SUMMER SONGS 2010: JAMIE STRONG

Leo’s Sunshipp: Give Me the Sunshine
From We Need Each Other (Lyons, 1978)

(Editor’s Intro: Jamie Strong is one of the main staffers at Stones Throw Records but in L.A., he’s probably even better known for running THE summer party series, here in the city: The Do-Over. Held every Sunday during the summer, the Do-Over has drawn the best DJs and crowds for a party that begins in the afternoon and grooves into the night. He seemed like an obvious person to ask for a summer song contribution and here he is, appropriately enough, asking for some more sunshine. –O.W.)

Over the course of my life there have been certain songs, artists & sounds that have been synonmous with summer. However, summer for me these past six years has been consumed by my Do-Over party and no song better suits my summertime vibe than Leo’s Sunship ‘Give Me The Sunshine’. I think I first dusted off this record a few years back when I awoke to an overcast cloudy Southern California day. I can’t remember the special guests we had lined up that day, but I remember them being special and did not want it to rain so I was hoping to deter the rain gods w/ this song. Lo & behold, I dropped this record on the early side of things with our host Aloe Blacc singing along and by end of the song, the man from above gave us the sunshine which lasted throughout the day. So this has not only become my good luck charm record to thwart off the rain, but is also such a good time jam that one cannot help but smile and get into the groove.