If you’ve read this blog for even a few weeks, you know that I love skies. I particularly enjoy blue, sunny skies. I attribute much of this to my formative years as a boy growing up in the Rocky Mountains of western Montana. In fact, I returned to the mountains on a sabbatical to work a couple of years as a snowboard bum, working at 10,000 feet and getting closer to those blue skies than ever.

Since then I’ve seen so many forms of sunny days…long, hot drives through the New Mexico desert; lazy days out on a blanket with a Walkman and a good book; blazing sunsets and uplifting sunrises; solitary treks through the Badlands on my mountain bikes. I can’t say I’ve seen it all, but I’ve seen a lot. The memories formed thereby have fortified my love of wide open, sunny skies.

One of the best ways to capture or recall the mood of many of those sunny days is through music, and I have a series of playlists for such things. I have an intense Stargazing playlist I’ll share someday, a Sunrise/Sunset playlist which overlaps in places, and my more recent Sunny Day playlist. I was actually inspired to do the Sunny Day list when my friend Monte posted a request for sunny day music suggestions on his Facebook page. It didn’t take long.

This is by no means comprehensive, but it’s a good first draft. There’s a link to each song on iTunes if it’s available, although a good chunk of music in my collection is very hard to find.

Perfect for a sunny photography outing, here’s an eclectic mix ranging from mostly alternative to fusion jazz to classic rock and all points in between, here’s my Sunny Day Playlist, version 1.0:

The War on Drugs – Comin’ Through

Craft Spells – Party Talk

The Clean – Stars

Memory Tapes – Wait in the Dark

Republic Tigers – Buildings and Mountains

Primal Scream – Higher Than the Sun

MillionYoung – Hammocks

Frightened Rabbit – Swim Until You Can’t See Land

Generationals – Ten Twenty Ten

Crocodiles – Sleep Forever

The Radio Dept. – Heavens on Fire

Citay – Careful With That Hat

America – Ventura Highway

The Go-Betweens – Cattle and Cane

Ringo Deathstarr – So High

Washed Out – New Theory

Innocence Mission – Keeping Awake

B-52’s – She Brakes for Rainbows

The Jesus and Mary Chain – Head On

Amon Tobin – One Day In My Garden (Instrumental)

Love Tractor – I Broke My Saw

Cocteau Twins – Heaven or Las Vegas

The Daysleepers – Summerdreamer

Fleetwood Mac – You and I, Part II

Grasshopper Takeover – Up and On My Way

Guadalcanal Diary – Litany (Life Goes On)

The Love Language – Heart to Tell

Jamaica – Jericho

Throwing Muses – Dizzy

The Dylans – I Hope the Weather Stays Fine

Cloud Cult – Lucky Today

Math and Physics Club – Love or Loneliness

Herman Dune – I Wish That I Could See You Soon

Stranglers – Always the Sun

Truckasauras – Angels Sound Like Bottle Rockets

Ten Bears – Braces

Cinammon Chasers – Luv Deluxe (Instrumental)

Kitchens of Distinction – Drive That Fast

Love Tractor – Fun to be Happy (Instrumental)

Ian Brown – Northern Lights

Screamin’ Cheetah Wheelies – Boogie King

Yppah – Again with the Subtitles

Material Issue – Valerie Loves Me

Missing Persons – Walking In L.A.

Throw Me The Statue – About To Walk

Laura Veirs – July Flame

Sheryl Crow – Soak Up The Sun

Spyro Gyra – Bob Goes to the Store (Instrumental)

Wall Of Voodoo – Lost Weekend & On Interstate 15 (Instrumental)

Dreadzone – A Dream Within a Dream (Instrumental)

The High Dials – Teenage Love Made Me Insane

One Dove – Breakdown (Radio Mix)

Peter Gabriel – Solsbury Hill

Pink Martini – Anna (El Negro Zumbon)

Slowdive – Rutti

The Sundays – Here’s Where the Story Ends

Pixies – Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf Mix)

The One AM Radio – Sunlight

Surfer Blood – Swim (To Reach the End)

The Expendables – Wells

Stone Roses – She Bangs the Drums

Chad Valley – Fast Challenges

Aberfeldy – Summer’s Gone

Forro In The Dark – Perro Loco

Deer Tick – These Old Shoes

Tennis – Marathon

Big Spider’s Back – Warped

Ganglians – Jungle

Gui Boratto – No Turning Back

REM – Near Wild Heaven

Royal Crescent Mob – Nanana

Luke Graner – Drops (Homemade Music version)

The Farm – Groovy Train

Daysleepers – Loved by the Sun

Diesel – Sausalito Summernight

Blue Sky Black Death – Sleeping Children Are Still Flying

Frankie Knuckles – Whistle Song (Instrumental)

Rephrase – Oldtimer

General Public – Taking the Day Off (Instrumental)

Hectic Redd – The Thumb

Joe Satriani – Surfing with the Alien (Instrumental)

The Ladybug Transistor – Fallen and Falling

Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter – In the Summertime

Nickodemus – Sun Children

Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros – Chickens in Love

Jazzhole – Free the Robots (Instrumental)

The Joy Formidable – The greatest light is the greatest shade

There we have it, for now…I’m sure I’ll update it along the way. If you hear something on this list that seems really out of place or makes you wonder, “What does this have to do with a sunny day?” it probably is a song that triggers a memory for me. Any suggestions? Use the “Contact Me” link on the upper right of this page.