"I know it's officially summer when I hear THIS song." That's the prompt given to the KUAF staff, and they delivered. Here's a rundown of those selections:
Smooth
Santana (feat. Rob Thomas)
"This song just reminds me of 100° July heat, sunburns, and being in the back of my mom's Ford Explorer."
Daniel Caruth, Morning Edition host and reporter for Ozarks at Large
Dead Roots Stirring
Elder
"What says summer more than cutting the grass and listening to some sweet psychedelic rock?"
Wai-Kay Carenbauer, Technical Director
Paper Planes
M.I.A.
"Nothing beats hanging out near a body of water singing Paper Planes with your friends."
Jack Travis, Digital Content Manager
Push Th' Little Daisies
Ween
"It reminds me of the way summer felt as a young adult: the fully feral nonsense of early 20s summertime."
Rachel Bernstein, Spot Producer
The Magnificent Seven
The Clash
"It sounded completely different, and it was the perfect summer wake-up song."
Kyle Kellams, News Director
Spill The Wine
Eric Burdon, War
"I heard it a lot last summer, and it was one of the best summers of my life."
Caleb Burkholder, Spot Producer
Slide
Calvin Harris (feat. Frank Ocean & Migos)
"I distinctly getting my driver's license in 2017 when this song came out, and during that summer, all I did was drive around by myself and play it."
Sophia Nourani, Program and Podcast Producer
What I Got
Sublime
"It always takes me back to the West Coast, carne asada, cold beverages, and chilling with the family."
Emerson Alexander, Listening Lab coordinator
Deep Blue Sea
Art Lown
"It reminds me of hiking, going to watering holes, and ultimately just chilling with my best friends."
Luke Dumpert, Spot Producer
One Headlight
The Wallflowers
"Me and 'Spinderella,' put it all together, we can drive it home with one headlight."
Matthew Moore, Senior Producer for Ozarks at Large
Lose My Mind
Jeezy (feat. Plies)
"Usually the DJ would wait until 12:45 to play the iconic line in the song."
Ryan Versey, Underwriting Director
Summer Nights
Van Halen
"I'm going to be very generic, what a surprise ... it also has one of the better guitar solos by the late Eddie Van Halen."
Pete Hartman, Operations Manager
