What’s the use of sun and fun without great soundtrack? Set up your iTunes playlist or maybe stack your change at the jukebox and fix in this hand-picked themed medley of songs of “summer.”

Beach Boys—“All Summer Long”

They were the de facto kings of sunshine and summer fun songs, and this underrated classic might well be their best. It’s simple, direct and completely infectious. From the Hondas in the yard to the spilled Coca-Cola, every second is just perfect. Listen to the line “Every now and then we hear our song/We’ll be having fun all summer long” and try to keep the smile from your face. “All Summer Long” gets extra points for its presence as the credits roll on George Lucas’ nostalgia opus American Graffiti. It’s hard to talk about pop music with summer at its center and not mention the Beach Boys. If you need proof of that, read on!

Find it on: The Beach Boys, Warmth of the Sun

Wilco—“Summer Teeth”

The bouncy pop of this title track from the band’s third album is laden with harmonies, warm mellotron and piano along with a shiny ambling guitar part showing more than a little debt to the Beach Boys.

Find it on: Wilco, Summer Teeth

Beat Happening

Beat Happening—“Indian Summer”

This hypnotically lovely and sweetly naïve ditty from the progenitors of lo-fi indie pop sets the perfect balance between the Velvet Underground and, yep, the Beach Boys. There’s a bittersweetness that you get about coming of age. The last line, “We will never change/No matter what they say,” exudes a hopefulness about young love. Calvin Johnson’s deep voice still manages to sound sensitive and tender in this classic.

Find it: Beat Happening, Jamboree

Led Zeppelin—“White Summer/

Black Mountain Side”

Melding eastern sounds with English folk, this instrumental piece is more or less a virtuosic guitar workout where Jimmy Page shows off his untouchable chops. Page originally recorded “White Summer” with the Yardbirds for the Little Games album but later paired it with “Black Mountain Side” for what was the centerpiece of many live Zep shows.

Find it on: Led Zeppelin, Complete Studio Recordings

T. Rex

T.Rex—“Celebrate Summer”

The final single before his untimely demise found the elfin glam lord Marc Bolan concocting a confectionary groove that rolls with the spirit and spark of the hottest day of the year.

Find it on: T.Rex, The A’s & the B’s

Blue Cheer

Blue Cheer—“Summertime Blues”

There are too many great versions of this classic—from Eddie Cochran’s roustabout rockabilly original to the Who’s powerhouse version—but we’ll go with Blue Cheer’s for its nihilistic, sludgy, proto-metal glory. We also love the fact that the awesome vintage video clip has the band looking like a power trio of Cousin Its with hair covering their faces and totally rocking out.

Find it on: Blue Cheer, The History of Blue Cheer

Mungo Jerry—“In the Summertime”

It’s a stripped, freakazoid pyschedelic jugband song—featuring a drumless arrangement highlighting kazoo, washboard and jug—that drips pop perfection, oddly by a band from the British pop-blues scene. In 1970 it topped the charts across the globe for good reason. Though we don’t condone all of its lyrics (“Have a drink/Have a drive”) it’s hard to deny the warm weather appeal that Ray Dorset and company bottled here.

Find it on: Mungo Jerry, The Very Best of Mungo Jerry

Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazelwood—

“Summer Wine”

Nancy’s kittenish vocal and the sweeping dramatics of Hazelwood’s deep chasm of a voice—along with his grand arrangement of strings—makes this track a cinematic can’t miss.

Find it on: Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazelwood, Fairy Tales & Fantasies

The Style Council—“Long Hot Summer”

Paul Weller says he wants to run but simply can’t hide as he admits, “the long hot summer just passed me by.” The Modfather’s soulful, tortured vocal act—a highwire that includes some falsetto—finds him a million miles away from the rock of the recently split Jam. Mick Talbot’s downbeat synths also help carry this one.

Find it on: Paul Weller, Hit Parade

The Decemberists—“Summersong”

Here’s a dreamy, gentle song celebrating the beauty of love and being swallowed by a whale that comes from the Decemberists’ 2006 masterwork, strewn with elegant accordion and the elegant wordsmithing of Colin Meloy.

Find it on: The Decemberists, The Crane Wife

Gordon Lightfoot—

“Summer Side of Light”

Canada’s bard of folk rock paints his poetics over a grand backdrop of lavish instrumentation on this song that manages to be both epic but still plainly pastoral. It’s a sad song where the end destination is a house “where love had been misplaced” and proves just another example of the greatness of Gord.

Find it on: Gordon Lightfoot, Gord’s Gold

Sly & The Family Stone

Sly & the Family Stone—

“Hot Fun in the Summertime”

The breezy pop arrangement with talk of “county fair in the country” belie the funky badassedness of Mr. Sylvester Stewart. There’s no denying he put together a warm-weather classic with this one, though. A lot of Sly’s catalog has just been remastered, and there’s plenty more summer-ready funk and soul among it that never have sounded better.

Find it on: Sly & the Family Stone, Greatest Hits

Frank Sinatra—“Summer Wind”

Henry Mayer and Johnny Mercer’s 1965 ode to that “fickle friend” of a breeze that blows in but once a year bringing with it—in this case—heartache. Sinatra nails it with his rich, well-aged baritone, echoing dually of too much love and no regrets. The perfect song for a sunny afternoon by the water with the one you love or a 4am last call on a sticky August morning at the Old Pink with a crushed heart.

Find it on: Frank Sinatra, The Very Best of Frank Sinatra

Chad & Jeremy—“The Summer Song”

Another bittersweet one is this acoustic gem from 1964 that finds the British Invasion duo singing about summer but getting really more autumnal in nature. They describe the onset of fall and the shift from silver leaves on trees turning a faded hue to blow away. Summer—in both the literal sense and grander, figurative perspective of life—is over before you know it, so enjoy it while you can.

Find it on: Chad & Jeremy, The Best of Chad & Jeremy