When you hear the term summer hit, what comes to mind: Georgie Dann, The Refreshments, King Africa, Don Patricio? It depends on the generation you belong to. But what are the summer hits in Catalan?

Globalisation and the popularity of Catalan brands, especially beer brands, mean that the songs they use reach more people, but we can consider that the birth of the summer hit in Catalan took place in 1990, when TV3 commissioned the popular group La Trinca to compose a song to be used in the channel’s summer programme advert, which would be used for three summers, covered by different performers.

In 1993, the summer hit in Catalan was Munta-t’ho bé, by Els Pets. It was from this year onwards that the groups or singers chosen to provide the soundtrack for the TV3 summer advert opted to adapt their own songs, instead of composing one exclusively for television. In many cases, this has given them a popularity they did not have before. In recent years, radio stations have also signed up and commissioned versions for the summer campaign. A new channel of visibility for songs in Catalan.

Create your summer playlist

Beyond the world of advertising, here are 20 songs in Catalan that you can’t miss on your summer playlist:

• Fes la teva (Lax’n’Busto, 1995)
• Alegria (Antònia Font, 2002) 
• El teu estiu (Sau, 2003)
• Agost (Els Pets, 2004) 
• Al mar (Manel, 2008)  
• Vull saber-ho tot de tu (La Casa Azul, 2008)
• Aquí és estiu (The Pepper Pots, 2011)
• Rock’n’Roll (Els Catarres, 2013)
• Estiu (ZOO, 2014)
• Corre l’estiu (Pepet i Marieta, 2014)
• Et faré feliç (Via límit, 2014)
• Junts (Projecte Mut, 2016)
• L’estiu és llibertat (Búhos, 2018)
• La gran eufòria (Joan Dausà, 2018)  
• Tant de bo (Suu, 2020)
• Un estiu que no s’acaba (Miki Núñez, 2020)
• Molts estius queden per viure (Ginestà, 2020)
• Bye bye (Oques Grasses, 2021)
• Com abans (Sense Sal, 2021)
• Amics, tiets i coneguts (The Tyets i Els Amics de les Arts, 2021)

What does a summer hit have to be like?

The phenomenon known as the summer hit has its origins in the Italian music festival “Un disco per l’estate” (1964), aimed at discovering new talent and imitating the success of the San Remo Festival.

The Italian idea crossed the Mediterranean, and in 1966 the summer hit hashtag became popular with the creation of the programme “Los 40 principales” on Radio Madrid, although other stations such as Radio Miramar and Radio Juventud were also already choosing their summer hits.

The summer hit, by definition, is “is a song that is released and peaks in its popularity during summer“. In this particular aspect, they became popular, especially thanks to Latin artists, but also artists of other nationalities who translated their songs into Spanish in order to succeed in this large market, such as Georgie Dann, a French national.

Today, radio and television in Catalonia also incorporate Catalan-language songs, marked by their energy or their lyrics. The challenge, however, is to get them to cross borders. And you, what song would you add to your summer playlist?

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