Kicking off August’s Summer Fun selection for Music Monday is a piece of music that is the first one that comes to my mind the moment you say summer.

Soul Limbo by Booker T. & the M. G.’s 1968 track from the album of the same name is the sound that herralded the start of every day’s play during the international cricket summer and is a piece of music that I probably learned before I learned God Save the Queen! Even now, though the cricket’s been off BBC TV since the end of 1998, it still evokes the warm welcome to the start of a day’s play (or a day’s rain – we are talking the British summer, after all…), helped, in part, because when the TV broadcast went dark, Test Match Special picked it up.

Channel 4 may have used Mambo No.5 and Sky have used various versions of the 10cc song Dreadlock Holiday (with it’s chorus of “We don’t like cricket, oh no, we love it, oh year”) but Soul Limbo is still the sound of cricket for me and perhaps it always will be.

The music itself is a funky jazz-like instrumental track with plenty of variations, a marimba solo and plenty of laid-back charm. It’s carefree and fun and I just love it.

The summer fun playlist can be found on Spotify here.

That’s all for now. Happy reading and listening!