At first glace Jerry Keller’s only Brit hit seems dreadfully badly timed: a breezy Hammond confection about the onset of Summer reaching No.1 in October. But when you hear the record it makes sense – contentedly wistful, this is a song for a satisfied Summer’s end. Whether Keller meant it that way is anyone’s guess, but his cosy, introspective vocal line is hardly brimming with the title’s suggested anticipation.
The lyrics are a seasonal checklist: a concentrate of the All-American Fantasy Summer that became a lodestone for pop culture, a teen Eden to return to or subvert. It must have been a particularly seductive vision for British kids, whose own blazing Summer had been soundtracked by the likes of Craig Douglas and whose climate was not generally suited to “drive-in movies every night”. Even so the lingering presence of that ultimate Summer in pop is much more to do with Hollywood and the Beach Boys than poor, bland, forgotten Jerry Keller. But “Here Comes Summer” is a gem for all that – optimistic, catchy, delightfully and economically arranged: a suitable curtain call for teen-pop’s first heatwave.
Score: 6
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