"Summer Girls"
Single by LFO
from the album LFO
ReleasedJune 29, 1999 (1999-06-29)
Length4:17
LabelArista
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
LFO singles chronology
"Sex U Up (The Way You Like It)"
(1997) 		"Summer Girls"
(1999) 		"Girl on TV"
(1999)

"Summer Girls" is a song by American pop group LFO. It was released on June 29, 1999, as the lead single from their debut album, LFO (1999). "Summer Girls" reached number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In 2010, Billboard magazine named it the 14th-biggest summer song of all time.[1] In 2019, Billboard also ranked the song the 43rd-greatest song of 1999.[2] This was the band's first single to feature Devin Lima as a member of the group after original member Brian "Brizz" Gillis left the group.

Background and content

The song was written by Rich Cronin, Dow Brain, and Brad Young. Cronin said the song included numerous inside jokes,[3] and that he never anticipated its success. He claimed this was because the song was made strictly for a demo tape, but was leaked to WWZZ, a top 40 radio station in Washington, D.C.[3] PD Dale O'Brien at the radio station got an unmixed copy of the song from Kelly Schweinsberg, GM of LFO's initial label, Logic Records. He listened to it a few days later, his "jaw dropped, and the song was added in a hot second."[4] Many of the song's rhyming lines appear to be randomly inserted. The formula often consists of writing a line about Cronin's summer relationship with a girl and following it with a non sequitur that rhymes, similar in fashion to "The Thanksgiving Song" by Adam Sandler. It is considered the most popular song by the boy band.

"Summer Girls" is often identified by one of the lines in the chorus: "I like girls that wear Abercrombie and Fitch"[5] and "You look like a girl from Abercrombie and Fitch."[6] The song was also featured in the 2002 movie Longshot, in which LFO appeared.

The song has myriad, primarily 1980s and early 1990s, cultural references, including Cherry Coke, Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone, Michael J. Fox, his Family Ties character Alex P. Keaton, New Edition, Kevin Bacon in Footloose, New Kids on the Block, Larry Bird, Abercrombie and Fitch, Cherry Pez, Mr. Limpet, Paul Revere, Chinese food, pogo sticks, Eric B. and Rakim, "Candy Girl", The Color Purple, Boogaloo Shrimp, and Fun Dip. The song also references The Wizard of Oz and Shakespeare's sonnets.

Music video

The music video was directed by Marcus Raboy and was released on July 20, 1999. It was filmed at Coney Island in New York.[7][8]

Track listings

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[32] Platinum 1,300,000[31]

Release history

Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
United States June 29, 1999 CD Arista [33]
United Kingdom September 6, 1999
  • CD
  • cassette
 [34]

References

  1. ^ "Top 30 Summer Songs". Billboard.
  2. ^ "The 99 Greatest Songs of 1999: Critics' Picks". Billboard.
  3. ^ a b Raman, Sheela (July 7, 2005). "Rich Cronin's comeback Six years after 'Summer Girls,' the leader of LFO battles leukemia". The Boston Globe. Retrieved January 9, 2009. "I just thought back to when I was young, happy, no worries," he says. 'Summer Girls' was all about a summer on the Cape. Inside jokes. I never thought that anyone besides my close friends would ever hear it." But the song was leaked to a radio station and climbed Billboard charts.
  4. ^ "LFO's Pop-Culture-Soaked 'Summer Girls' Takes Organic Route To Radio". Billboard. August 7, 1999. p. 70. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
  5. ^ ""I like girls that wear Abercrombie and Fitch" search result from Google".
  6. ^ ""You look like a girl from Abercrombie and Fitch" search results on Google".
  7. ^ How “Summer Girls” Explains a Bunch of Hits—and the Music of 1999 The Ringer
  8. ^ LFO still likes girls who wear Abercrombie (and hopes you do) Buffalo News
  9. ^ Summer Girls (US CD single liner notes). LFO. Arista Records. 1999. 07822-13692-2.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  10. ^ Summer Girls (US cassette single sleeve). LFO. Arista Records. 1999. 07822-13692-4.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  11. ^ Summer Girls (Australian CD single liner notes). LFO. Logic Records, Arista Records. 1999. 74321 69349 2.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  12. ^ Summer Girls (European CD single liner notes). LFO. Logic Records, Arista Records. 1999. 74321 70088 2.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  13. ^ Summer Girls (UK cassette single sleeve). LFO. Logic Records, Arista Records. 1999. 74321 70115 4.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  14. ^ Summer Girls (UK CD1 liner notes). LFO. Logic Records, Arista Records. 1999. 74321 70115 2.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  15. ^ Summer Girls (UK CD2 liner notes). LFO. Logic Records, Arista Records. 1999. 74321 70116 2.((cite AV media notes)): CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  16. ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 172.
  17. ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 8449." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  18. ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 16, no. 39. September 25, 1999. p. 16. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  19. ^ "Lyte Funkie Ones – Summer Girls" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  20. ^ "Tipparade-lijst van week 44, 1999". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
  21. ^ "Lyte Funkie Ones – Summer Girls" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  22. ^ "Lyte Funkie Ones – Summer Girls". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  23. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  24. ^ "Lyte Funkie Ones – Summer Girls". Singles Top 100. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  25. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  26. ^ "Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. August 28, 1999. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  27. ^ "Pop Airplay". Billboard. September 4, 1999. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  28. ^ "Rhythmic Airplay". Billboard. September 4, 1999. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  29. ^ "1999: The Year In Music – Hot 100 Singles". Billboard. Vol. 111, no. 52. December 25, 1999. p. YE-48. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
  30. ^ "Most Played Mainstream Top 40 Songs of 1999". Airplay Monitor. Vol. 7, no. 52. December 24, 1999. p. 54.
  31. ^ "Best-Selling Records of 1999". Billboard. Vol. 112, no. 4. January 22, 2000. p. 63. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  32. ^ "American single certifications – LFO – Summer Girls". Recording Industry Association of America.
  33. ^ "Summer Girls". Amazon. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
  34. ^ "Reviews – For Records Released on 6 September 1999: Singles" (PDF). Music Week. August 28, 1999. p. 12. Retrieved July 24, 2021.

External links

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