Len - "Steal My Sunshine"

I've always liked Len's 1999 hit single "Steal My Sunshine", but I always considered it more of a guilty pleasure rather than a song I would end up writing about.  It's fun, festive, infectious, has a nice groove, sounds like summer, and I just love how Sharon Costanzo sweetly sings "L-a-t-e-r that week".  Her voice, contrasted with her brother's raspy vocals, helps craft Len's unique sound.  It also blows my mind to think that this song came out last century -- it feels like last year. 

I recently discovered, quite by accident, that there was a recent (2021) cover by LA band Bikini Trill, who seem to be channeling the same aesthetic and sound that Len did on this record some 20+ years prior.  It's a fun cover, and Bikini Trill -- who were probably not yet in grade school when the original came out -- finds a new perspective on the song while still maintaining the essence of the original.  

But what really blew my mind about "Steal My Sunshine" was recently learning the funky sample repeated throughout the song comes from the 10 second break in the 1976 song by the Andrea True Connection, "More, More, More".  I have a vague contemporary memory of this song from the 1970s, but I could not have told you that it was sung by former porn star (!) Andrea True, and I'm sad to say I did not recognize the sample from Steal My Sunshine until I learned of it from "Show Me the Sample".

So summer is just about officially here, so it's time to dust off the Len version, the new Bikini Trill cover, as well as the source of the sample.  If you don't immediately listen to all three songs, you'll miss a million miles of fun.  Enjoy.

Len - "Steal My Sunshine"

Bikini Trill - "Steal My Sunshine"

Andrea True - "More, More, More" (the break is 2:20--2:29 in this 3:11 radio edit);  6:16 LP & 12" version (the break is 2:30--2:39 in this version, and then repeated at 5:20--5:29)

Julee Cruise - "Summer Kisses, Winter Tears"

It's been almost a year since her death, but somehow I failed to mark the passing of Julee Cruise.  I indirectly referenced it when I wrote of the death of Angelo Badalamenti, but somehow I mistook sending a flurry of texts to my friends last year for actually writing about it.  

Having covered Julee extensively in the past (Twin Peaks, Industrial Symphony #1, Floating into the Night), I'm not sure I have anything new to say.  I have a fair amount of her later collaborations (i.e., those not with Angelo Badalamenti and David Lynch), but instead I want to draw your attention to a cover of an Elvis song she did for the "Until the End of the World" soundtrack, "Summer Kisses, Winter Tears".  

I'm guessing it was recorded during the sessions for either "Floating into the Night" or maybe even "The Voice of Love".  To the best of my knowledge, it never appeared on a Julee Cruise LP and the soundtrack is the only place to get it.  

As I've mentioned before, Cruise was a titan in the dream pop genre and her discography is just too short.  Unless there are some unreleased tracks sitting in a vault somewhere, this is it, so enjoy this excellent Elvis cover -- and bonus points for a cover of an obscure B-side too. 

Julee Cruise - "Summer Kisses, Winter Tears"

Elvis - "Summer Kisses, Winter Tears"