Summer Girls Explained

Summer Girls
Cover:SummerGirlsLFO.jpg
Type:single
Artist:LFO
Album:LFO
Length:4:17
Label:Arista
Prev Title:Sex U Up (The Way You Like It)
Prev Year:1997
Next Title:Girl on TV
Next Year:1999

"Summer Girls" is a song by American pop group LFO. It was released on June 29, 1999, as the lead single from their debut album, LFO (1999). "Summer Girls" reached number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In 2010, Billboard magazine named it the 14th-biggest summer song of all time.[1] In 2019, Billboard also ranked the song the 43rd-greatest song of 1999.[2] This was the band's first single to feature Devin Lima as a member of the group after original member Brian "Brizz" Gillis left the group.

Background and content

The song was written by Rich Cronin, Dow Brain, and Brad Young. Cronin said the song included numerous inside jokes,[3] and that he never anticipated its success. He claimed this was because the song was made strictly for a demo tape, but was leaked to WWZZ, a top 40 radio station in Washington, D.C.[3] PD Dale O'Brien at the radio station got an unmixed copy of the song from Kelly Schweinsberg, GM of LFO's initial label, Logic Records. He listened to it a few days later, his "jaw dropped, and the song was added in a hot second."[4] Many of the song's rhyming lines appear to be randomly inserted. The formula often consists of writing a line about Cronin's summer relationship with a girl and following it with a non sequitur that rhymes, similar in fashion to "The Thanksgiving Song" by Adam Sandler. It is considered the most popular song by the boy band.

"Summer Girls" is often identified by one of the lines in the chorus: "I like girls that wear Abercrombie and Fitch"[5] and "You look like a girl from Abercrombie and Fitch."[6] The song was also featured in the 2002 movie Longshot, in which LFO appeared.

The song has myriad, primarily 1980s and early 1990s, cultural references, including Cherry Coke, Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone, Michael J. Fox, his Family Ties character Alex P. Keaton, New Edition, Kevin Bacon in Footloose, New Kids on the Block, Larry Bird, Abercrombie and Fitch, Cherry Pez, Mr. Limpet, Paul Revere, Chinese food, pogo sticks, Eric B. and Rakim, "Candy Girl", The Color Purple, Boogaloo Shrimp, and Fun Dip. The song also references The Wizard of Oz and Shakespeare's sonnets.

Music video

The music video was directed by Marcus Raboy and was released on July 20, 1999. It was filmed at Coney Island in New York.[7] [8]

Track listings

US CD and cassette single, Australian CD single[9] [10] [11]

  1. "Summer Girls" – 4:17
  2. "Summer Girls" (instrumental) – 4:17
  3. "Can't Have You" – 4:02

European CD single[12]

  1. "Summer Girls" – 4:17
  2. "Summer Girls" (instrumental) – 4:17

UK cassette single[13]

  1. "Summer Girls" – 4:17
  2. "Can't Have You" – 4:02

UK CD1[14]

  1. "Summer Girls" – 4:17
  2. "Summer Girls" (instrumental) – 4:17
  3. "Summer Girls" (video) – 4:17

UK CD2[15]

  1. "Summer Girls" – 4:17
  2. "Can't Have You" – 4:02
  3. "Summer Girls" (instrumental) – 4:17

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1999)Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[16] 71
Canada CHR (Nielsen BDS)[17] 16
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[18] 52
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40 Tipparade)[19] 12
US Billboard Hot 100[20] 3
US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[21] 18
US Rhythmic Top 40 (Billboard)[22] 29

Year-end charts

Chart (1999)Position
US Billboard Hot 100[23] 38
US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[24] 68

Certifications

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Release history

RegionDateFormat(s)Label(s)
United StatesJune 29, 1999CDArista[25]
United KingdomSeptember 6, 1999[26]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Top 30 Summer Songs. Billboard.
  2. The 99 Greatest Songs of 1999: Critics' Picks. Billboard.
  3. News: Raman, Sheela . Rich Cronin's comeback Six years after 'Summer Girls,' the leader of LFO battles leukemia . The Boston Globe . July 7, 2005 . January 9, 2009 . "I just thought back to when I was young, happy, no worries," he says. 'Summer Girls' was all about a summer on the Cape. Inside jokes. I never thought that anyone besides my close friends would ever hear it." But the song was leaked to a radio station and climbed Billboard charts. .
  4. Billboard. [{{Google books|id=mAgEAAAAMBAJ|page=70|plainurl=yes}} LFO's Pop-Culture-Soaked 'Summer Girls' Takes Organic Route To Radio]. August 7, 1999. 70. April 10, 2020.
  5. Web site: "I like girls that wear Abercrombie and Fitch" search result from Google.
  6. Web site: "You look like a girl from Abercrombie and Fitch" search results on Google.
  7. https://www.theringer.com/music/2019/7/29/8934482/lfo-summer-girls-1999-music-abercrombie-fitch-song How “Summer Girls” Explains a Bunch of Hits—and the Music of 1999
  8. https://buffalonews.com/entertainment/lfo-still-likes-girls-who-wear-abercrombie-and-hopes-you-do/article_c3d8c2dd-8e35-5898-8714-db41b1cef1b8.html LFO still likes girls who wear Abercrombie (and hopes you do)
  9. Summer Girls. LFO. 1999. US CD single liner notes. Arista Records. 07822-13692-2.
  10. Summer Girls. LFO. 1999. US cassette single sleeve. Arista Records. 07822-13692-4.
  11. Summer Girls. LFO. 1999. Australian CD single liner notes. Logic Records, Arista Records. 74321 69349 2.
  12. Summer Girls. LFO. 1999. European CD single liner notes. Logic Records, Arista Records. 74321 70088 2.
  13. Summer Girls. LFO. 1999. UK cassette single sleeve. Logic Records, Arista Records. 74321 70115 4.
  14. Summer Girls. LFO. 1999. UK CD1 liner notes. Logic Records, Arista Records. 74321 70115 2.
  15. Summer Girls. LFO. 1999. UK CD2 liner notes. Logic Records, Arista Records. 74321 70116 2.
  16. 172.
  17. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20050407221908/http://www.crosscanadacountdown.com/pdfs/1999.pdf. April 7, 2005. Canadian Top 20 in 1999. Cross Canada Countdown. November 13, 2023.
  18. Eurochart Hot 100 Singles. Music & Media. 16. 39. 16. September 25, 1999. October 13, 2020.
  19. Web site: Tipparade-lijst van week 44, 1999. Dutch Top 40. March 13, 2023.
  20. Billboard Hot 100. Billboard. August 28, 1999. September 27, 2023.
  21. Pop Airplay. Billboard. September 4, 1999. subscription. September 27, 2023.
  22. Rhythmic Airplay. Billboard. September 4, 1999. subscription. September 27, 2023.
  23. [{{Google books|id=9w0EAAAAMBAJ|pg=SL680-PA48|plainurl=yes}} 1999: The Year In Music – Hot 100 Singles]. Billboard. 111. 52. YE-48. December 25, 1999. April 10, 2020.
  24. Most Played Mainstream Top 40 Songs of 1999. Airplay Monitor. 7. 52. 54. December 24, 1999.
  25. Web site: Summer Girls. Amazon. July 24, 2021.
  26. Reviews – For Records Released on 6 September 1999: Singles. Music Week. 12. August 28, 1999. July 24, 2021.