Since Summer officially arrived a few hours ago, what more fitting tribute to the inclinations of baking in the sun, goofing off, staying up late and wearing as little as possible than playing something by The Beach Boys?

Okay, Summer means different things to different people. Those of us on the West Coast don't really have Summer until some time in October, when parts of Los Angeles have been known to burn down every few years. Until then, we weather through June Gloom and days where it barely breaks out of the 70's, unless of course you're in the Valley, where it is casually known as a "suburb of Hell" until December.

But the Beach Boys, at least on the West Coast, have always meant Summer to a certain degree, or at least an idealized version of it. Probably less now than a generation or two ago, when it was mandatory to have at least one Beach Boys album in your collection, and preferably all the singles.

Tonight it's one of the less instantly hummable Beach Boys songs. The Warmth Of The Sun was written, ironically, as a reflection on the Kennedy Assassination (as legend has it ) and goes under the heading of one of the more introspective of Brian Wilson's songs. Nonetheless, like a lot of their music from the early period (all the way up to Pet Sounds), it offers an aspect of a band that cranked out more than Surf tunes and were, in fact, capable of having something relevant to say.

In the meantime, get ready for insanely long days.

Okay - you're not quite in the mood tonight for Schoenberg and Mahler (via the Mid-Week concert) and don't feel like jumping into something high-voltage, so I was thinking perhaps an excursion over to The Beach Boys and a track off Pet Sounds might be a good antidote for the mid-week madness.

Tonight's track, Don't Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder) is probably one of the lesser played songs off that legendary album, but to me it's always been a gem. And tonight we could use a few gems.

If you have the album, it's track 4 - if you don't . . .tsk,tsk,tsk, where have you been?

I know - too many notes, not enough life. That's why we're here to turn you on to things.

Enjoy.

(Sunshine Pop in the dead of winter - makes perfect sense!)

Okay, tonight we're taking a musical detour and doing an homage to that recurring genre known as Sunshine Pop. Pop Music that, for want of a better description, was devoid of deep existential meaning and heavy message - it simply wanted to have a good time. The Yellow Balloon were probably the quintessential example of that form. A form established years earlier by Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys. Putting out only one album and having two singles in 1967 (this one: Yellow Balloon and Good Feelin' Time), they captured that spirit of the endless summer and eternal Sunshine - a spirit emulated by a number of groups over the years, but certainly not matching them. Yellow Balloon were just better at it than many others.

So forgive my temporary foray into the golden sunset. Since it's the dead of winter out, it just seems like the right thing to do.

Enjoy.