"Summertime Guy" is a song recorded by
Eddie Rambeau
Eddie Rambeau (born Edward Cletus Fluri; June 30, 1943) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor.
Career
While performing in a high-school musical he had written, Rambeau met songwriter and musician Bud Rehak, who went on to become his mana ...
, issued by
Swan Records
Swan Records was a mid-20th century United States–based record label, founded in 1957 and based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It had a subsidiary label called Lawn Records.
History
Swan Records had enjoyed chart success with several U.S. ar ...
, and written and composed by game show pioneer
Chuck Barris
Charles Hirsch Barris (June 3, 1929 – March 21, 2017) was an American game show creator, producer, and host, author, and songwriter. A key crew member of several hugely successful game shows, he was the creator of ''The Dating Game'' (1965– ...
br>
Originally, Rambeau was to debut the song on ''
American Bandstand
''American Bandstand'' (AB) is an American Music television, music performance and dance television series that aired in various iterations from 1952 to 1989. It was hosted by Dick Clark who also served as the program's Television producer, pr ...
'' in 1962, but mere minutes before Rambeau was to perform, he was told the song could not be sung, due to Barris then being an
ABC employee, owing to concerns of
payola
Payola, in the music industry, is the name given to
the illegal practice of paying a commercial radio station to play a song without the station disclosing the payment. Under U.S. law, a radio station must disclose songs they were paid to pla ...
, which had become a major music industry scandal at the time. That was also the reason for the record not receiving airplay on any ABC-owned radio station, weighing the song down so it was not a hi
Later, Barris contacted composer
Milton DeLugg to arrange an instrumental version of the song, which eventually wound up on the game show ''
The Newlywed Game
''The Newlywed Game'' is an American television game show. Newly married couples compete against each other in a series of revealing question rounds to determine how well the spouses know or do not know each other. The program, originally created ...
'' and would become its signature theme song (the main melody of the theme is preceded by Felix Mendelssohn's
''Wedding March'').
1962 songs
Songs written by Chuck Barris
{{1960s-song-stub