100 Songs of Summer #41 “Vacation” by The Go-Go’s

It doesn’t exactly feel like summer out there today, but that’s only all the more reason to enjoy the easy, sun-splashed escapism in the latest hit on our Top 100 Songs of Summer Countdown.

Hamptons 100 Songs of Summer #41

“Vacation” by The Go-Go’s

One of the definitive groups of the 1980s, the groundbreaking all-female band (the first to get to the top of the Billboard charts by both writing and playing the instruments on their own tunes) defined summer of 1982 with the title track off their second album, which reached No. 8 on the Billboard pop singles chart that August.

“Vacation” has become a pop cultural touchstone—showing up in everything from The Simpsons to Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 to this year’s Alamo Rental Car commercials—and is also a trivia-question gem. Released as the first-ever cassette singles (anyone remember those?), and on vinyl with “Beatnik Beach” as the B-side (anyone remember those?), the song’s video is an all-time classic thanks to arguably the best virtual waterskiing ever performed in front of a green screen. You go, Go-Go’s.