Sounds of 'Summer Breeze' makes the season

As far as I can figure, the guitar riff that means summer for me consists of just six notes. The pop duo of Seals and Crofts released "Summer Breeze" in 1972, eight years before I was born. It was a hit, reaching No. 6 on the Billboard Top 100 chart, and No. 4 on the Adult Contemporary chart. And yet despite that success, it's kind of a surprise the tune didn't chart higher. Penned by Jim Seals and Dash Crofts, it's been a staple on oldies stations, soft rock stations and even classic rock stations for years. And while there is so much to like about the track, I always come back to the six note electric guitar riff — played by Crofts — that comes after each chorus. To me, it makes the song. It almost makes summer. Jim Seals died earlier this month at the age of 80. Though Seals and Crofts found hits with "Diamond Girl," "Get Closer," and "We May Never Pass This Way Again" and other songs, "Summer Breeze" is the duo's most enduring work. Of course, it's simple and pleasant, and a great song for this time of year. And yet, I must admit, the song has helped get me through some bitterly cold and gray January days. Seals and Crofts were a group that specialized in laid-back, relaxing and often positive-sounding music. And Jim Seals wasn't the only one in his family to do that. Dan Seals found success in another duo, England Dan and John Ford Coley. Their biggest hit was probably "I'd Really Love to See You Tonight," another staple of light rock stations. England Dan also found success with "Nights are Forever" and "Love is the Answer," a cover of a song done by Todd Rundgren's band, Utopia. While England Dan and John Ford Coley didn't have quite the success of Seals and Crofts, Dan Seals had one thing his brother didn't: a successful solo career. In the mid-1980s, Dan Seals scored a couple of hits as a country artist. The first was a pleasant duet with Marie Osmond, "Meet Me In Montana." After that, in 1986, Seals had his biggest solo hit with the upbeat "Bop." It's a song that seems to hearken back to the late 1950s, and the carefree love of youth. The song, cowritten by Paul Davis (who had hits as a pop singer/songwriter with "I Go Crazy" and "Cool Night") and Jennifer Kimball, was Seals biggest achievement as a solo act. It was a No. 1 country hit in the U.S. and Canada, and even was a minor hit on the pop charts. The song was so popular that my father — much to my chagrin — traded in John Mellencamp's seminal "Scarecrow" album for a Dan Seals compact disc. My father took some kidding from me over the years for that. "Scarecrow" had some of Mellencamp's best work, from "Small Town" to "Lonely Ol' Night" to "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A." Seals had "Bop." As years went by, Dan Seals' popularity faded. In the mid-2000s, he toured with his brother, even making a stop at Tiffin's Ritz Theatre. I didn't go, and I've always regretted it. Dan died in 2009. While I still had fond memories of listening to "Bop," I kind of figured his solo career — and his best song — might be forgotten. But I was wrong. For years, I covered Heidelberg's baseball team. And a few years ago, the squad adopted "Bop" as a theme song. That was a shock, considering the players weren't born when the song came out. Recently, I asked Heidelberg's sports information director, Jeff Garvin, about it. He said when the team was playing at the Snowbird Classic — an early season baseball tournament in Florida — every year, the song would play over the loud speakers between innings. The people at the stadium hadn't changed their music in more than a decade. Some songs seemed really out of place. "'Bop,'" Garvin said, "being one of them." To amuse head coach Chad Fitzgerald and his staff, Garvin came up with what was essentially a "Snowbird playlist," and Dan Seals' hit from the mid-1980s was the favorite. So, every time the song came across the baseball fields of Florida, the coaches pumped their fists. Eventually, the players caught on. It didn't surprise me too much. The Seals brothers knew something about making a catchy song. They're both gone now, but the pleasant music they created continues on, whether it be on pop radio stations or baseball fields in northwest Ohio. Call it the sounds of summer. Baker is sports editor at The Courier.