Song of the Day 6/17: Mungo Jerry, “In the Summertime”

Some people insist summer starts with the equinox on June 21. Bollocks. June, July and August constitute “the summer,” and the people prove it every year by swarming the country’s beaches from Memorial Day to Labor Day. They take Mungo Jerry’s advice — they have a drink, have a drive and go out and see what they can find.

You can tell Mungo Jerry, nee the Mungo Jerry Blues Band, was British — the name was taken from T.S. Eliot’s “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats” years before some stage show made that small book famous. Leader Ray Dorset said he wrote “In the Summertime” in 10 minutes. As the band’s first single it became a worldwide hit, reaching No. 1 in 17 countries and No. 3 on Billboard’s Hot 100.

Though Mungo Jerry was a one-hit wonder in the U.S., they had a number of charting singles in the UK, including another No. 1, “Baby Jump,” in 1971. It doesn’t sound a whole lot like “In the Summertime.”

IN 1995 Shaggy resurrected “In the Summertime” for the rap era. It coincidentally topped out at No. 3 on the Hot 100.