“Cruel Summer” is a song by English girl group Bananarama. It was written by Bananarama and Steve Jolley, Tony Swain, and produced by Jolley and Swain. Released in 1983, it was initially a stand-alone single but was subsequently included on their self-titled second album a year later. The song reached number eight on the UK Singles Chart in 1983 and the group appeared on the BBC’s Top of the Pops that summer (July 1983), and after its inclusion in the 1984 film The Karate Kid, it reached number nine on the US Billboard Hot 100.
Bananarama singer Sara Dallin said the song “played on the darker side (of summer songs): it looked at the oppressive heat, the misery of wanting to be with someone as the summer ticked by. We’ve all been there!” It was ranked number 44 on VH1’s 100 Greatest Songs of the ’80s. Billboard named the song number 13 on their list of the “100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time”.
