Maybe my memory is selective (it’s definitely faulty), but I don’t remember there being such anxious discussion around identifying the official song of the summer way back when. It could be that the consensus was formerly reached with greater ease, though I suspect it has more to do with a modern desire to create shared pop culture experiences. In Spotify’s world, how relevant is the biggest radio song of the summer unless we make it so? Best as I can tell, the current debate is between the genius of Daft Punk and some Robin Thicke track which I haven’t knowing heard, but I assume is a lot like the songs his pop used to write and sing.

It’s possible the real reason I’m curmudgeonly about the discussion is that I’m fairly certain my personal songs of past summers have always been out of step with the main populace. Sure, “Come Anytime” by Hoodoo Gurus might take me back to the summer of 1989, but I suspect most others would identify very different songs. Even beyond that, some of my strongest associations relating to summer songs have very little to do with what was getting all the attention from deejays, even those deejays at my beloved college radio station. One of the songs that most clearly means summer to me is “Could Be Mine” by the Cost of Living.

The Cost of Living’s album Comic Book Page was indeed a summer release, and I played it a lot when I was on the air that particular summer (and my airtime was close to daily). But what truly cements it as a summer song for me was its use as a music bumper that transitioned in and out of half-innings during our broadcasts of Stevens Point Sixers baseball games. Few things were coveted more by those of us who contributed to the production chores at that station than a cool, relatively obscure, upbeat song that had a long enough intro that it could be used as a music bed. On “Could Be Mine,” the singing starts at almost precisely twenty-eight seconds in, maybe not quite long enough for most promos (though it wasn’t a requirement by any means, we did try to target the standard thirty seconds for those), but absolutely ideal for switching in and out of segments. Through the summers, I’d sit in the press box at Leo “Cub” Mancheski Field in beautiful Bukolt Park by the shores of the Wisconsin River in the City of Wonderful Water, Stevens Point listening to that intro piped from the station through the headphones. I think we used that song every year I did game broadcasts, so by the time I called my final out, it definitely meant summer to me. Naturally, it still does.

Listen or download –> The Cost of Living, “Could Be Mine”

(Disclaimer: I’ve been through this once before with the Cost of Living. I believe the album to be out of print. I similarly believe that sharing this song in this place deprives no one–not the band, not a record label, not the proprietor of your favorite local, independently-owned record store–from due compensation. Maybe it makes it a tad harder for someone hawking a rare sealed copy for a a nutso amount of money to complete a sale, but that doesn’t honestly concern me much. Regardless, I’ll gladly remove it if asked to do so by someone with due authority to make such a request. I swear. In fact, I’m mere moments away from taking down an Urge Overkill song because they asked really nicely. I’m not a monster.)