"Long Hot Summer" is a song by English-Irish all-female pop group

Girls Aloud Girls Aloud were an pop girl group that was created through the ITV talent show '' Popstars: The Rivals'' in 2002. The group comprised singers Cheryl, Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh. The group achieved a str ...

, taken as the first single from their third studio album ''

Chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

'' (2005). The song was written by

Miranda Cooper Miranda Eleanor De Fonbrune Cooper (born 1975) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer and television presenter. Miranda Cooper has worked in the music industry since 1996 when she gained her first recording contract. She wor ...

Brian Higgins Brian Michael Higgins (born October 6, 1959) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for , serving since 2005. The district, numbered as the 27th district from 2005 to 2013 but as the 26th since 2013, includes Buffalo and N ...

and his production team

Xenomania Xenomania is an English songwriting and production team founded by Brian Higgins and based in Kent, England. Formed by Higgins with his Creative Director Miranda Cooper and Business Director Sarah Stennett of First Access Entertainment, Xenoman ...

, and produced by Higgins and Xenomania. "Long Hot Summer" was written for inclusion in the

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

film '' Herbie: Fully Loaded'' (2005), but plans fell through. Higgins later described the track as "a disaster record." Released in August 2005, it became Girls Aloud's first single to miss the top five on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, peaking at number seven. The music video drew inspiration from the possibility of inclusion on the ''Herbie'' soundtrack, taking place at a

garage A garage is a covered structure built for the purpose of parking, storing, protecting, maintaining, and/or repairing vehicles. Specific applications include: *Garage (residential), a building or part of a building for storing one or more vehicle ...

where Girls Aloud work as

auto mechanic An auto mechanic (automotive technician in most of North America, light vehicle technician in British English, and motor mechanic in Australian English) is a mechanic who services and repairs automobiles, sometimes specializing in one or more ...

s. "Long Hot Summer" was promoted through numerous live appearances and has since been performed on two of the group's concert tours. The "upbeat pop tune" received mixed reviews from contemporary music critics; some reviewers thought the song felt "flat." The song has been covered by Taiwanese singer

Amber An Amber An (), born Liao Ching-ling (), is a Taiwanese actress, singer, television host, and model. Career Amber An entered the showbiz in February 2009 through television program ''Celebrity Imitated Show: The Largest Political Party'', in whi ...

for her 2011 album ''Evil Girl'', reworked in Mandarin as ''惡女''.

Background and composition

The song is produced in the key of

D flat major D-flat major (or the key of D-flat) is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B and C. Its key signature has five flats. It is enharmonically equivalent to C-sharp major. The D-flat major scale is: : Its ...

. Described as an "upbeat pop tune", the song received comparisons to

Bananarama Bananarama are an English pop duo from London, formed as a trio in 1980 by friends Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey and Keren Woodward. Fahey left the group in 1988 and was replaced by Jacquie O'Sullivan until 1991, when the trio became a duo. Thei ...

. It was also called "brilliantly barmy, with its lyrics about transvestite boyfriends running down the Old Kent Road." "Long Hot Summer" was written by

while they were in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

to meet with

. It was recorded for inclusion on the soundtrack to the 2005 Disney film, '' Herbie: Fully Loaded''. The plans fell through (although the music video would take inspiration from the film).In the audio commentary on Girls Aloud's ''

Style Style is a manner of doing or presenting things and may refer to: * Architectural style, the features that make a building or structure historically identifiable * Design, the process of creating something * Fashion, a prevailing mode of clothing ...

'' DVD, Sarah and Cheryl mention the potential use of the song in said movie. Brian Higgins has expressed his disdain with the song, saying that "chasing the soundtrack ..disrupted us creatively. It was making us miserable. Something had to come out and that was Long Hot Summer. It was made in a panic. It was a disaster record. I can't stand it."

Release

The single was released on 22 August 2005. It was available on two

CD single A CD single (sometimes abbreviated to CDS) is a music single in the form of a compact disc. The standard in the Red Book for the term ''CD single'' is an 8 cm (3-inch) CD (or Mini CD). It now refers to any single recorded onto a CD of any si ...

formats and a 12-inch vinyl. The first disc included a live track of " Love Machine", recorded at the

Hammersmith Apollo The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Palace. Located in Ham ...

during Girls Aloud's What Will the Neighbours Say...? Tour. The second disc featured a recording of "

Real Life Real life is a phrase used originally in literature to distinguish between the real world and fictional, virtual or idealized worlds, and in acting to distinguish between actors and the characters they portray. It has become a popular term on the ...

", as well as the Benitez Beats remix of "Long Hot Summer". Each member of Girls Aloud created their own

cocktail A cocktail is an alcoholic mixed drink. Most commonly, cocktails are either a combination of spirits, or one or more spirits mixed with other ingredients such as tonic water, fruit juice, flavored syrup, or cream. Cocktails vary widely across ...

recipe to complement the cover art of the second CD. Meanwhile, the 12-inch included the Tony Lamezma Rides Again remix of the single as well as the Almighty Remix of "

Jump Jumping is a form of locomotion or movement in which an organism or non-living (e.g., robotic) mechanical system propels itself through the air along a ballistic trajectory. Jump or Jumping also may refer to: Places * Jump, Kentucky or Jump S ...

". A live version of "Long Hot Summer" from

G-A-Y G-A-Y is a long-running gay nightclub, based at Heaven in Charing Cross, London. It started in 1976, and for many years was based at the London Astoria. History G-A-Y started in 1976 in the Sundown club in the basement of the London Astoria (l ...

with altered lyrics was released as an

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exclusive.

Reception

Critical response

The song received mixed reviews from most music critics. Although the song was called a "well-produced, upbeat pop tune, with a great hook in the chorus" by '' The Sentinel'', most reviewers felt otherwise.

Stylus Magazine ''Stylus Magazine'' was an American online music and film magazine, launched in 2002 and co-founded by Todd L. Burns. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog. Addi ...

said that the song was "a misstep, fizzy and sparkling, but if pop can only be described as such, then it goes flat long before October rolled on." Alexis Kirke of

musicOMH MusicOMH (stylized as musicOMH) is a London-based online music magazine which publishes independent reviews, features and interviews from across all genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B. History MusicOMH was founded and launched by ...

noted, "The Girls' songwriters, Brian Higgins and Miranda Cooper of Xenomania, suffer from the weaknesses of their strength - which is the courage to try something "pop-new" each time." John Murphy of musicOMH later praised the song in his review of ''

'' that the song "seemed to be greeted with disappointment by GA aficionados, but with its lyrics about cross dressing boyfriends running down the Old Kent Road with their pants on fire, it sounds beautifully, brilliantly insane here. It's also the only summer record that sounds just as good on a wet windy night in November as it does in August." "Long Hot Summer" was described as "effervescent but relatively unexciting" by

Virgin Media Virgin Media is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, Cable television, television and Internet access, internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, Berkshire, Reading, Engla ...

Chart performance

"Long Hot Summer" debuted and peaked at number seven on the

, making it Girls Aloud's first single to miss the top five after a string of eight top five hits. The single fell seven places to number fourteen in its second week on the chart. The song spent only eight weeks in the UK's top 75. "Long Hot Summer" peaked at number sixteen on the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are bas ...

, making it their first single to miss the top ten. It slipped to number twenty in its second week. Overall, the single spent just seven weeks in Ireland's top fifty.

Music video

The music video for "Long Hot Summer" was directed by Max & Dania. It was influenced by ''Herbie: Fully Loaded'', even though the song never actually made the film's soundtrack. The video opens with scenes of the band members wearing coveralls, working in a garage called Pit Stop. "GA Auto" is written in pink on their coveralls, the walls and a calendar. In accordance with the song's title, it is a hot day so the girls are attempting to cool themselves as they work. Each girl takes off her coveralls to reveal a skimpy clubbing outfit, and the girls proceed to do a dance routine as the song concludes. In a review of the single,

referenced the video. Alexis Kirke wrote, "half of the Girls Aloud phenomenon is about these ladies "forms", so I'm "content" to merge this piece of media into its stylist-driven and over-thinned orange-tinted video." The video can be found on the DVD release of 2005's

What Will the Neighbours Say? Live The What Will the Neighbours Say...? Tour was the first concert tour by British all-female pop group Girls Aloud. It supported their first two studio albums, ''Sound of the Underground (album), Sound of the Underground'' and ''What Will the Nei ...

, as well as 2007's ''

''.

Live performances

"Long Hot Summer" was performed live for the first time on '' CD:UK'' on 24 July 2005, using fans in their dance routine. They returned to the show the following month and performed the single the weekend ahead of its release, accompanied by a Jeep as a prop. They also performed the song on shows such as ''

GMTV GMTV (an acronym for Good Morning Television), now legally known as ITV Breakfast Broadcasting Limited, was the name of the national Channel 3 breakfast television contractor/licensee, broadcasting in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1993 ...

'', ''

Ministry of Mayhem ''Holly & Stephen's Saturday Showdown'' (previously titled ''Ministry of Mayhem'' and ''MoM'') was a British children's entertainment programme, which was broadcast on ITV (later CITV) from 10 January 2004 to 1 July 2006. Overview ''Ministry ...

'', ''Pepsi Max Downloaded'', ''

Smile A smile is a facial expression formed primarily by flexing the muscles at the sides of the mouth. Some smiles include a contraction of the muscles at the corner of the eyes, an action known as a Duchenne smile. Among humans, a smile expresses ...

'', ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

'', and ''

Top of the Pops Reloaded ''Top of the Pops Reloaded'' (''TOTP Reloaded''), is a weekly children's music show broadcast as part of the Saturday morning CBBC schedule on BBC Two. It was based on the show, ''Top of the Pops'', and was originally known as ''Top of the Pops ...

''. Girls Aloud also performed at

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

gay nightclub A gay bar is a drinking establishment that caters to an exclusively or predominantly lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) clientele; the term '' gay'' is used as a broadly inclusive concept for LGBT communities. Gay bars once serv ...

to promote the release of "Long Hot Summer". They also appeared at the summer open-air concerts

Big Gay Out Big Gay Out is an LGBT, LGBTQ festival in New Zealand, Aotearoa/New Zealand. It has been running in Auckland, New Zealand since 2000. The event was founded by the Hero Festival, but is now organised by the Burnett Foundation Aotearoa. During th ...

, Live on the Lawn, and pop2thepark. Girls Aloud performed "Long Hot Summer" on 2006's

Chemistry Tour Chemistry: The Tour was the second concert tour by British all-female pop group Girls Aloud. It supported their third studio album, ''Chemistry (Girls Aloud album), Chemistry''. Following the success of 2005's What Will the Neighbours Say...? T ...

and 2007's The Greatest Hits Tour.

Track listings

UK CD1 # "Long Hot Summer" – 3:52 # " Love Machine" (live at

) – 4:55 UK CD2 # "Long Hot Summer" (radio edit) – 3:52 # "Long Hot Summer" (Benitez Beats) – 5:12 # "

" (live at Hammersmith Apollo) – 3:52 # "Long Hot Summer" (video) – 3:59 # "Long Hot Summer" (karaoke video) – 3:59 # "Long Hot Summer" (game) # "Long Hot Summer" (ringtone) UK 12-inch # "Long Hot Summer" – 3:52 # "Long Hot Summer" (Tony Lamezma Rides Again) – 7:12 # "

" (Almighty Remix) – 7:34 UK iTunes exclusive download # "Long Hot Summer" (live at

) – 3:52

Credits and personnel

* Bass guitar: Shawn Lee * Keyboards:

, Tim "Rolf" Larcombe * Mastering: Dick Beetham for 360 Mastering * Mixing: Jeremy Wheatley * Production: Brian Higgins,

* Programming: Tim "Rolf" Larcombe * Songwriting:

, Brian Higgins, Tim "Rolf" Larcombe, Shawn Lee, Lisa Cowling, Giselle Sommerville, Myra Boyle * Vocals:

* Published by

Warner/Chappell Music Warner Chappell Music, Inc. is an American music publishing company and a subsidiary of the Warner Music Group. Warner Chappell Music's catalogue consists of over 1.4 million compositions and 65,000 composers, with offices in over 40 countries. ...

and Xenomania Music

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Long Hot Summer (Girls Aloud Song) 2005 singles Girls Aloud songs Song recordings produced by Xenomania Songs written by Brian Higgins (producer) Songs written by Miranda Cooper Songs written by Lisa Cowling Songs written by Shawn Lee (musician) Songs written by Giselle Sommerville