"Summer Girls" is a song recorded by the pop group LFO. It was released on June 29, 1999, as the lead single from their debut album, LFO (1999). The song peaked at number three on the U.S. Billboard 100 the week of August 28, 1999.
"Summer Girls" | ||||
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Single by LFO | ||||
from the album LFO | ||||
Released | June 29, 1999 | |||
Length | 4:17 | |||
Label | Arista | |||
Songwriter(s) |
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Producer(s) |
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LFO singles chronology | ||||
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"Summer Girls" was certified Platinum by the RIAA[1] and reached number one on the Billboard Hot Singles Sales chart in 1999.[2] In 2010 Billboard magazine named it the 14th biggest summer song of all time.[3] In 2019 Billboard also ranked the song the 43rd Greatest Song of 1999.[4]
Background and content
The song was written by Rich Cronin, Dow Brain, and Brad Young. Cronin said that the song included numerous inside jokes,[5] 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.[5] 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."[6] 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"[7] and "You look like a girl from Abercrombie and Fitch."[8] The song was also featured in the 2002 movie Longshot, in which LFO appeared.
The song has a myriad of primarily 1980s and early 1990s cultural references, including Cherry Coke, Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone, Michael J. Fox and his Family Ties character Alex P. Keaton, New Edition, Kevin Bacon in Footloose, New Kids on the Block, Beastie Boys "The New Style" and "Paul Revere", Larry Bird, Abercrombie and Fitch, Cherry Pez, Mr. Limpet, 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.[9][10]
Track listings
US single
- "Summer Girls" – 4:17
- "Summer Girls" (Instrumental) – 4:17
- "Can't Have You" – 4:02
European single
- "Summer Girls" – 4:17
- "Summer Girls" (Instrumental) – 4:17
- "Summer Girls" (Video) – 4:17
Charts and certifications
Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
Certifications
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Release history
Region | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | Ref. |
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United States | June 29, 1999 | CD | Arista | [25] |
United Kingdom | September 6, 1999 |
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[26] |
In popular culture
- Rapper Eminem parodied the song's chorus in his track "Marshall Mathers", from his 2000 album The Marshall Mathers LP.
References
- ^ a b "American single certifications – LFO – Summer Girls". Recording Industry Association of America.
- ^ "Hot 100 Singles Sales". Billboard. August 28, 1999. p. 103. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
- ^ "Top 30 Summer Songs".
- ^ https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/list/8505742/greatest-songs-of-1999-top-99
- ^ a b
Raman, Sheela (July 7, 2005). "Rich Cronin's comeback Six years after 'Summer Girls,' the leader of LFO battles leukemia". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 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.
- ^ "LFO's Pop-Culture-Soaked 'Summer Girls' Takes Organic Route To Radio". Billboard. August 7, 1999. p. 70. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
- ^ ""I like girls that wear Abercrombie and Fitch" search result from Google".
- ^ ""You look like a girl from Abercrombie and Fitch" search results on Google".
- ^ How “Summer Girls” Explains a Bunch of Hits—and the Music of 1999 The Ringer
- ^ LFO still likes girls who wear Abercrombie (and hopes you do) Buffalo News
- ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 172.
- ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 8449." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
- ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 16, no. 39. September 25, 1999. p. 16. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
- ^ "Lyte Funkie Ones – Summer Girls" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
- ^ "Lyte Funkie Ones – Summer Girls" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
- ^ "Lyte Funkie Ones – Summer Girls". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
- ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
- ^ "Lyte Funkie Ones – Summer Girls". Singles Top 100. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
- ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
- ^ "LFO Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
- ^ "LFO Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
- ^ "LFO Chart History (Rhythmic)". Billboard. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
- ^ "1999: The Year In Music – Hot 100 Singles". Billboard. Vol. 111, no. 52. December 25, 1999. p. YE-48. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
- ^ "Best-Selling Records of 1999". Billboard. Vol. 112, no. 4. BPI Communications Inc. January 22, 2000. p. 63. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
- ^ "Summer Girls". Amazon. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
- ^ "Reviews – For Records Released on 6 September 1999: Singles" (PDF). Music Week. August 28, 1999. p. 12. Retrieved July 24, 2021.