| "Suddenly Last Summer" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by The Motels | ||||
| from the album Little Robbers | ||||
| B-side | "Some Things Never Change" | |||
| Released | 1983 | |||
| Format | 7" (45 rpm) | |||
| Genre | New Wave, rock | |||
| Length | 3:42 | |||
| Label | Capitol | |||
| Writer(s) | Martha Davis | |||
| The Motels singles chronology | ||||
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"Suddenly Last Summer" is a song by The Motels released as a 7" single in September 1983, backed with "Some Things Never Change." The song reached number 1 on the U.S. Billboard Top Tracks chart and number 9 on the Billboard Billboard Hot 100 in November 1983.[1]
Lead singer Martha Davis has said in various radio interviews that the song was written while reflecting on her life and how you know summer is ending when you hear the ice cream truck go by for the last time and you know he won't be back for a while. Tennessee Williams, writer of the earlier same-named 1958 off-Broadway one-act play, died in February 1983, the same month The Motels returned to the recording studio prior to releasing the associated album Little Robbers.
The song has the distinction of being the only Motels song to reach the #1 position on any music chart. Two bootleg dance versions have been made of the song, one with a techno-like dance beat and another with a semi-tropical beat to it.
The song was featured in a music video made for the song in 1983 directed by Val Garay. The video features one of Martha's daughters.
The song was included on the 1990 compilation album, No Vacancy: Best of the Motels.