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Hot Fun in the Summertime

1969 single by Sly and the Family Stone

Field	Value
name	Hot Fun in the Summertime
image	Hot fun in the summertime sly family stone US single side-A.png
alt	side-A label
caption	Side A of the US single
type	single
artist	Sly and the Family Stone
album	Greatest Hits
B-side	Fun
released	July 21, 1969
recorded	1969
* Psychedelic soul<ref>{{cite web	last	Pitchfork Staff	title= The 200 Best Songs of the 1960s	website= Pitchfork	date= August 18, 2006	url= https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/6405-the-200-greatest-songs-of-the-1960s/	quote= No surprise, however, that it’s the sweet and psychedelic soul sounds that win out.	accessdate= October 12, 2022}}
* funk<ref name	"RS summer"
length	2:37 (mono single version & stereo album version)
label	Epic
5-10497
writer	Sly Stone
producer	Sly Stone
prev_title	Stand!
prev_title2	I Want to Take You Higher
prev_year	1969
title2	Fun
next_title	Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)
next_title2	Everybody is a Star
next_year	1969
misc

| B-side = Fun

Psychedelic soul
funk 5-10497 "Hot Fun in the Summertime" is a 1969 song recorded by Sly and the Family Stone. The single was released just prior to the band's high-profile performance at Woodstock, which greatly expanded their fanbase. The song peaked at number 2 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, kept out of the number 1 spot by "I Can't Get Next to You" by the Temptations. "Hot Fun in the Summertime" also peaked at number 3 on the U.S. Billboard Soul Singles chart in autumn 1969. It is ranked as the seventh biggest U.S. hit of 1969, and the 65th in Canada.

Rolling Stone ranked the song #247 on their list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time", and it has also been named in lists by Yahoo! Music and AskMen as an all-time "summer anthem."

Background

Thematically, "Hot Fun in the Summertime" is a dedication to the fun and games to be had during the summer. "Hot Fun in the Summertime" was intended to be included on an in-progress album with "Everybody Is a Star" and "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)"; the LP was never completed, and the three tracks were instead included on the band's 1970 Greatest Hits LP. This song is known for its rare use of strings in a Sly and the Family Stone song, featuring violins being played in the upper register.

The B-side to this single is "Fun," a song taken from the group's third album (Life) from 1968.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Chart (1969)	Peak
position
US Cash Box Top 100	6

Year-end charts

Chart (1969)	Rank
Canada	65
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	7
U.S. R&B (Billboard)	8
U.S. Cash Box Top 100	60

Certifications

The Beach Boys version

| B-side = Summer of Love

The track was covered by the Beach Boys on their 1992 album Summer in Paradise. The song was also released as a single during that same year, backed with "Summer of Love." A video was made to accompany the song.

Chart history

Chart (1992)	Peak
position
US Gavin Report Adult Contemporary	10
US Radio & Records Adult Contemporary	13

Other covers

It was performed on stage in HBO's 1981 television special The Pee-wee Herman Show.

The song was covered by The Party, which was originally supposed to be on their 1992 album, Free, but was then released on their 1993 album, "The Party's Over...Thanks For Coming".

It was covered in 1982 with somewhat greater chart success by a funk outfit known as Dayton, and again in 1995 by The Manhattan Transfer featuring vocals by Chaka Khan.

Genesis vocalist and drummer Phil Collins cited the song as one of the musical inspirations for "Misunderstanding". The members of Toto have also cited it as an inspiration for "Hold the Line".

Dave Koz and Friends (Gerald Albright, Mindi Abair and Richard Elliot) did an instrumental jazz cover on their 2013 collaboration album Summer Horns.

Personnel

;Sly and the Family Stone

Sly Stone - vocals, piano
Freddie Stone - vocals, guitar
Larry Graham - vocals, bass guitar
Rose Stone - vocals
Cynthia Robinson - trumpet
Jerry Martini - saxophone
Greg Errico - drums
Uncredited: Strings with violins in the upper register.
Written and produced by Sly Stone

References

"Sly and the Family Stone - Hot Fun in the Summertime".
Pitchfork Staff. (August 18, 2006). "The 200 Best Songs of the 1960s".
Rolling Stone Staff. (June 25, 2022). "The Best Summer Songs of All Time".
"The Hot 100 Chart".
Whitburn, Joel. (2004). "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004". Record Research.
"Top 100 Hits of 1969/Top 100 Songs of 1969".
Willman, Chris. (2012-05-29). "The 50 Greatest Summer Songs!".
"Top 10 Better Man".
''Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-2002''
Whitburn, Joel. (2000). "Sly & the Family Stone". Record Research Inc..
"Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada".
(December 27, 1969). "Top Records of 1969".
"Top 100 Year End Charts: 1969". [[Cashbox (magazine).
(1992-07-25). "Billboard".

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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