The Beat: return of the 45, plus hot summer singles

MELISSA RUGGIERI Music fans of a certain age probably reminisce fondly over the 45.

If you want to get technical, that was the 7-inch vinyl disc, played at 45 rpm's, with room for only one song per side.

I prefer to remember it as the first form of music I ever bought -- well, my mother purchased it after I begged like the 9-year-old that I was for my own copy of The Stray Cats' "Stray Cat Strut" (I believe the only reason I emerged victorious in that grovel-fest was because I convinced her the song was about cats).

But, like the 8-track and the "cassingle," the 45 became a footnote in the annals of recorded-music history.

The concept, though, was so perfect for consumers and jukeboxes -- the hit on the "A" side and an album cut or unreleased track on the "B" side -- that iTunes just resurrected it.

Now they're called D45s (as in digital), but the model is identical to its hot-wax predecessor, sans the physical product.

Scan the iTunes D45 page, and you'll find the original 45 version of Van Halen's single "Jump," with the album track "House of Pain" as its "flip side."

At $1.99 -- as all the D45s are priced -- it's equivalent to cherry-picking the same two Van Halen tracks from the page containing "1984," the album that bears those songs, but the idea of downloading a 45 is a cute throwback. Plus, some of the D45s will contain remixes or other exclusive songs.

All of this talk of singles, though, leads to another timeworn tradition: the ubiquitous songs of summer. Something about summer songs just reeks of singles-only mentality.

Throughout the decades, many have come from artists and/or albums you had no interest in hearing beyond their radio presence (Whitesnake's "Here I Go Again" or Joey Scarbury's "Theme From Greatest American Hero [Believe it or Not]," maybe?), so buying only the single was ideal.

Others, such as Rod Stewart's "Infatuation" or Lionel Richie's "Dancing on the Ceiling," were quality acts with hits-filled recordings, but maybe you still didn't want to shell out $10 for an entire album.

Now that we're almost one month into summer (according to the calendar gods) or two months into it (according to me, who starts counting around the time summer classes at Virginia Commonwealth University begin), it seems like a good time to make note of some of the fizziest singles of the summer of '09 -- so far.

1. Black Eyed Peas, "Boom Boom Pow": The Peas stick to their habit/talent of crafting horrible songs (see: "Let's Get it Started") that are, nonetheless, impossible to unstick from your brain (see: Fergie's "London Bridge"). Besides, any song that makes terrestrial radio programmers feel so threatened by a shout-out to "satellite radio" that those two words are actually edited out of the radio version is a winner by me.

2. Michael Franti and Spearhead, "Say Hey (I Love You)": First heard months ago during one of those opening-skits-with-puppets on the "Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson" and later in the season premiere of "Weeds," this giddy dance-hall tune is so infectious, I dare you not to slap the steering wheel while listening. The song actually sounds like a smile.

3. Boys Like Girls, "Love Drunk": After opening with a U2-like guitar sunburst, this perky ditty veers into power pop of the boy-loses-girl-and-mopes-through-summer variety (shades of "Summer Lovin'," perhaps?). Pure froth from this Boston quartet.

4. Katy Perry, "Waking Up in Vegas": How many hooks is this woman capable of writing? "I Kissed a Girl" was annoying but catchy; "Hot N Cold" hinted at an ability to fine-tune a melody; but "Vegas," co-written by'80s hitmaker Desmond Child, oozes with a lustrous chorus custom-made for arena singalongs.

5. Taylor Swift, "You Belong With Me": With light flecks of banjo and pedal steel guitar, a racing chorus worthy of a Kelly Clarkson song (speaking of, why isn't her "I Do Not Hook Up" the biggest song of the year so far?) and Swift's girlishly sweet vocals, this further proves Swift's precocious songwriting skills. Lyrically, it's shockingly similar to Avril Lavigne's 2007 hit, "Girlfriend." But then again, how many ways can a guy be told that the cheerleader in the frilly dress usually isn't worth chasing when the girl in jeans and sneakers is right under his nose -- and infinitely cooler?

Contact Melissa Ruggieri at (804) 649-6120 or .