Ah, the first day of summer, a day celebrated in most of the Northern Hemisphere.  Jack in your headphones and touch the road with a playlist to kick off summer.

1. School’s Out – “Schooooooooool’s out for summer” The unofficial start-of-summer anthem: even 12-year-olds, regardless if they know it’s Alice Cooper, know this chorus.
2. Summertime Girls by Y&T -  “She’s hot!” As the temperature rises on more than just the thermometer.
3. Summer of 69 by Bryan Adams – “Those were the best days of my life” – This song has LOTS of meaning to different people.
4. Summer Nights – John Travolta, Olivia Newton John – “Summer lovin’, had me a blast” – Where this iconic couple prequel out what they did last summer.
5. That Summer - Garth Brooks – “That summer wind” – What an interesting summer job this sounds like
6. Summer Breeze – Seals and Croft – “Summer breeze, makes me feel fine” – The feel good song of the summer that has been around forever
7. Summer Nights – Lil Rob – “I feel good now, summer nights”  -  At least I found one line I could highlight in a PG rated blog.
8. Summer Nights – Rascal Flatts – “Everybody, are you with me?” – and an interesting video
9. All Summer Long “Singing, ‘Sweet, Home Alabama’” Lynard Skynard was obviously a prominent fixture in Kid Rock’s musical history.
10. Magic – The Cars – “Summer, Summer, Summer” – Ok ok, I had to get the Cars onto some list….and the phrase Summer Summer Summer seemed to fit
    

There are so many songs about summer that perhaps next time I need to break it down by time of day (Summer Nights alone could fill a couple of lists).  The Beach Boys did so many songs about summer they could provide a weeks worth of lists (Endless Lists?), but picking just one was difficult (maybe All Summer Long would be a good representation). How could I resist the chance to put up John Travolta before he became Mr. Pulp Fiction himself?  And as much as I would LOVE to include Boys of Summer, its almost a better end of summer song, so I’ll hold on to it until then.  I might have to take that long to decide which version to use, Don Henley’s classic original, or The Atari’s best cover of all time .

Of course, trying to do a list about Hot, Heat, Burning, Fever, or Temperature could be interesting as it relates to summer.  Perhaps on the first good heat wave I’ll make one of these lists. Then again, I am not the first, to do a list of summer songs, for another viewpoint, check out The Grammy

So slip on the sunglasses, slide on some sunscreen and pour yourself a tall glass of lemonade (Newman’s Own, anyone?) and add your favorite song of summer to the list!

The celebration of Father’s Day is now practiced in 55 countries.  It was first observed in 1910, and by 1913 a bill was introduced to Congress that would make Father’s Day a legal holiday.  However, they chose not to pass the bill into law for fear of the observance becoming too commercialized.  President Woodrow Wilson spoke in 1916 at a ceremony honoring fathers, but would do nothing to make it official for fear of offending Congress. In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge recommended that we commemorate the day but stopped short of a Proclamation.  It was not until 1966 that the observance had any real standing, when President Eisenhower made the official Presidential Proclamation setting aside the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day.  Finally, in 1972, President Nixon signed the bill that Congress had finally passed to make the holiday a law.

Music seems to give fathers the same sort of respect that Congress did in dragging their feet nearly 60 years before making it an official holiday. In coming up with today’s list, songs that had to do with dads, the first few that jumped to mind are not all that flattering.  I’ve tried to exclude songs written exclusively from the perspective of the dad to the kids (Cat Stevens/Paul Simon/Elton John).

1. Cats in the Cradle – Harry Chapin (remade by Ugly Kid Joe) – folk song about a kid whose Dad is too busy to spend time with him, who ends up just like his dad in the end, too busy to go see the aging father.
   
2. Father of Mine – Everclear – an autobiographical song of a boy whose father leaves.
3. Janie’s Got a Gun – Aerosmith – an abused girl extracts her revenge
4. Our Father – Extreme – another broken home
5. Why Father – Walls of Jericho – more abuse
6. Dear Father – Sum 41 – another missing dad
7. Father -  LL Cool J – broken home and abuse
8. Hey Dad – Good Charolette – another missing dad
9. Had a Dad – Janes Addiction – yet another missing dad
10. Oh Father – Madonna – unloved child
    

But, I cannot leave the list like this and let everyone think all musicians hate their dads.  So here’s a little love for the fathers:

1. My Father’s Eyes – Eric Clapton – respect for a dad’s presence and perspectives
2. The Living Years – Mike and the Mechanics – Talk to your dad before its too late
   
3. Butterfly Kisses – Bob Carlisle – The love of a girl for a dad
   
4. Old Man – Neil Young  – Not always great, but he is going home to his dad who is a lot like him
   
5. Father Son – Peter Gabriel – Can do anything with Dad by your side
   
6. Daddy – Beyoncé  -  Appreciation for what her Dad has done and how she wants her son and husband to be like him
7. Papa was a Rolling Stone – Temptations – A father dies too young and the kids never hear a bad thing about him, even if he wandered
   
8. Dance with my Father - Luther Vandross -  Missing his father and how loved he felt when he danced with his dad
9. The Greatest Man I Never Knew – Reba McEntire – could go on either list, but there is regret instead of anger so it makes this list
10. Father – Cat Stevens – asking his dad for help through life

The first list is a real eye opener at the anger that resides in the hearts of kids after the angry breakup of their parents marriage or dads that don’t even bother to take responsibility for their actions.  We hear the statistics on the emotional problems kids have after nasty separations or abandonment, but hearing the results of it creep into our music in the form of bitterness makes us consider the pain they must of felt more clearly. Child support should be emotional and social, just not a rarely collected dollar figure.  Dad’s need to be present.  Who knows, maybe your child will be writing a song about his dad; what do you want it to say?

Today we mourn the loss of a versatile performer, Jimmy Dean.  Mr. Dean was a country singer whose biggest hit Big Bad John was number 1 back in 1961.  It is a heart-wrenching song about a quiet man who saved a group of miners, but was unable to save himself.  He had a minor hit before that in 1953, called Bummin Around. In the time between hits, he hosted a popular country radio show.  By the late 1950′s he found himself with a variety show on TV, introducing country music to a new audience.  He was the first guest host of The Tonight Show in the 60′s and even spent some time hosting a news program, The Morning Show.  When his variety show ended, he took a stab at the movies and is perhaps best known in film for his role as Willard Whyte in the James Bond movie, Diamonds are Forever.

When his peers invested in race horses and prize cattle, he put his money into hogs.  At first, it was a source of amusement to him to talk about his “hogs”, but when the market collapsed he recalled how his grandpa would make sausage, and was inspired to turn downturn into upswing.  Jimmy Deans Food offered a good product at a fair price and was lead to success by Mr. Dean’s clever commercials.  The company was eventually sold, however, Mr. Dean stayed on as a spokesman until 2004.

Musically, he continued to churn out hits into the 1970′s until he semi-retired.  He served on the Virginia Board of Game and Inland Fisheries and wrote a book to cap off his remarkable career.  In Febuary of 2010, he was voted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and will be inducted, posthumously, in October.

So in honor of his amazing streak of successes, today’s list will be of stars who have built food related companies – on the side, as they say.

1)  Paul Newman – former honoree of The Daily List Blog, whose Newman’s Own food label has donated over $290 million dollars to charity.  That’s a lot of salad dressing, popcorn, pizza, lemonade, and the list of products just keeps getting longer.

2)  Sammy Hagar – singer for Van Halen. He has created a brand of Tequila, Cabo Wabo.  This is the same name as his growing chain of nightclubs.

3) Planet Hollywood – a Partnership with Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Demi Moore and Arnold Schwarzenegger.  This one hasn’t done so well lately, having filed for bankruptcy protection twice.

4) Eddie Money and Jonathan Cain – rock stars (Mr. Cain was the keyboardist for The Baby’s and Journey) are partners in a wine venture – the Wanna Go Back label.  (For a fascinating list of other Celebrity Wine Vintners, check out this article in LuxLife)

5)  Jimmy Johnson – football coach, University of Miami/Dallas Cowboys – owns a restaurant called Three Rings, which is the number of championship rings he has from the college and professional ranks.

6)  Travis Barker – drummer, Blink-182 -  co-owner of a Wahoo Fish Tacos in Norco, CA.

7)  Dan Ackroyd – actor, co-founder of The House of Blues.  He still hosts the House of Blues Radio Hour as Elwood.

8)  Johnny Depp – actor, part owner of The Viper Room.  This club is perhaps best known as the place River Phoenix died.

9) Tim Horton – Hockey Player, co-founder of Tim Horton Donuts, which became Tim Horton’s, which still later became Tim Hortons.  This chain is now larger than McDonald’s in Canada.  It should be noted that Tim died in 1974, well before the huge growth of the company that still bears his name.

10) Ludacris – rapper, co-founder Straits Restaurants -  With 5 locations currently, and another set to open, it is growing despite the recession.  I, for one, cannot wait to try it next time I am in Atlanta (or San Jose, or Santa Monica, or…).  It should be noted that Ludacris also has his own cognac as well, Conjure. I wonder if this mean he won’t rap about Hennessy, anymore?

We’ll miss you Jimmy, but rest assured, celebrities are willing than ever to take a chance in serving up great food and drinks.  Perhaps one day we’ll be able to get some Jimmy Dean Sausage, a Tim Hortons donut, with a cup of Newman’s Own Coffee (or Lemonade for those so inclined) at the House of Blues.  Ok, maybe that is pushing it.

In 1942, a young Jewish girl was given a journal on June 12th for her thirteenth birthday. In it she would record her thoughts and feeling of what it was like for her and her family to hide and try to escape from the Nazis, only to later be caught. Tragically, through other witness accounts, we learn of Ms. Franks death while in captivity giving her diary a more poignant feel.

Anne Frank is certainly not the first to keep a diary of her thoughts and activities.   Today’s list will center on just a few of the famous diaries throughout history and up to our modern times..

1.  Henry David Thoreau -writer

2.  Andy Warhol – artist

3.  Ronald Reagan – President of US

4.  Beatrix Potter – Writer

5.  John Adams – President of US

6.  Madeleine L’Engle – writer

7.  Stevie Nicks – musician

8.  Kurt Cobain – musician

9.  Bridget Jones – fictional diary keeper

10.  Princess Diaries – fictional diary keeper

These men and women kept journals that were published , often posthumously or were used as part of their work. Today, many people use their blogs as a way to record this type of personal thoughts and activities.