Sounds of summer: Notable Manitobans weigh in on the ultimate summer playlist

Music is ringing out from car stereos, smartphones, and patio speakers as Manitobans cling to the final few weeks of summer.

Whether it’s a chart-topping anthem from a current popstar or a throwback track from a Motown legend, they’re the songs of the summer --- earworms that shape evenings under the stars, prairie road trips, pool parties in the backyard, or simply the soundtrack of getting through another workday as the weekend inches closer.

“[A summer song] just has to capture a little moment in time,” Ace Burpee, host of 103.1 Virgin Radio’s The Ace Burpee Show, told CTV News. “It’s like the moment just has to be right for it – as in the world didn’t know they needed that song, but they needed it.”

CTV News Winnipeg gathered the best summer songs—from the past and present—by reaching out to notable Manitobans, including athletes, politicians, and musicians.

Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey, Mayor Scott Gillingham, and singer Chantal Kreviazuk were among those asked.

So what are they listening to this year, and which song would they add to the ultimate Manitoba summer playlist?

What Manitoba's listening to this summer

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According to our sources, any best-of list must include dreamy pop ballads, country rock anthems, and everything in between.

Mayor Gillingham tabbed Sometimes by Laci Kaye Booth, a former “American Idol” contestant turned country star, as his song of this summer.

“Her new album, Loneliest Girl in the World, is on repeat for me right now,” Gillingham said. “Her voice is a bit like a country version of Norah Jones.”

Meantime, singer Leanne Pearson picked I Had Some Help – Post Malone’s foray into country music alongside Morgan Wallen – as her current favourite.

“As a songwriter, I've wanted to write a song with the lyrics ‘teamwork makes the dream work’, but it always turned out being too cheesy!” Pearson told CTV News. “I feel like the eight writers of this song nailed it! It's so catchy!”

Kreviazuk went with a song near and dear to her heart. Her son Rowan Maida’s track, Paris, was played during some Olympic broadcasts.

“I’m so proud of my son!” Kreviazuk said. “It’s such a feel-good, whimsical song, great for any summer playlist!”

Listen to Manitoba's top songs of the season

Toronto-based music industry publicist Eric Alper said those trends line up with what’s been dominating the charts over the past two and a half months.

So far, in 2024, mega-stars like Post Malone, Kendrick Lamar, and Sabrina Carpenter are vying for the top spot.

“It has to probably be [Sabrina Carpenter’s] Espresso,” Alper told CTV News. “It's just one of those songs where it has all the right elements of what makes a great summer song. It's got a really upbeat tempo, it's got a catchy, catchy hook, it has feel-good lyric. It's all the markings of what makes a great summer song.”

The debate over the top summer songs stretches back decades. Billboard, the American music chart magazine, has catalogued the top 10 summer songs each year since it launched the Hot 100 in 1958.

Number one hits include (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction by The Rolling Stones (1965), Don’t Go Breaking My Heart by Elton John and Kiki Dee (1976), Jessie’s Girl by Rick Springfield (1981), Baby Got Back by Sir Mix-A-Lot (1992), Promiscuous by Nelly Furtado featuring Timbaland (2006), and Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen (2012).

Last year, Morgan Wallen’s Last Night topped the Hot 100 chart, followed by Luke Combs’ cover of Fast Car, and Calm Down by Rema and Selena Gomez.

Billboard determines its Hot 100 rankings using sales, radio airplay, digital downloads, and streaming activity.

Contenders for song of the summer

“We're seeing a lot more faster tracks, but we're also seeing a mixture of styles of music,” Alper explained. “When you have the song from Shaboozey, which is like hip hop and country, you really wouldn't have a lot of songs that have those two genres mixed.”

Ace Burpee agrees – calling Shaboozey’s breakout track A Bar Song (Tipsy) an unlikely contender for song of the summer.

“Last year, nobody knew who Shaboozey was, and all of a sudden, you can’t go anywhere without hearing A Bar Song,” Burpee explained. “There’s always someone that comes out of nowhere.”

However, Burpee said A Bar Song (Tipsy) is in a close race with several other massive hits, such as Carpenter’s Espresso, Kendrick Lamar’s Drake diss track Not Like Us, and the duo of Post Malone and Morgan Wallen.

“The new Billie Eilish Birds of a Feather is awesome. Like, so sneaky good. I just love it,” Ace Burpee said. “Anything Chappell Roan. She’s absolutely massive. TikTok called it a couple years ago, and she is absolutely blowing up.”

Alper said release dates can affect how much traction a song gains heading into the summer. He pointed out that Espresso was released in April but started racking up millions of streams on Spotify and YouTube as the calendar turned to June.

“It’s a perfect opportunity for people to start adding it to their playlist when they’re going away on their vacation or summer camping trip,” Alper explained.

However, not all tunes on the summer charts came out in the last year. *NSYNC’s Bye Bye Bye, a 2000 release, has seen a resurgence in recent weeks after being featured in the opening credits of the latest Marvel film Deadpool & Wolverine.

“Something from 10 to 15 years ago that, all of a sudden people discover, and maybe it was a hit of sorts back in the day, but it gets it breathes this whole new life into it,” Burpee said of the blockbuster movie boost.

The best summer songs of all-time?

While some current songs may feel like the flavour of the week, month, or season – others have stood the test of time, like Tom Cochrane’s Life is a Highway, Van Morrison’s Brown Eyed Girl, or the earlier half of The Beach Boys discography.

“Like Summer of ’69 by Bryan Adams,” Beau, Bounce 99.9 morning host, told CTV News. “It's always the best driving song – year in, year out – and it's to me, that makes a great summer song. Plus, in ‘69 I was 17, having a good time.”

Beau, a radio personality with decades in the business, has heard it all during his career. He said that when he hosted a weekend show on CFIW, he would compile playlists centered on themes like ‘summer,’ with tracks like In The Summertime by Mungo Jerry, Summer in the City by The Lovin’ Spoonful and Summer Breeze by Seals & Crofts making the list.

“Hot Fun in the Summertime by Sly and the Family Stone. It kind of says what summer, to me, is all about,” Beau said. “Now, if I want to go really far back, I also like Frank Sinatra’s Summer Wind. You hear that in a lot of movies now. It’s a classic.”

He said more recent hits like Bruno Mars’ Uptown Funk and Happy by Pharrell Williams also epitomize that summer sound.

“I don’t care what season it is… they make me think of summer because they’re just such upbeat, great songs.”

That could be why Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus appeared in a couple of Manitobans' answers.

“Once you hear it, you cannot hear it enough, and it’s stuck in your head like it’s been crazy glued to your brain,” author David Robertson told CTV News. “I will pump that song while I’m driving anywhere, anytime. Windows down, belting it out, even though I cannot sing.”

Some song selections sparked summer memories for people.

“It reminds me of my childhood with my pops and our horses,” Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey said about Toby Keith’s Should’ve Been a Cowboy.

Bob Dylan’s album Desire evokes a similar memory for finance minister Adrien Sala.

“When I was young, my father played this album a lot,” Sala said. “Now, when I hear it, I’m always reminded of good memories we made growing up here in Winnipeg.”

Eric Alper said nostalgia plays a big part in the music we listen to – it’s why stations like Bounce 99.9 continue to draw in listeners and why those songs often shape playlists slapped together for a road trip or a day at the beach.

“Nostalgia works really, really well. Since the 1970s when people were looking back to the 1950s,” Alper explained, “These hits were created by a certain demographic or a certain generation --- and they still love them. People want to hear You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet by BTO one more time.”

What makes a great playlist?

“All I’m trying to do is make as many people as possibly happy,” Ace Burpee explained.

Burpee said that could mean Zach Bryan to appease the country fans, Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) for the 70’s classic rock crowd, and some pop bangers.

“So that person who likes CCRs, right? I have to make sure I get back to serving them within, like, seven minutes. So it might go CCR, Post Malone, Taylor Swift, but then it comes back to something that person likes,” Burpee explained, “So everyone’s never far away from something that they know.”

For Eric Alper, his summer playlists always start with a crowd pleaser.

“You want people to know all of the songs, so don’t undervalue and underappreciate the fact that even though they’ve hard these songs a billion times before… they want to hear it one more time,” Alper said. “So if you want to play Walking on Sunshine by Katrina and the Waves, put that one up first! You have to set the tone.”

Send your suggestions for the greatest summer song of all-time to [e-mail].