The songs of summer 2015

Songs make excellent markers for our memories. This is because the files they create in our heads are so efficiently stored that they are able to conjure up anything at anytime. And that includes both the recollections we would much rather forget and those we want to keep fresh forever. That is how it is with music all our lives. Name a song and it brings up a memory from our ever-growing personal soundtrack.

Was there a time when you danced to I’ll Make Love To You by Boyz II Men? Did your mother ever sing the Beatles’ In My Life to you as a lullaby? What was the song playing the first time you went out on a date? By what song will you remember a sad break-up or the loss of a job? Even that embarrassing moment when you tripped and fell flat on your face? It felt like the whole world was watching. That one is best forgotten. But then Bruno Mars’ Just The Way You Are was playing and that song will make you remember forever.

So now, by what song will you remember the recently-ended summer of 2015? Chances are it will be one of the cuts in the album titled So Fresh 2015.

So Fresh is the leading compilation record brand in Australia. It is something like the hugely-successful Now series in the US. These albums are like playlists where current hits are compiled together. It is budget-saving because there are usually lots of cuts from various big name artists so that there is no need to buy copies of individual albums anymore. Of course, listeners also do not need to skip the tracks they do not like in an album anymore. So Fresh is made up of all hits.

The latest So Fresh collection is Summer Hits 2015 and it does have all the songs by which everybody will remember last summer. The choices are great but I have three complaints. The compilation does not include two huge favorites — See You Again by Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth from the Furious 7 soundtrack and Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran now best known as a song from the soundtrack of the Philippine concoction AlDub. These were the hugot songs of summer out here in the Philippines. And then there is Taylor Swift’s Bad Blood, which became so big it should have been included.

The lapse must be due to licensing problems among labels. In the case of See You Again and Thinking Out Loud, I am more certain that both songs were excluded because they are slow and souIful ballads. That is a no-no for a summer album. Given those rules set by The Beach Boys 50 years ago, summer songs must be happy ditties about sun and fun, fun, fun — not agonizing emotions. And you will find lots of tunes to have fun with in So Fresh Summer Hits 2015.

Take a look at this star-studded line-up: I Really Like You by Carly Rae Jepsen; I Want You To Know by Zedd feat. Selena Gomez; Flashlight by Jessie J; Love Me Like You Do by Ellie Goulding; Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars; Sugar by Maroon 5; Night Changes by One Direction; Lips Are Movin’ by Meghan Trainor; Love Me Harder by Ariana Grande feat. The Weeknd; Talking Body by Tove Lo; Elastic Heart by Sia; Somebody by Natalie La Rose feat. Jeremih; Worth It by Fifth Harmony; Pretty Girls by Britney Spears feat. Iggy Azalea; Heartbeat Song by Kelly Clarkson; Shut Up And Dance by Walk The Moon; Lay Me Down by Sam Smith; Take Me To Church by Hozier; Outside by Calvin Harris feat. Ellie Goulding; and Time Of Our Lives by Pitbull feat. Ne-Yo.

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