppenwolf	1968
26	Grease	Frankie Valli	1978
26	Summer Nights	John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John	1978
26	You're The One That I Want	John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John	1978
25	Like A Rolling Stone	Bob Dylan	1965
24	Don't Go Breaking My Heart	Elton John & Kiki Dee	1976
23	White Rabbit	Jefferson Airplane	1967
22	(They Long To Be) Close To You	The Carpenters	1970
21	Go All The Way	The Raspberries	1972
20	Every Breath You Take	The Police	1983
19	Wouldn't It Be Nice	The Beach Boys	1966
18	Wipe Out	The Surfaris	1963
17	A Hard Day's Night	The Beatles	1964
16	Maggie May	Rod Stewart	1971
15	In The Summertime	Mungo Jerry	1970
14	The Message	Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five	1982
13	I Get Around	The Beach Boys	1964
12	Rock The Boat	The Hues Corporation	1974
11	Summertime Blues	Eddie Cochran	1958
10	(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction	The Rolling Stones	1965
9	Hot Fun In The Summertime	Sly & the Family Stone	1969
8	Borderline	Madonna	1984
7	Dancing In The Street	Martha & the Vandellas	1964
6	Light My Fire	The Doors	1967
5	Under The Boardwalk	The Drifters	1964
4	Heat Wave	Martha & the Vandellas	1963
3	School's Out	Alice Cooper	1972
2	California Girls	The Beach Boys	1965
1	Summer In The City	The Lovin' Spoonful	1966