CAIRO - The weather has been unbearable for a very long time now. It's not even what we can call a heat wave... it's more like a heat Tsunami. The worst thing about it is the humidity. As much as I love summer, I find it hard to enjoy it in such weather. Besides, I neither sleep nor eat properly in this heat. I sometimes feel like a polar bear in a hot desert. As a child I wanted to play in the summer sun all day long and didn't mind the heat. In fact, I couldn't understand it when grownups said things like, “We will go out when the sun goes down." Compared to most people I am an extreme sun lover and I never sit in the shade whenever I'm by the sea or the pool, but still on an average working day I don't enjoy the summer weather as much as I used to. If I'm not going to have a swim, then I prefer the summer evenings when there is a breeze. As the Bee Gees said, “and you come to me on a summer breeze, keep me warm in your love then you softly leave". Since that part was sung by Barry Gibb, I assume he was either in love with a leaf or his definition of a “summer breeze" is what we know as a hurricane. How on earth could a summer breeze carry along a grown-up woman? The words I used were taken from the ultimate love song ‘How Deep Is Your Love?, which was featured in the 1977 movie Saturday Night Fever, starring the then newcomer John Travolta. Didn't he star in Grease too? Yes, of course. In the following year, he co-starred with the gorgeous Olivia Newton-John in this, my all time favourite movie, and together they sang ‘You're the One that I Want', ‘We Go Together' and the ever so popular ‘Summer Nights'. The intro to this song still drives people crazy, whether in a concert or a karaoke club. Undoubtedly one of the most famous summer tunes is George Gershwin's ‘Summertime', which featured in his musical Porky and Bess... I mean Porgy and Bess. There are countless versions of this track – it was covered by everyone from the legendary American jazz songstress Billie Holiday to another legendary American jazz songstress Ella Fitzgerald, who was accompanied on her rendition by the legendary American jazz figure Louis Armstrong. I think the weirdest version of them all was the one recorded by American rocker Janis Joplin. A totally different track with the same name, ‘Summertime', was released by DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince. It's more lighthearted and was a hit for the duo. Have I told you that their real names are Jeff Townes and Will Smith respectively? Yes, the very same Will Smith of Men in Black, Bad Boys and many other hit movies. I find him really funny. Mungo Jerry is not a fruit and also has nothing to do with Jerry the mouse of Tom & Jerry fame. It is simply the British band that told us what happens ‘In the Summertime'. If this band's name were not enough to raise your eyebrows then maybe you need to know about the Lovin' Spoonful. Yes it's an American band and its biggest hit was ‘Summer in the City'. I love that song and have actually sung it on stage. The one thing that confuses me is the spoon – is it a tablespoon or a teaspoon? I guess that depends on the amount of ‘lovin'‘. Sweden is a very cold country and summer is short there. Besides, compared to our weather, Swedish summer is not hot at all. Still, that didn't stop Sweden's finest-ever band, Abba, making a song and calling it ‘Summer Night City'. It also didn't stop Roxette and Europe from making many songs that have nothing to do with summer... what I wanted to say is that Roxette and Europe are from Sweden. I mean... do you really think this has nothing to do with what we are talking about? Never mind. Bryan Adams remembers the summer although in Canada it gets down to 72,000 below zero or something. He remembers a very special summer – the ‘Summer of 69' – which was when he got his first real six string. A six string is a regular guitar, while there are other ones like the double neck or even the bass guitar with between four and 18 strings. As I told you earlier, Sweden is a very cold country and summer is short there. Maybe this is why Abba missed the summer so much. In fact the quartet hasn't had one in a long time – 32 years in fact. If you don't believe me, check the release date of Abba's ‘Our Last Summer'. Poor souls! Greek singer Demis Roussos was a bit greedy. He didn't only sing about summer, but he decided to mention all seasons in his hit ‘Spring, Summer, Winter & Fall'. Good for him. Don Henley of the Eagles had numerous solo hits and my personal favourite has to be ‘The Boys of Summer', which tells the story of a man reminiscing about an old love affair. It has so many wonderful bars about the beach, sun, sunglasses, radio, etc. I love listening to it every time I'm on the beach. One of my favourite summers has to be the late Queen of Disco Donna Summer. Some will say that this doesn't count because persons are not seasons. To them I say... “OK. I will not do this again... in this paragraph." I guess I should go back to my old routine of drinking a big glass of cold pineapple juice, soda or lemon late at night, while listening to Sade or whatever I categorise as summer music. Send me your Ray-Ban Wayfarers to: [email protected]
