Gatsby with his favorite book

A list of songs that I listened to while writing my cat mystery novel, Petectives: Under Fire. Some of the songs have a strong thematic link to the story, while others helped me set a scene or get into the heads of the characters. The story takes place on the Fourth of July during a heat wave so there’s lots of music related to the summertime and hot weather.

Heat Wave – Martha Reeves and the Vandellas

Hot Fun in the Summertime – Sly and the Family Stone

Stoned Soul Picnic – Swing Out Sister

Summer in the City – Lovin’ Spoonful: When you hear this song it immediately evokes the feel of a sweltering hot summer day.

Little Willy – The Sweet: According to Wikipedia, this song is about a stray cat that hung around the garage where the band members practiced.

New Age Girl – Deadeye Dick: I was listening to this song when I wrote the chapter featuring the character, Sunshine the hippie tortoiseshell cat.

Fire – Ohio Players

Lies – Jonathan Butler

Gimme Some Lovin’ – Sam and Dave: Somehow I’ve always heard this song as “Gimme Summer Lovin’”.

Why Can’t We Be Friends? – War

In the Summertime – Shaagy featuring Rayvon: Reggae/Rap reworking of the Mungo Jerry classic.

Summertime Blues – Eddie Cochran

I’ll Take You There – BeBe and CeCe Winans

Love Rollercoaster – Ohio Players: That’s right, there’s two Ohio Players songs on this playlist!

Will It Go Round In Circles? – Billy Preston

Summertime – Billy Stewart

Walk Us Uptown – Elvis Costello and the Roots

Summer Breeze – Isley Brothers

Bang Bang – David Sanborn