Rod Stewart "Faith of the Heart"

The fear of walking in on one of your friends doing something embarrassing is real. I had four male roommates in college. Stuff that happens behind closed doors could accidentally be seen. One time, I walked into my friend Matt's house. He and I were seniors in college and back home that summer living with our parents. We were about to embark on a three-day road trip to visit some other friends who didn't come home for the summer. For some reason, we named our trip "The Cut-It-Out Tour". Anyway, I walked into Matt's house and his mom tells me he's downstairs in their basement. Matt was always downstairs. He had a pool table, a pull-out sofa, comfy La-Z-Boy chairs, and cable TV. This is why Matt was always in the basement. Matt was supposed to be all packed, dressed and ready to go when I arrived, so I truly was not happy to be walking down into his basement. I notice him sprawled out on the floor watching a movie. Not just any movie, Patch Adams. Yes, the Robin Williams movie from 1998. To make matters worse, Matt is bawling. He sees me and tries to laugh it off by telling me that everyone was wearing a red nose (whatever the hell that means). My eyes are wide as I say, "We're supposed to be on the road and you're down here in your boxers watching Patch Adams and crying?!?" He laughs again. For twenty years and counting, I have and continue to use this story against Matt.

The Motels "Suddenly Last Summer"

Blunt, never minces words, and straight-shooter are words to describe my late-Grandfather. One summer in mid-June during the late-1980s, my Grandfather uttered the phrase that still haunts me today: "Summer vacation is almost over." What? It wasn't even July yet and he's telling us that it's almost time to go back to school?! With just five words, my Grandfather managed to ruin what was left of a wonderful two-plus months of staying up late and sleeping until noon. Every summer after that one, my brother took great pleasure declaring that the summer was almost over on the first day of vacation.

Eddie Murphy "Party All The Time"

Remember the time Eddie Murphy had one of the biggest songs on the radio? It actually happened in 1985 when "Party All The Time" spent three weeks at #2 on the Hot 100. The song featured Rick "Superfreak" James on backing vocals. My mom and our neighbor Judy spent a good portion of the summer of 1985 singing along to the song, but they changed the lyrics to "My mom likes to party all the time..." 

New Kids on the Block "I'll Be Loving You (Forever)"

What were the kids ladies listening to during the summer of 1989? Chances are it was the ballad "I'll Be Loving You (Forever)" from New Kids on the Block (or NKOTB, as the kids called them). The song spent six weeks in the Top 10 of the Hot 100 peaking at #1 on June 17, 1989.

Bruce Hornsby "Walk in the Sun"

I graduated from high school during the summer of 1995 and spent many late nights cruising around Northwest Indiana with my small but solid group of friends who would soon be heading to different colleges than me. I planned to spend my freshman year of college locally at Indiana University Northwest whereas my friends were headed to Ball State, Purdue or Indiana University in Bloomington. Since I didn't have a curfew, I tried to make the most of late nights that year and usually stayed up until the sun started to rise. My older brother worked for United Airlines that year and his alarm would sound around at the ripe time of 3:45am. One particular early morning, I remember him passing me on his walk to the bathroom while muttering, "You're still up and I'm getting up for work...what's wrong with this picture?" That unusually hot summer featured hits from TLC, Hootie & The Blowfish and Green Day on the radio, but I also remember many late nights in the car when I would come across Bruce Hornsby's "Walk in the Sun". The jazzy soft rock tune played on many Adult Contemporary radio stations during that hot summer and, like many of my high school friends, disappeared in the autumn...

Pablo Cruise "Love Will Find a Way"

One of the big songs from the summer of 1978 was "Love Will Find a Way" from Pablo Cruise. The folk-rock song was part of the group's most popular album, Worlds Away.

Tracy Chapman - "Give Me One Reason"

"Give Me One Reason" from Tracy Chapman dominated the radio during the summer of 1996.  That same summer, I caught a rerun of Saturday Night Live from 1989 that featured Chapman as musical guest.  The odd part: Chapman performed "Fast Car" and "Give Me One Reason" during that 1989 performance.

Natalie Imbruglia - "Wrong Impression"

The summer of 1998 belonged to Natalie Imbruglia (pronounced: im-BRUE-lee-uh).  The Aussie soap star-turned-pop singer's mega-hit "Torn" found itself in heavy rotation on pop and Adult Contemporary radio stations.  Don't get the wrong impression and call Natalie a one-hit-wonder.  Four years after "Torn", Imbruglia released "Wrong Impression" -- a mild hit on the Adult Contemporary Chart (#30), but a Top 10 hit on the Adult Top 40 Chart.

Colbie Caillat - "Brighter Than The Sun"

The beautiful and talented Colbie Caillat very quietly has dominated adult radio over the past decade.  With a handful of radio-friendly hits beginning with 2007's "Bubbly", Colbie made a name for herself despite never really becoming a household name.  The light and summery "Brighter Than The Sun" exemplifies Colbie's California sound.  The song went to #1 on the Adult Contemporary Chart in 2012 and is perfect to hear as we hold onto the waning days of summer.  

Patrick Swayze - "She's Like The Wind"

Most 80's movies featured soundtracks loaded with radio-ready pop songs, and the "Dirty Dancing" soundtrack was no exception.  It spawned three big hits during the summer of 1987 including a song from Patrick Swayze, one of the movie's lead characters.  Swayze originally wrote "She's Like The Wind" for the 1984 movie "Grandview, USA", but it was never used.  He dusted off the song and presented it to the "Dirty Dancing" producers who liked it and included it in their film's soundtrack.  The song shot to #1 on the Adult Contemporary charts and received increased airplay following Swayze's 2009 death.